Integration of multitemporal SAR/InSAR techniques and NWM for coastal structures monitoring: Outline of the software system and of an operational service with COSMO-SkyMed data

Continuous monitoring of coastal areas is a necessary condition for proper coastal activities regulation. Coastal area alterations, even in the short term, in fact, may lead to a significant social change in the development of economic activities and lifestyle in populations living in coastal regions. This paper deals with the development of an integrated operational Earth Observation system aimed to provide a complete monitoring system for both natural and built coastal environments. Three different software engines have been coupled to fully exploit the COSMO-SkyMed images using SAR and InSAR techniques (SPINUA and COSMO-Beach modules) providing also APD corrections computed using numerical weather simulations (NWM module). This allows to automate the entire radar image process chain to obtain a complete picture of the most important phenomena for large and small scale. The implemented system has been widely tested on COSMO-SkyMed images taken within the Map Italy program over two different Italian sites and results are presented and discussed.