Field monitoring of landslide deformation using low altitude photogrammetry

The Ottawa/Gatineau region has significant deposits of sensitive glacial marine clay. As these deposits have risen due to isostatic rebound, these materials have been incised by various watercourses, carving river valleys throughout the region. The slopes of these river banks are susceptible to retrogressive slides with significant travel distances. A novel method of monitoring changes in these landslides has been developed and is explained in this thesis. Using a tethered blimp as an aerial photo platform, high resolution digital elevations models (DEM) with accuracies of +/-0.49m on vegetated slopes have been created using photogrammetry. These DEMs have been created for a several photos sets taken over time. This allows changes over time to be monitored. The use of ground control points (GCP) allows for the complete three dimensional movement of discrete points to be monitored over time. The photogrammetric DEM have been compared to similar DEM derived from LiDAR surveying. By complimenting these surveys with historical aerial photos it is possible to develop better models of landslide failure processes, which will ultimately provide better predictions of movements and failure. When movements and failures can accurately be predicted it will then be possible to better manage the risk associated with these landslides events.