Geotechnical Instrumentation

UAV image-derived digital surface model showing low levels of surface fault displacement (cms) along multiple km of survey area for the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake

A RAPID staff works with the University of Alaska Fairbanks-based field research team to pilot the facility’s UAV-based lidar system following the 2021 Haines, Alaska, Landslide.

The RAPID facility’s lightweight ground-based light system shown in use in Croatia (top). 3-dimensional point cloud of a sinkhole derived from the lidar scan (bottom). Images courtesy of GEER

The RAPID Facility has supported field reconnaissance missions investigating the geotechnical aspects of earthquakes, major flood and erosion events, landslides, and other geohazard events. For example, a recent project led by Geological Engineering Professor Margaret M. Darrow of the University of Alaska Fairbanks used the facility’s UAV-based aerial and terrestrial lidar systems to map the 2020 Haines, Alaska, landslide. In 2022, Professor Darrow and her students redeployed with RAPID Facility staff to acquire a second set of UAV-based lidar data to measure subsequent changes to the landslide and better understand the recovery of the landscape. A key benefit of the facility’s lidar systems is that they can penetrate vegetation on and near the landslide, allowing a “bare-earth” digital elevation model (DEM) of the area to be developed. Professor Darrow’s work on the Haines landslide is featured in the journal Landslides.

The RAPID Facility has supported many Geotechnical Extreme Event Reconnaissance (GEER) Association-sponsored missions in the United States and abroad. In 2020, Professor Ingrid Tomac of the University of California San Diego deployed to Croatia with RAPID instrumentation to investigate the geotechnical aspects of the Petrinja Seismic Sequence. Professor Tomac and her research collaborators used terrestrial lidar to quickly map sinkholes that developed during the earthquake. The GEER team also used RAPID seismometers to assess the dynamic site characteristics of the karst terrain that underlies the impacted region.

The RAPID Facility has supported other GEER earthquake investigations, including a field reconnaissance of the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence in Southern California. This mission, led by Professor Scott Brandenberg of the University of California Los Angeles, focused on mapping, measuring, and recording surface fault rupture across a multiple square kilometer region. To support this research, the RAPID facility deployed pilots with several UAVs to fly and acquire data in the impacted area. The research team later used these UAV data to develop structure from motion photogrammetry-derived, high-resolution digital elevation models of the complex multi-fault system in the region.

Learn more about our geotechnical deployments →