Multi-path PALSAR interferometric observations of the 2008 magnitude 8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake

Abstract

The Satellite Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) has already demonstrated its potential to map co-, post- and inter-seismic deformation. This paper presents an.alysis of the surface-displacement field of the 12 May 2008 magnitude 8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake using the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) DInSAR. Six PALSAR interferograms of paths 471 to 476 are generated. A new approach, which uses the information of overlapping interferograms, has been developed to compensate for orbit error. The main advantage of this approach is that the calculation is performed without the need for phase unwrapping. Once the orbit error has been compensated for, the interferograms are then merged to form a single interferogram. The final mosaic of interferograms demonstrates a much more consistent co-seismic surface-displacement field than the original interferograms.

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Multi-path PALSAR interferometric observations of the 2008 magnitude 8.0 Wenchuan Earthquake

Acknowledgements

This research work was supported by the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRC-SI) through Project 4.09, whose activities are funded by the Australian Commonwealth's Cooperative Research Centres Programme. The Australian Research Council and the Australian Coal Association Research Program have been funding radar-related studies by the team at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) during the last few years.

The authors wish to thank the Earth Remote Sensing Data Analysis Center (ERSDAC) for providing ALOS PALSAR data. They also acknowledge strong support from the International Association of Geodesy's Sub-Commission 4.4 ‘Applications of Satellite & Airborne Imaging Systems’ and the IAG Consortium for Mine Subsidence Monitoring.

METI and JAXA retain the ownership of the ALOS PALSAR original data. The PALSAR Level 1.1 products were produced and provided to the CRC-SI/UNSW by ERSDAC, Japan.