Effect of Landslide Deformation on the Stability of St. Andrew’s Church (Kyiv, Ukraine): Applications of Remote Sensing and Mathematical Modeling

Abstract

This article presents the work conducted by the authors to analyze the stability of the St. Andrew’s Church which contains architecture, painting and decorative arts of the XVIII century. The church is located on a landslide-hazardous hill in the historic part of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The architectural monument was built in 1747–1762 upon the project of Francois Bartolomeo Rastrelli in the Baroque style. It is one of the most important architectural monuments in Ukraine, which has cultural and historical value. Fluctuations in the height of the soil of the upper and lower part of the hill, on which St. Andrew’s Church is located, vary from 181.7 to 118.5 m. There are physical and geological hazards around the historic building, such as landslides, loose soil, soil inhomogeneities, and external erosion of the hill. To preserve this national heritage monument, a set of measures needed (monitoring the monument, identifying dangerous areas, carrying out fortification works, etc.). Monitoring of architectural monument in large areas could be carried out using optoelectronic and radar-location data and remote sensing of the Earth from space. Radar-location observations make it possible to determine reliable information about objects that are exposed to landslides and endure displacements (Casagli et al. in Landslides 7:291–301, 2010). Optoelectronic observations are effective for identifying areas and objects, identifying threats, operational assessment of the state of environmental objects, identifying areas that are affected, etc. After obtaining information on specific landslide-hazardous objects, with the help of geographic information systems (GIS) tools, areas of interest are identified for space survey of ultra-high spatial diversity to further assess the state of the architectural monument and the surrounding area. Subsequently, ground research and mathematical calculations of the object under study are carried out and measures are taken to eliminate landslide hazards and preserve the national heritage. With the results of this research, geotechnical works were already carried out to strengthen, restore and reinforce the damaged building structures.