Application of atmospheric correction in the measurement of land displacements using the PSInSAR technique, on the example of the Tahmoor mining region, Australia

Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geoengineering, Mining and Geology, 27 Wyb. Wyspiańskiego St., 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland

^* Corresponding author: anna.kopec@pwr.edu.pl

Abstract

InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) techniques are a very good tool for identification and observation of surface area displacements. Achieved accuracy of several centimeters, still do not allow for the quantitative analysis of the observed movements. Due to the high dynamics of phenomena in the Earth's atmosphere, one of the biggest limitations of InSAR are disturbances caused by changes in the atmosphere, between two measurements, on the basis of which an interferogram is created. In order to reduce the impact of the atmosphere on the SAR signal course, an atmospheric correction is applied.This study presents the results of calculations using the PSInSAR technique for the Tahmoor mining area located in south-eastern Australia, from 2006-2010. The atmospheric correction was determined: in an empirical way - on the basis of a linear relation between the signal phase and the topography of the area, based on data from the ERA - Interim weather model and data from the MERIS spectrometer.