A Review on Applications of Drones in Geotechnical Engineering

In the domain of geotechnical engineering, slope failures and ground deformation play a critical role in ensuring infrastructure safety and maintenance. Given the unpredictable nature of failures, it is imperative to conduct extensive mapping and monitoring of large areas in the field of forensic engineering. Furthermore, it is necessary to conduct a causative analysis after the mapping and monitoring of hazardous regions, as significant malfunctions frequently transpire in remote locations that are difficult to access. These conditions involve visible ground features and ground deformation, even though most geotechnical information is located below the ground surface. An unmanned aerial system (UAS) is capable of detecting the rate of change of these parameters, providing valuable information on causation, such as the influence of seasons or weather conditions, such as rainfall events. The conventional safety checks that are performed can calculate the probability of a slope’s safe conditions and the stretch of time required to maintain them over a designated period. UAS is a recent addition to the geotechnical toolset, demonstrating significant efficacy in enhancing the accuracy of data, augmenting safety measures, and diminishing project expenses, risks, and labor. This review article highlights the utilization of drone data to create models for the analysis of geotechnical risks and validation of drone data using conventional field observation and software analysis. The methodology involved in various geotechnical applications, reconstruction of 3D models from images, the importance of ground control points, the creation of 3D models using drone data, and steps to overcome limitations in drone data collection under challenging environmental conditions have been included.