The Work of an InSAR Company

An Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) company specialises in using satellite technology to monitor ground deformation with millimetre-level precision. These companies provide crucial insights to industries such as infrastructure management, mining, energy, and environmental protection. Let’s look at the main activities of an InSAR company. We will see how they change raw satellite data into useful information.

"Millimetre-level precision: Transforming how we understand ground movement."

Data Search and Acquisition

The process begins with identifying and sourcing the right satellite data:

• Area of Interest (AOI): Clients usually choose certain areas they want to monitor. This can include a mining site, city infrastructure, or a tailings dam.

• Satellite Selection: The company identifies satellites with the appropriate Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) capabilities, such as high resolution or frequent revisit times. Examples include Sentinel-1, RADARSAT-2, or TerraSAR-X.

• Temporal Coverage: Depending on the monitoring goals, they acquire historical data for establishing a baseline and schedule future data acquisitions for ongoing monitoring.

A company watching a highway for sinking might use Sentinel-1 data. This data has a 6-day revisit cycle and covers the globe consistently.

"From satellite data to actionable insight: The invisible power of InSAR technology."

Processing Satellite Data

Raw SAR data isn’t immediately useful—it requires significant processing:

• Interferogram Generation: Researchers combine satellite images from different acquisition dates to create interferograms, highlighting ground movement by measuring phase differences between SAR images.

• Filtering and Calibration: This minimises noise from atmospheric effects, vegetation, or signal interference to ensure accuracy.

• Time-Series Studying: An InSAR company will examine patterns of change in ground movement over time. This helps us tell apart short events, like earthquakes, from long-term trends, like subsidence.

  
  

Did You Know? Advanced InSAR techniques, like Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI), can find stable points such as buildings or rocks. This helps track ground surface deformation more accurately.

Analysis and Interpretation

Once the data is processed, it’s time to make sense of it:

• Deformation Maps: These show areas of ground movement, with colour gradients indicating the magnitude and direction of displacement.

• Risk Assessments: Analysts interpret deformation data to identify risks, such as landslide-prone slopes or unstable infrastructure.

• Customisation: The InSAR company tailors reports to client needs, often integrating additional datasets like geology, hydrology, or optical imagery for context.

Delivering Insights

InSAR companies translate complex data into actionable deliverables:

• Reports and Visualisations: Detailed maps, graphs, and dashboards help clients understand risks and trends.

• Alerts and Updates: Clients receive regular updates or alerts for significant changes, enabling proactive decision-making.

• Integration with Client Systems: Many companies provide APIs or data connections. This helps users work smoothly with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or asset management software.

A mining company may get a monthly report on ground stability around their tailings dam. This helps them act to prevent failures.

"Safeguarding infrastructure, one pixel at a time."

Supporting Decision-Making

InSAR companies don’t just provide data—they help clients act on it:

• Infrastructure Maintenance: Identify areas where roads, bridges, or pipelines require reinforcement.

• Environmental Protection: Monitor deforestation, groundwater extraction, or coastal erosion.

• Disaster Response: Provide rapid assessments of earthquake damage or landslide risks.

"The most expensive infrastructure failure is the one you didn't see coming."

Real-World Applications

1. Urban Development: Monitoring building stability in subsidence-prone areas.

2. Energy Sector: Ensuring the integrity of offshore oil platforms or pipeline networks.

3. Mining Industry: Detecting ground deformation near open-pit mines or tailings dams.

4. Climate Resilience: Tracking glacier movements or permafrost thaw in polar regions.

   
   

Satellite	Resolution	Revisit Time	Coverage Area	Wavelength Band	Best For
Sentinel-1	5x20 m	6-12 days	Global	C-band	Monitoring Arctic sea ice, mapping the marine environment, assessing land surface risks, supporting forest and water management, and aiding in emergency response and humanitarian crises.
RADARSAT-2	1x3m to 100m	24 days	On-demand	C-band	Monitoring the environment; Managing natural resources; Performing coastal surveillance.
TerraSAR-X	1x1 m to 18 m	11 days	On-demand	X-band	DEM generation; hydrology, geology, climatology, oceanography, environmental monitoring, and disaster monitoring.
COSMO-SkyMed	1x1 m to 100 m	1-16 days	On-demand	X-band	Seismic hazard analysis, environmental disaster monitoring, and agricultural mapping
ALOS-2 / PALSAR-2	3 x 1 m to 100m	14 days	On-demand	L-band	Cartography, regional observation, disaster monitoring, and environmental monitoring.

Table 1: Satellite SAR Capabilities Comparison

"When it comes to ground stability, seeing the invisible gives you the ultimate advantage."

Why InSAR Companies Are Essential

InSAR companies use advanced satellite technology and expert analysing. This helps industries reduce risks, improve maintenance, and protect assets and communities.

Industry	Risk Type	Traditional Detection	InSAR Detection	Potential Cost Savings	Risk Reduction
Mining	Tailings dam failure	Visual inspection	3-6 months earlier	$10m - 100M+	Very high
Civil Infrastructure	Bridge settlement	Annual surveys	6-12 months earlier	$2-20M	High
Oil & Gas	Pipelines subsidence	Periodic inspection	4-8 months earlier	$5M-50M	High
Railways	Track deformation	Regular maintenance	2-5 months earlier	$1M-10M	Medium-High
Urban Development	Building subsidence	Building sensors	6-18 months earlier	$3M-30M	High
Highways	Road instability	Traffic disruption	3-9 months earlier	$20M-200M+	Medium
Dams	Structural weakness	Scheduled inspection	6-12 months earlier	$20M-200M+	Very High
Coastal Infrastructure	Erosion impact	Seasonal assessment	3-6 months earlier	$1M-15M	Medium-High

Table 2: Industry-Specific Risk Reduction Potential

InSAR companies help to safeguard the built environment against geohazards by empowering infrastructure stakeholders with actionable insights.

Monitoring Parameter	Traditional Methods	InSAR Technology	Cost Difference	Benefit Increase
Monitoring Area (per km2)	$5,000 - $15,000	$200 - $2,000	85% - 95% lower	100-1000x larger area
Data collection frequency	Monthly / Quarterly	Weekly / Daily	70-80% lower per collection	4 - 12x more frequent
Staff requirements	3-10 field technicians	1 - 2 analysts	60-90% lower	More specialised analysis
Data processing time	1-3 weeks	1 - 3 days	N/A	5-15x faster results
Detection Precision	cm-level	mm-level	Similar cost	10x more precise
Historical analysis	Limited / Unavailable	Available back to 1990s	New capability	Decades of context
All-weather capability	Limited	Complete	N/A	24/7/365 monitoring
Early warning potential	Low-Medium	Medium-High	Similar cost	2-4x earlier detection
Total annual cost (100km2 area)	$200,000 - $500,000	$50,000 - $150,000	70-75% lower	Significantly enhanced

Table 3: Cost-Benefit Analysis of InSAR Monitoring

Want to learn more about how an InSAR company like Geofem applies their expertise to the real-world built environment? Read some of our case studies next.