SAR Coherence in Detecting Fluvial Sediment Transport Events in Arid Environments

Coherence change detection (CCD) is a remote sensing technique used to map phenomena that, under certain conditions, can be directly related to changes in Interferometric SAR (InSAR) coherence. Mapping the areas affected by sediment transport events in arid environments is one of the most common app...

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Main Authors: Joan Botey i Bassols, Carmen Bedia, María Cuevas-González, Sonia Valdivielso, Michele Crosetto, Enric Vázquez-Suñé
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-06-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/12/3034
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author Joan Botey i Bassols
Carmen Bedia
María Cuevas-González
Sonia Valdivielso
Michele Crosetto
Enric Vázquez-Suñé
author_facet Joan Botey i Bassols
Carmen Bedia
María Cuevas-González
Sonia Valdivielso
Michele Crosetto
Enric Vázquez-Suñé
author_sort Joan Botey i Bassols
collection DOAJ
description Coherence change detection (CCD) is a remote sensing technique used to map phenomena that, under certain conditions, can be directly related to changes in Interferometric SAR (InSAR) coherence. Mapping the areas affected by sediment transport events in arid environments is one of the most common applications of CCD. However, the reliability of these maps remains an unsolved issue. This paper focuses on verifying that InSAR coherence is indeed able to detect all the fluvial sediment transport events that have actually mobilised sediments in arid environments by building a classification model and validating its results. The proposed methodology is tested in three study areas in Salar de Atacama, Chile, using three years of Sentinel data plus a fourth year for validation, and meteorological records of rainfall, the relative humidity of the air and snow cover. The results prove that InSAR coherence can be used to remotely detect sediment transport events related to flash floods in arid environments, that it might have a greater detection ability than meteorological records and that the perpendicular baseline does have a relevant effect on the InSAR coherence that needs to be considered. All these findings will increase the reliability of maps based on InSAR coherence. In addition, the proposed method will allow focusing the mapping tasks only on the relevant dates and, once calibrated, the classification model will enable the automatised remote detection of new events.
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spelling doaj.art-ee07d3b36fda4b14a6286231f29d6eba2023-11-18T12:25:27ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922023-06-011512303410.3390/rs15123034SAR Coherence in Detecting Fluvial Sediment Transport Events in Arid EnvironmentsJoan Botey i Bassols0Carmen Bedia1María Cuevas-González2Sonia Valdivielso3Michele Crosetto4Enric Vázquez-Suñé5Institute of Environmental Assessment & Water Research (IDAEA), CSIC, C. Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, SpainInstitute of Environmental Assessment & Water Research (IDAEA), CSIC, C. Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, SpainCentre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC/CERCA), Geomatics Research Unit, Av. Gauss 7, 08860 Castelldefels, SpainInstitute of Environmental Assessment & Water Research (IDAEA), CSIC, C. Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, SpainCentre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC/CERCA), Geomatics Research Unit, Av. Gauss 7, 08860 Castelldefels, SpainInstitute of Environmental Assessment & Water Research (IDAEA), CSIC, C. Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, SpainCoherence change detection (CCD) is a remote sensing technique used to map phenomena that, under certain conditions, can be directly related to changes in Interferometric SAR (InSAR) coherence. Mapping the areas affected by sediment transport events in arid environments is one of the most common applications of CCD. However, the reliability of these maps remains an unsolved issue. This paper focuses on verifying that InSAR coherence is indeed able to detect all the fluvial sediment transport events that have actually mobilised sediments in arid environments by building a classification model and validating its results. The proposed methodology is tested in three study areas in Salar de Atacama, Chile, using three years of Sentinel data plus a fourth year for validation, and meteorological records of rainfall, the relative humidity of the air and snow cover. The results prove that InSAR coherence can be used to remotely detect sediment transport events related to flash floods in arid environments, that it might have a greater detection ability than meteorological records and that the perpendicular baseline does have a relevant effect on the InSAR coherence that needs to be considered. All these findings will increase the reliability of maps based on InSAR coherence. In addition, the proposed method will allow focusing the mapping tasks only on the relevant dates and, once calibrated, the classification model will enable the automatised remote detection of new events.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/12/3034InSAR coherencecoherence change detectionsediment transportflash floodserosionsedimentation
spellingShingle Joan Botey i Bassols
Carmen Bedia
María Cuevas-González
Sonia Valdivielso
Michele Crosetto
Enric Vázquez-Suñé
SAR Coherence in Detecting Fluvial Sediment Transport Events in Arid Environments
Remote Sensing
InSAR coherence
coherence change detection
sediment transport
flash floods
erosion
sedimentation
title SAR Coherence in Detecting Fluvial Sediment Transport Events in Arid Environments
title_full SAR Coherence in Detecting Fluvial Sediment Transport Events in Arid Environments
title_fullStr SAR Coherence in Detecting Fluvial Sediment Transport Events in Arid Environments
title_full_unstemmed SAR Coherence in Detecting Fluvial Sediment Transport Events in Arid Environments
title_short SAR Coherence in Detecting Fluvial Sediment Transport Events in Arid Environments
title_sort sar coherence in detecting fluvial sediment transport events in arid environments
topic InSAR coherence
coherence change detection
sediment transport
flash floods
erosion
sedimentation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/12/3034
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AT soniavaldivielso sarcoherenceindetectingfluvialsedimenttransporteventsinaridenvironments
AT michelecrosetto sarcoherenceindetectingfluvialsedimenttransporteventsinaridenvironments
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