SCEC Award Number 22059 View PDF
Proposal Category Individual Proposal (Data Gathering and Products)
Proposal Title Burst-overlap interferometry to supplement ARIA standardized InSAR product time-series in support of the Community Geodetic Model
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Simran Sangha National Aeronautics and Space Administration Gareth Funning University of California, Riverside
Other Participants David Bekaert (collaborator)
SCEC Priorities 1a, 1a, 3e SCEC Groups CXM, Geodesy, GM
Report Due Date 03/15/2023 Date Report Submitted 03/14/2023
Project Abstract
 Through the past year, we have worked on a series of ongoing development efforts that are intended to improve the reliability of our analyses over the SCEC5 area of interest. In particular, we are working to update the existing archive of standardized interferometric products available through the Caltech-JPL Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) Center for Natural Hazards project to include additional observation and correction layers to address significant sources of noise associated with tropospheric and ionospheric phase delays. Once these developments are complete, we will leverage our established methods to align and reference the derived time series to GNSS displacement time series across the SCEC5 area of interest, and use select UAVSAR passes as a means to independently validate our analyses. We also continue to collaborate with the SCEC Community Geodetic Model (CGM) working group as we work towards the development of Version 2 of the CGM, beginning with the incorporation of the Ridgecrest earthquakes.
Intellectual Merit We continue to use completed velocity products and interferograms to address multiple SCEC5 science questions, which specifically involve developing multi-scale velocity models with high-resolution information around faults in order to refine geologic slip rates on faults and constrain the extent of permanent, off-fault deformation. Our ongoing efforts to refine our analysis with a more comprehensive suite of systematic corrections for common and significant sources of noise, as well as validation vis-a-vis GNSS and independently processed UAVSAR InSAR data are intended to improve the reliability of our analyses over the SCEC5 area of interest.
Broader Impacts This effort is performed in collaboration between SCEC-affiliated researchers and researchers at JPL, which is specifically encouraged in the 2023 SP. We continue our participation in the regular teleconferences and workshops of the CGM InSAR working group, and will continue to contribute results to that effort. The analyses derived from proposed updates to our product archive will also seamlessly serve future versions of the CGM beyond the proposed version 2 product this cycle.

In terms of community training and outreach, last year PI Sangha and Co-PI Funning had supported our 4th UNAVCO course in as many years. This course is an annual affair intended to train students and other workers interested in learning about InSAR processing and analysis methods, and on how to properly use open-source software (used and developed in part under this proposed effort) to be leveraged for their own scientific interests and research efforts. Thus a motivation for involvement in these trainings is to facilitate open science activities.
Exemplary Figure Figure 1: Line-of-sight surface velocities for ascending (A) and descending (B) passes estimated from S1-GUNW data spanning between mid 2014 to early 2022, and after applying tropospheric corrections. Velocities are referenced to a single GNSS station (black square) for each track; GNSS stations used for velocity comparisons are also marked (colored dots). Positive motions indicate motion of the ground towards the satellite, and vice-versa.