Using several monitoring techniques to measure the rock mass deformation in the Montserrat Massif

Montserrat Mountain is located near Barcelona in Catalonia, at the north-east corner of Spain, and its massif is formed by conglomerate interleaved by siltstone/sandstone with steep slopes very prone to rock falls. The increasing visitor's number in the monastery area, reaching 2.4 million per year, has pointed out the risk derived from rock falls for this building area and also for the terrestrial accesses, both roads and rack railway. A risk mitigation plan is currently been applied for 2014-2016 that contains monitoring testing and implementation as a key point. The preliminary results of the pilot tests carried out during 2014 are presented, also profiting from previous sparse experiences and data, and combining 4 monitoring techniques under different conditions of continuity in space and time domains, which are: displacement monitoring with Ground-based Synthetic Aperture Radar and characterization at slope scale, with an extremely non uniform atmospheric phase screen because of the stepped topography and atmosphere stratification; Terrestrial Laser Scanner surveys quantifying frequency for unnoticed activity of small rock falls, and monitoring rock block displacements over 1cm; monitoring of rock joints with a wireless net of sensors; and tentative surveying for singular rocky needles with Total Station

Radar interferometry techniques for the study of ground subsidence phenomena: a review of practical issues through cases in Spain

Subsidence related to multiple natural and human-induced processes affects an increasing number of areas worldwide. Although this phenomenon may involve surface deformation with 3D displacement components, negative vertical movement, either progressive or episodic, tends to dominate. Over the last decades, differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) has become a very useful remote sensing tool for accurately measuring the spatial and temporal evolution of surface displacements over broad areas. This work discusses the main advantages and limitations of addressing active subsidence phenomena by means of DInSAR techniques from an end-user point of view. Special attention is paid to the spatial and temporal resolution, the precision of the measurements, and the usefulness of the data. The presented analysis is focused on DInSAR results exploitation of various ground subsidence phenomena (groundwater withdrawal, soil compaction, mining subsidence, evaporite dissolution subsidence, and volcanic deformation) with different displacement patterns in a selection of subsidence areas in Spain. Finally, a cost comparative study is performed for the different techniques applied.The different research areas included in this paper has been supported by the projects: CGL2005-05500-C02, CGL2008-06426-C01-01/BTE, AYA2 010-17448, IPT-2011-1234-310000, TEC-2008-06764, ACOMP/2010/082, AGL2009-08931/AGR, 2012GA-LC-036, 2003-03-4.3-I-014, CGL2006-05415, BEST-2011/225, CGL2010-16775, TEC2011-28201, 2012GA-LC-021 and the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship to PJG

Cartografía de zonas inundables y análisis de riesgo en Cataluña (Plan Inuncat)

Ponencia presentada en: V Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de Climatología celebrado en Zaragoza del 18 al 21 de septiembre de 2006.[ES]Se expone el contenido y la metodología empleada en la elaboración del Plan de Emergencias por inundaciones de Cataluña (INUNCAT). El Plan comprende el sistema de alerta, la organización y los procedimientos de actuación en el caso de inundaciones extraordinarias, de los servicios de la Generalitat de Catalunya, de las otras administraciones y de las entidades públicas. La asignación del nivel de riesgo requiere del análisis de la peligrosidad para diferentes períodos de retorno, del análisis de la vulnerabilidad de los elementos expuestos, así como de la zonificación del territorio y la localización de los puntos conflictivos.[EN]The special plan of floods emergencies of Catalonia (INUNCAT) must face as main objective the flood emergencies in the territorial Catalonia (DGESC). Thus, the warning system, the organization and the procedures of performance in case of flood are defined. All its previous quantification and location of the fundamental aspects for the risk analysis, between which they emphasize the hazard analysis and the establishment of the recurrence times, the vulnerability, the zonation and the location of conflicting points

PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM AN ADVANCED DINSAR-GIS APPLICATION FOR RISK MANAGEMENT

This paper presents an advanced DInSAR-GIS technique developed by the Cartographic Institute of Catalonia (ICC) for the generation of precise terrain deformation maps using data acquired by satellite platforms. These radar systems, known as Synthetic Aperture Radars (SAR), allow obtaining terrain reflectivity images, which are processed by means of DInSAR algorithms for monitoring ground stability. The great advantage of these techniques relies on the possibility of monitoring large areas with no need of field measurements and at low cost. This work presents several results obtained with the DISICC (Differential Interferometry SAR ICC) software developed at ICC and their integration into an ArcGIS environment for risk management. 1

Radar interferometry techniques for the study of ground subsidence phenomena: A review of practical issues through cases in Spain

Subsidence related to multiple natural and human-induced processes affects an increasing number of areas worldwide. Although this phenomenon may involve surface deformation with 3D displacement components, negative vertical movement, either progressive or episodic, tends to dominate. Over the last decades, differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) has become a very useful remote sensing tool for accurately measuring the spatial and temporal evolution of surface displacements over broad areas. This work discusses the main advantages and limitations of addressing active subsidence phenomena by means of DInSAR techniques from an end-user point of view. Special attention is paid to the spatial and temporal resolution, the precision of the measurements, and the usefulness of the data. The presented analysis is focused on DInSAR results exploitation of various ground subsidence phenomena (groundwater withdrawal, soil compaction, mining subsidence, evaporite dissolution subsidence, and volcanic deformation) with different displacement patterns in a selection of subsidence areas in Spain. Finally, a cost comparative study is performed for the different techniques applied.Peer Reviewe