SUBSIDENCE AT DUK-PO AREA REVEALED BY DINSAR AND INTERFEROGRAM STACKING

Radar interferometric phase is sensitive to both ground topography and coherent surface displacement. The basic tactics of differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) technique are to separate the two effects. Applications of DInSAR to Duk-Po area in Busan were studied. In the study area, an abrupt subsidence, possibly caused by sub-way construction, was observed by JERS-1 SAR interferometry. Differential interferograms were generated using twenty-three JERS-1 SAR data acquired between April 24, 1992, and August 7, 1998. Because the area is relatively flat with little topographic relief the topographic effects were not removed. A phase filtering and interferogram techniques were applied to increase fringe clarity as well as to decrease decorrelation error. The stacking improves the quality of interferograms especially when the displacement is discontinuous. The interferograms clearly show the evidence of subsidence along Duk-Po subway railroad. These results demonstrate that the interferogram stacking technique can improve the detectability of radar interferometry to an abrupt displacement and DInSAR is useful to geological engineering applications.