optimiziNg satEllite baSed moniToring Of stRucture (NESTOR)

Pier Francesco Giordano (Principal Investigator)

NESTOR aims to enhance satellite-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of civil infrastructure, with a particular focus on bridges. The project builds on the growing use of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) for remote, large-scale displacement monitoring, leveraging its ability to provide historical and ongoing deformation measurements without the need for dense on-site sensor installations. Despite its advantages, InSAR-based monitoring presents challenges related to line-of-sight displacement interpretation, spatial and temporal inconsistencies between ascending and descending satellite datasets, and the selection of reliable Persistent Scatterers (PSs). NESTOR addresses these challenges by integrating InSAR techniques with Bayesian Decision Theory and the Value of Information (VoI) framework to optimize monitoring strategies. The project focuses on improving PS selection, spatial and temporal resampling strategies, and displacement aggregation procedures to enhance the accuracy and reliability of satellite-derived monitoring outputs. By quantifying the informational value of different monitoring configurations, NESTOR aims to support more effective decision-making and resource allocation in infrastructure management, ultimately advancing satellite-based SHM from observational analysis toward decision-oriented monitoring systems.