Geomatic Techniques Applied to the Dynamic Study (2001-2019) of the Rock Glacier in the Veleta Cirque (Sierra Nevada, Spain)  
[PERSON]  
1 Department of Graphic Expression, INTERRA Research Institute for Sustainable Territorial Development, NEXUS Research Group: Engineering, Territory and Heritage, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Caceres, Spain; atikinson@unexes (A.D.A. ); msf@unexes (M.S.-F.)  
[PERSON]  
1 Department of Graphic Expression, INTERRA Research Institute for Sustainable Territorial Development, NEXUS Research Group: Engineering, Territory and Heritage, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Caceres, Spain; atikinson@unexes (A.D.A. ); msf@unexes (M.S.-F.)  
[PERSON]  
1 Department of Graphic Expression, INTERRA Research Institute for Sustainable Territorial Development, NEXUS Research Group: Engineering, Territory and Heritage, Universidad de Extremadura, Avenida de la Universidad s/n, 10003 Caceres, Spain; atikinson@unexes (A.D.A. ); msf@unexes (M.S.-F.)  
[PERSON]  
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[PERSON]  
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Footnote 2: email: 2022-116-  
Rock glaciers flow downwards at annual velocities that vary from values in centimetres to metres (in the most extreme cases) [12; 13] and carve out arches and furrows whose surfaces express the flow and deformation of the frozen body. This dynamic flow has been interpreted as creep and geliflution, which generates the ridges and grooves associated with the emergence, thinning, and compression or stretching of the frozen body. Rock glaciers are also related to thermal processes such as differential thermal diffusion, frozen heave with segregation ice processes, or thermokarst, in accordance with the internal classification processes generated by the upwelling of fines at the front [13; 14; 15; 16]. Many questions remain on the rheology and dynamics of rock glaciers due to the complexity of the processes involved but without any agreement on which processes (creep deformation or thermodynamic changes) are dominant in each case [13; 17; 18]. This means that more detailed field knowledge of rock glaciers is needed in order to improve the environmental and paleoenvironmental interpretation of perigalacial sites in temperate mountains given the absence of other well-preserved glacial or perigalcalic forms in marginal environments or in the transition between perigalacial and rival domains. In high-mountain marginal perigalacial environments, and in particular in the mountains of the Iberian Peninsula, rock glaciers are a useful environmental and dynamic indicator and also the most characteristic active perigalical landforms [19; 20; 21; 22; 23]. The analysis of the dynamic and superficial behaviour of rock glaciers requires the use of traditional geomatic techniques (geodesy-topography and aerial-terrestrial photogrammetry) as well as other more modern methods, such as Global Navegation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) [24; 25; 26]. Geomorphological research of the Veleta rock glacier began in the mid-1990s [3], and from 2001 information the collection of information by geomatic measurements on its morphodynamic and the physical state of the relict ice and permafrost on the rock glacier commenced. The aim of this article was to determine the process of degradation of the underlying ice bodies on which the rock glacier rests by analyzing data using the different geomatic techniques applied between 2001 and 2019. In order to do so, the following were considered:  
Figure 1: Physical map of the Iberian Peninsula and the location of Sierra Nevada (Corral del Veleta rock glacier). Analysis of the dynamic of the Veleta rock glacier using geomatic techniques: Classical topography (total station); Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS); \"Reflectorless\" total station; Photogrammetry analytical and digital; Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV); and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS).