Ground and Structural Deformations Monitoring Systems Integrating Remote Sensing and Ground-Based Data

Dear Colleagues,

Ground deformation represents a growing problem that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The surface changes due to landslides, volcanic activities, land subsidence, etc., can lead to structural damage of buildings and infrastructures, loss of extensive agricultural and/or natural areas, the rise of salt wedges, and the regression of coastlines, and can have a significant economic and social impact. This negative impact can be further aggravated by climate change events (e.g., sea level rise, modifications in rainfall intensity and period), particularly in low-lying coastal areas and unstable slopes.

Ground deformation monitoring plays a key role in the management of such natural hazards by providing cost-effective solutions for risk mitigation strategies.

This Special Issue of Remote Sensing is devoted to all topics related to ground (including landslides, land subsidence, coastal erosion, etc.) and structural (civil structures, e.g., buildings, bridges, dams, etc.) deformation monitoring systems using remote sensing techniques (in particular, but not limited, to InSAR) complemented with ground-based data (e.g., GNSS, precise leveling, structure from motion photogrammetry, terrestrial laser scanning), including measurements from airplanes, helicopters, and drones. This Special Issue aims to collection original contributions on this topic, focusing on both methodological aspects (including theoretical studies) and applications. The applications can concern any sector, from the natural environment (e.g., landslides, morphological changes of an area, etc.) to urban areas and structures (e.g., single buildings, old towns, bridges, dams, etc.), performed for various motivations (e.g., risk assessment, study of the state of health of a structure, cultural heritage safeguard, etc.).

Contributions in which remote sensing data are used in conjunction with data provided by other techniques to improve data quality (precision, costs and times of survey and data processing) are welcome. Papers discussing theoretical models, the results obtained from monitoring activities, the evolution in space and time of deformation processes, are also welcome. We particularly encourage the submission of manuscripts presenting new and/or innovative applications of remote sensing techniques for the monitoring and quantification of ground and structural deformations.

Prof. Dr. Massimo Fabris
Prof. Dr. Mario Floris
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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