43 Current Technological Trends in Landslide Assessment and Susceptibility Studies: Innovative Digital Techniques, Collection Methods, and Modeling

Tuesday, 16 April 2024
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Windsor Ballroom Salon A

LANDSLIDE MONITORING THROUGH LIDAR DIFFERENCING ALONG NATURAL GAS PIPELINES IN APPALACHIA

Paper number: 43-9
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 4:10 PM – 4:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

Buried natural gas pipelines throughout Appalachia and the Southeastern United States are vulnerable to geohazard risks, especially landslides. As landslides move, pipelines can bend and rupture, potentially causing human and environmental harm. Using Digital Elevation Models (DEM’s) derived from publicly and privately flown Light Imaging, Detection, and Ranging (LiDAR), we delineate landslide boundaries over thousands of miles of pipeline right of way. We maintain landslide inventory databases in GIS for several oil and gas companies and monitor landslide activity using multiple different tools. One of the most effective monitoring methods for monitoring extensive areas simultaneously is LiDAR Differencing, where high-resolution DEM rasters from two different collection dates are subtracted, displaying a heatmap of potential ground surface movement between the data collection dates. Using examples from a confidential client, the efficacy of this tool and our processes of landslide evaluation and documentation will be presented (identifying areas of suspected ground movement, updating landslide hazard data, and incorporating new landslide hazards into an existing client geodatabase). LiDAR Differencing is beneficial as it can encompass extensive areas of pipeline assets with relative ease. Using LiDAR Differencing rasters, we can isolate areas that have seen anthropogenic, hydrological, and geomorphic changes, including particularly active or newly formed landslides, thereby assisting pipeline operators in determining which of the thousands of mapped landslides pose a significant threat to pipeline integrity. As a result of these evaluations, landslides are visited in person to evaluate threats, and if necessary are mitigated and/or further monitored using other methods.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 2

doi: 10.1130/abs/2024SE-398256

© Copyright 2024 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.