New Perspectives of Earth Surface Remote Detection for Hydro-Geomorphological Monitoring of Rivers

In the current scenery of climate change and its relatively increasing visible effects seen over the world, the monitoring of geomorphological processes and flood dynamics becomes more and more necessary for disaster risk reduction. During recent decades, the advantages offered by remote sensing for Earth surface observations have been widely exploited, producing images, digital elevation models (DEM), maps, and other tools useful for hydro-geomorphological parameters detection, flood extent monitoring, and forecasting. However, today, advanced technologies and integrated methodologies do not yet enable one to completely provide near-real-time (NRT) and very-high-resolution (VHR) observations of a river, which is needed for risk evaluation and correct operational strategy identification. This work presents an advanced remote detection analysis system (ARDAS) based on the combination of multiple technologies, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems, Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques, and cloud computing environment. The system allows to obtain VHR products, such as ortho-photomosaics and DEM, for deep observation of the river conditions, morphological modifications, and evolution trend. The test of ARDAS in the Basento river catchment area (Basilicata, South Italy) showed that the innovative system (i) proves to be advantageous in river monitoring due to its high accuracy, quickness, and data flexibility; (ii) could represent a NRT solution for timely support of flood hazard assessments; and (iii) can be further developed by integrating other technologies for direct application in land planning and safeguard activities by contributing to the value chain of the new space economy and sustainable development.