Terrestrial LiDAR survey to overcome UAV flight restrictions in morphotectonic analyses: an example from the Budoia–Aviano Thrust (NE Italy)

The study area is situated along the outer Pliocene–Quaternary deformation front of the Eastern Southern Alps (ESA) accommodating about 2-3 mm/yr of crustal shortening, as inferred from GNSS-based geodetic observations [Devoti et al., 2011; Serpelloni et al., 2016; Areggi et al., 2023]. This sector is characterised by a belt of curved, WSW–ENE-oriented, SSEverging thrusts that disrupt Late Pleistocene to Holocene sediments of the Friulian piedmont plain [Galadini et al., 2005; Poli et al., 2021; 2024]. Among these structures, the PolcenigoMontereale Thrust System comprises multiple SSE verging branches, including the BudoiaAviano (BA) and Vigonovo (VI) thrusts, both displaying geological and geomorphological indications of ongoing deformation, including pre-LGM conglomerate outcrops, upwarping of the late Pleistocene–Holocene Artugna alluvial fan, drainage anomalies, and morphological scarps (Figure 1) [Poli et al., 2015]