Megaproject Monitoring by Satellite ? InSAR-based Settlement-time History: Measuring Hundreds of Thousands of Points, Several Times a Month, Across an Entire City

by Sean E. Salazar, Ph.D., Project engineer at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo, Norway, Sean.Salazar@ngi.no,
Regula Frauenfelder, Ph.D., Principal engineer at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo, Norway, Regula.Frauenfelder@ngi.no,
Malte Voge, Ph.D., Senior research engineer at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo, Norway, Malte.Voge@ngi.no,


Serial Information: Geo-Strata —Geo Institute of ASCE, 2021, Vol. 25, Issue 6, Pg. 40-47


Document Type: Feature article

Abstract: Satellite-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar, or InSAR, has gained unequivocal importance as a routine and precise monitoring method for large and small areas alike. Historical datasets allow us to "go back in time" to build large stacks of radar images that can be used to detect and measure deformations of buildings, infrastructure, and the ground surface near tunnelling, construction, or dewatering activities. Time-series analyses enable measurement of vertical or horizontal movement over time at thousands of points with millimetric precision. With increasing availability of data that cover all parts of the world, InSAR is proving to be a critical tool for assessing long-term stability of structures in many types of projects.

Subject Headings: Radar | Project management | Infrastructure construction | Vertical loads | Tunneling | Time series analysis | Structural stability

 

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