Characterizing the Checkerboard Creek rock slope using a combined remote sensing and numerical modelling approach

Checkerboard Creek rock slope is a very slow-moving bedrock landslide located 1.5 km upstream of the Revelstoke Dam, on the Columbia River in British Columbia, Canada. This thesis presents the results of a multi-sensor remote sensing investigation using terrestrial digital photogrammetry (TDP), full-waveform terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), airborne laser scanning (ALS), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry, infrared thermography (IRT) and hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The remote sensing data is used for characterizing the rock slope and providing additional data constraints for numerical modelling. Numerical modelling results from two-dimensional distinct element method models using the UDEC code are presented to provide additional understanding of the slope displacement mechanism. The UDEC models focus on simulations of the potential effects of high frequency, low amplitude, seasonal hydro-mechanical fatigue on Checkerboard Creek rock slope. Results are constrained against a 27-year record of groundwater and surface/borehole displacement monitoring at the site.