Can Machine Learning and PS-InSAR Reliably Stand in for Road Profilometric Surveys?

This paper proposes a methodology for correlating products derived by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) measurements and laser profilometric road roughness surveys. The procedure stems from two previous studies, in which several Machine Learning Algorithms (MLAs) have been calibrated for predicting the average vertical displacement (in terms of mm/year) of road pavements as a result of exogenous phenomena occurrence, such as subsidence. Such algorithms are based on surveys performed with Persistent Scatterer Interferometric SAR (PS-InSAR) over an area of 964 km² in the Tuscany Region, Central Italy. Starting from this basis, in this paper, we propose to integrate the information provided by these MLAs with 10 km of in situ profilometric measurements of the pavement surface roughness and relative calculation of the International Roughness Index (IRI). Accordingly, the aim is to appreciate whether and to what extent there is an association between displacements estimated by MLAs and IRI values. If a dependence exists, we may argue that road regularity is driven by exogenous phenomena and MLAs allow for the replacement of in situ surveys, saving considerable time and money. In this research framework, results reveal that there are several road sections that manifest a clear association among these two methods, while others denote that the relationship is weaker, and in situ activities cannot be bypassed to evaluate the real pavement conditions. We could wrap up that, in these stretches, the road regularity is driven by endogenous factors which MLAs did not integrate during their training. Once additional MLAs conditioned by endogenous factors have been developed (such as traffic flow, the structure of the pavement layers, and material characteristics), practitioners should be able to estimate the quality of pavement over extensive and complex road networks quickly, automatically, and with relatively low costs.