Kinematic analysis of the Debeque Landslide using radar interferometry and change-detection photogrammetry, Mesa County, CO

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The Debeque Landslide is an active landslide impacting I-70 in Western Colorado that is the result of displacement along the southern wall of an approximately 150m deep canyon incised into the Mesa Verde Group by the Colorado River. Since the late 1800s, three catastrophic failures have damaged infrastructure within the canyon along what is now the I-70 corridor. The slide continues to gradually creep toward the canyon floor, endangering I-70, and Union Pacific rail lines. The Debeque Landslide is an active monitoring site of the Colorado Department of Transportation, but accessibility has limited monitoring and research efforts to date. In an effort to address the limitations of current landslide monitoring efforts, this project has analyzed slide kinematics using satellite- and ground-based radar interferometry, aerial SfM photogrammetry, and terrestrial change detection photogrammetry. A satellite-based Interferometric Synthetic-Aperture Radar (InSAR) time series analysis of the movement of the slide, as well as biannual ground-based radar interferometric deformation measurements, indicates a maximum slide velocity of approximately 2 cm/yr. Deformation is also identified in an approximately four million cubic meter block detaching from the southern portion of the slide surface. By combining satellite-based InSAR, ground-based radar interferometry, and 3-dimensional aerial SfM photogrammetry, not only can displacements be precisely monitored, but the societal impact due to future failures may be modeled and analyzed