Subsidence patterns around Bologna

Thanks to Europe’s environmental Copernicus programme and the Sentinel-1 mission, the first Europe-wide subsidence and soil movement analysis service is available to the public. Based on radar data from Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite mission, the European Ground Motion Service provides information on the motion of land, structures and infrastructure in Copernicus Participating States. The service gives users reliable information on ground motion at a local, regional or national scale.

For example, this image shows the rate of ground displacement between 2015 and 2020 in the city of Bologna and surroundings in Italy. Although subsidence in Bologna is a well-known issue, likely caused by tectonic activity and groundwater extraction, the new service offers town planners and construction companies easy-to-access information on ground displacement.

Read full story: Tap into Europe in motion