Remote sensing applied to landslide risk management and governance

The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to analyze the use of remote sensors, the information that can be obtained to determine how these sensors and methodologies can be used to generate and update geospatial information for risk management and governance. To acquire this objective, after an extensive review, it is intended to develop from a purely practical and applied point of view, which are materialized in different case studies. And, applied to projects that are immersed in risk management focused on mass movements in Ecuador. This thesis is conformed of six chapters addressing mass movements from different perspectives objectives and, study areas

Detection of violations of open-pit mining lease boundaries using Sentinel-2 MSI data in the case of Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces of North Vietnam

Illegal mining, including the violation of lease boundaries during the extraction of mineral deposits in Vietnam, has witnessed a significant surge in recent years, leading to substantial environmental degradation. Due to the remote locations of mining areas in relation to settlements, the detection of illegal mining activities using conventional methods poses considerable challenges. This study presents a methodology for identifying lease boundary violations in open-pit mining of mineral deposits by utilizing high-resolution satellite images from the Sentinel-2 MSI system. The proposed methodology involves overlaying Sentinel-2 MSI radar-acquired satellite images to identify disparities between approved lease boundaries and actual boundaries of mining areas. The research focuses on the mineral-rich provinces of Lao Cai and Yen Bai in North Vietnam. The findings of this research rhold great potential for effectively monitoring and promptly detecting violations of mining lease boundaries

Spatio-temporal analysis of coastal sediment erosion in Cape Town through remote sensing and geoinformation science

Coastal erosion can be described as the landward or seaward propagation of coastlines. Coastal processes occur over various space and time scales, limiting in-situ approaches of monitoring change. As such it is imperative to take advantage of multisensory, multi-scale and multi-temporal modern spatial technologies for multi-dimensional coastline change monitoring. The research presented here intends to showcase the synergy amongst remote sensing techniques by showcasing the use of coastal indicators towards shoreline assessment over the Kommetjie and Milnerton areas along the Cape Town coastline. There has been little progress in coastal studies in the Western Cape that encompass the diverse and dynamic aspects of coastal environments and in particular, sediment movement. Cape Town, in particular; is socioeconomically diverse and spatially segregated, with heavy dependence on its 240km of coastline. It faces sea level rise intensified by real-estate development close to the high-water mark and on reclaimed land. Spectral indices and classification techniques are explored to accommodate the complex bio-optical properties of coastal zones. This allows for the segmentation of land and ocean components to extract shorelines from multispectral Landsat imagery for a long term (1991-2021) shoreline assessment. The DSAS tool used these extracted shorelines to quantify shoreline change and was able to determine an overall averaged erosional rate of 2.56m/yr. for Kommetjie and 2.35m/yr. for Milnerton. Beach elevation modelling was also included to evaluate short term (2016-2021) sediment volumetric changes by applying Differential Interferometry to Sentinel-1 SLC data and the Waterline method through a combination of Sentinel -1 GRD and tide gauge data. The accuracy, validation and correction of these elevation models was conducted at the pixel level by comparison to an in-field RTK GPS survey used to capture the current state of the beaches. The results depict a sediment deficit in Kommetjie whilst accretion is prevalent along the Milnerton coastline. Shoreline propagation and coastal erosion quantification leads to a better understanding of geomorphology, hydrodynamic and land use influences on coastlines. This further informs climate adaptation strategies, urban planning and can support further development of interactive coastal information systems

Urban Deformation Monitoring using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry and SAR tomography

This book focuses on remote sensing for urban deformation monitoring. In particular, it highlights how deformation monitoring in urban areas can be carried out using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Tomography (TomoSAR). Several contributions show the capabilities of Interferometric SAR (InSAR) and PSI techniques for urban deformation monitoring. Some of them show the advantages of TomoSAR in un-mixing multiple scatterers for urban mapping and monitoring. This book is dedicated to the technical and scientific community interested in urban applications. It is useful for choosing the appropriate technique and gaining an assessment of the expected performance. The book will also be useful to researchers, as it provides information on the state-of-the-art and new trends in this fiel

Ground Surface Subsidence Monitoring Using Sentinel-1 in the “Kostolac” Open Pit Coal Mine

Open pit coal mining affects surrounding populated areas, resulting in terrain surface deformation. Surface deformation should be monitored as often as possible to control deformations and prevent potential incidents. This paper analyzes time series deformation estimated from the Sentinel-1 satellite images using the Persistent Scatterer Interferometry method to monitor subsidence rates caused by open pit mining activities. It is possible to measure deformations using classical geodetic methods, but those are rarely used in practice because they are time-consuming and expensive for application in large areas. Using the open access radar images from the Sentinel-1 mission, 513 images from the repository were downloaded between October 2016 and the end of December 2020. We present the processing steps in detail in order to establish a workflow for the automated processing of vertical displacement estimation using open source tools; a total of 402 images were processed: 215 images belonged to the ascending satellite orbit, 187 images belonged to the descending orbit, and 111 images were rejected because of adverse weather conditions. The PS InSAR technique has never been used for the mines of the Republic of Serbia or for land surveying practices related to deformation monitoring. The results based on the Sentinel-1 images were compared with results from geodetic leveling and with neotectonic uplift trends. The trend lines of vertical displacement obtained from PS and corresponding leveling are significantly similar (a Pearson correlation of 85% with a p-value of 0.015). The final evaluation reported results of vertical displacements at the leveling benchmark of −3.4 mm/year with the PS InSAR method and −2.7 mm/year with the leveling method. A comparison of the PS vertical displacements with a settlement model fits reasonably, suggesting that the measurements are valid. As four years of PS time series data is insufficient to establish undisputable conclusions on the neotectonics uplift, extending the time series (covering at least a decade) implies that this approach will become attractive in future neotectonic uplift trend estimations. This study illustrates not only the ability of Sentinel-1 data in mapping vertical deformations, but the obtained results could also be used for geohazard monitoring and land monitoring in general for the area of interest

Advanced Geoscience Remote Sensing

Nowadays, advanced remote sensing technology plays tremendous roles to build a quantitative and comprehensive understanding of how the Earth system operates. The advanced remote sensing technology is also used widely to monitor and survey the natural disasters and man-made pollution. Besides, telecommunication is considered as precise advanced remote sensing technology tool. Indeed precise usages of remote sensing and telecommunication without a comprehensive understanding of mathematics and physics. This book has three parts (i) microwave remote sensing applications, (ii) nuclear, geophysics and telecommunication; and (iii) environment remote sensing investigations

Applications of Satellite Earth Observations section - NEODAAS: Providing satellite data for efficient research

The NERC Earth Observation Data Acquisition and Analysis Service (NEODAAS) provides a central point of Earth Observation (EO) satellite data access and expertise for UK researchers. The service is tailored to individual users’ requirements to ensure that researchers can focus effort on their science, rather than struggling with correct use of unfamiliar satellite data