Integration of persistent scatterer interferometry and ground data for landslide monitoring: the Pianello landslide (Bovino, Southern Italy)

We present an example of integration of persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) and in situ measurements over a landslide in the Bovino hilltop town, in Southern Italy. First, a wide-area analysis of PSI data, derived from legacy ERS and ENVISAT SAR image time series, highlighted the presence of ongoing surface displacements over the known limits of the Pianello landslide, located at the outskirts of the Bovino municipality, in the periods 1995–1999 and 2003–2008, respectively. This prompted local authorities to install borehole inclinometers on suitable locations. Ground data collected by these sensors during the following years were then compared and integrated with more recent PSI data from a series of Sentinel-1 images, acquired from March 2014 to October 2016. The integration allows sketching a consistent qualitative model of the landslide spatial and subsurface structure, leading to a coherent interpretation of remotely sensed and ground measurements. The results were possible thanks to the synergistic operation of local authorities and remote sensing specialists, and could represent an example for best practices in environmental management and protection at the regional scale.