Tele-Rilevamento Europa (Italy)

In recent years, there has been a notable increase in commercial demand for natural fibers. Consequently, numerous studies have concentrated on formulating innovative industrial production methodologies for natural fibers, with a particular emphasis on the environmental sustainability of production processes. Among natural fiber sources, bamboo has emerged as a leading candidate, attracting considerable interest due to its exceptional renewability, rapid growth, and low cultivation requirements. The contemporary industrial methodologies employed in the extraction of cellulose from bamboo frequently entail the utilization of concentrated solutions of strong acids and bases, often at elevated temperatures and with extended treatment durations. These processes generate highly polluting waste from mineral acids and bases, posing significant environmental challenges and ecosystem damage. In response to the prevailing concerns, there has been a marked increase in the focus on environmentally friendly techniques that combine enzymatic treatments, selective chemical reagents, and optimized mechanical processes. These processes facilitate the extraction of high-quality bamboo fibers, which are suitable for utilization in the textile industry and have the potential to replace synthetic fibers. This work demonstrates the efficacy of methodologies employing more diluted solutions than conventional approaches. Specifically, this study utilizes a weak base, such as NH4OH, in conjunction with hydrothermal extraction. It is therefore possible for dilute weak base solutions to yield natural fibers after a relatively brief period of processing, typically just a few hours.

ABSTRACTLandslide detection and mapping are essential issues for reducing impact of such natural disasters, and for improving the future built-up expansion and planning strategies, especially in developing countries where a reasonable land-use design is an important concern for sustainable growth and environmental management. Armenia is a landlocked country and its urban development is strongly tied to the improvement of infrastructures, which must takes into account the environmental setting and the slope instability of the area, in order to identify risks and possible damages to settlements and economic activities. The use of satellite-based Earth Observation data has advanced significantly in the last decade and has turned out to be very useful for measuring and monitoring slow-moving surface deformation phenomena with millimetric precision. In this framework, this study aims at providing a remote sensing-based Landslide Inventory Map (LIM) and a Landslide Susceptibility Map (LSM) over Dilijan (Armenia) area, performed within the Secondary Cities Urban Development in Armenia project. In particular, LIM and LSM in the study area were produced by using ground deformation measurements derived from satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, acquired by ALOS and ENVISAT sensors from 2003 up to 2010, and integrated with photo-interpretation of recent optical images and morphological analysis of Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Given the extensive presence of vegetation in the area of interest, satellite SAR images were processed to produce both SqueeSAR™ and Temporary Coherent Scatterers data, which are PSI (Persistent Scatterer Interferometry) data conceived as evolution of PSInSAR™ approach and particularly suited for non-urban and rural areas characterized by low density of coherent terrain benchmarks over time. Landslide mapping produced through this work identifies the most hazardous landslide-affected and landslide-prone areas around Dilijan city, and can be used for further estimating environmental risks for urban infrastructure development in the area.

Pre- event and event landslide deformations have been detected and measured for the landslide that occurred on 3 December 2013 on the south-western slope of the Montescaglioso village (Basilicata Region, southern Italy). In this paper, ground displacements have been mapped through an integrated analysis based on a series of high resolution SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) images acquired by the Italian constellation of satellites COSMO-SkyMed. Analysis has been performed by exploiting both phase (through multi-image SAR interferometry) and amplitude information (through speckle tracking techniques) of the satellite images. SAR Interferometry, applied to images taken before the event, revealed a general pre-event movement, in the order of a few mm/yr, in the south-western slope of the Montescaglioso village. Highest pre-event velocities, ranging between 8 and 12 mm/yr, have been recorded in the sector of the slope where the first movement of the landslide took place. Speckle tracking, applied to images acquired before and after the event, allowed the retrieval of the 3D deformation field produced by the landslide. It also showed that ground displacements produced by the landslide have a dominant SSW component, with values exceeding 10 m for large sectors of the landslide area, with local peaks of 20 m in its central and deposit areas. Two minor landslides with a dominant SSE direction, which were detected in the upper parts of the slope, likely also occurred as secondary phenomena as consequence of the SSW movement of the main Montescaglioso landslide.

The availability of long time series of interferometric data acquired all over the world from several synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite missions makes possible to perform a worldwide assessment of the terrain and infrastructure stability by persistent scatterer (PS) SAR interferometry techniques. This technology is computationally demanding, in particular because it requires a 3D processing. When applied to large areas, several problems have to be faced to handle huge amounts of data. In this work, we present a significant example of PS big data processing performed at national scale (the whole Italian territory) with ERS, Envisat and COSMO-SkyMed data. The main challenges and results related to this project are discussed, and the possible worldwide extension with Sentinel data is suggested.

This paper presents application of satellite interferometric methods (persistent scatterer interferometric synthetic aperture radar (PSInSAR™) and differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR)) for observation of ground deformation in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) in Southern Poland. The presented results were obtained during the DORIS project (EC FP 7, Grant Agreement n. 242212, www.doris-project.eu). Several InSAR datasets for this area were analysed. Most of them were processed by Tele-Rilevamento Europa - T.R.E. s.r.l. Italy. Datasets came from different SAR satellites (ERS 1 and 2, Envisat, ALOS- PALSAR and TerraSAR-X) and cover three different SAR bands (L, C and X). They were processed using both InSAR techniques: DInSAR, where deformations are presented as interferometric fringes on the raster image, and PSInSAR, where motion is indentified on irregular set of persistent scatterer (PS) points. Archival data from the C-band European Space Agency satellites ERS and ENVISAT provided information about ground movement since 1992 until 2010 in two separate datasets (1992–2000 and 2003–2010). Two coal mines were selected as examples of ground motion within inactive mining areas: Sosnowiec and Saturn, where mining ceased in 1995 and 1997, respectively. Despite well pumping after closure of the mines, groundwater rose several dozen meters, returning to its natural horizon. Small surface uplift clearly indicated on satellite interferometric data is related to high permeability of the hydrogeological subregion and insufficient water withdrawal from abandoned mines. The older 1992–2000 PSInSAR dataset indicates values of ground motion ranging from –40.0 to 0.0 mm. The newer 2003–2010 dataset shows values ranging from –2.0 to +7.0 mm. This means that during this period of time subsidence was less and uplift greater in comparison to the older dataset. This is even more evident in the time series of randomly selected PS points from both coal mines. The presence of bentonite deposits in the Saturn coal mine can also have influence on the ground surface uplift. Analysis of interferometric L and X-band data in Upper Silesia has enabled observation and monitoring of the underground mining front for several months. It was indicated by the example from the Halemba–Wirek coal mine. Analysis of the TerraSAR–X dataset processed by SqueeSAR algorithms proved to be the most effective for this purpose. X-band persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) time series can help to indentify small seemingly negligible movements and are successfully supplemented by fringes when displacement becomes significant. Differential interferograms from the L-band dataset detect similar displacement values but, thanks to longer wavelength, are characterized by better coherence, especially in the middle of the subsidence trough. Results on ground deformation proved that ground motion above abandoned mines continues long after their closure. Therefore, existing regulations stating that abandoned mines are considered fully safe five years after mine closure should change. Moreover, it should be emphasised that construction in these areas should be avoided due to existing potential risks.

Mexico City relies on groundwater for most of its domestic supply. Over the years, intensive pumping has led to significant drawdowns and, subsequently, to severe land subsidence. Tensile cracks have also developed or reactivated as a result. All such processes cause damage to urban infrastructure, increasing the risk of spills and favoring contaminant propagation into the aquifer. The effects of ground deformation are frequently ignored in groundwater vulnerability studies, but can be relevant in subsiding cities. This report presents an extension to the DRASTIC methodology, named DRASTIC-Sg, which focuses on evaluating groundwater vulnerability in urban aquifers affected by differential subsidence. A subsidence parameter is developed to represent the ground deformation gradient (Sg), and then used to depict areas where damage risk to urban infrastructure is higher due to fracture propagation. Space-geodetic SqueeSAR data and global positioning system (GPS) validation were used to evaluate subsidence rates and gradients, integrating hydrogeological and geomechanical variables into a GIS environment. Results show that classic DRASTIC approaches may underestimate groundwater vulnerability in settings such as the one at hand. Hence, it is concluded that the Sg parameter is a welcome contribution to develop reliable vulnerability assessments in subsiding basins.

Online Material: Additional figures and tables. On 20 May 2012, an M L 5.9 earthquake (Table 1) occurred near the town of Finale Emilia, in the central Po plain, Northern Italy (Fig. 1a). The mainshock caused seven casualties and the collapse of several historical buildings and industrial sheds. The earthquake sequence continued with diminishing aftershock magnitudes until 29 May, when an M L 5.8 earthquake occurred near the town of Mirandola, ∼12 km west‐southwest of the mainshock (Scognamiglio et al. , 2012). This second mainshock started a new aftershock sequence in this area, and increased structural damage and collapses, causing 19 more casualties and increasing to 15,000 the number of evacuees. View this table: Table 1 Largest Earthquakes ( M L>5) of the 2012 Emilia Seismic Sequence (http://iside.rm.ingv.it) Figure 1. (a) Geostructural setting of the Emilia 2012 seismic sequence area showing the vertically projected top traces of the main thrust fault planes, and the anticlinal axes, modified after (Bigi et al. , 1983; Boccaletti et al. , 2010; Picotti and Pazzaglia, 2008); white dots, aftershock epicenters. Large instrumental and historical earthquakes are also shown (http://iside.rm.ingv.it, last accessed April 2013); Rovida et al. , 2011); yellow rectangles, footprint of the COSMO‐SkyMed (CSK) and Radarsat satellite image pairs. The focal mechanisms of the two main events (from Malagnini et al. , 2012) are reported in the map. (b) Geological profiles interpreted from seismic reflection data after (Boccaletti et al. , 2010) corresponding to traces A and B in (a). Shortly after the first mainshock, the Department of Civil Protection (DPC) activated the Italian Space Agency (ASI), which provided post‐seismic Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry data coverage with all four Constellation of Small Satellites for the Mediterranean Basin Observation (COSMO‐SkyMed) SAR satellites. Within the next two weeks, several SAR Interferometry (InSAR) image pairs were processed by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia–Space‐based Monitoring System …

<p>On May 20 and 29, 2012, two earthquakes of magnitudes 5.9 and 5.8 (Mw), respectively, and their aftershock sequences hit the central Po Plain (Italy), about 40 km north of Bologna. More than 2,000 sizable aftershocks were recorded by the Isti-tuto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV; National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology) National Seismic Network (http://iside.rm.ingv.it/). The sequence was generated by pure compressional faulting over blind thrusts of the western Ferrara Arc, and it involved a 50-km-long stretch of this buried outer front of the northern Apennines. The focal mechanisms of the larger shocks agree with available structural data and with present-day tectonic stress indicators, which show locally a maximum horizontal stress oriented ca. N-S; i.e. oriented perpendicular to the main structural trends. Most of the sequence occurred between 1 km and 12 km in depth, above the local basal detachment of the outer thrust fronts of the northern Apennines. We measured the surface displacement patterns associated with the mainshocks and some of the larger aftershocks (some of which had Mw >5.0) by applying the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique to a pair of C-Band Radarsat-1 images. We then used the coseismic motions detected over the epicentral region as input information, to obtain the best-fit model fault for the two largest shocks. […]</p>