Relative land subsidence of the Venice coastland, Italy
L. Tosi, C. Da Lio
Institute of Marine Sciences, CNR, Venezia, Italy
P. Teatini
Dept. of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Padova, Padova,
Italy
T. Strozzi
Gamma Remote Sensing AG, Guemligen, Switzerland
ABSTRACT
The Venice coastland, Italy, is an emblematic case of a coastal area prone to progressive
submersion by the rising of the sea. Although the city of Venice represents the most relevant
case in the northern Adriatic coast, the loss in ground elevation with respect to the sea level,
i.e. the relative land subsidence (RLS), is particularly important not only in sectors directly
affected by the marine ingression but also in the in-land coastal plain. In this work we quantify
the RLS occurred over the period 1992-2010 in the Venice coastland by the superimposition
of the Adriatic sea level rise to the ground displacements assessed by the Interferometric Point
Target Analysis performed on ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT scenes. Results show that the lowering
of certain portions of the coastland relative to the mean sea level amounts to several
centimeters, which are values particularly severe for the maintenance and management of the
coastal area.
