Using Secondary Campaigns to Detect Rock Movements

The Turtle Mountain Monitoring System (TMMS) is a near-real-time remote monitoring system that provides data from a network of sensors and monitoring campaigns on Turtle Mountain. This system includes LiSAmobile and secondary monitoring campaigns that monitor rock displacements on Turtle Mountain.

 

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Choosing A Secondary Monitoring Campaign

A variety of techniques for the secondary monitoring campaigns were used in previous years, such as aerial light detection and ranging (LiDAR) surveying, photogrammetry, or terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). We select these secondary monitoring campaigns based on our monitoring frequency.

In 2021, we selected LiDAR surveying as our secondary monitoring campaign. LiDAR is a remote sensing technology that uses the pulse from a laser to collect 3D measurements of the ground surface and objects. The LiDAR scans from an airplane and emits thousands of pulses of light every second. It calculates the time it takes for the light waves to hit a surface or object and reflect back to the laser scanner. These measurements are turned into 3D maps or models, which have accuracies within the centimetre-range. We compare the LiDAR maps or models of North and South Peaks from different years to detect and highlight potential major rock movements.