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  • Technical Review
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Landslide detection, monitoring and prediction with remote-sensing techniques

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 4, pages 51–64 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Landslides are widespread occurrences that can become catastrophic when they occur near settlements and infrastructure. Detection, monitoring and prediction are fundamental to managing landslide risks and often rely on remote-sensing techniques (RSTs) that include the observation of Earth from space, laser scanning and ground-based interferometry. In this Technical Review, we describe the use of RSTs in landslide analysis and management. Satellite RSTs are used to detect and measure landslide displacement, providing a synoptic view over various spatiotemporal scales. Ground-based sensors (including ground-based interferometric radar, Doppler radar and lidar) monitor smaller areas, but combine accuracy, high acquisition frequency and configuration flexibility, and are therefore increasingly used in real-time monitoring and early warning of landslides. Each RST has advantages and limitations that depend on the application (detection, monitoring or prediction), the size of the area of concern, the type of landslide, deformation pattern and risks posed by landslide. The integration of various technologies is, therefore, often best. More effective landslide risk management requires greater leveraging of big data, more strategic use of monitoring resources and better communication with residents of landslide-prone areas.

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Fig. 1: Landslide remote-sensing products.
Fig. 2: Technical comparison between different remote-sensing techniques.
Fig. 3: Site monitoring with remote-sensing techniques.
Fig. 4: The field of action of ground-based interferometry and Doppler radar in common types of landslides.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, Italy

    Nicola Casagli, Emanuele Intrieri, Veronica Tofani, Giovanni Gigli & Federico Raspini

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  1. Nicola Casagli
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  3. Veronica Tofani
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N.C. coordinated and revised the work and provided the funding. E.I. contributed to the writing, revised the paper, coordinated revisions and prepared some of the figures. G.G. contributed to the writing, revised the paper and prepared some of the figures. V.T. contributed to the writing and revised the paper. F.R. contributed to the writing and one of the figures and revised the paper. All authors contributed to the definition and structure of the article.

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Correspondence to Emanuele Intrieri.

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Glossary

Interferometry

A technique that calculates the displacement of a target by measuring the phase shift between two electromagnetic waves that have been backscattered by the same target in two different times.

Multispectral

The range of the electromagnetic spectrum from 0.4 μm to about 12.5 μm.

Multispectral band

A specific wavelength range across the electromagnetic spectrum that roughly corresponds to the blue, green and red visible light up to near and shortwave infrared that are captured by multispectral sensors.

Radar

A sensor that emits signals within specific bands of the microwave domain, corresponding to different wavelengths.

Revisiting time

The time interval between two consecutive observations of an area.

Synthetic aperture radar

A technique that moves the antennas of a radar interferometer to obtain data with a spatial resolution equal to that of a sensor with antennas as large as the entire trajectory length.

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Casagli, N., Intrieri, E., Tofani, V. et al. Landslide detection, monitoring and prediction with remote-sensing techniques. Nat Rev Earth Environ 4, 51–64 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00373-x

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