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Spaceborne SAR Interferometry as a Noninvasive tool to assess the vulnerability over Cultural Heritage sites
In Short
Cultural heritage is a key element of history; the ancient monuments and archaeological sites enrich today’s societies and help connect us to our cultural origins. It includes monuments, archaeological sites, historic buildings and sacred places which are unique and irreplaceable. Protection and conservation of our cultural assets for future generations in the face of various natural or anthropogenic hazards is a major concern nowadays. Heritage sites and monuments need to be protected and promoted, as they are vulnerable to ground movement.
SAR interferometry is a very efficient, non-invasive method, suitable for the continuous health monitoring of cultural heritage assets. Space observations can provide accurate measurements of the displacements of a monument over a time frame due to subsidence, creep movements, structural loads etc, or following a major event such as an earthquake, a landslide, a major rockfall etc.
Major objective for this research project, aside from (i) broadening our fundamental understanding of the impact of Earth’s deformation on archaeological sites and monuments, (ii) systematic and validated interferometric monitoring of the territory and monuments in order to improve "early warning" capabilities (iii) is the preservation of our culture by reducing vulnerability where observations contribute to the assessment of systemic and physical vulnerabilities, through e.g., the provision of inputs information for inventories of vulnerable elements.
SAR interferometry is a very efficient, non-invasive method, suitable for the continuous health monitoring of cultural heritage assets. Space observations can provide accurate measurements of the displacements of a monument over a time frame due to subsidence, creep movements, structural loads etc, or following a major event such as an earthquake, a landslide, a major rockfall etc.
Major objective for this research project, aside from (i) broadening our fundamental understanding of the impact of Earth’s deformation on archaeological sites and monuments, (ii) systematic and validated interferometric monitoring of the territory and monuments in order to improve "early warning" capabilities (iii) is the preservation of our culture by reducing vulnerability where observations contribute to the assessment of systemic and physical vulnerabilities, through e.g., the provision of inputs information for inventories of vulnerable elements.
Motivation
This project aims to develop, demonstrate and validate, in terms of geotechnical local conditions and monuments’ structural health, SAR interferometric techniques to monitor potential ground deformation affecting the archaeological sites and monuments of great importance.
Reducing the impact of natural/man-made disasters on the human cultural heritage sites is a fundamental research goal. The ultimate objective is to predict vulnerability of the archaeological sites to ground deformation in time and space, and protecting them against damage. Chances to succeed are high because spaceborne SAR interferometry is an established technique providing very high deformation estimation accuracy. It provides centimetre to millimetre resolution and even single buildings/monuments can be mapped from space.
It is therefore highly purposeful to develop and demonstrate the use of advanced SAR interferometric multitemporal techniques, a non-invasive method, to monitor the historical sites as well as to validate it by local field work.
The innovation and originality in the present research proposal is the close cooperation of entities dealing with Earth Observation applications, partners with great experience in geotechnical and structural health and governmental organizations acting also as end users and thus making a holistic approach to the research task raised by the aim of the project and characterizing the final products as reliable.
Though current project aims primarily to the maximization of benefits to the various stakeholders we in addition regard an innovative technological proposal, integrating satellite accompanied by ground validation work-observations, crucial for risk mitigation for many archaeological sites which are in countries like Greece and China that face natural and human induced hazards.
Reducing the impact of natural/man-made disasters on the human cultural heritage sites is a fundamental research goal. The ultimate objective is to predict vulnerability of the archaeological sites to ground deformation in time and space, and protecting them against damage. Chances to succeed are high because spaceborne SAR interferometry is an established technique providing very high deformation estimation accuracy. It provides centimetre to millimetre resolution and even single buildings/monuments can be mapped from space.
It is therefore highly purposeful to develop and demonstrate the use of advanced SAR interferometric multitemporal techniques, a non-invasive method, to monitor the historical sites as well as to validate it by local field work.
The innovation and originality in the present research proposal is the close cooperation of entities dealing with Earth Observation applications, partners with great experience in geotechnical and structural health and governmental organizations acting also as end users and thus making a holistic approach to the research task raised by the aim of the project and characterizing the final products as reliable.
Though current project aims primarily to the maximization of benefits to the various stakeholders we in addition regard an innovative technological proposal, integrating satellite accompanied by ground validation work-observations, crucial for risk mitigation for many archaeological sites which are in countries like Greece and China that face natural and human induced hazards.
