Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (Jul 2014)

Brief Communication: Rapid mapping of landslide events: the 3 December 2013 Montescaglioso landslide, Italy

  • A. Manconi,
  • F. Casu,
  • F. Ardizzone,
  • M. Bonano,
  • M. Cardinali,
  • C. De Luca,
  • E. Gueguen,
  • I. Marchesini,
  • M. Parise,
  • C. Vennari,
  • R. Lanari,
  • F. Guzzetti

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-14-1835-2014
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 7
pp. 1835 – 1841

Abstract

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We present an approach to measure 3-D surface deformations caused by large, rapid-moving landslides using the amplitude information of high-resolution, X-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. We exploit SAR data captured by the COSMO-SkyMed satellites to measure the deformation produced by the 3 December 2013 Montescaglioso landslide, southern Italy. The deformation produced by the deep-seated landslide exceeded 10 m and caused the disruption of a main road, a few homes and commercial buildings. The results open up the possibility of obtaining 3-D surface deformation maps shortly after the occurrence of large, rapid-moving landslides using high-resolution SAR data.