We define the geometric and kinematic characteristics of the fault activated during the Mw = 6.3, 6 April 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, from the modeling of Envisat and COSMO‐SkyMed (the first ever X‐band interferogram inverted for a coseismic dislocation study) DInSAR interferograms. Our best‐fit solution for the main shock is represented by a normal fault ∼16 km long and ∼12 km wide, with a small right‐lateral component, dipping 47°SW with a maximum slip of ∼90 cm. Although the seismic dislocation probably ended at 1 km depth, the updip projection of the fault plane corresponds to the northern segment of the mapped Paganica–S. Demetrio fault, where alignment of surface breaks was observed in the field. The absence of this fault in existing seismic source catalogues suggests that an improved approach, involving detailed surface and subsurface geological and geophysical investigations, is needed for a better assessment of the seismic hazard at the local scale.

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Abstract. An algorithm developed to map flooded areas from synthetic aperture radar imagery is presented in this paper. It is conceived to be inserted in the operational flood management system of the Italian Civil Protection and can be used in an almost automatic mode or in an interactive mode, depending on the user's needs. The approach is based on the fuzzy logic that is used to integrate theoretical knowledge about the radar return from inundated areas taken into account by means of three electromagnetic scattering models, with simple hydraulic considerations and contextual information. This integration aims at allowing a user to cope with situations, such as the presence of vegetation in the flooded area, in which inundation mapping from satellite radars represents a difficult task. The algorithm is designed to work with radar data at L, C, and X frequency bands and employs also ancillary data, such as a land cover map and a digital elevation model. The flood mapping procedure is tested on an inundation that occurred in Albania on January 2010 using COSMO-SkyMed very high resolution X-band SAR data.

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