Sentinel-1 Data Analysis for Landslide Detection and Mapping: First Experiences in Italy and Spain

The differential interferometric SAR (DInSAR) technique is a powerful tool to detect and monitor ground deformation. In this paper we address an important DInSAR application, which is the detection and mapping of landslides. The potential of DInSAR to detect and monitor landslides has been extensively documented in the literature, mainly using the C-band data from the European Remote Sensing (ERS-1 and -2), Envisat and Radarsat missions. A significant improvement in landslide monitoring is expected by the SAR data of the two satellites Sentinel-1A and -1B of the European Space Agency. This paper describes the authors’ first experience using Sentinel-1 for landslide monitoring. The paper describes the data processing and analysis strategy, and then illustrates some deformation measurement results obtained over Italy and Spain.