2012 
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XXXIX-B7, 2012 
XXII ISPRS Congress, 25 August — 01 September 2012, Melbourne, Australia 
INSAR OF AQUATIC BODIES 
Parviz Tarikhi, Microwave Remote Sensing Research Core, Mahdasht Satellite Receiving Station, Alborz Space Center, ISA, Karaj, Iran 
parviz_tarikhi@hotmail.com 
Commission VII, WG VII/2: SAR Interferometry 
KEYWORDS: Space, Monitoring, SAR, Change Detection, Estimation, Dynamic, Oceanography, Sustainable 
ABSTRACT: 
Radar remote sensing is a new earth observation technology with promising results and future. InSAR is a sophisticated radar remote 
sensing technique for combining synthetic aperture radar (SAR) single look complex images to form interferogram and utilizing its phase 
contribution to land topography, surface movement and target velocity. In recent years considerable applications of Interferometric SAR 
technique have been developed. It is an established technique for precise assessment of land surface movements, and generating high 
quality digital elevation models (DEM) from space-borne and airborne data. InSAR is able to produce DEMs with the precision of a couple 
of ten meters whereas its movement map results have sub-centimeter precision. The technique has many applications in the context of earth 
sciences such as topographic mapping, environmental modelling, rainfall-runoff studies, landslide hazard zonation, and seismic source 
modelling. 
Nevertheless new developments are taking place in the application of InSAR for aquatic bodies. We have observed that using SAR 
Interferometry technique for aquatic bodies with the maximum temporal baseline of 16 seconds for image pairs shows considerable results 
enabling us to determine the direction of sea surface motion in a large area, estimate the sea surface fluctuations in the direction of sensor 
line-of-the-sight, detect wave pattern and the sea surface disturbance and whether the water motion is bulk and smooth or otherwise. This 
paper presents our experience and achievements on this new topic through discussing the facts and conditions for the use of InSAR 
technique. The method has been examined for Haiti, Dominican Republic, Western Chile and Western Turkey coast areas and inland lakes 
however ground truth data is needed for final verification. This technique scheduled to be applied in some other sites for which the proper 
data is available. 
1. INTRODUCTION Considerable applications of INSAR have been developed, while 
one of its applications is high-quality DEM generation from space- 
Radar remote sensing is accounted for as a new earth observation borne and airborne data with the precision of a couple of ten 
technology with promising results and future. Its potentials and meters while its movement map results have ordinarily sub- 
capacities as a strong complementary tool along with other remote centimeter precision over time spans of days to years. (Henderson, 
sensing techniques are undeniable. In course of the years of = etal. 1998) 
explorations and examining the new radar technologies, their Satellite-based InSAR began in the 1980s using Seasat data, 
unique possibilities to comply the needs and answering the although the technique expanded in the 1990s after the launch of 
questions that the classic optical and thermal remote sensing ERS-1 (1991), JERS-1 (1992), Radarsat-1 and ERS-2 (1995). They 
techniques have been unable or difficult to tackle has grown the provided the stable well-defined orbits and short baselines 
expectation that radar technologies can play a key role in bridging necessary for InSAR. The 11-day NASA STS-99 mission in 
the gaps in this connection. February 2000 used two SAR antennas with 60-m separation to 
Nowadays, radar remote sensing in general and the Synthetic collect data for the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). 
Aperture Radar (SAR) technique in particular increasingly show As a successor to ERS, in 2002 ESA launched the Advanced SAR 
their values and potentials. Radar is a useful tool for land and (ASAR) aboard Envisat. Majority of InSAR systems has utilized 
planetary surface mapping. (Thompson, et al., 2001) It is a good the C-band sensors, but recent missions like ALOS PALSAR and 
mean for obtaining a general idea of the geological setting of the TerraSAR-X are using L- and X-band. ERS and Radarsat as well 
area before proceeding for field work. Time, incidence angle, as Envisat use the frequency of 5.375GHz for instance. Numerous 
resolution and coverage area all play important role at the InSAR processing packages including IMAGINE-InSAR, 
outcome. (Colwell, 1983) EarthView-InSAR, ROI-PAC, DORIS, SAR-e2, Gamma, 
SAR interferometry (InSAR), Differential InSAR (DInSAR) and SARscape, Pulsar, IDIOT and DIAPASON are used commonly. 
recently emerging Persistent Scatterer (PS) InSAR are the new 
techniques in radar remote sensing. (Tarikhi, 2010a) By using 2. INSAR AND DEM GENERATION METHODS 
InSAR technique very precise digital elevation models (DEM) can 
be produced which privilege is high precision in comparison to the SAR Interferometry is a technique to detect subtle topographic 
traditional methods. changes enabling to detect minute variations. Its accuracy is 
InSAR is a sophisticated processing of radar data for combining paramount. A number of DEM generation techniques with 
synthetic aperture radar (SAR) single look complex (SLC) images different accuracies for various means are used. DEMs can be 
to form interferogram and utilizing its phase contribution to generated through different methods which are classified in three 
generate DEM, surface deformation and movement maps and groups that are DEM generation by (i) geodesic measurements, (ii) 
target velocity. The interferogram contains phase difference of two photogrammetry and (iii) remote sensing. (Tarikhi, 2009) 
images to which the imaging geometry, topography, surface DEM generation by remote sensing is made in few ways, including 
displacement, atmospheric change and noise are the contributing stereo-pairs, laser scanning (LIDAR) and InSAR. There are three 
factors. types of InSAR technique that is single-pass, double-pass and 
three-pass. In double-pass InSAR, a single SAR instrument passes 
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