Recent advancements in multi-temporal methods applied to new generation SAR systems and applications in South America

Abstract

Detection and continuous monitoring of Earth's ground surface changes, triggered by natural phenomena or induced by human activities, is nowadays possible using Earth Observation (EO) technologies. Indeed, the exploitation of remotely sensed data collected by constellations of new-generation satellite platforms, complemented with in-situ measurements and ground-based observation systems, represents a well-established practice to get valuable information on Earth's crust and subsurface dynamics. The effects of extreme natural or man-induced events (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, flooding phenomena, sea-level rise, big fires, etc.) have severe societal and economic impacts. In particular, the technologies based on the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images reached significant improvements in the last decade due to the growing availability of vast amounts of data collected by multiple-satellite sensors operating at different frequency bands and with complementary viewing angles, polarization and acquisition modes. Accordingly, to process a large amount of SAR data in a timely fashion, up-to-date high-performance computing (HPC) methods and tools are required. This paper addresses the state-of-the-art of SAR technologies for the analysis of long sequences of multiple sets of SAR images and provides a perspective on the forthcoming improvements of these technologies. In particular, the emphasis is placed on novel interferometric SAR and change detection methods, giving an overview of how those processing techniques have been used for investigating sites located in South and Central America. Moreover, an overview of the new generation of SAR sensors' observational capability, especially in the field of ground deformation analysis for mitigating the risk associated with natural and human-induced hazards, is provided. COSMO-SkyMed, ALOS, Sentinel-1, and SAOCOM data are exploited to show how natural and human-induced terrain displacement phenomena can be detected and investigated in different portions (X-, L- and C-band) of the microwave spectrum using SAR technologies.