Identifying Pipeline Leak Positions Potentially Connected to Soil Deformations through SAR Data Analysis

Abstract

Transmission mains (TMs) and water distribution systems (WDS) are, among the others, fundamental networks on which society relies on. Age, pipeline materials, and internal and external stresses are just few of the numerous factors that undermine the efficiency of these infrastructures and potentially reduce performance and functionality, leading to leakages or causing dangerous conditions in the surrounding environment, such as flooding or disruption. Accurate condition assessment, with suitable monitoring techniques, allows for proper management and maintenance throughout the infrastructures’ lifetime. Starting from the hypothesis that leakages could be related to soil deformation, this study evaluated the opportunities offered by the differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) method in identifying soil deformations in nonurban areas potentially related to leak positions along TMs. Satellite images were analyzed to derive millimetric evolution of slow deformation processes over large surfaces and a long time frame. To test the capability of the proposed method and its operability as a monitoring tool, data acquired between 2014 and 2019 by Sentinel-1 satellites, were processed to investigate two transmission pipelines located in two areas of Italy (Veneto and Toscana regions). An analysis of historical damages in the hydraulic network and soil deformations obtained by synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data examination along the pipeline path suggests how and in which conditions potential relationships between leakages along pipeline and deformations of the ground surface can be defined.