Abstract
This work focuses on the capabilities and limitations of the Advanced Satellite SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) Interferometry (A-DInSAR) in wooded and mountainous regions, with the aim to get insights on the performances for studying slow-moving landslides. The considered critical issues are related to the SAR acquisition geometries (angle of incidence of the satellite line of sight, ascending and descending geometries) and to the physical and morphological features of the slopes (land use, aspect and slope angles), which influence the measuring points coverage. 26 areas in Lombardy Region (Italy), affected by known slope instability phenomena, have been analyzed through A-DInSAR technique, using COSMO-SkyMed images. The results allowed to outline general considerations about the effectiveness of A-DInSAR analysis of a single dataset (descending or ascending dataset), selected accordingly to the aspect of the slopes. Moreover, we aimed to quantitatively describe the capability to update the state of activity of several previously mapped landslides using satellite SAR Interferometry results. Although in a wooded and mountainous region, where the chances of retrieving radar targets for satellite SAR analysis are generally low, the A-DInSAR results have allowed to detect landslides’ reactivations or new landslides and to update the inventory for about 70% of the investigated areas.
Highlights
Identifying and mapping landslides is essential to reduce their social and economic impact, as landslides represent one of the major causes of damages to structures and infrastructure and of life losses [1,2,3,4], in many hilly and mountainous areas all over the world.Landslide inventories and information about the state of activity are the main tools to plan strategically the security and the expansion of urbanized areas and to prevent the damages
This work focused on the capabilities of the A-Differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) technique and on the optimization of its performances for studying slow-moving landslides, considering some limitations that typically affect wooded and mountainous region
A-DInSAR analysis in single acquisition geometry, can work properly if the favorable geometry among descending or ascending is chosen with respect to the slope orientation the aspect of the study areas
Summary
Identifying and mapping landslides is essential to reduce their social and economic impact, as landslides represent one of the major causes of damages to structures and infrastructure and of life losses [1,2,3,4], in many hilly and mountainous areas all over the world.Landslide inventories and information about the state of activity are the main tools to plan strategically the security and the expansion of urbanized areas and to prevent the damages. Mapping and studying landslides at large scale is crucial for land use planning, but it can represent a goal hard to achieve through traditional “on-site” methods, due to the extension of regional areas of interest and the difficult accessibility. In this regard, remote sensing methods provide an effective solution to this problem, thanks to the capability to analyze wide areas at a low cost. Remote sensing methods provide an effective solution to this problem, thanks to the capability to analyze wide areas at a low cost Among these techniques, satellite SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) Interferometry (InSAR) is one of the most used. Geosciences 2019, 9, 364 remote sensing technologies for landslides mapping and for assessing slope stability, without installing instrumentation [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21].
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