Toward mapping surface deformation in three dimensions using InSAR

Geophysical Research Letters
By: , and 

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Abstract

One of the limitations of deformation measurements made with interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) is that an interferogram only measures one component of the surface deformation — in the satellite's line of sight. We investigate strategies for mapping surface deformation in three dimensions by using multiple interferograms, with different imaging geometries. Geometries for both current and future missions are evaluated, and their abilities to resolve the displacement vector are compared. The north component is always the most difficult to determine using data from near-polar orbiting satellites. However, a satellite with an inclination of about 60°/120° would enable all three components to be well resolved. We attempt to resolve the 3D displacements for the 23 October 2002 Nenana Mountain (Alaska) Earthquake. The north component's error is much larger than the signal, but proxies for eastward and vertical motion can be determined if the north component is assumed negligible. Inversions of hypothetical coseismic interferograms demonstrate that earthquake model parameters can be well recovered from two interferograms, acquired on ascending and descending tracks.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Toward mapping surface deformation in three dimensions using InSAR
Series title Geophysical Research Letters
DOI 10.1029/2003GL018827
Volume 31
Issue 1
Year Published 2004
Language English
Publisher Wiley
Contributing office(s) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
Description L01607: 5 p.
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
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