Geohazards affecting UNESCO WHL sites in the UK observed from geological data and satellite InSAR

Geohazards pose significant threats to cultural and natural heritage worldwide. In the UK, only 1 out of 29 UNESCO
World Heritage List (WHL) sites has been inscribed on the list of World Heritage in Danger, whilst it is widely accepted
that many more could be affected by geohazards. In this paper we set out the foundations of a methodological approach
to analyse geological, geohazard and remote sensing data available at the British Geological Survey to retrieve an
overview of geohazards affecting the UK WHL sites. The Castles and Town Walls (constructed in the time of King
Edward I) in Gwynedd in north Wales are used as test sites to showcase the methodology for geohazard assessment at
the scale of individual property also to account for situations of varied geology and local topography across multiproperty
WHL sites. How such baseline geohazard assessment can be combined with space-borne radar interferometry
(InSAR) data is showcased for the four UNESCO WHL sites located in Greater London. Our analysis feeds into the
innovative contribution that the JPI-CH project PROTHEGO ‘PROTection of European cultural HEritage from GeOhazards’
(www.prothego.eu) is making towards mapping geohazards in the 400+ WHL sites of Europe by exploiting
non-invasive remote sensing methods and surveying technologies.