Measuring Coseismic Deformation With Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar: A Review

• Main Author: John Peter Merryman Boncori
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019-02-01
• Series: Frontiers in Earth Science
• Subjects: crustal deformation; earthquakes; satellite; radar; interferometry; SAR
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feart.2019.00016/full

In the past 25 years, space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery has become an increasingly available data source for the study of crustal deformation associated with moderate to large earthquakes (M > 4.0). Coseismic surface deformation can be measured with several well-established techniques, the applicability of which depends on the ground displacement pattern, on several radar parameters, and on the surface properties at the time of the radar acquisitions. The state-of-the-art concerning the measurement techniques is reviewed, and their application to over 100 case-studies since the launch of the Sentinel-1a satellite is discussed, including the performance of the different methods and the data processing aspects, which still constitute topics of ongoing research.