Monitoring of alpine natural hazards by means of UAV´s – case studies from Austria

Naslov predavanja:
Monitoring of alpine natural hazards by means of UAV´s – case studies from Austria

Avtorji predavanja:
Wolfgang Sulzer, Gernot Seier (Institute for Geography and Regional Sciences, University Of Graz, Graz, Austria), Viktor Kaufmann (Institute for Geodesy, Graz University of Technologies, Graz, Austria)

Predavatelj:
Wolfgang Sulzer
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Sulzer je zaposlen na Inštitutu za geografijo in regionalne študije na Univerzi v Gradcu v Avstriji. Je vodja raziskovalne skupine za geoprostorske tehnologije. Njegovo raziskovalno področje zajema daljinsko zaznavanje v visokogorju in v urbanih območjih, s posebnim ozirom na okoljske spremembe. V zadnjih letih se je osredotočil na delo s tehnologijo brezpilotnih zrakoplovov pri geomorfoloških raziskavah, kot so fluvialni transport sedimenta, premiki ledenikov, plazov in skalnih podorov. Območja, kjer je raziskoval, obsegajo Alpe, Himalajo, Ande in Tatre. Na univerzi poučuje predmete daljinsko zaznavanje, fizična in regionalna geografija, okoljske študije, geoprostorske tehnologije ter vodi ekskurzije v visokogorje.

Kratek opis predavanja (v angleškem jeziku)
UAVs are unmanned and largely autonomously operating aircrafts, which can usually be equipped with imaging systems (video, camera) or other sensors. In recent years, they have increasingly been used for geoscientific issues. Within the framework of the NAWI GRAZ (Natural Sciences Graz) cooperation the Institute for Geography and Regional Sciences (University of Graz) and the Institute for Geodesy (Graz University of Technology) investigate the question of how UAVs can be used to map and quantify changes in the earth's surface as a meaningful supplement or alternative to conventional research methods. Especially in hard-to-reach alpine areas or in areas that are at risk due to ongoing active processes, such systems offer the possibility of providing high-quality geodata without putting people at risk.
In this presentation, the authors document the use of UAVs in the field of recognizing and detection of alpine natural hazards on the basis of current projects. For example, following the floods in 2011 and 2017 in the area around the town Oberwölz (Upper Styria), the collection and quantification of increasing fluvial morphological processes (especially sediment load) are in the focus of interest. In the limestone alpine area the technically similar study for the determination of sediment dynamics in a channel with episodic water flow and high morphodynamics (Langgriesgraben, National Park Gesäuse) is presented. At the Lärchberg / Galgenwald near Murau (Upper Styria) UAV aerial surveys are used to observe and analyze an active landslide area. Finally, the glacier dynamics, in particular the ice breakup at the glacier tongue of the "touristic" Pasterze glacier (National Park Hohe Tauern) will be presented.
In all studies, the challenges of the high alpine environment and the accuracy estimation of the research results are compared with other detection methods, such as ALS or TLS or simply field work. In addition, there are restrictions on accessibility, regulatory (legal) requirements (e.g. UAV law), technical limits or difficult weather conditions (wind, low temperatures, snow, etc.).

PREDSTAVITEV (PDF)