The Experts below are selected from a list of 20454 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Pietro Milillo - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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multi temporal insar structural damage assessment the london crossrail case study
Remote Sensing, 2018Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Giorgia Giardina, Matthew J Dejong, Daniele Perissin, Giovanni MililloAbstract:Spaceborne multi-temporal interferometric synthetic aperture radar (MT-InSAR) is a monitoring technique capable of extracting line of sight (LOS) cumulative surface displacement measurements with millimeter accuracy. Several improvements in the techniques and datasets quality led to more effective, near real time assessment and response, and a greater ability of constraining dynamically changing physical processes. Using examples of the COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) system, we present a methodology that bridges the gaps between MT-InSAR and the relative stiffness method for tunnel-induced subsidence damage assessment. The results allow quantification of the effect of the building on the settlement profile. As expected the greenfield deformation assessment tends to provide a conservative estimate in the majority of cases (~71% of the analyzed buildings), overestimating tensile strains up to 50%. With this work we show how these two techniques in the field of remote sensing and structural engineering can be synergistically used to complement and replace the traditional ground based analysis by providing an extended coverage and a temporally dense set of data.
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on the short term grounding zone dynamics of pine island glacier west antarctica observed with cosmo skymed interferometric data
Geophysical Research Letters, 2017Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Eric Rignot, J Mouginot, B Scheuchl, Mathieu Morlighem, Jacqueline SalzerAbstract:Using radar satellite data from the Italian COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) constellation and the German TanDEM-X formation, we present comprehensive measurements of the bi-weekly grounding line dynamics of Pine Island Glacier, West Antarctica, from August to December 2015. The one-day repeat cycle of CSK reveals tidally-induced, grounding line migration on the scale of kilometers and extensive seawater intrusion within the grounding zone, which significantly exceeds that predicted for a stiff bed but are consistent with that calculated for a deformable bed. The deformable bed also explains the continuous draining/filling of subglacial lakes proximal to the grounding line. After correction for oceanic tides, we estimate a retreat rate for 2011-2015 of 0.3 km/yr at the glacier center and 0.5 km/yr on the sides, which is three times slower than for 1994-2011 (1.2 km/yr at the center). We attribute the decrease in retreat rate to colder ocean conditions in 2012-2013 relative to 2000-2011.
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geodetic imaging of time dependent three component surface deformation application to tidal timescale ice flow of rutford ice stream west antarctica
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2017Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Brent Minchew, Mark Simons, Piyush Agram, Bryan RielAbstract:We present a method for inferring time-dependent three-component surface deformation fields given a set of geodetic images of displacements collected from multiple viewing geometries. Displacements are parameterized in time with a dictionary of displacement functions. The algorithm extends an earlier single-component (i.e., single line of sight) framework for time-series analysis to three spatial dimensions using combinations of multitemporal, multigeometry interferometic synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and/or pixel offset (PO) maps. We demonstrate this method with a set of 101 pairs of azimuth and range PO maps generated for a portion of the Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, derived from data collected by the COSMO-SkyMed satellite constellation. We compare our results with previously published InSAR mean velocity fields and selected GPS time series and show that our resulting three-component surface displacements resolve both secular motion and tidal variability.
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The ongoing destabilization of the mosul dam as observed by synthetic aperture radar interferometry
'Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)', 2017Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Paul Lundgren, Daniele Perissin, Giovanni Milillo, Roland Burgmann, Jacqueline Salzer, Maria Cristina Porcu, Fabio Soccodato, Eric Fielding, Filippo BiondiAbstract:We present a detailed survey on the ongoing destabilization process of the Mosul dam. The dam is located on the Tigris river and is the biggest hydraulic structure in Iraq. From a geological point of view the dam foundation is unstable due to the underlying geology that is formed by alternate and variable strata of highly soluble materials such as gypsum, anhydrite, marl and limestone. Here we present the first comprehensive multi-sensor cumulative deformation map for the dam generated from space-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements from the Italian constellation COSMO-SkyMed and the European Sentinel-1a satellite. We compared 2014-2016 data to an historic dataset spanning 2004-2010 acquired with the Envisat ASAR sensor. We found that deformation was rapid during 2004-2010, slowed down in 2012-2014, and restarted in August 2014 when grouting operations stopped due to the temporary capture of the dam by the self proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). We took advantage of the availability of data from multiple SAR satellites to infer the deformation at the dam in great spatial and temporal detail and shed new light on the processes of the ongoing destabilization. This study highlights how new constellations of SAR sensors together with the availability of historical datasets are leading to important advances in deformation monitoring of small scale geologic and manmade features
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space geodetic monitoring of engineered structures the ongoing destabilization of the mosul dam iraq
Scientific Reports, 2016Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Paul Lundgren, Daniele Perissin, Eric J Fielding, Roland Burgmann, Jacqueline Salzer, Filippo Biondi, Giovanni MililloAbstract:We present a detailed survey of the ongoing destabilization process of the Mosul dam. The dam is located on the Tigris river and is the biggest hydraulic structure in Iraq. From a geological point of view the dam foundation is poor due to a site geology formed by alternating strata of highly soluble materials including gypsum, anhydrite, marl and limestone. Here we present the first multi-sensor cumulative deformation map for the dam generated from space-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar measurements from the Italian constellation COSMO-SkyMed and the European sensor Sentinel-1a over the period 2014-2016 that we compare to an older dataset spanning 2004-2010 acquired with the European Envisat satellite. We found that deformation was rapid during 2004-2010, slowed in 2012-2014 and increased since August 2014 when grouting operations stopped due to the temporary capture of the dam by the self proclaimed Islamic State. We model the inferred deformation using a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach to solve for change in volume for simple tensile dislocations. Results from recent and historical geodetic datasets suggests that the volume dissolution rate remains constant when the equivalent volume of total concrete injected during re-grouting operations is included in the calculations.
Mark Simons - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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geodetic imaging of time dependent three component surface deformation application to tidal timescale ice flow of rutford ice stream west antarctica
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2017Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Brent Minchew, Mark Simons, Piyush Agram, Bryan RielAbstract:We present a method for inferring time-dependent three-component surface deformation fields given a set of geodetic images of displacements collected from multiple viewing geometries. Displacements are parameterized in time with a dictionary of displacement functions. The algorithm extends an earlier single-component (i.e., single line of sight) framework for time-series analysis to three spatial dimensions using combinations of multitemporal, multigeometry interferometic synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and/or pixel offset (PO) maps. We demonstrate this method with a set of 101 pairs of azimuth and range PO maps generated for a portion of the Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, derived from data collected by the COSMO-SkyMed satellite constellation. We compare our results with previously published InSAR mean velocity fields and selected GPS time series and show that our resulting three-component surface displacements resolve both secular motion and tidal variability.
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3d velocity field time series using synthetic aperture radar application to tidal timescale ice flow variability in rutford ice stream west antarctica
SAR Image Analysis Modeling and Techniques XVI, 2016Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Bryan Riel, Brent Minchew, Piyush Agram, Mark SimonsAbstract:We present a general method for retrieving time-series of three component surface velocity field vector given a set of continuous synthetic aperture radar (SAR) acquisitions collected from multiple geometries. Our algorithm extends the single-line-of-sight mathematical framework developed for time-series analysis using interferometric SAR (InSAR) to three spatial dimensions. The inversion is driven by a design matrix corresponding to a dictionary of displacement functions parameterized in time. The resulting model minimizes a cost function using a non-regularized least-squares method. We applied our method to Rutford ice stream (RIS), West Antarctica, using a set of 101 multi-track multi-angle COSMO-SkyMed displacement maps generating azimuth and range pixel offsets.
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on the synergistic use of sar constellations data exploitation for earth science and natural hazard response
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2016Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Bryan Riel, Brent Minchew, Sangho Yun, Mark Simons, Paul LundgrenAbstract:Several current and expected future SAR satellites missions (e.g., TanDEM-X (TDX)/PAZ, COSMO-SkyMed (CSK), and Sentinel-1A/B) are designed as constellations of SAR sensors. Relative to single satellite systems, such constellations can provide greater spatial coverage and temporal sampling, thereby enabling better control on interferometric decorrelation and lower latency data access. These improvements lead to more effective near real-time disaster monitoring, assessment and response, and a greater ability to constrain dynamically changing physical processes. Using observations from the CSK system, we highlight examples of the potential for such imaging capabilities to enable advances in Earth science and natural hazards response.
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rapid damage mapping for the 2015 mw 7 8 gorkha earthquake using synthetic aperture radar data from cosmo skymed and alos 2 satellites
Seismological Research Letters, 2015Co-Authors: Sangho Yun, Patrizia Sacco, Mark Simons, Kenneth W Hudnut, Susan E Owen, Frank Webb, Eric Gurrola, Gerald Manipon, Cunren Liang, Eric J FieldingAbstract:The 25 April 2015 M_w 7.8 Gorkha earthquake caused more than 8000 fatalities and widespread building damage in central Nepal. The Italian Space Agency’s COSMO–SkyMed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite acquired data over Kathmandu area four days after the earthquake and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 SAR satellite for larger area nine days after the mainshock. We used these radar observations and rapidly produced damage proxy maps (DPMs) derived from temporal changes in Interferometric SAR coherence. Our DPMs were qualitatively validated through comparison with independent damage analyses by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research’s United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme, and based on our own visual inspection of DigitalGlobe’s WorldView optical pre- versus postevent imagery. Our maps were quickly released to responding agencies and the public, and used for damage assessment, determining inspection/imaging priorities, and reconnaissance fieldwork.
Bryan Riel - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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geodetic imaging of time dependent three component surface deformation application to tidal timescale ice flow of rutford ice stream west antarctica
IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2017Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Brent Minchew, Mark Simons, Piyush Agram, Bryan RielAbstract:We present a method for inferring time-dependent three-component surface deformation fields given a set of geodetic images of displacements collected from multiple viewing geometries. Displacements are parameterized in time with a dictionary of displacement functions. The algorithm extends an earlier single-component (i.e., single line of sight) framework for time-series analysis to three spatial dimensions using combinations of multitemporal, multigeometry interferometic synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and/or pixel offset (PO) maps. We demonstrate this method with a set of 101 pairs of azimuth and range PO maps generated for a portion of the Rutford Ice Stream, West Antarctica, derived from data collected by the COSMO-SkyMed satellite constellation. We compare our results with previously published InSAR mean velocity fields and selected GPS time series and show that our resulting three-component surface displacements resolve both secular motion and tidal variability.
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3d velocity field time series using synthetic aperture radar application to tidal timescale ice flow variability in rutford ice stream west antarctica
SAR Image Analysis Modeling and Techniques XVI, 2016Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Bryan Riel, Brent Minchew, Piyush Agram, Mark SimonsAbstract:We present a general method for retrieving time-series of three component surface velocity field vector given a set of continuous synthetic aperture radar (SAR) acquisitions collected from multiple geometries. Our algorithm extends the single-line-of-sight mathematical framework developed for time-series analysis using interferometric SAR (InSAR) to three spatial dimensions. The inversion is driven by a design matrix corresponding to a dictionary of displacement functions parameterized in time. The resulting model minimizes a cost function using a non-regularized least-squares method. We applied our method to Rutford ice stream (RIS), West Antarctica, using a set of 101 multi-track multi-angle COSMO-SkyMed displacement maps generating azimuth and range pixel offsets.
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on the synergistic use of sar constellations data exploitation for earth science and natural hazard response
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2016Co-Authors: Pietro Milillo, Bryan Riel, Brent Minchew, Sangho Yun, Mark Simons, Paul LundgrenAbstract:Several current and expected future SAR satellites missions (e.g., TanDEM-X (TDX)/PAZ, COSMO-SkyMed (CSK), and Sentinel-1A/B) are designed as constellations of SAR sensors. Relative to single satellite systems, such constellations can provide greater spatial coverage and temporal sampling, thereby enabling better control on interferometric decorrelation and lower latency data access. These improvements lead to more effective near real-time disaster monitoring, assessment and response, and a greater ability to constrain dynamically changing physical processes. Using observations from the CSK system, we highlight examples of the potential for such imaging capabilities to enable advances in Earth science and natural hazards response.
Ferdinando Nunziata - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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COSMO–SkyMed Synthetic Aperture Radar Data to Observe the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
MDPI AG, 2018Co-Authors: Ferdinando Nunziata, Andrea Buono, Maurizio MigliaccioAbstract:Oil spills are adverse events that may be very harmful to ecosystems and the food chain. In particular, large sea oil spills are very dramatic occurrences that may affect sea and coastal areas. Hence, the sustainability of oil rig infrastructures and oil transportation via oil tankers is linked to law enforcement based on proper monitoring techniques, which are also fundamental to mitigate the impact of such pollution. In this study, a showcase referring to the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil incident, one of the world’s largest incidental oil pollution event that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 affecting a sea area larger than 10,000 km 2 , is analyzed using remotely-sensed information collected by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). Although, operationally, SAR sea oil slick observation is typically accomplished using C-band VV-polarized SAR imagery, during the DWH oil incident, because of their very dense revisit time, even single-polarization X-band COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) SAR measurements were collected. In this study, we exploit, for the first time, incoherent dual co-polarization SAR data collected by the Italian CSK X-band SAR constellation showing the key benefits of HH-VV SAR measurements in observing such a huge oil pollution event, especially in terms of the very dense revisit time offered by the CSK constellation
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x band two scale sea surface scattering model to predict the contrast due to an oil slick
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2016Co-Authors: Antonio Montuori, Maurizio Migliaccio, Ferdinando Nunziata, Piotr SobieskiAbstract:In this study, a sea/oil contrast model, based on the two-scale sea surface scattering Boundary Perturbation Model and an improved Marangoni damping model, is exploited to predict the X-band contrast due to an oil slick. Theoretical predictions are then compared with actual X-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) measurements collected by COSMO-SkyMed and TerraSAR-X satellites over the polluted area off the Aberdeen coast (United Kingdom) during the Gannet Alpha oil spillage occurred in 2011. The contrast model is here verified at X-band for the first time and exploited in a very challenging scenario, i.e., when an oil slick is in place. In addition, a detailed analysis on the effect of sensor's noise equivalent sigma zero (NESZ) on the predicted and measured contrast is undertaken. Experimental results confirm model predictions, witnessing a remarkable agreement between predicted and measured contrasts. Moreover, they demonstrate that NESZ significantly affects the information content of the signal backscattered off the oil-covered area.
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dual polarimetric c and x band sar data for coastline extraction
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2016Co-Authors: Ferdinando Nunziata, Maurizio Migliaccio, Andrea Buono, Guido BenassaiAbstract:This study proposes a new metric to process dual-polarimetric coherent and incoherent synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data for coastline extraction purposes. The metric, based on the correlation between co- and cross-polarized channels, allows discriminating land from sea in an unsupervised way. Then, simple image processing is adopted to extract continuous coastline from the binary image. Experiments, undertaken on multipolarization C - (RadarSAT-2 and Sentinel-1) and X -band (COSMO-SkyMed) SAR data collected in South of Italy together with Global Positioning System ground truth, confirm the soundness of the method which is shown to be both effective (a whole SAR scene is processed in seconds) and accurate (the mean error is less than $5$ and $7$ pixels for RadarSAT-2 and CosmoSkyMed, respectively).
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sea wave modeling with x band cosmo skymed sar derived wind field forcing and applications in coastal vulnerability assessment
Ocean Science, 2013Co-Authors: Guido Benassai, Antonio Montuori, Maurizio Migliaccio, Ferdinando NunziataAbstract:Abstract. In this paper, X-band COSMO-SkyMed© synthetic aperture radar (SAR) wind field data are first used to force coastal wind wave modeling for both sea wave numerical simulation and coastal vulnerability assessment purposes. The SAR-based wind field retrieval is accomplished by resolving the SAR-based wind speed and wind direction retrieval problems independently. The sea surface wind speed is retrieved through the azimuth cut-off procedure, and the sea surface wind direction is determined by the multi-resolution analysis of the discrete wavelet transform. The wind wave modeling is based on the third-generation Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) model, which is used for sea wave state estimation in coastal and inland regions. The coastal vulnerability assessment is provided by means of a key parameter, known as impact index, which evaluates the coastal risk due to the inundation of the inshore land. Experiments consist of SWAN numerical simulations run with respect to some relevant wave storms recorded in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea on 2010, with applications in coastal vulnerability assessment along the Sele coastal plain. Experimental results show the benefits of blended wind field products, provided by European Centre for Medium Weather Forecast (ECMWF) model winds and SAR-based wind field estimations, for both wind wave modeling and coastal vulnerability assessment purposes.
Marco Chini - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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mapping flooded vegetation using cosmo skymed comparison with polarimetric and optical data over rice fields
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2017Co-Authors: Nazzareno Pierdicca, Luca Pulvirenti, Giorgio Boni, Giuseppe Squicciarino, Marco ChiniAbstract:The capability of COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) radar to remotely sense standing water beneath vegetation using an automatic algorithm working on a single image is investigated. The objective is to contribute to tackle the problem of missed detection of inundated vegetation by near real-time flood mapping algorithms using SAR data. The focus is on CSK because its four-satellite constellation is very suitable for rapid mapping. A set of CSK observations of an area in Northern Italy where many rice fields are present and recurrent artificial inundations occur were analyzed. Considering that double-bounce is the key process to detect floodwater under vegetation and that polarimetry is potentially able to discriminate double-bounce among different scattering mechanisms, single polarization CSK observations were compared with ALOS-2 and RADARSAT-2 fully polarimetric data. Such a multifrequency and multiangle dataset helped understanding the multitemporal signature of CSK data. A set of Landsat-8 images collected under cloud free conditions were also used as reference. Satellite acquisitions were gathered in order to ensure both spatial overlap among the images of the various sensors and temporal overlap along most of the rice growing season. The comparison between CSK and polarimetric data showed that at least for a slender leaf plant like rice, CSK can be able to detect the enhancement of double-bounce backscattering involving water and vertical plant stems. For some selected fields, it was found a good agreement between CSK-derived floodwater maps and those produced using the normalized-difference water index derived from Landsat-8 images, as well as double-bounce detection from polarimetric data.
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coseismic liquefaction phenomenon analysis by cosmo skymed 2012 emilia italy earthquake
International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 2015Co-Authors: Marco Chini, Luca Pulvirenti, Christian Bignami, Matteo Albano, Michele Saroli, Marco Moro, Emanuela Falcucci, Stefano Gori, Giuseppe ModoniAbstract:Abstract The liquefaction phenomenon that occurred in the coseismic phase of the May 20, 2012 Emilia (Italy) earthquake (ML 5.9) is investigated. It was induced by the water pressure increase in the buried and confined sand layers. The level-ground liquefaction was the result of a chaotic ground oscillation caused by the earthquake shaking and the observed failures were due to the upward water flow caused by the excess of pore pressures. We exploited the capability of the differential synthetic aperture radar interferometry (DInSAR) technique to detect soil liquefactions and estimate their surface displacements, as well as the high sensitivity to surface changes of complex coherence, SAR backscattering and intensity correlation. To this aim, a set of four COSMO-SkyMed X-band SAR images, covering the period April 1–June 6, 2012, was used. Geological–geotechnical analysis was also performed in order to ascertain if the detected SAR-based surface effects could be due to the compaction induced by liquefaction of deep sandy layers. In this regards, the results obtained from 13 electrical cone penetrometer tests show the presence of a fine to medium sandy layer at depths, ranging between 9 and 13 m, which probably liquefied during the earthquake, inducing vertical displacements between 3 and 16 cm. The quantitative results from geological–geotechnical analysis and the surface punctual effects measured by DInSAR are in good agreement, even if some differences are present, probably ascribable to the local thickness and depth variability of the sandy layer, or to lack of deformation detection due to DInSAR decorrelation. The adopted approach permitted us to define the extent of the areas that underwent liquefaction and to quantify the local subsidence related to these phenomena. The latter achievement provides useful information that must be considered in engineering practices, in terms of expected vertical deformations.
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monitoring flood evolution in vegetated areas using cosmo skymed data the tuscany 2009 case study
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 2013Co-Authors: Luca Pulvirenti, Nazzareno Pierdicca, Marco Chini, L GuerrieroAbstract:Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems represent a powerful tool to monitor floods because of their all-weather capability, the very high spatial resolution of the new generation of instruments and the short revisit time of the present and future satellite constellations. To exploit these technological advances, an accurate interpretation of the multitemporal radar signature of the flooded areas is required. Mapping flooded vegetation is a task in which the interpretation of SAR data is not straightforward and should rely on the knowledge about the radar scattering phenomena in the volume between canopy, trunks and floodwater. This paper presents a methodology aiming at mapping flooded areas with a focus on flooded vegetation; the algorithm is based on an image segmentation technique and a fuzzy logic classifier. The tuning of the parameters of the fuzzy algorithm, based on the outputs of a theoretical backscattering model, is described in detail. Ancillary data giving accurate information on land cover are also used to set the input parameters of the model. The methodology is tested on a case study regarding a flood occurred in Tuscany (Central Italy) on December 2009 monitored using COSMO-SkyMed data. The multitemporal radar signatures observed during the event are discussed; it is shown that the simulated radar measurements produced by the selected electromagnetic model agree well with actual data and help their interpretation. Furthermore, a qualitative evaluation of the produced flood maps carried out with the aid of a couple of aerial photos indicates that the proposed methodology is reliable.
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detection of floods and heavy rain using cosmo skymed data the event in northwestern italy of november 2011
International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2012Co-Authors: Luca Pulvirenti, Nazzareno Pierdicca, Marco Chini, L Guerriero, F S Marzano, Saverio Mori, Giorgio Boni, Laura CandelaAbstract:In this work, an automatic method to distinguish, in X-band SAR images such as those supplied by COSMO-SkyMed, water surfaces (either flooded, or permanent water bodies) from artifacts due to heavy precipitation, is designed to improve flood detection accuracy. The method, mainly based on the fuzzy logic, consists of two main steps, i.e., the detection of low backscatter areas and the classification of each dark object present in the considered SAR image. The algorithm uses ancillary data, such as a local incidence angle map and a Land Cover map. Through the fuzzy logic, it integrates different rules for the detection of low backscatter areas (based on the standard deviation of the backscattering coefficient and on a well-established radar backscattering model), as well as different rules for the classification of the low backscatter (dark) areas (i.e., to distinguish water surfaces from artifacts) based on their geometrical and shape features and on both land cover and local incidence angle.
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flood monitoring using multi temporal cosmo skymed data image segmentation and signature interpretation
Remote Sensing of Environment, 2011Co-Authors: Luca Pulvirenti, Nazzareno Pierdicca, Marco Chini, L Guerriero, P FerrazzoliAbstract:The COSMO-SkyMed mission offers a unique opportunity to obtain radar data characterized by short revisit time, thus being useful for flood evolution mapping. A procedure to monitor an inundation event using multi-temporal COSMO-SkyMed data is presented in this paper. The methodology is based on an automatic image segmentation technique and on the use of a well-established electromagnetic model to correctly explain the radar return from the image segments. It is applied to a series of five COSMO-SkyMed images regarding an event chosen as a test bed, i.e., a flood occurred in Northern Italy in 2009. In order to associate the segments to the classes of flooded or non-flooded areas, some reference multi-temporal backscattering trends have been assumed with the aid of the theoretical model. Using these reference trends as a training set, a classification algorithm has been developed to generate a map of the flood evolution. Although the methodology needs to be further tested on different case studies, our investigation demonstrates the feasibility and the utility of a combined use of an electromagnetic scattering model and an advanced image processing technique for inundation monitoring.
