Facility Support of the WInSAR Archive for Crustal Dynamics Research

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0733437MeertensThis grant supports a three year effort to: 1) develop a multi-satellite synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data ordering, distribution and archiving system; 2) purchase new SAR scenes globally and over North America from the European, Canadian and Japanese Space Agencies; and 3) support development of open-source community software for SAR interferometry (InSAR). The U.S. still does not have a spaceborne SAR sensor and U.S. scientists are largely at the "mercy" of foreign providers for access to global SAR imagery in support of research on crustal deformation. InSAR offers a unique look at crustal deformation over large spatial extents (100s to 1000 km) and thus complements GPS observations. The technique has proven value for advancing understanding of volcanic, seismic and anthropogenic related (due to water and hydrocarbon resource extraction) crustal deformation. Locating a SAR scene data archive at the UNAVCO Facility is cost effective and borrows on existing data management personnel and hardware support of the UNAVCO Facility. The SAR data archive will ensure that U.S. scientists are afforded the opportunity to utilize spaceborne SAR images for a range of studies of societal relevance across the globe.