TIDefInsar. Detection and characterization of ground-ice-induced terrain deformation in the South Shetlands (Antarctica) using InSAR.
Funding organization:
ESA Category 1 project. Imagery provided at reproduction costs by the European Space Agency
Period: 04-2010 / 07-2011
Host Institution
LATTEX, IDL, University of Lisbon
Participating Institutions
Centro de Estudos Geográficos, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Principal Investigator: João Catalão
Team members: Giovanni Nico, Gonçalo Vieira, João Catalão, Marco Jorge
ESA Category 1 project. Imagery provided at reproduction costs by the European Space Agency
Period: 04-2010 / 07-2011
Host Institution
LATTEX, IDL, University of Lisbon
Participating Institutions
Centro de Estudos Geográficos, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Principal Investigator: João Catalão
Team members: Giovanni Nico, Gonçalo Vieira, João Catalão, Marco Jorge
Mixed Interferogram (phase and magnitude) of the European Space Agency ERS 1-2 satellites tandem pair 17-03-1996 / 18-03-1996 (orbits 24426 and 4753, respectively), track 390. Perpendicular baseline is -90.9 meters
Abstract
InSAR analysis is an important component of the collaboration between ANTECC-IGOT/UL and LATTEX-IDL/UL on Antarctic Permafrost monitoring. TIDefInSAR aims at contributing to the creation of a multi-source database used to assess on the influence of climate change on the dynamics of the periglacial environment of the South Shetlands, particularly of Livingston and Deception Islands.
Differential interferometry of SAR imagery is applied to ERS 1, ERS 2 and ENVISAT SLC SAR products in order to compute high resolution deformation maps, whose spatial resolution is capable of distinguishing medium-scale dynamic geomorphic features related to ice-rich permafrost creep and active-layer rheology. We intend to derive centimeter-resolution displacement values for some geomorphological processes, such as Rock Glacier deformation and widespread solifluction and thermokarst processes.
The coherent pairs of different baselines are explored and checked for phase deformation signals. Ideally, once different process rates manifest themselves in interferograms with distinct temporal baselines, the deformation signal of all the coherent pairs will be searched for movement and used to broadly classify the kinematics of the geomorphic features that can be discerned in the images.
The South Shetlands Archipelago is a particularly interesting place for studying mass wasting rates and patterns. MAAT a.s.l is just 2/3ºC below zero, and the Archipelago marks the Northern boundary of the Antarctic Peninsula Permafrost. Furthermore, the rising rate of the MAAT between the 50's and the end of the 20th century, about 0,56 ºC per decade, is regarded as one of the highest in the planet.
The adequability of D-InSAR to detect cold environments terrain deformation has been shown by several authors (e.g., Kenyi, 2003 e Delaloye et al. 2007). The choice of applying D-InSAR in the remote areas of high latitudes is justified by the high parcimony of the technique; i.e., using a well-established processing chain, very precise deformation information, potentially reaching milimeter-scale values, can be obtained for very large areas. In this project, the analysis of several dozens (67) of interferometric pairs allows to define a broad picture for the geomorphodynamic behaviour of the ice-free terrains of the archipelago.
InSAR analysis is an important component of the collaboration between ANTECC-IGOT/UL and LATTEX-IDL/UL on Antarctic Permafrost monitoring. TIDefInSAR aims at contributing to the creation of a multi-source database used to assess on the influence of climate change on the dynamics of the periglacial environment of the South Shetlands, particularly of Livingston and Deception Islands.
Differential interferometry of SAR imagery is applied to ERS 1, ERS 2 and ENVISAT SLC SAR products in order to compute high resolution deformation maps, whose spatial resolution is capable of distinguishing medium-scale dynamic geomorphic features related to ice-rich permafrost creep and active-layer rheology. We intend to derive centimeter-resolution displacement values for some geomorphological processes, such as Rock Glacier deformation and widespread solifluction and thermokarst processes.
The coherent pairs of different baselines are explored and checked for phase deformation signals. Ideally, once different process rates manifest themselves in interferograms with distinct temporal baselines, the deformation signal of all the coherent pairs will be searched for movement and used to broadly classify the kinematics of the geomorphic features that can be discerned in the images.
The South Shetlands Archipelago is a particularly interesting place for studying mass wasting rates and patterns. MAAT a.s.l is just 2/3ºC below zero, and the Archipelago marks the Northern boundary of the Antarctic Peninsula Permafrost. Furthermore, the rising rate of the MAAT between the 50's and the end of the 20th century, about 0,56 ºC per decade, is regarded as one of the highest in the planet.
The adequability of D-InSAR to detect cold environments terrain deformation has been shown by several authors (e.g., Kenyi, 2003 e Delaloye et al. 2007). The choice of applying D-InSAR in the remote areas of high latitudes is justified by the high parcimony of the technique; i.e., using a well-established processing chain, very precise deformation information, potentially reaching milimeter-scale values, can be obtained for very large areas. In this project, the analysis of several dozens (67) of interferometric pairs allows to define a broad picture for the geomorphodynamic behaviour of the ice-free terrains of the archipelago.
