Early estimation of ground displacements and building damage after seismic events using SAR and LiDAR data: The case of the Amatrice earthquake in central Italy, on 24th August 2016

The increasing accessibility of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data, grants the opportunity to experiment new methods to support disaster risk management. However, while SAR analyses are becoming extremely popular, thanks, in particular, to the availability of open source satellite images such as those from the Copernicus project, LiDAR analyses are still less common because of the scarce availability of this type of data over significant time frequencies. In this paper we propose an innovative procedure based on the use of SAR and LiDAR data to rapidly assess seismic damage in the early post-emergency phases. The methodology was applied to the case study of the town of Amatrice (Central Italy), which was hit by a strong earthquake swarm that started in August 2016. Specifically, SAR data is used for a large-scale analysis of terrain displacements following the seismic event, while LiDAR reliefs are used to carry out a change detection and to identify the level of damage at a building-scale in the urban settlement of Amatrice. Results will show how the proposed approach can be extremely effective both in the non-emergency phases to monitor seismic-affected areas and support emergency planning, as well as during the immediate post-earthquake phases to assess the damage it has caused and to support first aid dispositions.