Brief communication: Landslide activity on the Argentinian Santa Cruz River mega dam works confirmed by PSI DInSAR

Abstract

Safety and environmental aspects are crucial beyond production goals in the hydropower industry. By monitoring landslides associated with the construction of a hydropower dam in the Santa Cruz River in Argentine Patagonia, this paper contributes to the assessment of the project structural integrity of the construction and safety risks. Ground deformation is monitored using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite data and the persistent scatterer interferometry technique, and it is contrasted with optical imagery, geological and technical reports, and fieldwork. The results include maps of accumulated deformation and deformation time series for the locations of the anchorages of the dam, providing a new and independent dataset to assess the integrity of the construction.