Sentinel-1 SAR-Based coseismic deformation monitoring service for rapid geodetic imaging of global earthquakes

Abstract

Geodetic observation imaging technology, such as interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), has become essential for describing the dimensions and spatial complexity of earthquakes. The Sentinel-1 constellation provides an unprecedented intensive radar image acquisition ability. The amount and availability of SAR images have exponentially increased since the constellation was launched, and it has significantly contributed to the on-going big data era. In this paper, we use the capabilities of Sentinel-1 SAR to develop a fully automated coseismic deformation monitoring service and produce value-added products to support the monitoring of earthquake disasters. This monitoring service is implemented under the modern processing environment of WebGIS to generate geocoded interferograms around areas affected by earthquakes. We describe a detailed workflow for earthquake response using Sentinel-1 SAR images and provide a preliminary process for exploiting Sentinel-1 InSAR at an operational level in support of global earthquake emergency response.