DInSAR and statistical modeling to assess landslides: the case study of Sierras Chicas (central Argentina)  

BRASCA MERLIN A.; SOLARTE, A.; BELLIS, L. M.; CARIGNANO, C; CIOCCALE, M; DELGADO, M; SCAVUZZO, M; ARGAÑARAZ J P

JOURNAL OF SOUTH AMERICAN EARTH SCIENCES

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2021

0895-9811

The main goal of this investigation was to assess landslides in the steep West-facing slopeof the ​Sierras Chicas mountains in central ​Argentina using two complementaryapproaches: Differential SAR interferometry (DinSAR) and statistical modeling. Thecombination of the geological characteristics of the area, wildfires, intense rainfall eventsand human disturbances have made the area highly susceptible to landslides. Thiscondition has been recently aggravated with the construction of a roadway. To measuredisplacements, interferograms were derived using Cosmo-SkyMed (CSK) X-band imagesacquired between 2016 and 2017 and more recent Sentinel-1 C-band images for accuracycomparison. In addition, Generalized Linear Models were fitted to identify landslideconditioning factors. Based on the results obtained, Sentinel-1 proved to be the mostadequate source of images to perform interferometry in contrast to Cosmo Skymedimagery that showed very poor coherence in the study area. The statistical modelingidentified slope degree, distance to roads and fire frequency as the main variablesexplaining landslide occurrence on the west escarpment of the Sierras Chicas. Results willhopefully contribute to improve future applications of SAR interferometry both in the studyarea and others with similar characteristics, as well as to improve the tools and knowledgefor decision making in engineering and urban development projects in order to minimizerisk