Photogrammetry in Engineering Geology: Tools, Methods and Applications

Dear colleagues,

Engineering geology is the application of geological principles to engineering in both the civil infrastructure and the mining/energy sectors. In our rapidly developing societies, it is vital that we design and build in a manner that is safe, environmentally sensitive, economic and resilient to the impacts from environmental change and natural hazards. From initial site investigations to geological hazard assessments and monitoring, engineering geologists play a key role in understanding soil and rock properties and behavior, hydrogeology, as well as Earth surface processes. Therefore, the role of an engineering geologist requires the use of a range of tools and techniques, and photogrammetry and remote sensing are frequently used because they can provide time-dependent data, often over large and inaccessible or hazardous areas.

Over the last two decades, with the development of new technological approaches and software, the application of photogrammetry to engineering geology has emerged as a key growth area. Differential global positioning systems (dGPS) and total stations (TS) have enabled 3D positioning of observations to millimetre-scale accuracy. More recently, photogrammetry, alongside laser scanning using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms, has increased the spatial coverage and density of available datasets through non-selective sampling of millions or even billions of survey points, to produce 3D point clouds. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and thermal and hyperspectral cameras have also extended the fields of photogrammetry. Likewise, low-cost cameras and smartphones can now provide an economic and practical approach to photogrammetry, allowing the measurement of orientation (strike and dip) of discontinuities, as an example. Off-the-shelf Windows-based software now allows the processing and modelling of photogrammetric datasets to be undertaken efficiently by non-experts.

This Special Issue collection of papers on “Photogrammetry in Engineering Geology: Tools, Methods and Applications” is focused on approaches to the use of photogrammetry to engineering geology and geotechnical engineering. It will provide opportunities for specialists as well as non-experts to appreciate the range of photogrammetric tools and techniques that are currently applied in the engineering geology fields globally. Papers within (but not limited to) the following fields are welcome:

• Production of digital elevation models from photogrammetric approaches and their application to engineering geology and engineering geomorphology;
• Processing methods for aerial imagery, multi-resolution data, image classification, 3D construction of surfaces and change detection;
• Applications of hyperspectral imagery and methods to engineering geological and geotechnical issues;
• UAVs as platforms for a range of sensors, and technical developments in this field;
• Engineering geological applications of satellite sensor data such as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and optical cameras;
• Low-cost economic surveying and image capture of engineering geological structures and man-made infrastructure for monitoring purposes;
• Underground space photogrammetry for civil infrastructure construction as well as mining applications.

Dr. Martin Brook
Prof. David W. Hedding
Ms. Amanda MacDonald-Creevey
Guest Editors

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