Landslides
Civitella del Tronto

Landslide | Emergency Preparedness

SqueeSAR® helps to distinguish active areas from the stable ones by determining their respective boundaries. It provides decision makers with an overview of surface stability useful for establishing relocation sites.

SqueeSAR® analysis over Civitella del Tronto before the landslide
Civitella del Tronto. SqueeSAR® results over the area in the period before the landslide occurred. Satellite imagery: TerraSAR-X ©DLR e.V. 2013-2017 and © Airbus Defense and Space GmbH. Background image: Google Earth.

Civitella del Tronto (Italy). A landslide occurred in February 2017, affecting the lower area of the village.

Our satellite analyses were provided to the Italian Civil Protection Department (DPC), through the Earth Science Department of the University of Florence, to establish areas at risk and aid the development of a disaster response plan.

A Rapid Motion Tracking (RMT) approach was employed to estimate ground deformation resulting from the event. The RMT has identified displacement rates in the area exceeding 10 m in both directions (LOS and Azimuth, the latter near North-South).

Deformation rates resulting from the landslide in Civitella del Tronto
Images show ground deformation resulting from the landslide. Two TerraSAR-X images acquired before and after the event were processed using the RMT. Satellite imagery: TerraSAR-X images acquired on the 10th and 21st February 2017, ©DLR e.V. 2017 and © Airbus Defense and Space GmbH. Background image: Google Earth.

Additionally, precursory ground motion to the landslide was investigated using SqueeSAR®.
The satellite measurements showed that there were two areas affected by slow gravitational deformations.

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