Enhancing monitoring flash flood dams: A cost-effective approach for post-storm assessment using remote sensing

Remote sensing is increasingly utilized for structural and geotechnical health monitoring, offering detailed observations with high spatial and temporal resolution. Dam monitoring is crucial to avoid catastrophic failures due to infrastructure ageing or unusual events. This study utilizes open-source data frequently available. The paper proposed a methodology for monitoring dams in rural areas using remote sensing products integration to monitor deformations and water bodies. Two flash flood dams in Egypt, have different topographies (wide and narrow valleys), were monitored using differential SAR interferometry, pixel offset tracking, and optical change detection techniques. DInSAR and in-situ measurements agreed with ± 1 mm deformation in the wide valley. However, the results did not match those in the narrow. The Pixel offset analysis also observed a significant change, but it was unsuitable for monitoring such a dams. However, change detection using observed the partial failure and sedimentation upstream.