Can we use SAR interferometry Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) method to detect small regional slope deformation in the vegetated BE-GE-NL transborder region?

Romy is a geologist and senior researcher in Earth Observation for natural hazards analysis at the Centre Spatial de Liège, University of Liège.

Her current research interests include remote sensing for monitoring natural hazards related to climate change. She was a contractor for the United Nations for Training and Research (UNITAR) supporting the UNOSAT in Disaster Risk Reduction/Management, did PostDocs hosted by ECSAT in Harwell, UK and Eurac Research in Bolzano, Italy after receiving her PhD at the University of Strasbourg, France.

Research objectives

Her research project is complementing the current analyses -to be- done in the E-TEST (Interreg project Einstein Telescope EMR Site & Technology) area affected by seismicity and meteorological changes. Its main goals are the following:

• Detect fine changes (in time and space) of ground displacement in space and time by using SAR technology;
• Differentiate local and regional ground uplift (related to different processes: volcanic, seismotectonic or anthropogenic), and sub-regional subsidence induced by groundwater level drawdown, possibly enhanced across fault structures;
• Identify and characterize faults, related ground deformation hazards (including karst formation) using combined geodetic, UAV and satellite remote sensing (and connected seismological) techniques;
• Integrate related results in a single model.

Indeed, karst phenomena strongly control the extent of construction in the target area – at least in the limestone regions; therefore, a major objective of this project is to detect of limestone and related karstification, especially along faults.

Read more on the research project sheet.