SAR Data Analysis in Solid Earth Geophysics: From Science to Risk Management

The reasons were clear: before the InSAR era crustal deformation was measured using very time-consuming, ground based methods, as leveling, triangulation, trilateration; all requiring costly networks and measurement campaigns. The same was true for the GPS technique, appeared only few years before. SAR interferometry made things simpler and cheaper, although with some limitations; probably the most appealing features of InSAR deformation measurements were their spatial imaging capacities and the high ground resolution. These allowed an unprecedented way to look at all the natural phenomena causing, or derived from, surface deformation.