Use of SAR interferometry for detecting and assessing ground subsidence

Synthetic Aperture Radar interferometry (InSAR) is a particularly interesting tool whenever aiming at assessing ground deformation phenomena. It allows a regional scale monitoring, but also an historical assessment of the deformation by using the existent SAR image archives (dating back to the beginning of 1992 for the ERS-1/2 sensors of the European Space Agency). In this paper, we review the core aspects of SAR interferometry techniques and illustrate them using application examples related to urban or mining ground deformation.