Using corner reflectors and X-band SAR interferometry for slope instability monitoring

The application of multi-temporal differential SAR interferometric analysis to slope instability monitoring poses challenges related to the complex kinematics of the phenomenon, as well as to the unfavourable settings of the area affected by landslides, often occurring on sites of limited extension, characterized by steep topography and variable vegetation cover. The use of passive reflectors allows to extend the stability monitoring on areas lacking natural coherent reflectors. The present work discusses the problematic aspects of design and deployment of a corner reflector network, and presents preliminary results obtained on the Carlantino village in the Daunia Apennines (Italy) by using X-band TerraSAR-X data.