Analysis of the quality of daily DEM generation with geosynchronous InSAR

Abstract

Up-to-date digital elevation model (DEM) products are essential in many fields such as hazards mitigation and urban management. Airborne and low-earth-orbit (LEO) space-borne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has been proven to be a valuable tool for DEM generation. However, given the limitations of cost and satellite repeat cycles, it is difficult to generate or update DEMs very frequently (e.g., on a daily basis) for a very large area (e.g., continental scale or greater). Geosynchronous synthetic aperture radar (GEOSAR) satellites fly in geostationary earth orbits, allowing them to observe the same ground area with a very short revisit time (daily or shorter). This offers great potential for the daily DEM generation that is desirable yet thus far impossible with space-borne sensors. In this work, we systematically analyze the quality of daily GEOSAR DEM. The results indicate that the accuracy of a daily GEOSAR DEM is generally much lower than what can be achieved with typical LEO synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors; therefore, it is important to develop techniques to mitigate the effects of errors in GEOSAR DEM generation.