Wayne Assis | Associate Professor, Technology Center, Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Brazil
September 17, 2025 | 11h00-11h30 | Room to be defined | Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal
Abstract: Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a standard component of performance-based bridge management, enabling early distress detection through advanced technologies and sustainable practices that significantly reduce repair and maintenance costs while ensuring operational safety, service availability, and compliance with design-life requirements. Satellite-based SHM using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) offers substantial potential for high-precision displacement monitoring of civil infrastructure, with Interferometric SAR (InSAR) mapping and quantifying kinematic phenomena with millimeter-level accuracy by leveraging temporal phase coherence in the radar signal. Unlike conventional SHM approaches, InSAR-based monitoring provides non-contact measurement capabilities, all-weather operability, and wide-area coverage with the simultaneous observation of multiple targets. This work presents InSAR applications to Brazilian bridge monitoring, demonstrating the technology's substantial potential for displacement assessment and its capacity to generate actionable intelligence for targeted inspection protocols and maintenance interventions.
Short Bio: Wayne Assis is a civil engineer and professor of experimental structural analysis at the Technology Center of the Federal University of Alagoas (Brazil). He holds both a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of São Paulo, the latter including research conducted at the University of Porto (Portugal). His background includes the development of SHM systems applied to infrastructure assets in Brazil and Portugal, as well as collaborative projects with companies such as Vale, Petrobras, and Braskem. His research group is currently developing and deploying satellite-based SHM.