In this study, a methodology is proposed to use dual-polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to identify the spatial distribution of soil liquefaction. The latter is a phenomenon that occurs in conjunction with seismic events of a magnitude generally higher than 5.5-6.0 and which affects loose sandy soils located below the water table level. The methodology consists of two steps: first the spatial distributions of soil liquefaction is estimated using a constant false alarm rate method applied to the SPAN metric, namely the total power associated with the measured polarimetric channels, which is ingested into a bitemporal approach to sort out dark areas not genuine. Second, the obtained masks are read in terms of the physical scattering mechanisms using a child parameter stemming from the eigendecomposition of the covariance matrix-namely the degree of polarization. The latter is evaluated using the coseismic scenes and contrasted with the preseismic one to have rough information on the time-variability of the scattering mechanisms occurred in the area affected by soil liquefaction. Finally, the obtained maps are qualitatively contrasted against state-of-the-art optical and interferometric SAR methodologies. Experimental results, obtained processing a time-series of ascending and descending Sentinel-1 SAR scenes acquired during the 2023 Turkiye-Syria earthquake, confirm the soundness of the proposed approach.

Excavation of underground caverns, such as mountain tunnels and energy-storage caverns, may cause the damages to the surrounding rock as a result of the stress redistribution. In this influenced zone, new cracks and discontinuities are created or propagate in the rock mass. Therefore, it is effective to measure and evaluate the acoustic emission (AE) events generated by the rocks, which is a small elastic vibration, and permeability change. The authors have developed a long -term measurement device that incorporates an optical AE (O-AE) sensor, an optical pore pressure sensor, and an optical temperature sensor in a single multi -optical measurement probe (MOP). Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been conducting R&D activities to enhance the reliability of high -level radioactive waste (HLW) deep geological disposal technology. In a high -level radioactive disposal project, one of the challenges is the development of methods for long -term monitoring of rock mass behavior. Therefore, in January 2014, the long -term measurements of the hydro-mechanical behavior of the rock mass were launched using the developed MOP in the vicinity of 350 m below the surface at the Horonobe Underground Research Center. The measurement results show that AEs occur frequently up to 1.5 m from the wall during excavation. In addition, hydraulic conductivity increased by 2-4 orders of magnitude. Elastoplastic analysis revealed that the hydraulic behavior of the rock mass affected the pore pressure fluctuations and caused micro-fractures. Based on this, a conceptual model is developed to represent the excavation damaged zone (EDZ), which contributes to the safe geological disposal of radioactive waste. (c) 2024 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

The Karakoram Anomaly has been intensively investigated, but the factors that control this anomaly, such as the glacier velocity, topography, and mass balance, remain poorly understood. To improve our understanding of the velocity, topography, and mass balance of the Karakoram Glacier, in this study, the spatiotemporal variability of four glacier velocities in the Hunza Basin of the Karakoram range were surveyed using co-registration of optically sensed images and correlation (COSI-Corr) on Landsat imagery from 1993-2019. The results show that the velocity of the Gulmit Glacier increases with a rising altitude from the glacier terminal. The three other glaciers initially display high velocity, followed by a decrease from the glacier terminal, with the maximum velocity attained in the middle of the glacier. In addition, the Karakoram glaciers produced a slight mass gain, with all mountain glaciers exhibiting clear regional acceleration from 1993-2019. The ice deformation velocity of the Batura Glacier diminished at an average rate of 8.49 %. However, the topography of the glacier base and physical factors require further analysis to determine their contribution to the observed changes in glacier velocity. In the present work, multi-temporal remote sensing image interpretations were carried out to determine glacier kinematics, which could enhance our understanding of glacier change mechanisms.