What Does an InSAR Company Do?

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.

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.

Example: A company monitoring a highway for subsidence might use Sentinel-1 data, which offers a 6-day revisit cycle and consistent global coverage.

Processing Satellite Data

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

• Interferogram Generation: SAR images from different acquisition dates is combined to create interferograms, highlighting ground movement by measuring phase differences between radar images.

• Filtering and Calibration: Noise from atmospheric effects, vegetation, or signal interference is minimised to ensure accuracy.

• Time-Series Analysis: An InSAR company will study 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.

Example: A mining company might receive a monthly report showing ground stability around their tailings dam, enabling preventative action against failures.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.