Antoine Guérin, François Noël and Emmanuel Wyser of the Risk Analysis Group (UNIL) went to Yosemite Valley from the October 6th to October 20th, 2016. They were there to pursue the yearly terrestrial LiDAR (TLS) acquisition of 3D model of most major cliffs (eg. El Capitan, Royal Arches, Three Brothers, Cathedral Rocks, Half Dome, etc.). This project was initiated by the University of Lausanne and financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The park’s geologist Dr. Greg Stock, of the National Park Service (NPS), and Dr. Brian Collins from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collaborate to the project.
The 63 TLS acquisitions were performed during about two weeks, when there was no rain or fog. Pictures of the cliffs were taken using a telephoto lens and a robotic camera mount to construct detailed gigapan mosaic pictures. The scree slope at the foot of Rhombus Wall was also characterized.