DInSAR applications to landslide studies

Abstract

Operational monitoring of slope instabilities by SAR interferometry poses a number of challenges due to the limited spatial extent of the landsliding areas and the rainy conditions usually associated with mass movement events. In this work, we present applications of DInSAR techniques to the assessment of the stability of landslide-prone areas. A long-term analysis over single, stable scatterers can be attempted, in order to overcome the intrinsic low-coherence conditions associated with landslide sites. The technique, known as the permanent scatterers approach, has been shown to give excellent results over areas with high densities of man-made targets. In this work, some aspects of the PS processing are reviewed and possible improvements are proposed to bring the method to give reliable results over sites with low urbanization such as the rural settings associated with landslide-prone areas in Southern Italy.