ROCK-WATCH is our BGR-led project towards prototyping an autonomous, real-time rockfall monitoring system for the Dolomites, Italian Alps. Driven by the growing hazard of climate-change- induced rockfalls and the limitations of existing monitoring approaches - both in space and time - our project combines real-time environmental seismology including edge computing architecture, autonomous UAV-technology, and AI-based image analysis into a fully automated detection and process chain. A physics-based cascade model further allows us to simulate downstream hazard cascades such as debris flows linked to initial rockfall.

The pilot site is the Langkofel massif in the Italian Dolomites (South Tyrol).

The three-year project (06/2026–05/2029) is carried out in partnership with the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (IT), Georesearch mbH (AUT), and SeismicStream GmbH (CH).