Abstract
Earth observation (EO) satellites facilitate hazard monitoring and mapping over large-scale and remote areas. Despite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites being well-documented as a hazard monitoring tool, the uptake of these data is geographically variable, with the Australian continent being one example where the use of SAR data is limited. Consequently, less is known about how these data apply in the Australian context, how they could aid national hazard monitoring and assessment, and what new insights could be gleaned for the benefit of the international disaster risk reduction community. The European Space Agency Sentinel-1 satellite mission now provides the first spatially and temporally complete global SAR dataset and the first opportunity to use these data to systematically assess hazards in new locations. Using the example of Australia, where floods and uncontrolled bushfires, earthquakes, resource extraction (groundwater, mining, hydrocarbons) and geomorphological changes each pose potential risks to communities, we review past usage of EO for hazard monitoring and present a suite of new case studies that demonstrate the potential added benefits of SAR. The outcomes provide a baseline understanding of the potential role of SAR in national hazard monitoring and assessment in an Australian context. Future opportunities to improve national hazard identification will arise from: new SAR sensing capabilities, which for Australia includes a first-ever civilian EO capability, NovaSAR-1; the integration of Sentinel-1 SAR with other EO datasets; and the provision of standardised SAR products via Analysis Ready Data and Open Data Cubes to support operational applications.
Highlights
Hazards may be defined as any “process, phenomenon or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation” [1]
For Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)-based hazard monitoring in Australia, three data synergies are identified to be of particular promise, including the integration of SAR with Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) missions measurements of time-variable gravity, multi-spectral Earth Observation (EO) imagery, plus the integration of SAR data acquired across multiple frequency bands
Satellite SAR imagery provides particular advantages for identifying and assessing hazards compared to other types of EO data, most notably due to its ability to see through cloud, smoke and, to a varying degree, vegetation; to measure displacements of the Earth’s surface; to “see” structural changes that are not related to surface reflectance and are not visible with optical datasets
Summary
Hazards may be defined as any “process, phenomenon or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation” [1]. 2021, 13, 1422 playing a leading role in global efforts for the provision of operational standardised EO datasets (i.e., Analysis Ready Data), including through Open Data Cube initiatives such as Digital Earth Australia (DEA: [4]; http://www.ga.gov.au/dea; accessed on 16 March 2021) Despite this well-established and extensive use of EO data across multiple sectors, Australian uptake of data from SAR satellites (for hazard monitoring or other purposes) is limited. For these applications, we present new case studies (see Figure 2A for an overview map) that utilise Sentinel-1, plus commercial SAR data Other EO data types, plus advances in the provision of standardised SAR products via Analysis Ready Data and Open Data Cubes [10]
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