Monitoring Coastal Landslides along the Northeast Black Sea of Bulgaria Using SAR data

Abstract

The geological conditions along the Northeast Black sea coast of Bulgaria are favorable for landslides emergence and development. Those processes have been rigorously documented in the last fifty years by Earth science researchers. Their efforts contributed in a broader context to the landscape conservation and to mitigate the risks for the population caused by the mentioned surface disruptions. In this paper the obtained results record the temporal behavior of several landslides located in stated region during the last five years. The main data source to monitor the mentioned landslides are data from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument processed by the differential interferometric SAR (DInSAR) method. The produced results were validated by means of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements carried out at purposely created geodetic networks, satellite images with high spatial resolution and digital images obtained by unmanned aerial systems (UASs). The results presented in this paper unambiguously confirm the usability of the produced information for the local authorities and other stakeholders thus contributing to the improvement of landslide risk management practices and to the better planning of the territory where the researched landslides are located.