Techniques for Structural Assessment Based on MT-DInSAR Data, Applied to the San Michele Complex in Rome

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a field of increasing interest and worthy of new approaches and innovative applications. As well known, Italy boasts a unique cultural-historical heritage of monuments and archeological sites that need to be managed, particularly in a multi-hazard prone area like our country. A really appealing technique is represented by the advanced multi-temporal differential interferometry synthetic aperture radar (MT-DInSAR), which has been developed and applied in different fields in the last twenty years. The exploitation of such techniques in the monitoring and structural assessment of cultural heritage is still an open issue even if the first applications available in literature show promising potentialities. In this paper the general framework for structural monitoring and assessment previously proposed by the authors, is applied to the complex building San Michele in Rome (Italy). In particular, COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) ascending and descending datasets are collected and processed applying the Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) method obtaining deformation time series and mean velocity maps of the persistent scatterers located in the investigated area, for both geometry acquisitions. Finally, different techniques useful for assessing the structural behavior and monitoring of constructions are applied and critically discussed.

Automated summary

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a field of increasing interest, particularly in a country like Italy with a rich cultural heritage. Advanced multi-temporal differential interferometry synthetic aperture radar (MT-DInSAR) is a promising new technology with great potential for monitoring and assessing cultural heritage structures. The authors applied their general framework for structural monitoring and assessment to the San Michele building in Rome, using COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) data and the Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) method to obtain deformation time series and mean velocity maps of the persistent scatterers in the area. Various techniques were then applied and critically discussed for assessing the structural behavior and monitoring of the construction.