Differential SAR interferometry using sentinel‐1 imagery‐limitations in monitoring fast moving landslides: The case study of Cyprus
Journal
Geosciences
Date Issued
June 2020
DOI
10.3390/geosciences10060236
Abstract
Cyprus, being located on the Mediterranean fault zone, exhibits a unique geodynamic
regime since its tectonic evolution is driven by the interaction of the Eurasian and African plate.
Besides its seismological interest, many active landslides and slope instabilities in areas of steep
topography occur in Cyprus, having substantial impact on the built environment, by posing an
imminent threat for entire settlements and critical infrastructure. Moreover, extreme meteorological
events occur rarely, like severe rainfall and thunderstorms, that combined with the geological
properties in some areas and the seismically stressed ground, can lead to landslides, causing severe
damages to critical infrastructure. In the present study, the DInSAR methodology is applied for
the detection of two individual landslide events that were triggered by heavy rainfall in Limassol
and Paphos Districts in February 2019. Six co-event interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
pairs were used to produce displacement maps in vertical and east-west directions to study the
resulting slope deformations. The above are carried out using Sentinel-1 imagery that are freely
provided under the Copernicus umbrella. The limitations that arise from the speed and complexity
of the deformations under study and the adverse residing meteorological conditions that caused
these phenomena are investigated, as found in literature. Indeed, the sparse vegetation at the slopes
a ected by the landslides, the residing meteorological conditions, the heavy rainfall that triggered the
two landslides, and the temporal phase aliasing e ect due to the speed of the ground deformation
were found to be the main limitations for the application of DInSAR methodology, resulting in the
underestimation of the ground deformation that occurred.
regime since its tectonic evolution is driven by the interaction of the Eurasian and African plate.
Besides its seismological interest, many active landslides and slope instabilities in areas of steep
topography occur in Cyprus, having substantial impact on the built environment, by posing an
imminent threat for entire settlements and critical infrastructure. Moreover, extreme meteorological
events occur rarely, like severe rainfall and thunderstorms, that combined with the geological
properties in some areas and the seismically stressed ground, can lead to landslides, causing severe
damages to critical infrastructure. In the present study, the DInSAR methodology is applied for
the detection of two individual landslide events that were triggered by heavy rainfall in Limassol
and Paphos Districts in February 2019. Six co-event interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
pairs were used to produce displacement maps in vertical and east-west directions to study the
resulting slope deformations. The above are carried out using Sentinel-1 imagery that are freely
provided under the Copernicus umbrella. The limitations that arise from the speed and complexity
of the deformations under study and the adverse residing meteorological conditions that caused
these phenomena are investigated, as found in literature. Indeed, the sparse vegetation at the slopes
a ected by the landslides, the residing meteorological conditions, the heavy rainfall that triggered the
two landslides, and the temporal phase aliasing e ect due to the speed of the ground deformation
were found to be the main limitations for the application of DInSAR methodology, resulting in the
underestimation of the ground deformation that occurred.
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
geosciences-10-00236-v4.pdf
Size
9.51 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b698e231d3b5f5f43a89062cd17e43f1