NATURAL VERSUS ANTHROPOGENIC SUBSIDENCE OF VENICE: INVESTIGATION OF THE PRESENT

OCCURRENCE BY PERSISTENT SCATTERER INTERFEROMETRY

P. Teatini a,b, L. Tosi b, T. Strozzi c

a Dept of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, Italy b Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council, Venice, Italyc Gamma Remote Sensing, Gumligen, Switzerland

Sinking coastal citiesPress conference, Monday, 28 April, 14:00

INTRODUCTION

Location of the Venice Lagoon

VENICE

Contributions to the RLS (relative land subsidence) at Venice

Consequences of RLS at Venice

PRESENT LAND SUBSICENCEOF VENICE

Average displacement rates (mm/yr) obtained by Persistent Scatterer Interferometry at Venice

ERS 1992-2002:0.8 0.7 mm/yr

ENV 2003-2010:1.0 0.7 mm/yr

TSX 2008:1.0 1.6 mm/yr

CSK 2008-2011:1.1 1.0 mm/yr

Map representing an estimate of the present anthropogenic land movements at Venice (+ ; )

SPLITTING NATURAL ANDANTHOPOGENIC SUBSIDENCE

Long-term (1992-2010)displacements

Short-term (2008)displacements

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OBSERVED MOVEMENTS:WHICH THE CAUSES?

Architecture of the shallow subsoil of Venice along the alignment A–D1 : the heterogeneous nature

of the Venice subsoil

2 : the city growth over the century

Growth in area of Venice from 900 A.D. to present

OBSERVED MOVEMENTS:WHICH THE CAUSES?

Average displacement rates (mm/yr) obtained by PSI at a

portion of the city NE of St. Mark’s Basilica where

restoration works were carried out in 2008

3 : restoration works (e.g., building restoration, canal dredging, etc.)

4 : waves induced by the intensive boat and ship traffic

Photos of the typical Venice traffic

Thank you