The Maoxian landslide as seen from space: detecting precursors of failure with Sentinel-1 data

Post-event Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) analysis on a stack of 45 C-band SAR images acquired by the ESA Sentinel-1 satellites from 9 October 2014 to 19 June 2017 allowed the identification of a clear precursory deformation signal for the Maoxian landslide (Mao County, Sichuan Province, China). The landslide occurred in the early morning of 24 June 2017 and killed more than 100 people in the village of Xinmo. Sentinel-1 images have been processed through an advanced multi-interferogram analysis capable of maximising the density of measurement points, generating ground deformation maps and displacement time series for an area of 460 km² straddling the Minjiang River and the Songping Gully. InSAR data clearly show the precursors of the slope failure in the source area of the Maoxian landslide, with a maximum displacement rate detected of 27 mm/year along the line of sight of the satellite. Deformation time series of measurement points identified within the main scarp of the landslide exhibit an acceleration starting from April 2017. A detailed time series analysis leads to the classification of different deformation behaviours. The Fukuzono method for forecasting the time of failure appear to be applicable to the displacement data exhibiting progressive acceleration. Results suggest that satellite radar data, systematically acquired over large areas with short revisiting time, could be used not only as a tool for mapping unstable areas, but also for landslide monitoring, at least for some typologies of sliding phenomena.     

Investigating a reservoir bank slope displacement history with multi-frequency satellite SAR data

Slope instability arisen along with dam construction is a common problem of great concern in reservoir areas. Thus, displacement monitoring of active slopes is of great importance for the safety of dam operation. The unstable Guobu slope is located only about 1.5 km away from Laxiwa hydropower station in upstream Yellow River. In this study, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) datasets acquired by C-band Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT) Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR), L-band Advanced Land Observing Satellite 2 (ALOS-2) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar 2 (PALSAR-2), and X-band TerraSAR-X covering different evolution stages of Guobu slope were collected to investigate the displacement history so as to facilitate understanding of its deformation and failure mechanisms. The displacements occurred during the past decade were quantitatively identified for the first time by SAR pixel offset tracking analyses. The results show that before the reservoir impoundment, the maximum accumulative displacements on the slope were more than 7 m from 2003 to 2008, while the post-impoundment displacements also exceeded 7 m in just 1 year from September 2009 to September 2010. Furthermore, this slope is still in active deformation up to now. Nevertheless, the displacement rates seem decreased recently according to the interferometric results of TerraSAR-X data pairs from September 2015 to March 2016.     

时序InSAR技术三峡库区藕塘滑坡稳定性监测与状态更新

坡体表面形变是表征坡体稳定性的重要信息,因此,非常有必要对滑坡多发区域进行时序常规变形监测.近年来,星载合成孔径雷达数据由于其覆盖范围大、形变监测精度高的特点,被越来越多的用于山区滑坡识别与探测.首先介绍了联合分布式目标与点目标的时序InSAR方法,并将该方法应用于分析覆盖三峡藕塘滑坡的2007年至2011年的19景ALOS PALSAR数据和2015年至2018年的47景Sentinel-1数据,提取了数据覆盖时间段内的藕塘地区的变形速率.发现相比于2007年至2011年,2015年至2018年新增三处不稳定斜坡.进一步对滑坡的时序变形分析表明,降雨和水位变化是坡体稳定性最大的两个影响因素.实验证明时序InSAR方法可以作为常规形变手段来识别与监测三峡库区等地区潜在的滑坡,为防灾减灾提供支持与依据.      

Sentinel-1数据在西南山区水库变形斜坡InSAR监测中的适用性评价:以溪洛渡水库为例

Sentinel卫星凭借其超高的辐射分辨率、稳定的轨道系统、较大的覆盖能力、较短的重返时间、可免费下载的数据,在斜坡灾害识别监测方向上有广泛的应用。自1963年意大利瓦伊昂特大滑坡发生以来,岸坡地质灾害一直是峡谷区水库关注的主要问题之一。以金沙江上游溪洛渡水库区为例,结合PALSAR-2、TerraSAR-X数据,评价Sentinel-1 SAR数据在西南山区水库变形斜坡InSAR监测中的适用性,以理论结合实际结果分析Sentinel-1数据是否可以在一定条件下替代其他商业数据,为今后相关行业应用提供参考。结果显示:Sentinel-1数据在研究区可解译的变形斜坡约200处,类型有滑坡、危岩体和塌岸;经现场核查,Sentinel-1数据解译的最小变形斜坡投影面积约为2400 m2,约35 m(长)×77 m(宽)大小,共16个变形像元聚集。高山峡谷区叠掩、阴影现象严重,通过对雷达常用观测模式下的SAR数据的比较,在SAR数据交集区域,有效观测面积为Sentinel-1升轨70.3%,Sentinel-1降轨68.9%,PALSAR-2升轨70.4%,PALSAR-2降轨67.6%,TerraSAR-X降轨52.5%,在不考虑分辨率的情况下,在库区Sentinel-1数据与其他两种SAR数据观测能力相比持平或更优秀。6月至11月初是溪洛渡水库的水位上升期,周边植被发育较好,造成数据相干性较差,2017年后Sentinel-1A(1B)双星拍摄获取的SAR数据量增加,高频观测可使相干性提高,利用2017年后该卫星数据可有效识别水库蓄—排水周期内的区域性变形斜坡发育变化情况。当长时间缺失SAR数据时,会造成最近一对SAR数据间的某些像元测量的变形超过其InSAR最大量程,解缠时丢失相位周期。Sentinel-1数据由于连续性较好,监测斜坡的变形趋势较为连续,因此更适合连续小变形的趋势识别。      

Detection and accuracy of landslide movement by InSAR analysis using PALSAR-2 data

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) analysis is a radar technique for generating large-area maps of ground deformation using differences in the phase of microwaves returning to a satellite. In recent years, high-resolution SAR sensors have been developed that enable small-scale slope deformation to be detected, such as the partial block movement of a landslide. The L-band SAR (PALSAR-2) is mounted on Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2), which was launched on 24 Mar. 2014. Its main improvements compared with ALOS are enhanced resolution of as high as 3 m with a high-frequency recurrence period (14 days). Owing to its high resolution and the use of the L-band, PALSAR-2 can obtain reflective data passing through a tree canopy surface, unlike the other synthetic aperture radars. Therefore, the coherence of InSAR in mountainous forest areas is less likely to decrease, making it advantageous for the extraction of slope movement. In this study, to verify the accuracy of InSAR analysis using PALSAR-2 data, we compared the results of InSAR analysis and the measurement of the displacement in a landslide by global navigation satellite system (GNSS) observation. It was found that the average difference between the displacements obtained by InSAR analysis and the field measurements by GNSS was only 15.1 mm in the slant range direction, indicating the high accuracy of InSAR analysis. Many of the areas detected by InSAR analysis corresponded to the locations of surface changes due to landslide activity. Additionally, in the areas detected by InSAR analysis using multiple datasets, the ground changes due to landslide movement were confirmed by site investigation.     

Retrieval of time series three-dimensional landslide surface displacements from multi-angular SAR observations

A major limitation for wide application of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) remote sensing in mapping landslide surface displacements is the intrinsic gap between the ultimate objective of measuring three-dimensional displacements and the limited capability of detecting only one or two-dimensional displacements by repeat-pass SAR observations of identical imaging geometries. Although multi-orbit SAR observations of dissimilar viewing geometries can be jointly analyzed to inverse the three-dimensional displacements, the reliability of inversion results might be highly questionable in case of continuous motion because of the usually asynchronous acquisitions of multi-orbit SAR datasets. Aiming at this problem, we proposed an approach of retrieving time series three-dimensional displacements from multi-angular SAR datasets for step-like landslides in the Three Gorges area in this article. Firstly, time series displacements of a common ground target in the azimuth and line-of-sight (LOS) direction can be estimated using traditional methods of SAR interferometry (InSAR) and SAR pixel offset tracking (POT), respectively. Then, a spline fitting and interpolation procedure was employed to parameterize the displacement history in the sliding/dormant periods of step-like landslides and estimate displacements from multi-angular observations for identical date series. Finally, three-dimensional displacements can be inverted from these synchronized multi-angular measured displacements in traditional ways. As a case study, the proposed method was applied to retrieve the three-dimensional displacements history of the Shuping landslide in the Three Gorges area, China. Comparisons between SAR-measured displacements and measurements of global positioning system (GPS) showed good agreement. Furthermore, temporal correlation analyses suggest that reservoir water level fluctuation and rainfall are the two most important impact factors for the Shuping landslide stability.     

川西高原活动性滑坡识别与空间分布特征研究

成都平原向西至松潘?甘孜褶皱带完成了从平原到高山峡谷区的转变,区域内起伏落差巨大,地势奇峻,河流下切侵蚀严重,构造活动频繁,地震频发,内外动力作用强烈,地质灾害众多。文章利用覆盖全区的Sentinel-1A升降轨数据以及重点区域的ALOS-2数据进行InSAR技术处理,结合GIS空间分析,对研究区活动性滑坡进行早期识别以及空间分布规律的探索,再辅以部分野外调查佐证,获得了以下认识:研究区滑坡集中分布地区按其诱因可分为水库蓄水诱发灾害区（黑水县毛尔盖水库）、震后破碎山体灾害区（茂县岷江与黑水沟交界、汶川至理县一带、九寨沟至石鸡坝镇一线）和重要河流灾害区（舟曲、腊子口镇、小金县和丹巴县）;区域内活动性滑坡主要分布于千枚岩等变质岩和泥页岩等碎屑岩中;主要地形范围为坡向南东、东、北东向,坡度15°~40°,高程区间1000~3000 m,相对高差>1000 m;主要分布断裂有岷江断裂、玛曲?荷叶断裂、光盖山?迭山北麓断裂和茂汶?汶川断裂。Sentinel-1A升降轨数据的结合,使得有效观测区域提高到研究区面积的73.41%。在川西高原区ALOS-2数据相对优于Sentinel-1A数据,ALOS-2和Sentinel-1A数据在九寨沟和茂县重叠区识别的结果重合率为58.7%和44.8%,识别数量前者分别是后者的3.98倍和1.39倍。      

Measuring displacements of the Thompson River valley landslides,south of Ashcroft,BC, Canada,using satellite InSAR

The Thompson River valley, south of Ashcroft in British Columbia, Canada, has experienced several landslides since the mid-1800s. The national railways that run along the valley cross a number of these landslides. All the landslides occur in glacial deposits, typically sliding on weak clay layers. Some have failed rapidly to very rapidly and are currently inactive or showing deformation rates from a few millimeters to centimeters per year. An evaluation of satellite InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) using RADARSAT-2 images between September 2013 and November 2015 provides new insight into landslide displacements in the Thompson River valley. This information enhances the ongoing hazard management of unstable terrain. This paper presents the comparison of the InSAR measurements with other instrumentation (GPS and ShapeAccelArrays? -SAA) installed at one moving landslide and then addresses the extent and magnitude of the slope movements observed. InSAR was found to provide similar displacement values to those measured otherwise. The stable location showed displacements of +/?1 mm with an average near zero during the whole monitoring period. Six areas of slope movement were identified within the study area, all within or adjacent to the footprints of past landslides. The average line of sight (LOS) displacement rates range between 11 and 39 mm/year. Most of the landslides exhibited seasonal variations in velocity that corresponds to changes in river elevation in the valley.     

蔚县矿区地面沉陷InSAR多维形变监测

河北蔚县是我国华北地区最大的地下采煤区之一,该地区长期存在采矿塌陷灾害,不仅威胁采矿安全,而且严重破坏当地生态环境。本文基于合成孔径雷达干涉（InSAR）这一新型空间对地观测技术,采用61景Sentinel-1A/B干涉宽幅（Interferometric Wide swath,IW）模式数据进行矿区形变观测,获取整个矿区在2017—2018年间的地表形变空间分布特征,并对矿区地表的沉降量级及面积进行详细的统计分析。此外,采用融合多轨道SAR数据的多维形变时序估计方法,对西细庄矿数据进行东西向和垂向的二维形变分解,获取该矿的二维形变时间序列。结果表明:除南留庄井田外,其余三大井田在监测期间均存在不同程度的地面沉陷灾害;整个矿区年沉陷速率超过-10 cm/a的区域达到了2.16 km2;受成像几何影响,不同轨道数据获取的形变结果存在一定差异;西细庄矿以垂向形变为主,伴随明显的东西向水平形变。研究结果为蔚县矿区地面沉陷监测与煤矿安全开采提供数据参考。      

Analysis with C- and X-band satellite SAR data of the Portalet landslide area

This paper describes the use of the Stable Point Network technique, a Persistent Scatterer Interferometry SAR technique, for the analysis of the Portalet landslide area (Central Pyrenees, Spain). For this purpose, different SAR datasets acquired by ERS-1, ERS-2, ENVISAT and TerraSAR-X satellites have been analysed. The use of different SAR images acquired by satellite radar sensors operating at different microwave lengths has allowed for a comparative assessment and illustration of the advantages and disadvantages of these satellites for landslide detection and monitoring. In the introduction, differential interferometry and the study area are briefly described. Then the specifics of the SPN processing and the results of the different datasets are described and compared. In Analysis of the results: the Portalet landslide area, the Portalet landslide area is introduced and the radar displacement measurements are analysed with available geo-information data. Additionally, X-band measurements are compared with those gathered by a ground-based SAR for a previous project. Finally, the most relevant conclusions of this work are discussed.     

基于光学遥感与InSAR技术的潜在滑坡与老滑坡综合识别

我国滇西北区域地质灾害频发,主要灾害类型为滑坡,对该区域进行滑坡类地质灾害隐患识别是有效的防灾减灾措施,传统的地质灾害隐患识别手段较为单一,且依赖大量的人力,调查效率较低。利用WordView2、Sentinel-1A、ALOS-2几种遥感卫星数据,进行Stacking-InSAR等技术的处理,得到多种光学卫星影像和InSAR处理的地表形变图,建立滇西北区域潜在滑坡与老滑坡的光学解译标志和InSAR识别标志,并进行多次目视解译和人工交互式解译。依据解译、识别成果,总结识别方法并进行野外调查验证。共识别潜在滑坡与老滑坡696处,为今后滇西北区域地质灾害调查与评价提供新的调查思路和技术参考。     

Extracting damages caused by the 2008 Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake from SAR remote sensing data

Bad weather conditions usually limit the acquisition of optical remote sensing images, while all day and all weather synthetic aperture radar (SAR) shows the ability of providing timely remote sensing data for emergency response and rescue works after earthquake. Because SAR is sensitive to the surface changes caused by earthquake, the modified electromagnetic behaviour by geological disasters and the collapse of buildings can be recorded in SAR images as backscattering intensity changes. Absolute radiometric calibration was performed to SAR products to derive backscattering coefficient sigma nought from image digital number (DN). Based on change detection methods, Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) data and TerraSAR-X data acquired for the Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake were used to extract earthquake damage information. This study revealed that landslides showed stronger backscattering and barrier lakes showed lower backscattering in post-earthquake 10 m ALOS PALSAR images comparing to pre-earthquake, and collapsed buildings showed lower backscattering compared to un-collapsed buildings in 1 m TerraSAR-X image. Results showed that SAR data with different spatial resolutions are useful for different earthquake damage information extraction: medium spatial resolution SAR data, e.g. 10 m ALOS PALSAR data, were efficient for secondary geological disaster extraction; high-resolution SAR data, e.g. 1 m TerraSAR-X data, with the help of ancillary GIS data or high-resolution optical data, could be used to extract building collapse information in urban areas. This study indicates that SAR remote sensing data can provide earthquake damage information at early emergency stage and assist the field surveying, further damage assessment and post-earthquake reconstruction.     

西藏樟木口岸震后滑坡灾害变形InSAR监测分析

位于中国和尼泊尔边境的西藏樟木口岸是国家一类陆路通商口岸,也是西藏最大的边贸中心口岸。2015年尼泊尔大地震之后,西藏樟木口岸因多次发生滑坡灾害,而导致口岸关闭。为了调查樟木口岸区域滑坡灾害的分布和变形情况及更好的服务于区域减灾防灾,利用InSAR技术对覆盖该区域的Sentinel-1A和ALOS-2两种卫星影像数据进行了处理,并通过分析视线向年均形变速率图,圈定了17处疑似滑坡,并对其中的5处典型滑坡进行时间序列形变特征分析,监测识别出的滑坡基本沿318国道所在一侧的波曲河左岸分布。InSAR调查结果表明受地震影响樟木地区的滑坡多分布在沿波曲河左岸的陡峭山体上,中尼公路迪斯岗至友谊桥段的古滑坡出现了局部复活的现象,同时樟木镇居民所在的城区也发育有扎美拉山危岩体崩塌滑坡灾害。      

澜沧江拉金神谷滑坡成灾机理分析

涉水型古滑坡是西南水电工程区常见的灾害类型,揭示这类滑坡的成灾机理有助于降低链式灾害发生风险概率。以云南省德钦县燕门乡拉金神谷古滑坡为例,基于野外地质调查、InSAR监测和数值模拟研究,结合滑坡区工程地质条件,分析了滑坡的变形特征和破坏演化全过程。研究结果表明：(1)拉金神谷滑坡成灾过程为前缘局部变形阶段→后缘拉裂阶段→滑坡—堰塞湖阶段→堰塞湖溃决阶段;(2)库水位上升和降雨共同作用是诱发滑坡大变形的直接原因;(3)若该滑坡的地质环境条件持续恶化,发生滑坡堵溃型链式灾害的风险很高。通过对拉金神谷古滑坡的成灾机理研究,提出了引入InSAR等监测调查技术手段开展类似涉水古滑坡排查的地质灾害早期识别建议,这对防范类似的高位链式地质灾害具有重要实践意义。     

基于SAR/In SAR技术的雅鲁藏布江下游高位地质灾害早期识别

雅鲁藏布江下游位于印度板块和欧亚板块碰撞的前缘地带,区域内新构造运动活跃,高山分布众多,属典型高山深切割区。由于独特的地质构造以及气候变化的影响,区域内崩塌、滑坡、泥石流等地质灾害频发。文章采用Sentinel-1影像以及ALOS/PALSAR-2影像通过多种时序InSAR技术和SAR偏移量技术联合的方式对区域内2014—2020年高位地质灾害进行了识别。文章研究结果表明：在研究区内共存在260处地质灾害形变区,且大多位于海拔较高的沟道与山峰;泽巴隆巴冰川沟中的岩崩形变体已经形成多条大型拉张裂缝,一旦发生崩落极有可能形成堰塞湖;受米林地震影响而复活的达波古滑坡后缘已经完全脱离,左右两侧裂缝完全贯通,滑坡一旦失稳会完全堵塞雅鲁藏布江。此研究提供了识别高山峡谷区高位地质灾害的SAR/InSAR技术方法,为类似的地质灾害识别提供了参考。     

基于TerraSAR-X强度图像相关法测量三峡树坪滑坡时空形变

三峡工程蓄水之后,有可能引起两岸滑坡的发生.本文以三峡库区树坪为研究区域,对不同时相的TerraSAR-X的强度图进行相关计算,求解出2009年2月至2009年10月期间发生的滑坡位移场时空演化.结果表明,在滑坡发生的前几个月,累积变形量很小;在滑坡发生的两三个月当中,变形量比较大,平均位移达到51cm;之后的几个月中,变形量又恢复到平静期的数值,与布设在该区的位移伸缩计结果一致.从本文的研究可以看出,该方法不仅能计算出滑坡引起的形变场,而且能探测地面形变的早期信号,可以用它作为三峡库区未来滑坡监测的重要技术手段.     

Ground subsidence in Semarang-Indonesia investigated by ALOS–PALSAR satellite SAR interferometry

The focus of this study is investigation of land subsidence in Semarang city Indonesia with the use of Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) of ALOS–PALSAR satellite. We processed 22 ascending SAR images during January 2007 to January 2009 plus two descending SAR images acquired on 6 June 2006 and 17 June 2007. The time series analysis of interferometry was performed by using 12 pairs of interferogram relative to 21 January 2007 and 8 pairs of interferogram relative 24 January 2008. The topographic phase contribution was removed using the 3-arcsec (90 m) Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), Digital Elevation Model (DEM). We performed precision baseline estimation to vanish the fringes from baseline effect between master and slave data. In order to investigate the contribution of horizontal movement in our analysis, we constructed two interferograms of ascending orbit and descending orbit. The time series results exhibited that the area is subsiding continuously without a significant seasonal effect during January 2007 to January 2009. The land subsidence observed from InSAR data is approximately up to 8 cm/year. Three cross sections on image displacement show the extreme land subsidence occurred especially along the coastal area and lowland area where this area is considered as industrial with high-density settlements, consuming a lot of groundwater, and land is changed from agriculture and cultivation purposes to industrial estates and house. Our result also shows a consistency with historical pattern of subsidence measured by leveling data. The results highlight the potential use of InSAR measurements to provide better constraints for land subsidence in Semarang city Indonesia.     

月基InSAR观测地球大尺度形变能力的初步研究——以固体地球垂向潮汐形变为例

从合成孔径雷达干涉测量的原理出发,针对月基InSAR观测地球宏观物理现象的大尺度、连续性、长期性、动态观测等特点,首次以固体地球垂向潮汐形变为例对月基InSAR观测地球大尺度形变现象进行了仿真模拟,分析了该技术的远程大范围观测能力。根据固体地球垂向潮汐形变的大尺度分布特征和月基雷达的超大幅宽的观测特点,采用简化月基雷达观测几何模型,选定经纬跨度均为50°的中低纬区域为模拟测区,并计算了月基雷达重访周期与雷达波束扫过选定模拟测区内各点时的垂向潮汐形变,将形变计算结果进行时间差分,得到差分相对垂向潮汐形变,即是月基InSAR可观测到的垂向潮汐形变。模拟数值结果表明,月基雷达的重访周期约为24.8 h,在30天内各点的差分垂向潮汐形变可达30 cm。鉴于目前月基InSAR的理论形变观测精度达到厘米级,因此理论上用月基InSAR技术能够观测到模拟测区固体地球大范围垂向潮汐整体形变,也能利用观测数据研究地球潮汐大范围时间和空间变化特征;另一方面模拟结果也可为月基SAR观测其他地球宏观物理现象的参数设计与模拟提供参考。     

Deformation measurements using SAR interferometry: potential and limitations

Most applications of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) make only use of the amplitude information in just one image. Interferometric SAR (InSAR) makes use mainly of the phase measurements in two or more SAR images of the same scene, acquired at two different moments and/or at two slightly different locations. By interference of the two images, very small slant-range changes of the same surface can be inferred. These slant-range changes can be related to topography and/or surface deformations. InSAR thus has the potential of mapping centimeter-scale ground displacements over a region many tens of kilometers in size at a resolution of a few meters making it one of the most promising space-geodetic techniques for monitoring Earth's surface deformations. The goal of this paper is to discuss some of the potential new applications of InSAR for the monitoring of deformations, and to show its major limitations. Some potential new applications of InSAR related to surface-change detection including earthquake and crustal studies, the monitoring of volcanoes and anthropogenic effects, and the monitoring of glaciers and ice sheets are presented. The discussion on the limitations of InSAR for surface-change detection focuses on atmospheric perturbations and the problem of temporal decorrelation.