The Danish Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency has updated its survey of vertical and horizontal land movements for all of Denmark. The survey can be used to assess whether the soil will settle, e.g. around dikes, roads, railways and other important infrastructure.
It’s not something you notice on a daily basis, but the land actually settles or heaves gradually, in some places substantially so, i.e. by several centimetres per year in the vertical direction. In some places in Denmark, such movements can exacerbate problems relating to increasing sea levels, while in other places it can remediate these problems.
The volume of satellite images from the ESA Sentinel–1 satellite now makes it possible to map land movements at national level. Such mapping shows where the land is moving upwards, downwards or sideways, respectively.
With an up-to-date survey of land movements at national level, the Danish Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency can now offer free access to new and current detailed knowledge about land movements in Denmark. Amongst other things, the survey can be used to:
• Monitor infrastructure such as dikes, bridges, railway lines and motorways.
• Optimise long-term investment planning for pipelines and sewerage systems, etc.
The survey is already being used in long-term planning and adaption to climate change in the two municipalities of Lemvig and Odense. The Danish Road Directorate is considering using the data as a prioritisation tool in efforts aimed at subsidence events along Danish roads.
This type of satellite data is also used in other countries, and the Danish Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency contributes to work to map land movements for all of the EU using Sentinel-1 data. This work is through participation in an EU advisory board in the period 2019-2021.
How can you access the data?
At the moment, anyone interested in the newly generated land movement data can access the data by contacting the Danish Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency at Grf@sdfe.dk.
However, the Danish Agency for Data Supply and Efficiency is working on displaying the data via a fully open and publicly available point of access.