Use of Remote Sensing Data for Landslide Change Detection

Remote sensing techniques have been widely used since the 1990s in landslide research, deploying for this purpose different spatial and spectral resolution imagery. This research includes photo-interpretation and inventory of large landslides, determinant factors analysis, stereo-plotting of movements, and automatic detection by textural analysis. The potential or intrinsic factors of landslides include geological and morphological factors, while the external or triggering factors include earthquakes, climate, and hydrological and human activities (deforestation, the expansion of urban areas, and the increase of agricultural activity). In this paper, the variations of land use are analyzed using a historical series of aerial-photographic and satellite data (1988 – 2006). Land use affects the stability of landslides. In this paper the proposed model has been applied in the Montescagliso municipality (Basilicata, Southern Italy).