C/X-band SAR interferometry used to monitor slope instability in Daunia, Italy

We apply multi-temporal Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) analysis to investigate slope instability in the Daunia region in the Southern Apennine Mountains. Daunia includes many small hill-top towns affected by landslides and is of particular interest for the Civil Protection - Regione Puglia Authority, one of the end users of the PSI deformation maps. The SPINUA algorithm is used to perform interferometric analysis and detect, with mm precision, the presence of ground surface movements. Consistent results on very slow displacements are obtained using the radar imagery acquired between 2002 and 2010 by the ENVISAT ESA satellite (C-band, medium spatial resolution sensor) and the images acquired between 2010-2011 by the X-band high resolution sensor onboard the TerraSAR-X satellite. Thanks to the finer spatial resolution the X-band PSI applications are very promising for monitoring single man-made structures and slope/ground instability in areas where C-band PS density is low.