Submillimeter Accuracy of InSAR Time Series: Experimental Validation

Abstract—This paper presents the results of a blind experiment that is performed using two pairs of dihedral reflectors. The aim of the experiment was to demonstrate that interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) measurements can indeed allow a displacement time series estimation with submillimeter accuracy (both in horizontal and vertical directions), provided that the data are properly processed and the impact of in situ as well as atmospheric effects is minimized. One pair of dihedral reflectors was moved a few millimeters between SAR acquisitions, in the vertical and east–west (EW) directions, and the ground truth was compared with the InSAR data. The experiment was designed to allow a multiplatform and multigeometry analysis, i.e., each reflector was carefully pointed in order to be visible in both Envisat and Radarsat acquisitions. Moreover, two pairs of reflectors were used to allow the combination of data gathered along ascending and descending orbits. The standard deviation of the error is 0.75 mm in the vertical direction and 0.58 mm in the horizontal (EW) direction. GPS data were also collected during this experiment in order to cross-check the SAR results.