EMERGING TOOLS FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION REMOTE 3D MAPPING OF ENGINEERING GEOLOGY AND TERRAIN FEATURES ON STEEP ROCK SLOPES

Steep rock slopes are often both inaccessible to engineering geologists in the field, but may also of great interest where rock slides and falls are possible. Until recently the assessment of such slopes required a 'hands-off' approach, based mostly on past behaviour and index properties noted during remote inspections. However, advancements in structure-from-motion photogrammetry and oblique laser scanning - both from helicopters or UAS platforms, have made it possible to virtually visit previously inaccessible places, and with simple desktop tools have made it possible to map, at high 3D resolution, both geological and engineering geology properties of steep rock slopes, and its geometry and terrain features can be measured directly. In this presentation we highlight the emerging tools which make this possible, and explore several case studies of the high-resolution, remote assessment of rock slope hazard, using engineering geology inputs captured remotely.