Test of a procedure to assess the stability of permafrost rock walls: The case of the Pellaud Basin, Rhêmes Valley (Aosta Valley, Italy)

The present paper illustrates a working methodology for the stability evaluation of slopes in permafrost conditions in order to draw up an hazard map. The method developed has been applied to a basin named Pellaud, located in the Rhêmes Valley (Aosta Valley Autonomous Region, Northwestern Italy), where several instability phenomena have been recorded in the past. The study is based on an aerial photogrammetric survey performed from helicopter, geo-structural and stability analysis executed using the Digital Surface Model derived from the survey, the regional DTM model and the geotechnical parameters obtained from laboratory tests. Results are shown in terms of thematic maps for an easier and more direct basin hazard visualization