System Approach for Monitoring and Risk Assessment for Natural Force Damage to Gas Pipelines

Problem Statement

Gas pipelines in California are vulnerable to geohazards such as earthquakes, landslides, subsidence, and liquefaction. Pipeline operators currently lack an integrated system to monitor ground motion and pipeline strain in near real-time, limiting their ability to make timely decisions to prevent failures.

Figure 1 – Satelite Image with 3 bands within the visible light spectrum of an area with gas pipelines

Approach

This project focuses on indirect measurements of ground displacement using satellite and LiDAR data. LiDAR data are processed through registration techniques to capture precise 3D ground motion. Satellite imagery is analyzed using correlation-based and optical-flow-based methods to estimate surface displacement.

Ongoing Work

We are developing computational frameworks to efficiently process LiDAR and satellite data, enabling pixel-wise and point-wise estimation of ground displacement. These frameworks aim to provide high-resolution, near real-time monitoring of geohazard-induced ground motion for effective situational awareness.

Figure 2. Comparison on the ground displacement calculated from satellite and LiDAR data.

Students:

Bozhou Zhuang

Debasish Jana