Relative land subsidence of the venice coastland, Italy

Abstract

The Venice coastland, Italy, is an emblematic case of a coastal area prone to progressive submersion by the rising of the sea. Although the city of Venice represents the most relevant case in the northern Adriatic coast, the loss in ground elevation with respect to the sea level, i.e. the relative land subsidence (RLS), is particularly important not only in sectors directly affected by the marine ingression but also in the in-land coastal plain. In this work we quantify the RLS occurred over the period 1992-2010 in the Venice coastland by the superimposition of the Adriatic sea level rise to the ground displacements assessed by the Interferometric Point Target Analysis performed on ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT scenes. Results show that the lowering of certain portions of the coastland relative to the mean sea level amounts to several centimeters, which are values particularly severe for the maintenance and management of the coastal area.