Hi,
I’d like to inquire about pixel offset tracking (POT) technique for exploring the surface rupture zone of a significant strike-slip earthquake with a magnitude of Mw 6.6 and a depth of 10 km. I’m using ESA-Snap software and Sentinel-1 dataset. and I’m curious if this method is primarily used for estimating the velocity of glacier sheets or if it can also be applied to extract deformation in both the azimuth and range directions, particularly when dealing with small displacements ranging from centimeters to 4-5 meters.
I am not familiar with the way that ESA-SNAP implements the pixel offset tracking method for Sentinel-1. I can tell you the theoretically possible measurement accuracy from POT are about 1/10 or 1/20 of the pixel size of the SAR images. The Sentinel-1 full-resolution SLC files have the range pixel size of 2.3 meters and azimuth pixel size of 14 meters. This means the best accuracy you get in the azimuth (along-track) direction with Sentinel-1 is about 0.7 meters. You will never be able to measure a few cm. I use this method for earthquakes often, usually for earthquakes larger than magnitude Mw 7, and I use the InSAR Scientific Computing Environment (ISCE) software. The big advantage of POT is that it works for very large displacements with no saturation or phase unwrapping problems.
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Thanks alot …@EJFielding !!! But I didn’t use “InSAR Scientific Computing Environment (ISCE) software” before. So, this is available to use it ?
The InSAR Scientific Computing Environment (ISCE) is free and open software available on GitHub (GitHub - isce-framework/isce2: InSAR Scientific Computing Environment version 2). It requires some installation, but there is an Anaconda option. It is command-line software, not a graphical user interface like ESA-SNAP.
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Great!!! I will download it. thanks.