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Satellite imagery makes it easy to move around when using applications such as Google Maps, but NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and Bath University UK researchers believe that advanced satellite images can also be used more critical purposes: the analysis of structures such as bridges. for tiny movements that could be signs of potential collapse.
With regard to infrastructure projects such as bridges, cities and municipalities strive to conduct regular inspections and perform preventive maintenance. However, this maintenance requires significant investment in equipment and labor, and often the structures fall apart until something catastrophic happens.
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In recent years, the development of reliable cellular and wireless data networks has made it possible to remotely monitor the bridges on which sensors are installed and to autonomously communicate information on the signs of movement that can be a reliable indicator. health of a structure. But these sensors do not tell the whole story and can only detect problems on a bridge as they occur in areas where sensors have been specifically installed.
Covering all bridges from head to toe with sensors is simply not financially feasible for most cities, this is where recent advances in satellite imagery come in. At l. Using a series of high-resolution radar images of a bridge taken in space over a given period, researchers from NASA and the University of Bath were able to create a detailed 3D model of the structure, accurate to the millimeter of reality. . The researchers then analyzed this model with an algorithm developed to detect unwanted motions and even deformations on the entire structure – not just at random points controlled by a handful of sensors.
In August 2018, a section of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, collapsed, killing 43 people. Researchers applied their modeling techniques and algorithm to 15-year satellite imagery including the bridge, and found that the bridge exhibited unusual signs of deformation and deformation several months before the collapse.
This research suggests that the technique might work in real-life situations, and although the approach has not been put in place to help Italians, it has the potential to prevent such tragedies from occurring. occur elsewhere in the world. Because they all rely on relatively accessible software and satellite data, monitoring structures such as bridges can be performed autonomously and by a single organization. Municipalities can be alerted when warning signs begin to appear on a structure of months before physical damage becomes visible, giving them enough time to make more detailed assessments and repairs before the tragedy occurs. occurs.
The researchers also suggest that the technique could be used to monitor construction projects or, more specifically, existing buildings and structures nearby that could be affected by work and machinery that roars all day. It could even keep an eye on underground projects, such as tunnel projects, by ensuring that surface structures are not affected by the works or that giant holes are created underneath.
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