Landslide mapping using optical and radar data: a case study from Aminteo, Western Macedonia Greece

Landslide mapping is one of the most important steps which take place in the early stages of a landslide survey, contributing to the immediate assessment of slide's effects. Nowadays in this direction, different remote sensing techniques have been developed providing effective results. This work deals with the exploitation of optical data as well as radar data aiming at the mapping of a landslide area located in Western Macedonia, Greece. The landslide occurred in June 2017 at the lignite open pit mine of Aminteo. In that context Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 data were acquired in order to be processed appropriately for the imprinting of disturbed areas. In particular, Sentinel-1 images before and after the landslide were processed interferometrically, yielding to the estimation of vertical displacements. Concerning optical data, the images were submitted to diverse digital processing techniques the results were visualized in GIS environment. The derived results were compared and evaluated for their accuracy and identification. It is worth mentioning that the specific methodology may also be applied to more extensive landslides or landslides triggered by different factors. Additionally, it could be assumed that the methodology can be applied to mass movements as a result of earthquakes.