Integrated Geomechanical and Digital Photogrammetric Survey in the Study of Slope Instability Processes of a Flysch Sea Cliff (Debeli Rtič Promontory, Slovenia)

Abstract

This work presents an integrated study approach that combines the results of a geomechanical survey with data obtained using digital photogrammetry (DP), to assess slope instability processes affecting a sea cliff at the Debeli Rtič promontory (Slovenia). The investigated cliff is 4–18 m-high and is made up of an alternation of sandstones and marlstones belonging to the Flysch Formation of Trieste, which is Eocene in age. The studied cliff was subjected to localized slope failures that occurred in the past and is currently subject to frequent rock collapses, thus resulting in its partial and episodic retreat. Field evidence acquired through a traditional survey was integrated with outputs of the DP technique based on 1399 images that were collected using both a commercial unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a mobile phone (MP). UAV-derived images were useful for performing rock mass structure analysis in the upper part of the investigated cliff, where the traditional survey was not possible due to hazardous operating conditions. In addition, the use of a MP was observed to be a useful tool for the rapid collection of images at the toe of unsafe marine cliff environments. This study highlights that UAV-DP and MP-DP techniques can only be effective if the outcomes obtained from the 3D model reconstruction are validated by direct measurements acquired by means of the traditional field survey, thus avoiding improper or even erroneous results while enlarging the amount of data and the area of investigation. The study approach presented herein allowed for the assessment of slope instabilities affecting the Flysch Sea cliff, whose retreat is caused by the combined action of marine erosion and slope gravitational processes.