Time-variable 3D ground displacements from High-Resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Application to La Valette landslide (South French Alps).

Daniel Raucoules (1) , Marcello de Michele (1) , Jean-Philippe Malet (2) , Patrice Ulrich (3)

1 BRGM - Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM)
2 IPGS-DGDA - Dynamique globale et déformation active (IPGS)
3 IPGS - Institut de physique du globe de Strasbourg

We apply an image correlation technique to multi-orbit and multi-temporal High-Resolution (HR) SAR data. Image correlation technique has the advantage of providing displacement maps in two directions; e.g. the Line of Sight direction (LoS) and the Azimuth direction. This information, derived from the two modes of data acquisition (ascending and descending), can be combined routinely to infer the three dimensional surface displacement field at different epochs. In this study, a methodology is developed to characterize the displacement pattern of the large La Valette landslide (South French Alps) using TerraSAR-X images acquired in 2010. The results allow mapping the dynamics of different units of the La Valette landslide at high spatial resolution. The study demonstrates the potential of this new application of High Resolution SAR image correlation technique for landslide ground surface deformation monitoring.

Mots clés: SAR; Image correlation; Ground surface deformation; Landslides

Domaines: Sciences de la Terre

Daniel Raucoules, Marcello de Michele, Jean-Philippe Malet, Patrice Ulrich. Time-variable 3D ground displacements from High-Resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Application to La Valette landslide (South French Alps).. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2013, 139, pp.198-204. ⟨10.1016/j.rse.2013.08.006⟩. ⟨hal-00863822⟩