Interferometric SAR InSAR Ground Deformation Monitoring Training Course

Course overview

Infrastructure owners, mining operators, utilities and public agencies increasingly need defensible evidence of ground movement before settlement, slope instability, subsidence or asset damage becomes visible in the field. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) provides millimetre-scale line-of-sight deformation measurements across wide areas, but reliable results depend on more than generating an interferogram. Analysts must select suitable SAR scenes, control baselines and coherence, remove topographic and atmospheric effects, interpret phase correctly, and distinguish genuine displacement from processing artefacts.

This five-day course teaches the end-to-end workflow for producing, validating and communicating ground-deformation products from Sentinel-1 SAR data. Participants work through SAR acquisition geometry, phase and coherence, interferogram formation, co-registration, DEM-assisted topographic phase removal, filtering, phase unwrapping, time-series concepts, atmospheric correction and deformation interpretation. They use ESA SNAP, ISCE2, QGIS and GDAL to prepare data, build deformation workflows, assess quality and publish map-ready outputs. The course also addresses practical limitations including decorrelation, layover, shadow, unwrapping errors, reference-point selection and line-of-sight measurement constraints.

Instructor demonstrations are followed by guided processing labs using realistic deformation scenarios such as urban subsidence, mine-related movement and slope displacement. Participants inspect intermediate outputs rather than treating processing as a black box, document key parameter decisions, and compare results against ancillary GIS layers and ground observations. Each participant leaves with a documented InSAR processing workflow, a quality-assessed deformation map, a short technical interpretation note and an implementation plan for applying InSAR monitoring within their own organisation.

The course is designed for GIS, remote-sensing, geospatial and asset-monitoring professionals who already work with spatial data and need a practical, technically sound route into operational InSAR deformation analysis.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain SAR acquisition geometry, phase, wavelength and line-of-sight displacement for deformation monitoring
• Select Sentinel-1 image pairs using temporal baseline, perpendicular baseline, orbit direction and coherence criteria
• Prepare SAR scenes through orbit correction, radiometric preparation, co-registration and subset definition
• Generate interferograms and coherence layers in ESA SNAP using appropriate processing parameters
• Remove topographic phase with a DEM and apply filtering to improve interferogram interpretability
• Assess phase-unwrapping outputs and identify decorrelation, atmospheric and unwrapping artefacts
• Create map-ready deformation products in QGIS with reference points, ancillary layers and uncertainty annotations
• Produce a documented InSAR workflow and technical interpretation note for an operational monitoring use case

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Remote Sensing Analysts — who need to derive and quality-check deformation information from SAR imagery
• GIS Analysts — who integrate satellite-derived movement layers with assets, terrain and operational datasets
• Geotechnical Engineers — who need wider-area evidence of subsidence, settlement or slope movement
• Asset Integrity Engineers — who monitor pipelines, railways, dams, buildings or corridors exposed to ground movement
• Mining and Tailings Monitoring Specialists — who need repeatable satellite methods for detecting deformation around operations
• Environmental and Land Management Officers — who assess ground instability, groundwater-related subsidence or land-use impacts

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable working with raster and vector spatial data in a GIS and should understand coordinate reference systems, map projections, attribute tables and basic raster operations. Prior exposure to QGIS, ArcGIS or equivalent GIS software is expected. Familiarity with remote-sensing concepts such as pixel resolution, spectral imagery and image interpretation is useful, although prior SAR or InSAR experience is not required. Participants should be able to install software and manage local data folders on a laptop. No programming, radar engineering, advanced mathematics or previous use of SNAP or ISCE2 is required; scripts are explained and supplied where used.

Training methodology

The course combines focused instructor-led explanations with step-by-step processing labs using Sentinel-1 scenes and realistic deformation cases. Participants configure processing chains in ESA SNAP, inspect outputs at each stage, use ISCE2-supported workflow components where appropriate, and bring final layers into QGIS for interpretation. Small-group reviews compare processing choices, coherence patterns and likely artefacts. Case discussions connect line-of-sight measurements to engineering and operational decisions. The final session is an application-planning workshop in which participants adapt the workflow, data requirements and validation approach to a named organisational use case.

Course outline

Day 1: SAR and InSAR foundations for deformation monitoring

• Synthetic aperture radar backscatter, wavelength and polarisation
• Sentinel-1 acquisition modes and revisit characteristics
• Radar viewing geometry, incidence angle and line-of-sight measurement
• Phase, interferometric phase and displacement cycles
• Temporal and perpendicular baseline selection
• Coherence as a measure of interferometric reliability
• Layover, shadow and geometric distortion in mountainous and urban terrain

Workshop: Participants assess a Sentinel-1 acquisition catalogue and produce an image-pair selection table for a defined subsidence-monitoring area.

Day 2: Interferogram production and coherence analysis

• Sentinel-1 data acquisition and SAFE product structure
• Precise orbit file application in ESA SNAP
• Back-geocoding and sub-pixel co-registration
• Interferogram formation and phase representation
• Coherence estimation window selection
• DEM-assisted topographic phase removal
• Multilooking, spatial resolution and noise trade-offs

Workshop: Participants generate a co-registered interferometric pair, interferogram and coherence raster in ESA SNAP, then record the processing settings used.

Day 3: Phase processing, unwrapping and error control

• Interferogram filtering with Goldstein filtering principles
• Wrapped phase patterns and fringe interpretation
• Phase-unwrapping concepts and connected components
• SNAPHU-based unwrapping workflow and configuration
• Reference-point selection and relative displacement
• Atmospheric delay, ionospheric effects and orbital ramps
• Decorrelation and unwrapping-error diagnostics

Workshop: Participants filter and unwrap an interferogram, identify suspect regions from coherence and connected components, and produce an error-review log.

Day 4: Time series, validation and GIS interpretation

• Differential InSAR versus Persistent Scatterer and SBAS time-series methods
• Temporal network design for multi-interferogram analysis
• ISCE2 workflow components and processing outputs
• Conversion of unwrapped phase to line-of-sight displacement
• Validation against GNSS, levelling and field observations
• Deformation-rate mapping and time-series interpretation
• QGIS symbology, asset overlays and uncertainty communication

Workshop: Participants load deformation outputs into QGIS, compare them with GNSS points and infrastructure layers, and create a prioritised hotspot map.

Day 5: Operational deployment and reporting

• Use-case design for subsidence, slopes, mines and linear assets
• Monitoring frequency, alert thresholds and escalation criteria
• Data governance, archive design and reproducible processing records
• Quality-assurance checklists for operational InSAR products
• Communicating line-of-sight limitations to non-specialist stakeholders
• Technical reporting of uncertainty, assumptions and validation evidence
• Implementation planning for in-house and supplier-supported workflows

Workshop: Participants complete a capstone workflow pack containing a deformation map, processing record, interpretation note and 90-day InSAR implementation plan.

Tools & standards covered

ESA SNAP, ISCE2, QGIS, GDAL

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions