LANDSLIDES IN ICELAND STUDIED USING SAR INTERFEROMETRY

• Main Authors: Sigurjón Jónsson, Kristján Ágústsson
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Vopnafjörður; Iceland; Seyðisfjörður
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.380.2549; http://earth.esa.int/workshops/salzburg04/papers_posters/3A1_jonsson_607.pdf

Landslides and debris flows have caused both fatalities and considerable economic loss in Iceland during the past centuries. In a recently started project we plan to study known landslides in eastern and central-north Iceland using satellite radar interferometry (InSAR) and survey many other slopes in search for other active landslides that may exist. Our initial results show that a landslide in Seyðisfjörður, eastern Iceland, did not move during the summers of 1995 and 1997, despite moving at rates of up to 33 cm/year during 2001-2002. At another location, Vopnafjörður, InSAR reveals movement of a previously unknown landslide. Extensive Envisat acquisitions from both ascending and descending orbits are planned during summers of 2004 and 2005 to better study the current landslide activity. Fig. 1. Map of Iceland showing the regions where most landslides have occurred: The eastern fjords, centralnorth Iceland, and the western fjords. Also marked are the three locations in eastern Iceland discussed in the text. The frame marks the area shown in Figure 2. 1.