28 February 2022
A 3D version of slips at Whareongaonga has been created using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology.
In late December 2021, some of the GNS Science Engineering Geology team working with Council and Ngāi Tāmanuhiri used our new LiDAR drone to capture high-resolution, topographic data of the landslides at Whareongaonga, south of Gisborne.
Heavy rain in November 2021 caused one of the largest rainfall-induced landslides in many years. This was in addition to the 2012 slip that mothballed the Gisborne-Wairoa railway line. These landslides and others adjacent to them have undermined the railway line and buried several wahi tapu sites including a historic Ngāi Tāmanuhiri pā site, Māra kai (food gardens) and taunga ika (fishing grounds).
The drone enables us to build a high-resolution 3D model of the ground surface and the data will be used to determine the volume of material involved in the latest landslide.
The survey data will also be used as a baseline to map the landslide and tension cracks surrounding the slip, as well as monitor changes over time as the sea and future rain events erode the landslide.
Look around the Whareongaonga slip in 3D prepared by GNS Science.