| While conventional interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) is a very effective technique for measuring crustal deformation, almost any interferogram includes large areas where the signals decorrelate and no measurement is possible. Consequently, most InSAR studies to date have focused on areas that are dry and sparsely vegetated. A relatively new analysis technique, permanent scatterer InSAR, overcomes the decorrelation problem by identifying resolution elements whose echo is dominated by a single scatterer in a series of interferograms. This technique has been useful for analysis of urban areas, where angular structures produce efficient reflectors that dominate background scattering. However, man-made structures are absent from most of the Earth's surface. Furthermore, this technique requires, a priori, an approximate temporal model for the deformation, whereas characterizing the temporal pattern of deformation is commonly one of the aims of any study.; We have developed a new method of analysis, StaMPS, using spatial correlation of interferogram phase to find a network of stable pixels in all terrains, with or without buildings. Prior knowledge of temporal variations in the deformation rate is not required. We refer to these pixels as persistent scatterers (PS). A key component of our method is the development of two algorithms to unwrap a three-dimensional series of interferograms. We observe temporally-variable deformation, using an initial version of StaMPS, in data acquired over Long Valley caldera in California, for a period when deformation rates varied significantly. The inferred displacements of the PS compare well with ground truth. Using an enhanced version of StaMPS, we detect a period of steady deflation within the Volcan Alcedo caldera in the Galapagos Islands between 1997 and 2001, which we model with a contracting ellipsoidal magma body. Conventional InSAR has been limited here until now by high rates of temporal decorrelation over much of the volcano. We also detect motion along the inner slopes of the caldera which we interpret as landsliding.; Finally, we analyze geodetic data spanning the 1989 Kilauea south flank earthquake, Hawaii, and find that the depth of the inferred fault plane is consistent with the hypocentral depth, which was previously not clear. |
