A method for minimising of low frequency and unwrapping artefacts from interferometric calculations

Abstract

On 7 September 1999 a magnitude M_W = 5.9 earthquake occurred in the Athens area of Greece producing a subsidence of 6–7 cm detected by radar interferometry. This study introduces a processing technique, which produces a clear deformation pattern of the earthquake, mostly released from artefacts due to orbital effects, unwrapping cycle slipping errors and atmospherics disturbances. A set of 17 ERS‐1 and ERS‐2 SAR images acquired between December 1997 and January 2001 has been used. The contribution of each artefact to the interferograms was calculated, both in the frequency and spatial domains.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the European Space Agency (ESA) for providing ERS‐1 and ERS‐2 SAR data, in the frame of ESA‐GREECE AO project 1489OD/11‐2003/72.