Howard Zebker
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) methods have found wide application for the mapping and measurement of Earth and planetary surfaces. The system has evolved from simple radar imaging to incorporate topography and surface deformation mapping using interferometric (InSAR) techniques, and now to present-day research combining time series SAR images to infer the temporal evolution of surfaces. Here we present basic SAR, InSAR, and TimeSAR theory and their implementation in modern radars. We examine how these strategies affect radar system design, plus present the processing methods required to infer the various physical properties of the surface. We intercompare InSAR and time series methods such as persistent scattering and small baseline subset analysis (SBAS) to understabd how and why each method might be used. We illustrate the theory with many examples from current literature. We will cover hardware issues, processing algorithms, and specific applications that illustrate advances in the technology over the past decade. Lectures will cover derivation of the basic formulas and details of how these may be implemented in practice. We will explore the consequences of physical realities such as spatial and temporal decorrelation and how these affect system performance and limit the applicability of each technique. Applications we will examine include the study of earthquakes, volcanoes, subsidence from water withdrawal and oil extraction, and ecological research.
While the topics covered here are quite current and advanced, emphasis in on the basic physical understand of each method rather than on detailed mathematics, so that the course should be suitable for the nonspecialist interested in remote sensing as well as the professional radar scientist and engineer.
Howard Zebker is Professor of Geophysics and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. He has been working on radar remote sensing systems since 1976 and has been involved in the development of many of the imaging techniques. His current research addresses geophysical processes on the surfaces of the Earth and other planets using radar remote sensing methods, as well as instrument and technique development. His specialization is interferometric radar, or InSAR, a technique to measure mm-scale surface deformation at fine resolution over wide areas, and its extensions to TimeSAR analysis to examine temporal changes. Dr. Zebker applies this technique primarily to the study of earthquakes, volcanoes, and human-induced subsidence. He also addresses global environmental problems by tracking the movement of ice in the polar regions, whose ice mass balance affects sea level rise and global climate. Other work includes participation in NASA space missions such as Cassini, where his group is now examining the largest moon of Saturn, Titan, to try and deduce its composition and evolution.
©2017 Conference Management Services, Inc. 
email: webmaster@igarss2010.org Last updated Friday, April 02, 2010