Monitoring the Rapid-Moving Reactivation of Earth Flows by Means of GB-InSAR: The April 2013 Capriglio Landslide (Northern Appennines, Italy)

Abstract

This paper presents the main results of the GB-InSAR (ground based interferometric synthetic aperture radar) monitoring of the Capriglio landslide (Northern Apennines, Emilia Romagna Region, Italy), activated on 6 April 2013. The landslide, triggered by prolonged rainfall, is constituted by two main adjacent enlarging bodies with a roto-translational kinematics. They activated in sequence and subsequently joined into a large earth flow, channelizing downstream of the Bardea Creek, for a total length of about 3600 m. The displacement rate of this combined mass was quite high, so that the landslide toe evolved with velocities of several tens of meters per day (with peaks of 70-80 m/day) in the first month, and of several meters per day (with peaks of 13-14 m/day) from early May to mid-July 2013. In the crown area, the landslide completely destroyed a 450 m sector of provincial roadway S.P. 101, and its retrogression tendency exposed the villages of Capriglio and Pianestolla, located in the upper watershed area of the Bardea Creek, to great danger. Furthermore, the advancing toe seriously threatened the Antria bridge, representing the "Massese" provincial roadway S.P. 665R transect over the Bardea Creek, the only strategic roadway left able to connect the above-mentioned villages. With the final aim of supporting local authorities in the hazard assessment and risk management during the emergency phase, on 4 May 2013 aerial optical surveys were conducted to accurately map the landslide extension and evolution. Moreover, a GB-InSAR monitoring campaign was started in order to assess displacements of the whole landslide area. The versatility and flexibility of the GB-InSAR sensors allowed acquiring data with two different configurations, designed and set up to continuously retrieve information on the landslide movement rates (both in its upper slow-moving sectors and in its fast-moving toe). The first acquisition mode revealed that the Capriglio and Pianestolla villages were affected by minor displacements (at an order of magnitude of a few millimeters per month). The second acquisition mode allowed to acquire data every 28 seconds, reaching very high temporal resolution values by applying the GB-InSAR technique.

Landslide Mapping and Characterization through Infrared Thermography (IRT): Suggestions for a Methodological Approach from Some Case Studies

“…The Capriglio landslide is a large earth flow located in the Northern Apennines (Figure 5d, Table 2), which was triggered in April 2013 by prolonged rainfall and snowmelt [76,77]. The landslide is constituted by two main adjacent enlarging bodies with a roto-translational kinematics; they activated in sequence and subsequently joined into a large earth flow, channelizing downstream of the Bardea Creek for a total length of about 3600 m (Figure 14a-c).…”

Big data managing in a landslide early warning system: experience from a ground-based interferometric radar application

“…The use of this tool to monitor structures, landslides, volcanoes and sinkholes is widely documented (Calvari et al, 2016;Di Traglia, 2014;Intrieri et al, 2015;Bardi et al, 2016Bardi et al, , 2017Martino and Mazzanti, 2014;Severin et al, 2014;Tapete et al, 2013), as well as for early warning and forecasting (Intrieri et al, 2012;Carlà et al, 2016a, b;Lombardi et al, 2016).…”

Remote Sensing of Landslides—A Review

“…3D surface changes can be monitored with TLS LiDAR and GNSS [15] or SAR intensity offset tracking method with a prior deformation model [5]. Finally, continuous fast-moving deformation of earth flow can be obtained by the GB-InSAR technique [9].…”

“…The satellite observations were validated by differential GPS time-series data and proved to be a promising method for monitoring landslides characterized by linear and relatively slow movement rates [4]. GB-InSAR was applied to track the rapid movement of earth flows over the Capriglio landslide in northern Appennines, Italy, which was re-activated in April 2013 [9]. The authors demonstrated the capability of GB-InSAR in measuring high deformation rates (~meters/days) to support local authorities in hazard assessment and risk management.…”