Monitoring of an embankment dam in southern Spain based on Sentinel-1 Time-series InSAR

Abstract Deformation monitoring is a common practice in most of dams to ensure their structural health and safety status. Systematic frequently carried out by means geotechnical sensors geodetic techniques that, although very precise an accurate, can be time-consuming economically costly. Remote sensing are proved effective assessing deformation. Changes the structure, shell or associated infrastructures dams, including adjacent slopes, efficiently recorded using satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar Inteferometry (InSAR) techniques, particular, Muti-Temporal InSAR time-series analyses. This mature technology nowadays but not as routine procedure for dam monitoring. Today, thanks availability spaceborne satellites with high spatial resolution SAR images short revisit times, this powerful cost-effective way monitor millimeter-level displacements structure its surroundings. What more, potential technique increased since Copernicus C-band Sentinel-1 orbit, due time 6 days free data availability. ReMoDams Spanish research project devoted provide deformation several embankments advances techniques. One these The Arenoso dam, located province Cordova (southern Spain). has been monitored beginning mission 2014. In paper, we show processing 382 SLC both ascending descending tracks until March 2019. results indicate that main displacement period vertical direction rate order -1 cm/year central part body.