Landslide Monitoring and Slope Stability Analysis

We use satellite InSAR to detect and track slow-moving landslides and unstable natural slopes - on hillsides, along transport and pipeline corridors, and across whole regions. Our work identifies where slopes are creeping long before movement is visible on the ground, including remote terrain that no field program can cover.

Detect risk earlyfind slope movement before a landslide threatens assets or communities.
Monitor at scalescreen long corridors and large, remote areas from a single source.
Support better decisionsstrengthen hazard assessment, prioritization, and mitigation planning.
SituationWhat satellite InSAR provides
Slow slope creepDetect early movement before it is visible
Pipeline or transport corridorIdentify the slopes that are actually moving
Mountain highways and railPrioritize inspections along the route
Remote terrainMonitor with no field access
Large deep-seated landslidesEstimate volume and track evolution

Many landslides creep for months or years before any acceleration, and that slow movement is exactly what satellite InSAR measures well. We map the extent of an active slide, show which part is moving fastest, and track whether it is steady, slowing, or accelerating over time. Because the radar archive reaches back over several years, slope stability analysis can begin with a history of past behaviour rather than starting from zero. Where two viewing geometries are available, line-of-sight motion can be resolved toward the downslope direction, which makes the measured rates more directly meaningful for engineering interpretation.

Sudden, catastrophic failures move too quickly for satellite revisit, and very fast or heavily vegetated slopes can lose signal. Longer-wavelength L-band radar from Japan's ALOS-2 improves coverage over vegetated slopes where shorter wavelengths decorrelate. Satellite InSAR is strongest at detecting slow precursor creep and prioritizing where closer, on-site monitoring should be focused - it complements ground-based systems used for imminent-failure warning rather than replacing them.

Highways, railways, and pipelines often cross long stretches of mountainous or unstable terrain where a single slope failure can disrupt operations or threaten integrity. Inspecting every kilometre on the ground is impractical. Satellite InSAR screens the entire corridor at once, flagging the slopes that are actually moving so that field effort and engineering attention can be directed where they matter. Our published regional assessment of landslide hazard to pipelines in northeastern British Columbia demonstrates this approach at corridor scale, distinguishing the slow- and fast-moving slopes that pose the greatest risk to buried infrastructure. Movement of the corridor structures themselves - embankments, bridge approaches, and pipelines on stable ground - is covered by our infrastructure deformation monitoring service.

Across a district, watershed, or administrative region, satellite InSAR can identify previously unknown active slopes and build a picture of where ground movement is concentrated. Because it requires no instruments and reaches into remote terrain, it is a practical basis for landslide hazard mapping and for setting priorities for transport authorities, land-use planners, and emergency management - especially where no monitoring network exists. Beyond mapping where slopes move, InSAR-derived surface displacement can be used to estimate the volume of large, slow-moving deep-seated landslides; our published research has done exactly this for landslides in northern Canada, turning a displacement field into a quantity that supports engineering and hazard decisions.

A landslide program delivers a regional velocity map that highlights active slopes; a displacement time series for each slope, showing whether movement is steady or accelerating; a corridor screening report where linear infrastructure is involved; and, where the data support it, volume and rate estimates for large slides. We select the radar band to suit the terrain - C-band from Sentinel-1 for wide regional screening, X-band from Germany's TerraSAR-X and Italy's COSMO-SkyMed for detail on a specific slope, and L-band from Japan's ALOS-2 to hold coherence under vegetation. Results are provided as GIS layers and refreshed as new acquisitions arrive.

Satellite InSAR covers slopes that are remote, extensive, or simply too numerous to instrument, and it does so with a multi-year history rather than a single visit. It turns a long corridor or a whole region into one consistent dataset and highlights the slopes that warrant attention. Our small-baseline processing keeps measurements reliable over vegetated mountain terrain where persistent-scatterer-only methods lose coverage, and every rate is reported with its own error estimate. Our methods are grounded in peer-reviewed research published in international remote-sensing journals. On request, we can integrate GNSS, validate against field data, and provide reporting for hazard and compliance purposes. Landslide and slope monitoring is one of our four core monitoring services, alongside mining, land subsidence, and oil and gas monitoring.

What kinds of landslides can InSAR monitor?

Slow-moving and deep-seated landslides and creeping slopes are the best fit. The technique measures gradual movement across the whole slope, including remote terrain without instruments.

Can InSAR provide an early warning of failure?

It is best used to detect slow precursor creep and prioritize where on-site monitoring is needed. For real-time, imminent-failure alarms on a specific slope, ground-based systems remain essential; InSAR complements them with wide-area context and history.

Is it suitable for pipelines and transport corridors?

Yes. Satellite InSAR can screen an entire corridor in one pass and flag the slopes that are moving, which is far more practical than inspecting every kilometre on the ground. We have published a regional pipeline landslide-hazard assessment using exactly this approach.

Can you estimate how big a landslide is?

In many cases, yes. The InSAR-measured surface displacement of a large, slow-moving deep-seated landslide can be used to estimate its volume, which our published research has demonstrated for landslides in northern Canada.

Does it work under forest and on vegetated slopes?

Better than persistent-scatterer-only methods. Small-baseline processing and longer-wavelength L-band radar are used specifically to keep coherence over vegetated mountain terrain, though very dense canopy and snow can still cause gaps that we manage with the archive and multiple satellites.