APPLICATION OF TERRESTRIAL LASER SCANNING FOR THE GEOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION OF DISCONTINUITIES IN LIMESTONE QUARRY FACES

This work investigates the effect of Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) configuration on measuring the geometric properties that characterize discontinuities in limestone quarry faces. While the application of laser scanning technologies to acquire the 3D geometry of quarries is well established, the extent of differences in acquired parameter values that depend on the equipment’s parametrization is usually overlooked. We provide a discussion of the quantitative evaluation of discontinuity parameters (dip direction, dip angle, aperture, spacing, persistence, roughness, and deepness) based on the configuration of the TLS device (resolution, accuracy, and quality) and its application on a limestone quarry case study. Data from the case study show that not all discontinuity parameters need the same point cloud density. Spacing and dip/dip direction are highly consistent across the different point clouds, while aperture and persistence show greater sensitivity to resolution and scan position.