Surface deformation Investigated with SBAS- DInSAR approach in NW Himalaya

Spaceborne repeat pass Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry (InSAR)is a precision deformation measurement tool. InSAR provides high resolution terrain displacement map associated with many geophysical processes. Advanced DInSAR approaches are able to quantify mm to cm level deformation signals by involving a time series SAR images and their interferometric processing on the basis of permanent scatterers (PS) or baseline criterion. Frequent spatial and temporal decorrelation in the Himalayan region is a strong impediment in precise deformation estimation using conventional interferometric SAR (InSAR) approach. Herein, small baseline subset (SBAS) DInSAR approach is exploited for surface displacement estimation and time series deformation studies in northwestern (NW) Himalayan region. Deformation results obtained using descending and ascending passes ENVISAT ASAR data sets spanning the time interval from 2003 until 2007 presents the evolution of dynamics in rugged Himalayan terrain. It is revealed by analyzing the strongly correlated pixels that deformation varies from -30 mm/year to 10 mm/year.