Applications of remote sensing techniques for risk assessment of rock slopes

Remote sensing techniques are increasingly applied to monitor rock slope movement and failure. Repeated data acquisitions permit analysis of the slope geometry changes, detection of potential failure surfaces, analysis of the failure mode and forecasting of source zone activities. The data collected permits mitigation of higher risk slopes to be prioritized and provides information to assess the frequency and magnitude of failures and case histories to calibrate rock fall failure simulations. Case histories from the Railway Ground Hazard Research Program (RGHRP) will be used to illustrate different failure modes, rates and outcomes.