Improved deformation monitoring technology considering the penetration variation of L-band SAR signals

Abstract. The influence of soil moisture change on interference phase information is fully taken into account for accurate deformation monitoring in this research. Especially the effects have more prominent contribution to L-band SAR data. In order to obtain high-precision surface deformation information over agricultural area, the interference phase component caused by soil moisture change should be considered, and the optimal processing of interference phase information is achieved. The reliable interference phase information characterizing the surface deformation details is obtained, thus the natural surface deformation information with high precision can be achieved. Firstly, the penetration depth of different band SAR for agricultural soil was analyzed and simulated. And the sensitivity between penetration depth variation and different band SAR signals were discussed. The fact of soil moisture changes for interferometric phase contribution is confirmed, which provided the foundation for reliable deformation monitoring considering the soil moisture variation effects, especially for L-band SAR data. The periodic irrigation for the wheat fields will induce soil moisture variation, which may result in the penetration depth change for radar electromagnetic wave. Therefore, the phase component was derived by the variation of soil moisture over the wheat fields. Multi-temporal Lutan-1 SAR data were acquired over ShanDong agricultural plain in China. The obvious ‘deformation details’ induced by the soil moisture change were acquired over the agricultural area, which demonstrated the effect of soil moisture variation for interference phase. Therefore, the accurate deformation details over agricultural area can be obtained by the combination of soil moisture information.