Advanced InSAR Tropospheric Corrections From Global Atmospheric Models that Incorporate Spatial Stochastic Properties of the Troposphere

Tropospheric delays are still the main error source of satellite-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) mapping Earth’s surface movements. Recent studies have demonstrated potential global atmospheric models (GAMs) in reducing InSAR tropospheric delays. However, importance appropriate interpolation and weighting strategies GAM corrections has largely been overlooked. Here we present a new GAM-based correction method that incorporates spatial stochastic troposphere into strategy correction. The determines correlation between pixel interest neighboring grid locations (3D) according to variability random field, instead subjectively using an inverse distance method, local spline function, or other standard scheme. Also, our considers horizontal heterogeneities field by estimating integral along satellite line-of-sight (LOS) direction, calculating projected zenith-delays. can be used with any GAM, but here implement it latest ECMWF (European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) ERA5 reanalysis products. We validate hundreds Sentinel-1 images from 2015 2020 over island Hawaii, location variable topography, conditions, climate, deformation, explore both interferograms time-series analysis products (deformation velocities solutions). Compared (PyAPS, d-LOS, GACOS), yields larger reduction average deviation corrected interferograms, i.e., 2.55 1.91 cm, 2.47 cm (PyAPS), 2.44 (d-LOS), 2.10 (GACOS). fraction 87% (243 out 280) is improved, compared 52%, 53%, 66% corrections, respectively. These results demonstrate considering (1) (2) when LOS delays, (3) long-wavelength small-magnitude deformations InSAR.