With high anthropogenic pressure and the effects of climate change (e.g., sea level rise) on coastal regions, there is a greater need for accurate and up-to-date information about the topography of these systems. Reliable topography and bathymetry information are fundamental parameters for modelling the morpho-hydrodynamics of coastal areas, for flood forecasting, and for coastal management. Traditional methods such as ground, ship-borne, and airborne surveys suffer from limited spatial coverage and temporal sampling due to logistical constraints and high costs which limit their ability to provide the needed information. The recent advancements of spaceborne remote sensing techniques, along with their ability to acquire data over large spatial areas and to provide high frequency temporal monitoring, has made them very attractive for topography and bathymetry mapping. In this review, we present an overview of the current state of spaceborne-based remote sensing techniques used to estimate the topography and bathymetry of beaches, intertidal, and nearshore areas. We also provide some insights about the potential of these techniques when using data provided by new and future satellite missions.

Continuous geodetic measurements in landslide prone regions are necessary to avoid disasters and better understand the spatiotemporal and kinematic evolution of landslides. The detection and characterization of landslides in high alpine environments remains a challenge associated with difficult accessibility, extensive coverage, limitations of available techniques, and the complex nature of landslide process. Recent studies using space-based observations and especially Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) techniques with the integration of in-situ monitoring instrumentation are providing vital information for an actual landslide monitoring. In the present study, the Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterers InSAR package (StaMPS) is employed to process the series of Sentinel 1-A and 1-B Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images acquired between 2015 and 2019 along ascending and descending orbits for the selected area in the French Alps. We applied the proposed approach, based on extraction of Active Deformation Areas (ADA), to automatically detect and assess the state of activity and the intensity of the suspected slow-moving landslides in the study area. We illustrated the potential of Sentinel-1 data with the aim of detecting regions of relatively low motion rates that be can attributed to activate landslide and updated pre-existing national landslide inventory maps on a regional scale in terms of slow moving landslides. Our results are compared to pre-existing landslide inventories. More than 100 unknown slow-moving landslides, their spatial pattern, deformation rate, state of activity, as well as orientation are successfully identified over an area of 4000 km² located in the French Alps. We also address the current limitations due the nature of PSI and geometric characteristic of InSAR data for measuring slope movements in mountainous environments like Alps.

Summary. The Sichuan earthquake, Mw 7.9, struck the Longmen Shan (LMS) range front, China, on 2008 May 12, affecting an area of moderate historical seismicity

International audiencePALSAR L-band spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) amplitude images are used to map the Sichuan earthquake rupture (China, Mw 7.9, 12 May 2008) and to identify the faults activated by the earthquake. A sub-pixel correlation method is used to retrieve the coseismic displacement field projected into the line of sight of the satellite and the horizontal along-track direction, and to map the surface rupture. The earthquake broke ∼270 km of the Beichuan fault and ∼70 km of the Guanxian fault, with a complex thrust-dextral slip mechanism. Along the southwestern part of the rupture, slip seems to be partitioned into a dextral-dominant component on the Beichuan fault and a thrust-dominant component on the Guanxian fault. Dextral slip may also be dominant at the northeastern tip of the Beichuan ruptured fault. Coseismic surface displacements reach on average 3 to 4 m in both measured directions. The SAR rupture mapping has proven complementary to field studies extending the zone of co-seismic displacements and identifying other possible co-seismic rupture strand

Volcanic plume height is a key parameter in retrieving plume ascent and dispersal dynamics, as well as eruption intensity; all of which are crucial for assessing hazards to aircraft operations. One way to retrieve cloud height is the shadow technique. This uses shadows cast on the ground and the sun geometry to calculate cloud height. This technique has, however, not been frequently used, especially not with high-spatial resolution (30 m pixel) satellite data. On 26 October 2013, Mt Etna (Sicily, Italy) produced a lava fountain feeding an ash plume that drifted SW and through the approach routes to Catania international airport. We compared the proximal plume height time-series obtained from fixed monitoring cameras with data retrieved from a Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager image, with results being in good agreement. The application of the shadow technique to a single high-spatial resolution image allowed us to fully document the ascent and dispersion history of the plume–cloud system. We managed to do this over a distance of 60 km and a time period of 50 min, with a precision of a few seconds and vertical error on plume altitude of ±200 m. We converted height with distance to height with time using the plume dispersion velocity, defining a bent-over plume that settled to a neutral buoyancy level with distance. Potentially, the shadow technique defined here allows downwind plume height profiles and mass discharge rate time series to be built over distances of up to 260 km and periods of 24 h, depending on vent location in the image, wind speed, and direction.