Mirko Francioni

• PhD
• Associate Professor in Engineering Geology at University of Urbino

Badland morphologies are prominent examples of linear erosion occurring on clay-rich slopes and are critical hotspots for sediment production. Traditional field-based mapping of these features can be both time-consuming and costly, particularly over larger basins. This research proposes a novel methodology for assessing badland susceptibility throu...

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) play a key role in slope instability studies, ranging from landslide detection and recognition to landslide prediction. DEMs assist these investigations by reproducing landscape morphological features and deriving relevant predisposing factors, such as slope gradient, roughness, aspect, and curvature. Additionally, D...

The use of the Equotip hardness tester in engineering geology has increased significantly in recent years, especially in estimating the strength of weak and weathered rock materials. Weathering and fracturing, besides lithology, influence the overall behaviour of the rock mass and the response of the non-destructive tester. In this study, more than...

Cascading landslides are specific multi-hazard events in which a primary movement triggers successive landslide processes. Areas with dynamic and quickly changing environments are more prone to this type of phenomena. Both the kind and the evolution velocity of a landslide depends on the materials involved. Indeed, rockfalls are generated when rock...

Landslides represent a major problem in human activities, especially in the proximity of cities or infrastructure. In this paper, we present the peculiar case of Pietracamela, Italy. Pietracamela is a small village located in the Central Apennines, a few kilometers north of the Gran Sasso Mountain. The peculiarity of the case study is the fact that...

Cascading landslides represent a dynamic and hazardous geological phenomenon, char-15 acterized by a sequential chain of slope failures triggered by various factors such as heavy rainfall, 16 seismic activity, or anthropogenic activities. These events can amplify the damage caused by the 17 initial trigger and propagate instability along a slope, o...

Rocky coastlines are characterised by steep cliffs, which frequently experience a variety of natural processes that often exhibit intricate interdependencies, such as rainfall, ice and water run-off, and marine actions. The advent of high temporal and spatial resolution data, that can be acquired through remote sensing and geomatics techniques, has...

Natural hazard is recognized to be a threat to human society that is becoming more critical under the perspective of climate change. Italy is one of the most exposed European countries to hydro-geomorphological hazard, as proven by the annual casualties and economic losses. Among the most recent events, the one that happened in the Misa river catch...

Rockfalls are among the most dangerous natural hazards. The study of these phenomena may be complex in relation to the geology and the rock mass characteristics. Recent advances on the use of remote sensing techniques made the survey of rock slopes easier and faster, increasing the amount and quality of data. At the same time, the improved availabi...

Cascading landslides are sequences of multiple landslides that commonly involves significant volumes of material and exhibit variable velocity up to several m/s. The impact of these processes is generally significant so that they can claim victims and be responsible of significant losses. Considering the complexity of the process, their mitigation...

The "San Michele Arcangelo" historic trail (Aurunci Regional Park, central Italy), located along the southern slope of Mt. Altino, which is highly prone to rockfalls, is hiked every year by thousands of faithful on pilgrimage who are exposed to such kinds of instabilities. To contribute to a better understanding of the condition and evolution of su...

The characterization of landslides located in remote areas poses significant challenges due to the costs of reaching the sites and the lack of reliable subsurface data to constrain geological interpretations. In this paper, the advantages of combining field and remote sensing techniques to investigate the deformation and stability of rock slopes ar...

Italy is famous for its one-of-a-kind landscapes and the many cultural heritage sites characterizing the story of its regions. In central Italy, during the medieval age, some of them were built on the top of high and steep cliffs, often on the top of ancient ruins, to protect urban agglomerations, goods and people. The geographical locations of the...

Secondo i dati ISPRA del 2021, 6,8 milioni di abitanti sono a rischio alluvioni e 1,3 milioni di abitanti sono a rischio frane (Trigila et al., 2021). I beni architettonici, monumentali e archeologici potenzialmente soggetti a fenomeni franosi sono oltre 12.500 nelle aree a pericolosità elevata e molto elevata e raggiungono complessivamente le 38.0...

In recent decades, the increasing number and severity of wildfires have become a major concern in many regions of the world. Besides having direct consequences for forests, crops, and settlements, wildfires can have significant effects on the catchment’s hydrology, altering their response to rainfall and promoting enhanced runoff and erosion. Incre...

The integration of multiple data sources, including satellite imagery, aerial photography, and ground-based measurements, represents an important development in the study of landslide processes. The combination of different data sources can be very important in improving our understanding of geological phenomena, especially in cases of inaccessible...

The initial inception of the landslide susceptibility concept defined it as a static property of the landscape, explaining the proneness of certain locations to generate slope failures. Since the spread of data-driven probabilistic solutions though, the original susceptibility definition has been challenged to incorporate dynamic elements that woul...

This work presents the case study of the San Lorenzo road tunnel, a linear infrastructure located in Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, affected by the so-called Passo della Morte landslide. This slope instability phenomenon has caused several problems since the beginning of the tunnel construction works, like water seepage and concrete lining...

Discontinuity surfaces are well known to influence the mechanical behaviour of rocks under compression. Non-destructive techniques, such as ultrasonic pulse velocity and sclerometers, are increasingly used to estimate uniaxial compressive strength of rocks. In this study, several core samples derived from the doubling works of the railway network n...

The stability of a rock slope is strongly influenced by the pattern of groundwater flow through the fracture system, which may lead to an increase in the water pressure in partly open joints and the consequent decrease in the rock wall strength. The comprehension of the fracture pattern is a challenging but vital aspect in engineering geology since...

The increased accessibility of drone technology and structure from motion 3D scene reconstruction have transformed the approach for mapping inaccessible slopes undergoing active rockfalls and generating virtual outcrop models (VOM). The Poggio Baldi landslide (Central Italy) and its natural laboratory offers the possibility to monitor and character...

Over the last few decades, the approach to geological and geomorphological surveys has changed remarkably. The advent of digital tools has allowed significant advances in the acquisition and management of survey data. In this paper, we demonstrate the development and testing of a new and effective digital survey method that allows for the fast acqu...

The increased accessibility of drone technology and the wide use of Structure from Motion 3D scene reconstruction have transformed the approach for mapping inaccessible slopes undergoing active rockfalls. The Poggio Baldi landslide offers the possibility for many of these techniques to be deployed and integrated with the aim of defining a suitable...

We analyze the sensitivity of a large (area extent ∼3 km²), deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (Fels slide, Alaska Range) to three specific drivers: (i) liquid surface water input from ERA-5 reanalysis snow melt and rainfall; (ii) locally projected seismic activity of Alaskan earthquakes; and (iii) lowering of Fels Glacier at the slide toe...

Over the last few decades, the approach to geological and geomorphological surveys has changed remarkably. The advent of digital tools has allowed significant advances in the acquisition and management of survey data. In this paper, we demonstrate the development and testing of a new and effective digital survey method that allows for the fast acqu...

This paper focuses on the back analysis of an ancient, catastrophic rock avalanche located in the small city of Lettopalena (Chieti, Italy). The integrated use of various investigation methods was employed for landslide analysis, including the use of traditional manual surveys and remote sensing (RS) mapping for the identification of geological str...

Civita di Bagnoregio, in Central Italy, is a small village located on top of a volcanic rocky plateau overlying softer clay shales. Over the centuries, the weathering, softening, and erosion of the clay shales promoted the detachment of blocks and columns from the edges of the volcanic plateau. In this paper, we employ long-range terrestrial laser...

This paper focuses on numerical modelling and back analysis of the Hell’s Mouth landslide to provide improved understanding of the evolution of a section of the north coast of Cornwall, UK. Discontinuity control is highlighted through the formation of a ‘zawn’ or inlet, the occurrence of two successive landslides and evidence of ongoing instability...

We present a workflow for investigating large, slow-moving landslides which combines the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technique, GIS post-processing, and airborne laser scanning (ALS), and apply it to Fels landslide in Alaska, US. First, we exploit a speckle tracking (ST) approach to derive the easting, northing, and vertical components of the di...

Ground failure on natural and engineered rock slopes is a geological hazard with potentially fatal consequences to the public or personnel in the mining industry. Aerial reconnaissance with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) is rapidly becoming standard practice for geotechnical and engineering geological site investigations, enabling faster...

Several orogenic belts exhibit regional-scale anticlines characterized by prominent faults in their crestal/forelimb zone. These faults are also a common feature in the Neogene foldand- thrust belt of the Apennines, where they have been contrastingly interpreted as younger- on-older thrust faults, large-scale strike-slip faults, and pre- or syn-thr...

We use results of satellite-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar, Global Positioning System, and borehole inclinometer data to constrain numerical models that improve understanding of slope deformation at the Alexandria landslide, British Columbia, Canada. Surface monitoring data and borehole slope inclinometer measurements provide import...

This paper proposes a novel method to incorporate unfavorable orientations of discontinuities into machine learning (ML) landslide prediction by using GIS-based kinematic analysis. Discontinuities, detected from photogrammetric and aerial LiDAR surveys, were included in the assessment of potential rock slope instability through GIS-based kinematic...

The town of San Leo, situated in the northern Apennines of Italy, is subject to slope instability phenomena due to its geological/structural setting. The 3D geological model of the eastern sector of the San Leo rocky plateau has been developed through the integration of data obtained from laser scanning and digital photogrammetric surveys along wit...

Rockfalls are a major hazard for human activities, especially in proximity of infrastructures. The steps in the analysis of rockfalls may include: i) the survey and characterization of rock outcrops, ii) the kinematic assessment and engineering classification of rock masses, ii) stability analysis and rockfall simulations. This research aims to pre...

An increasing number of satellite platforms provide daily images of the Earth's surface that can be used in quantitative monitoring applications. However, their cost and the need for specific processing software make such products not often suitable for rapid mapping and deformation tracking. Google Earth images have been used in a number of mappin...

In this research, we present a new approach to define the distribution of block volumes during rockfall simulations. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are utilized to generate high-accuracy 3D models of the inaccessible SW flank of the Mount Rava (Italy), to provide improved definition of data gathered from conventional geomechanical surveys and to a...

The engineering classification of rock masses represents the first stage in the analysis and characterization of rock slopes and road cuts. Among the existing classification methods, four systems are mainly used for mining, tunneling and slope design: the RMR, the Q-system/Q-Slope, the GSI and the SMR. Software has been recently developed for using...

In recent years data acquisition from remote sensing has become readily available to the quarry sector. This study demonstrates how such data may be used to evaluate and back analyse rockfall potential of a legacy slope in a blocky rock mass. Use of data obtained from several aerial LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and photogrammetric campaigns...

This research aims to highlight the importance of adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the factors controlling large rock avalanches using the Scanno landslide, Italy, as a case study. The study area is the Mount Genzana, Abruzzi Central Apennines, characterized by the regional Difesa-Mount Genzana-Vallone delle Masserie fault zo...

Digital photogrammetry (DP) represents one of the most used survey techniques in engineering geology. The availability of new high-resolution digital cameras and photogrammetry software has led to a step-change increase in the quality of engineering and structural geological data that can be collected. In particular, the introduction of the structu...

The distribution of joints, veins and shear fractures in the Montagna dei Fiori overturned anticline is here reported. Two joint sets, longitudinal and transverse to the NNW–SSE anticline axial trend, and a conjugate system of shear fractures, are recognized. The transverse and longitudinal joint sets have a pre-folding development likely related t...

Engineering rock mass classification is usually the first stage in the analysis and characterization of rock slopes. However, when dealing with sedimentary/heterogeneous rock masses, the use of existing classification methods can be difficult and often misleading, especially when used to define rockfall risk areas and appropriate slope mitigation w...

Understanding the impact of data uncertainty is a fundamental part of ensuring safe design of manmade excavations. Although good levels of knowledge are achievable from field investigations and experience, a natural geological environment is subject to intrinsic variability that may compromise the correct prediction of the system response to the pe...

Understanding the key factors controlling slope failure mechanisms in coastal areas is the first and most important step for analyzing, reconstructing and predicting the scale, location and extent of future instability in rocky coastlines. Different failure mechanisms may be possible depending on the influence of the engineering properties of the r...

Over the last two decades, the approach to the investigation of landslides has changed dramatically. The advent of new technologies for engineering geological surveys and slope analyses has led to step-change increases in the quality of data available for landslide studies. However, the use of such technologies in the survey and analysis of slopes...

Understanding changes in slope geometry and knowledge of underlying engineering properties of the rock mass are essential for the safe design of man-made slopes and to reduce the significant risks associated with slope failure. Recent advances in the geomatics industry have provided the capability to obtain accurate, fully geo-referenced three-dime...

This paper presents a multi-scale and multidisciplinary study of large, late Pleistocene or early Holocene slumps in Eocene sedimentary rocks at Mount Burnaby, just east of Vancouver, British Columbia (BC). Airborne LiDAR and field data were integrated into a GIS to understand the origin, kinematics, and subsequent history of the landslides. Produc...

The mechanisms controlling the onset of minor slope instability at the edges of rocky plateaux exhibiting lateral spreading phenomena are yet to be fully understood. Hypotheses have recently been introduced to explain the influence of groundwater within these plateaux on geomorphological processes leading to slope instability. We present a back ana...

We combine surface displacements derived from satellite-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) with geomechanical models to assess geohazards near two pipeline corridors: a pipeline right-of-way in central British Columbia and a slope adjacent to Fels Glacier in Alaska. The geomechanical models are based on published geological data...

Slope instability is one of the main natural hazards which can affect hard rock coastlines. Different failures mechanisms may be possible depending on the influence of the rock mass discrete fracture network and the relative orientation of the coastline: failures may be either discontinuity controlled or dominated by rock mass behaviour. Using the...

Landslides of the lateral spreading type, involving brittle geological units overlying ductile terrains, are a common occurrence in the sandstone and limestone plateaux of the northern Apennines of Italy. The edges of these plateaux are often the location of rapid landslide phenomena, such as rock slides, rock falls and topples. In this paper, we p...

A range of remote sensing tools can be used to document hazardous and sensitive environments. Presented at this time are the first results of an ongoing study of a rapidly eroding, steep sea cliff in Vancouver, British Columbia. The sea cliff is formed in a 70-m-thick sequence of outwash sands and silts (Quadra Sand) deposited during the early part...

Surface displacements derived from Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) for the monitoring and risk assessment of geohazards near pipeline corridors are presented. The InSAR results are integrated with GIS analyses and field data to define geologic and preliminary geomechanical models using the InSAR-derived displacements and GIS-derive...

Over the last decade, terrestrial laser scanning and digital terrestrial photogrammetry techniques have been increasingly used in the geometrical characterization of rock slopes. These techniques provide innovative remote sensing tools which overcome the frequent problem of rock slope inaccessibility. Comprehensive datasets characterizing the struc...

Digital elevation models produced from COSMO-SkyMed imagery were used to delineate palaeo-drainage in a wide area surrounding the Siwa and Al-Jaghbub oases of the western Sahara Desert (Egypt and Libya). This new generation of synthetic aperture radar imagery is suitable for this purpose because of its high spatial resolution and capacity to penetr...

Accurate slope stability analysis is essential for human activity in high-risk geological contexts. This may, however, not be enough in the case of quarrying where the dynamic and evolving environment also requires effective monitoring. A well-designed monitoring system requires the acquisition of a huge dataset over time, improving knowledge of th...

Mount Burnaby is an eroded remnant of clastic sedimentary rocks that were deposited in a subsiding basin (Georgia Basin) during the Eocene Epoch. The Eocene sedimentary sequence in Georgia Basin was uplifted and eroded during Neogene and Quaternary time. The dominant lithologies are sandstone and conglomerate, although mudstone and siltstone are al...

Over last decade geomatic techniques have been increasingly used for the geometrical characterization of rock slopes. Terrestrial laser scanning and digital terrestrial photogrammetry in particular are now frequently used in the characterization of joint surfaces and slope geometry. Although the use of these techniques for the structural characteri...

The excavation of tunnels in a rock mass changes the existing stress state and initiates deformation processes that, in some cases, can cause instability. Stability investigations, using methodologies capable of verifying both the safety conditions and of representing new scenarios in underground works can be greatly enhanced through the use of hig...

This paper describes the data collection and the analysis in a quarry slope located in the Torano basin (Carrara, Apuan Alps - Italy). The slope is characterized by a remnant marble buttress from previous excavations, approximately 150m high and varying from 30 to 50m in width. As quarry slope stability analyses require a detailed knowledge of the...

Workplace safety in quarry sites can be evaluated and established through an accurate monitoring of mining activities and slope stability. This last is dominantly influenced by the structural setting which, in combination with exploitation methods, affects the risk. The present paper shows the applied methodologies and the preliminary results obtai...

Workplace safety in quarries can be evaluated and improved through an accurate risk assessment of mining activities. Rock slopes stability is dominantly influenced by the structural setting which, in combination with exploitation methods, affects the risk. This paper describes studies carried out in the Apuan Alps, where several quarry walls reach...

With increasing awareness of geological risks, the study of rocky slopes plays a key role in the Earth Sciences, especially in areas of high vulnerability due to the presence of human settlement. The present paper describes the stability and runout analyses carried out along the Alta Tambura road, in correspondence with the Guadine village connecti...

The knowledge of a rock slope structural setting is necessary for the analysis of instability phenomena. Frequently, the inaccessibility of either natural or artificial fronts does not allow direct measurement of discontinuity surfaces by traditional geological methods; often, versants are very high, sub-vertical or even protruding while the struct...

With the increasing awareness to the geological risks, the study of rocky slopes plays a key role in the earth sciences, especially in areas of high vulnerability due to the presence of infrastructures and human activities. The present paper describes the stability and runout analyses carried out in the Marina Piccola bay (Capri Island - Italy), an...

This paper describes the results of topographical and geological surveys carried out at the prehistoric area of Melka Kunture (Ethiopia) in order to produce new detailed maps at a scale of 1:10,000 for supporting archaeological investigations and providing good reference cartography during fieldwork. The topographic support was created from the ste...

The present paper describes the hazard mapping of an exploitation area sited in the Apuan Alps marble district (Italy) carried out by the integration of various survey and analysis methodologies. The research, supported by the Massa and Carrara Local Sanitary Agency responsible for workplace health and safety activities, aimed to reduce the high de...

The paper describes the results obtained from the processing of multitemporal topographical data acquired by Laser Scanner, Total Station, DGPS, and photogrammetric surveys, useful for the identification of rock fall phenomena inside a marble quarry in the Apuan Alps (Italy). The assessment of the stability in mining rocky slopes is essential both...

The present paper describes the stability analysis of a quarry front and the simulation of a tunnel excavation carried out through the use of distinct elements numerical methods. The research derives from a project focused on the marble exploitation in the Altissimo Mountain (Apuan Alps, Italy) and carried out thanks to the contribution of the Tusc...

Current approaches to rocky slope stability analysis require knowledge of the geometrical-structural setting, as well as the physical-mechanical properties of the intact material and its discontinuities. The physical-mechanical properties are derived from insitu and laboratory tests, whereas the geometrical characteristics come from field attitude...

A study of rock slope stability was performed using geological surveys and Digital Terrestrial Photogrammetry (DTP) integrated by Laser Scanning (LS) and topographic measurements. The use of DTP is useful especially in inaccessible sites such as natural cliffs. By obtaining oriented stereo images, accurate digital surface models and orthophotos, us...

With the increasing awareness to the geological risks, the study of rock slope stability plays a key role in the Earth Sciences, especially in areas with high vulnerability for the presence of infrastructures and human activities. These issues require an accurate analysis of the geological processes which knowledge can be obtained from several inde...

This paper describes the results obtained from the processing of multitemporal topographical data acquired by Laser Scanner, Total Station, DGPS, and photogrammetric survey, useful in the definition of the presence of rock collapse phenomena inside a quarry located in the mining district of Carrara marble basin; results of this analysis have been u...

With the increasing awareness to the geological risks, the study of slope stability plays a key role in the Earth Sciences, especially in areas of high vulnerability for the presence of infrastructures and human activities. These issues require an accurate study of the geological processes based on several independent or integrated measurements tec...

The knowledge of the structural setting of slopes is essential when considering the stability in rock exploitation planning. In addition to the physical-mechanical properties of the intact material and its discontinuities, the analysis of stability requires information about the geometrical-structural setting of slopes and joints. Physical-mechanic...

Marble quarrying activities throughout the Alpi Apuane area in the northern Apennines are famous and worldwide known, and nowadays during the technical-economic planning must also be considered the environmental impact of the quarrying. Keeping this in mind the Centro di GeoTecnologie and Soc Henraux S.p.a. are putting forward a feasibility study o...

Thanks to modern geotechnologies, recent studies reveal that many urbanized areas are sited by rock fall hazard of high degree. Due to their particular location, buildings and houses in such areas are often exposed to high risk caused by the overhead presence of potentially unstable blocks. In this paper, the case study of “Grotta delle Felci” clif...

The present paper describes the results of five laser scanning surveys performed by a Leica™ ScanStation2 with the aim of producing an high definition topography of a quarry, at the scale of 1:1,000. The project comes from a joint research carried out by the Authors in collaboration with the Local Sanitary Unit Agency (ASL n.1) of Massa and Carrara...