Evaluating Multi-Temporal DInSAR Measurements of Ground Surface Deformation Around the Rhenish Coalfields in Germany Using Sentinel-1 SAR Imagery

Ground surface deformation caused by land subsidence is a critical aspect when assessing safety and environmental impacts of open-pit mining operations. These mining-induced deformations can cause severe damage to local infrastructure and buildings located in the region. Monitoring mining operations using traditional techniques is laborious, costly and time consuming, with many locations being difficult to access. As a result, in-situ observations of surface movement and structural stability are often sparsely completed along areas of high risk or concern. Remote sensing observations facilitate a reliable, temporally and spatially continuous monitoring process of mining operations, regardless of physical accessibility, at large scales with minimal cost. In this study, two commonly used C-band Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) methods, namely Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) and Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI), are applied to Sentinel-1 data to show consistency when observing land displacement in the Rhenish coalfields region in Germany. Deformation rates around the Rhenish coalfields are assessed for 2015 and 2016, independently, using both techniques and compared using GNSS station data of three nearby stations part of the EUREF network. The primary focus on this study is to determine the performance differences between the two techniques. The PSI deformation estimates showed significantly lower variation in measurements but had a severely limited spatial coverage compared to the SBAS estimates. Comparison of annual deformation rates measured by the two techniques showed a stronger agreement for 2016 (RMSE = 8.7 mm/year) than 2015 (RMSE = 26 mm/year). The discrepancy between annual comparisons is caused by overestimation of surface subsidence rates by the 2015 SBAS measurements. This overestimation is likely the result of atmospheric artefacts propagating into the phase unwrapping due to a lack of sufficient SAR scenes available in 2015. It was determined that the SBAS technique benefits more heavily from additional data and when data is limited, the PSI technique proves to be more reliable for measuring annual deformation rates. Despite this, both techniques observed similar overall deformation patterns across the landscape but reported different magnitude of deformation; commonly observed in other studies. The two methods showed stronger agreement over targets characterized as hard impermeable surfaces (e.g. built-up areas). Although only one of the three publicly available GNSS sites coincided with the InSAR study domain, when compared with base station GNSS sites, the DInSAR estimates are within the uncertainty range of the GNSS measurements, indicating good potential. This thesis illustrates the applicability of using satellite remote sensing observations to monitor mining-induced surface deformations to supplement traditional monitoring techniques

ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 Calibration, Validation, Science and Applications

Twelve edited original papers on the latest and state-of-art results of topics ranging from calibration, validation, and science to a wide range of applications using ALOS-2/PALSAR-2. We hope you will find them useful for your future research

Desertification in Europe: mitigation strategies, land use planning: Proceedings of the advanced study course held in Alghero, Sardinia, Italy from 31 May to 10 June 1999

The present volume is based on lectures given at the course held in Alghero, Sardinia, Italy, from 31 May to 10 June 1999 on ‘Desertification in Europe: Mitigation Strategies, Land Use Planning’. It also contains presentations, given by the participating students, on their own research activities and interests. With the adoption of the International Convention to Combat Desertification, which represents a follow up of the Rio recommendations, this publication is timely. It highlights the specific situation of the Southern European regions and provides a comprehensive and state-of-the-art review of this complex issue

Global Monitoring for Security and Stability (GMOSS) - Integrated Scientific and Technological Research Supporting Security Aspects of the European Union

This report is a collection of scientific activities and achievements of members of the GMOSS Network of Excellence during the period March 2004 to November 2007. Exceeding the horizon of classical remote-sensing-focused projects, GMOSS is characterized by the integration of political and social aspects of security with the assessment of remote sensing capabilities and end-users support opportunities. The report layout reflects the work breakdown structure of GMOSS and is divided into four parts. Part I Concepts and Integration addresses the political background of European Security Policy and possibilities for Earth Observation technologies for a contribution. Besides it illustrates integration activities just as the GMOSS Gender Action Plan or a description of the GMOSS testcases. Part II of this book presents various Application activities conducted by the network partners. The contributions vary from pipeline sabotage analysis in Iraq to GIS studies about groundwater vulnerability in Gaza Strip, from Population Monitoring in Zimbabwe to Post-Conflict Urban Reconstruction Assessments and many more. Part III focuses on the research and development of image processing methods and Tools. The themes range from SAR interferometry for the measurement of Surface Displacement to Robust Satellite Techniques for monitoring natural hazards like volcanoes and earthquakes. Further subjects are the 3D detection of buildings in VHR imagery or texture analysis techniques on time series of satellite images with variable illumination and many other more. The report closes with Part IV. In the chapter ¿The Way Forward¿ a review on four years of integrated work is done. Challenges and achievements during this period are depicted. It ends with an outlook about a possible way forward for integrated European security research.JRC.G.2-Support to external securit

Earth Resources: A continuing bibliography, with indexes, issue 31

This bibliography lists 505 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system. Emphasis is placed on the use of remote sensing and geophysical instrumentation in spacecraft and aircraft to survey and inventory natural resources and urban areas. Subject matter is grouped according to agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

Eighth International Symposium “Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas. Problems and Measurement Techniques”

The 8th International Symposium "Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas. Problems and Measurements Techniques" was organized by CNR-IBE in collaboration with FCS Foundation, and Natural History Museum of the Mediterranean and under the patronage of University of Florence, Accademia dei Geogofili, Tuscany Region and Livorno Province. It is the occasion in which scholars can illustrate and exchange their activities and innovative proposals, with common aims to promote actions to preserve coastal marine environment. Considering Symposium interdisciplinary nature, the Scientific Committee, underlining this holistic view of Nature, decided to celebrate Alexander von Humboldt; a nature scholar that proposed the organic and inorganic nature’s aspects as a single system. It represents a sign of continuity considering that in-presence Symposium could not be carried out due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Subjects are related to coastal topics: morphology; flora and fauna; energy production; management and integrated protection; geography and landscape, cultural heritage and environmental assets, legal and economic aspects