Joint Use of EGMS and Cosmo-SkyMed InSAR for Assessment of Ground and Structural Deformations: The Case of Como, Northern Italy

Urban ground deformation poses significant risks to structural stability and infrastructure resilience, necessitating advanced monitoring techniques. This study evaluates two critical structural deformation parameters—maximum lowering rate and maximum differential settlement—using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) measurements from COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) and Sentinel-1 (EGMS Level 2b) datasets in Como town, Northern Italy, over the period January 2016 to December 2021. CSK data were processed using Multi-Temporal InSAR (MT-InSAR) techniques, while Sentinel-1 deformation velocities were extracted directly from the European Ground Motion Service (EGMS) portal. A specific geospatial approach was employed to mitigate the impact of localized deformations and simplify single-building analyses without requiring computationally intensive processing steps. The comparison between CSK and EGMS datasets revealed a reasonable level of agreement, demonstrating their complementary strengths in deformation monitoring. Results indicate that 33 buildings were subject to significant lowering rates, while 99 buildings exhibited notable differential settlement. These findings underscore the utility of integrating high-resolution datasets for comprehensive urban deformation assessments. This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on urban geohazard assessment by highlighting the efficacy of InSAR technologies in structural condition monitoring. The insights gained from this study are expected to inform future applications of InSAR for structural and infrastructure condition assessment and monitoring.