Infrastructure in geohazard contexts: The importance of automatic and near-real-time monitoring

Abstract

The analysis and interpretation of ground deformation plays an important role in monitoring activities aimed at ensuring the safety of people and/or infrastructure in geohazard scenarios such as earthquakes, volcanic activity and landslides. Nowadays, a wide spectrum of instruments and methods is available, ranging from in-situ to remote sensing approaches. However, the research described here was primarily to develop automatic, and increasingly accurate, monitoring instruments, while acknowledging that the available tools for an efficient exploitation, understanding and interpretation of the measurements made still lack efficiency. In this work, three relevant geohazard case-studies are described where automatic and near-real-time systems allowed the monitoring of surface displacements and deep-seated deformation. The results demonstrate that the automatic and near-real-time acquisition of measurements is important but that this concept has to be extended also to the data processing and its communication. This is particularly important in critical geohazard scenarios, where monitoring activities are fundamental to support early warning systems.