Case studies

Land instability can cause serious damage to infrastructure and the environment, and it poses a threat to citizen safety. Falling rocks may destroy roads, pipes, and buildings and even kill bystanders. In recent years, a continuous growth of the intensity and frequency of land stability phenomena has been observed, and there is a clear relation with both human activity and climate change.

The use of advanced technological solutions for monitoring and predicting instability gives an opportunity to to prevent disasters by monitoring ground motion phenomena to detect potential risks in time.

This is the case of the mountainous parts of Italy’s Friuli Venezia Giulia region, which are especially susceptible to geohazards including landslides and sinkholes and are predisposed to slope instabilities and geologic weakness zones, such as fault zones, shear zones, and weak rock or mineral layers.

To better observe and report on land instability, the Geological Survey of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia commissioned Planetek Italia a solution that would continuously collect, visualize, and analyze data on unstable areas. It also needed to monitor ground displacement affecting buildings and roads, both to protect citizens from danger and to prevent increased costs and delays to new developments.

To help the Geological Survey of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Planetek developed Rheticus^® Safeland, a vertical geoinformation service, powered by Hexagon’s M.App Enterprise, that continually tracks ground movements via satellite radar interferometry. Satellite radar data is a solid source of information and it is ideal for the task because it’s readily available, frequently updated, and allows users to identify trends in ground movement with millimeter-accuracy.

Rheticus^® Safeland enabled the Geological Survey department to collect and provide detailed levels of information for buildings and transportation infrastructures, giving engineers, planners, and other users the ability to analyze ground movement phenomena over time with high precision.

The complete picture provided by the Rheticus^® Safeland service gives support planners the vital knowledge they need to prioritize risk mitigation measures, make better decisions, and proactively avoid critical issues that arise when in-progress phenomena are not fully understood.

The Rheticus service platform was awarded the World Smart City Award, because it made satellite information suitable for all. Users do not need to have any knowledge of or expertise with satellite radar data, interferometry, or GIS applications. Interpreting this data typically requires considerable technical skill, and the results can be difficult for non-experts to understand.

Rheticus^® Safeland solved that problem by simplifying the complex information gathered from radar data analysis. Its clear analytics and intuitive dashboard interface combine maps, reports, and dynamic geo-analytics in a single smart application that provides valuable insight.

Complex, multi-source data is automatically geoprocessed by the platform, so users can focus on what they do best: observing, tracking, and managing land to ensure the safety and security of people and assets. With Rheticus^® Safeland, these users get an accurate, comprehensive overview of their territory with timely updates and dynamic analytics. After implementation, the Geological Survey of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia was able to significantly reduce the time and costs associated with traditional land imagery collection and ongoing software development.

• Learn more about Rheticus^® Safeland and book a free online DEMO
• Download the complete case study from Hexagon Geospatial website