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EO·Atlas / Topics / Methodologies / InSAR - surface deformation
Methodology ยท SAR processing

InSAR - surface deformation

Measures millimetre-scale ground surface displacement by comparing phase differences between repeat SAR passes; good for subsidence, earthquake deformation, and volcanic monitoring.

How it works

Interferometric phase encodes range change between passes. Requires precise orbit knowledge and temporal coherence between acquisitions. Wikipedia: Interferometric synthetic-aperture radar

Topics this serves
Topic
Fit
Geology and geohazardsfirst choice
Permafrost and ground icefirst choice
Pipeline integrityfirst choice
Subsidencefirst choice
Transport infrastructure monitoringfirst choice
Coastal erosionsuitable
Groundwater and terrestrial water storagesuitable

subsidence-proxy

Snow water equivalentsuitable
Floodingadequate
Glacier and ice-sheet massadequate

dynamics-context

Used by analysis methods
Existing implementations
Demonstrated
  • C-SAR
  • CityScan

    CityScan is an operational InSAR-based deformation monitoring product; Sensar technology page confirms satellite radar interferometry with millimetre-scale measurements and up to 180,000 points per km2

  • DikeScan

    DikeScan is an operational InSAR-based dike deformation monitoring product; Sensar technology page confirms satellite radar interferometry and millimetre-scale settlement measurements along 10m longitudinal profiles

  • InfraScan

    InfraScan is an operational InSAR-based linear-infrastructure deformation monitoring product; Sensar technology page confirms satellite radar interferometry for roads, rail, and pipeline hotspot detection

  • SkyGeo Infrastructure InSAR Monitoring

    SkyGeo Infrastructure InSAR Monitoring is an operational InSAR ground-motion monitoring service; SkyGeo confirmed use of Sentinel-1 satellite data; PSI (Persistent Scatterer InSAR) implied by high point density (up to 100,000/km2) and historical data back to 1992; data continuity from Sentinel-1C confirmed in company news

  • GroundPulse Infrastructure Displacement Intelligence
  • COSMIC-EYE Infrastructure Monitoring
  • Survey Intelligence Ground Deformation Monitoring
  • FastGBSAR

    FastGBSAR-S operates as a ground-based interferometric SAR producing 2D displacement maps every 10s with 0.1mm accuracy at up to 4km range. Ku-band 17.2 GHz. Peer-reviewed publications at IEEE IGARSS 2012 and SPIE 2014 confirm operational interferometric deformation monitoring capability.

  • SAR-C (Gaofen-3) via Gaofen-3 (GF-3)

    Gaofen-3 repeat-pass interferometric SAR experiments and WMO measurement evaluation support InSAR use.

  • SAR-2000 via COSMO-SkyMed

    COSMO-SkyMed SAR-2000 supports interferometry-oriented X-band SAR acquisition and WMO records glacier/topography variables.

  • NISAR L-band SAR via NISAR

    NISAR nisar-l-band-sar supports SAR imaging, repeat-pass InSAR, and polarimetric SAR modes per NASA/ISRO mission sources.

  • NISAR S-band SAR via NISAR

    NISAR nisar-s-band-sar supports SAR imaging, repeat-pass InSAR, and polarimetric SAR modes per NASA/ISRO mission sources.

  • PAZ SAR via PAZ

    PAZ/TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X constellation supports interferometric surface-movement monitoring.

  • StriX SAR via Synspective StriX

    Synspective's Land Displacement Monitoring solution is served by StriX SAR data.

  • CSG-SAR via COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation

    CEOS states CSG preserves precision required for interferometric activities.

  • SAR-L (SAOCOM L-band SAR) via SAOCOM-1A

    SAOCOM-1 stripmap SAR data has demonstrated InSAR deformation use.

  • Capella X-band SAR via Capella Space SAR constellation

    Capella Acadia repeat-track precision supports InSAR use of Capella SAR imagery.

  • TerraSAR-X SAR via TerraSAR-X

    TerraSAR-X repeat-pass SAR imagery is used for interferometric surface-deformation workflows.

Capable, undemonstrated
  • ICEYE X-band SAR
  • RoadEO road quality monitoring and prediction

    RoadEO uses satellite SAR data for road infrastructure monitoring; InSAR surface deformation measurement is consistent with their radar remote sensing specialist hiring and pavement deformation tracking use case.

  • Ground SAR Processor
  • MetaSAR-C

    MetaSAR-C supports single-pass and repeat-pass interferometry in stripmap mode

  • MetaSAR-L

    MetaSAR-L supports repeat-pass interferometry for DInSAR surface deformation monitoring per UAV campaign

  • MetaSAR-X
  • SAR-X (RISAT-2 series)

    RISAT-2 SAR-X is evaluated by WMO for interferometric/topographic variables; kept as capable for RISAT-2BR1 pending mission-specific validation.

Related methodologies
  • Polarimetric SAR - target decomposition

    Decomposes backscatter into scattering mechanisms (surface, double-bounce, volume) using multi-polarisation data; good for forest structure estimation, urban mapping, and soil moisture retrieval.

  • SAR backscatter imaging

    Synthetic-aperture radar amplitude imaging: measures the surface normalized radar cross-section (sigma-nought) at high spatial resolution, day-night and cloud-independent. The base SAR sensing method underlying ocean wind retrieval, wave-mode spectra, flood mapping, and change detection.

  • Radar scatterometry

    Real-aperture radar that measures normalized radar cross-section from multiple azimuth angles to retrieve ocean surface wind vectors (speed and direction) over wide swaths at ~12-25 km resolution. Distinct from SAR: non-imaging, coarse-resolution, optimised for global daily wind fields.

Sources
Methodology

Edited from public sources. Last reviewed date pending by SpectraWorks editorial. See the data dictionary for field definitions.

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