Basin Scale Assessment of Landslides Geomorphological Setting by Advanced InSAR Analysis

Abstract

An extensive investigation of more than 90 landslides affecting a small river basin in Central Italy was performed by combining field surveys and remote sensing techniques. We thus defined the geomorphological setting of slope instability processes. Basic information, such as landslides mapping and landslides type definition, have been acquired thanks to geomorphological field investigations and multi-temporal aerial photos interpretation, while satellite SAR archive data (acquired by ERS and Envisat from 1992 to 2010) have been analyzed by means of A-DInSAR (Advanced Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) techniques to evaluate landslides past displacements patterns. Multi-temporal assessment of landslides state of activity has been performed basing on geomorphological evidence criteria and past ground displacement measurements obtained by A-DInSAR. This step has been performed by means of an activity matrix derived from information achieved thanks to double orbital geometry. Thanks to this approach we also achieved more detailed knowledge about the landslides kinematics in time and space.

Remote Sensing of Landslides—A Review

“…Satellite SAR data used in this special issue include archived ERS and Envisat ASAR [1], ALOS/PALSAR [2,3], COSMO-SkyMed constellation [4], TerraSAR-X [5], TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X [6], and Sentinel-1 [7]. In addition, "Envisat 2010+" data, which started on 22 October 2010 and lasted until the communication with the Envisat satellite was suddenly lost on 8 April 2012, were involved.…”

“…Time series surface deformation based on spaceborne satellite data are calculated with persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) [1] and small baseline subset (SBAS) InSAR [2,3,8], as well as the integration of PS and Quasi-PS (QPS), which take advantage of two different image connection graphs in time-series InSAR processing [1]. The deformation retrieved from pre-installed corner reflectors imaged by X-band COSMO-SkyMed constellation SAR data can overcome the temporal decorrelation to obtain high-precision deformation results [16].…”

“…The deformation retrieved from pre-installed corner reflectors imaged by X-band COSMO-SkyMed constellation SAR data can overcome the temporal decorrelation to obtain high-precision deformation results [16]. The combination of the dual-geometry InSAR datasets allowed the derivation of the vertical and the horizontal (east-west) components of the movement [1]. 3D surface changes can be monitored with TLS LiDAR and GNSS [15] or SAR intensity offset tracking method with a prior deformation model [5].…”

“…Moreover, if the mass moved away or so-called erosion occurred, differential DEM technique based on TanDEM-X data could be used geomorphological changes in the catchment region [6]. Finally, the integrated use of satellite, aerial, and drone images and ground-based GPS surveys allowed the mapping of the temporal evolution of a landslide system [1].…”

Geo-Hazard Detection and Monitoring Using SAR and Optical Images in a Snow-Covered Area: The Menyuan (China) Test Site

“…The demand for automated landslide detection is high, and the approaches using optical images include visual interpretation [9], post-classification comparison [10], image differencing [11], and change vector analysis [12], etc. As far as SAR is concerned for landslide detection, various approaches have been investigated, including the use of interferometric coherence [13], pre-and post-event backscatter information [14], and differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) [5,[14][15][16][17][18]] (see Reference [2] for a review of using optical and SAR image data for geological hazard mapping and monitoring).…”