Work

Back-to-back approach to SAR interferometry

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: . Interferometric SAR (InSAR) techniques, particularly Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI), have become essential for land deformation monitoring. However, phase unwrapping errors significantly impact the reliability of deformation measurements, especially in areas with high phase noise or rapid deformation. This paper introduces a back-to-back (B2B) approach that enhances PSI results through a direct phase integration of consecutive interferograms, combined with adaptive phase unwrapping error detection and correction. The methodology integrates coherence-based pixel selection, adaptive phase unwrapping with variable thresholds, spatial-temporal consistency checking, and interpolation. Validation across several mining sites confirms the method’s robustness. For example, at the Relave Talabre mine in Chile, the B2B approach increased measurement density by over 20% with respect to standard PSI, and improved temporal consistency between ascending and descending datasets. These results demonstrate that the B2B approach offers enhanced spatial coverage, more reliable phase unwrapping, and operational efficiency for large-scale deformation monitoring in mining environments.

Source: The international archives of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences/International archives of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences

DOI: 10.5194/isprs-archives-xlix-b3-2026-509-2026

Authors: Qi Gao, Michele Crosetto, Oriol Monserrat, Marta Monfort, Pavel Pavlovsky

Institution: Centre Tecnologic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya

Language: English

Topic: Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques

Subfield: Aerospace Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Generalitat de Catalunya