SAR interferometry for detecting the effects of earthquakes on buildings

In this paper, the authors describe an innovative application of radar interferometric techniques aimed at monitoring the structural changes induced by earthquakes on buildings. The application is based on the use of a ground-based instrumentation, able to operate as interferometric synthetic aperture radar. The working principle is demonstrated by performing radar measurements on a physical model of building, scaled down by one half, that underwent a series of severe earthquakes reproduced through a three-axial shaking table. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.