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U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2005-3025

Monitoring Ground Deformation from Space

Published 2005
Version 1.0

Rosalind L. Helz

Introduction

Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are using an exciting new tool to detect, measure, and monitor subtle changes in the shape or relative position of the Earth’s surface. By bouncing signals from a radar satellite off the ground in successive orbits and looking at the differences between the images, interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) can detect small differences in the distance between its position and the ground as the land surface moves--whether up, down, or sideways. InSAR shows spatial patterns of deformation in remarkable detail and, in combination with ground-based monitoring, gives USGS scientists unprecedented insight into a wide range of earth science processes.

Report

This report is available in Adobe Acrobat format.

Fact Sheet 2005-3025 [620-KB PDF].

Contact

For scientific questions or comments concerning this report, contact one of the following:

• Rosalind L. Helz
  U.S. Geological Survey
  MS 926A
  12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
  Reston, VA 20191
  Telephone: 703-648-6086
  E-mail: rhelz@usgs.gov
• Chuck W. Wicks, Jr.
  U.S. Geological Survey
  MS 977
  345 Middlefield Road
  Menlo Park, CA 94025
  Telephone: 650-329-4874
  E-mail: cwicks@usgs.gov
• Zhong Lu
  U.S. Geological Survey
  Eros Data Center
  47914 252nd Street
  Sioux Falls, SD 57198
  Telephone: 605-594-6063
  E-mail: lu@usgs.gov
• Gerald W. Bawden
  U.S. Geological Survey
  Modoc Hall, CSUS
  3020 State University Drive East
  Sacramento, CA 95819
  Telephone: 916-278-3131
  E-mail: gbawden@usgs.gov

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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey URL: https://pubsdata.usgs.gov/pubs/fs/2005/3025/index.html Page Contact Information: Eastern Publications Group Page Last Modified: 18:16:01 Tue 29 Nov 2016