ReMoDams: Monitoring Dams from Space Using Satellite Radar Interferometry

After the great activity of infrastructure development experienced in the 20 ^th century, there are thousands of engineering infrastructures that require safety monitoring worldwide. Rigorous inspection programs and the monitoring of these infrastructures, such as reservoir dams, are essential for the safety of citizens and properties. These interventions are usually costly and time-consuming, making in many cases, virtually impossible to monitor individually each dam which may represent a potential security risk. Multi-temporal InSAR has been successfully applied in the monitoring of infrastructures affected by tunneling works, aquifer extraction, and natural phenomena (tectonics, volcanism, seism, …), among others. The great advantage of MT-InSAR is that it provides measurement uncertainties of the order of 1 mm/year, interpreting time series of interferometric phases of coherent reflectors present in the area, called Persistent Scatterers, without the need for field work or any special equipment. To demonstrate the potential and reliability of this technique, in this paper, we present the adaptation and application of MT-InSAR technique to monitor embankment dams, obtaining vertical displacements, characterizing their consolidation rates, and allowing the identification of potential problems that require further field investigation. This study is part of the ReMoDams project, a Spanish research initiative developed for monitoring dam structural stability from space using satellite radar interferometry.