Editorial: Management and monitoring of natural disasters using remote sensing and ground-based data

Intensity and frequency of the natural disasters are increasing worldwide, above all also because of human activity and related effects on climate changes. In this context, ground deformation generated by catastrophic events represents a growing problem that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The surface changes due to natural events, i.e., landslides, sinkholes, coastal erosion, volcanic activities, earthquakes, land subsidence, etc., can lead to structural damage of buildings and infrastructures, loss of extensive agricultural and/or natural areas, damage to tourist sites and cultural heritage, rise of salt wedges, regression of coastlines, and can have a significant economic and social impact. This negative impact can be further aggravated by climate change (e.g., sea level rise, modifications of rainfall intensity and period) and by climate change driven increased anthropogenic influence (e.g., groundwater withdrawal) in particular in low-lying coastal areas and unstable slopes.