How SatSense’s data portal delivers ground movement data at the click of a button

29/07/2021


29/07/2021

How SatSense’s data portal delivers ground movement data at the click of a button

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is an effective way of measuring ground movement over large areas. Images are created by reflecting radar signals from orbiting satellites off an area of the earth and measuring the two-way travel time. Multiple images over a certain time frame are compared using complex processing algorithms and this data gives measurements on how much, if at all, the ground has moved over that time period.

So, who can benefit from InSAR?


There are endless benefits of using InSAR technology; ground measurements have aided scientists in tracking ice stream flows, earthquake risks, structure stability, oil and gas field analysis and mining safety. InSAR data is becoming increasingly adopted to collect this data, helped by the number of civil and commercial SAR satellites in orbit more than doubling since 2018, with at least a dozen more planned to launch this year and daily coherent ground track repeat becoming a reality.

InSAR Algorithms


SatSense doesn’t just deliver images, we deliver insight. Our propriety algorithms, developed on the back of decades of R&D work by world-leading InSAR scientists Professors Andy Hooper and Tim Wright, are used to obtain millimetre-scale measurements of movements. The combination of data streams from radar satellites such as Sentinel-1, with new algorithms that are designed to extract the maximum amount of information from the data, means that we can monitor ground movements across thousands of assets from space, and detect movements earlier on. InSAR is not a perfect solution that can replace all existing technologies, but it is a powerful tool that can augment existing techniques, be enhanced with sector-specific knowledge, potentially saving monitoring costs and preventing costly, damaging and dangerous failures.

The SatSense Experience


With our data and insight, companies can move away from manual investigations towards a more preventative data-driven approach.

Below are just a few reasons why SatSense stands apart from the rest:

-a six-day update timeframe over entire countries, meaning clients get frequent ground movement data it’s needed an industry-leading number of high quality data points, so you can keep a close eye on your areas of interest

-an impressive level of accuracy with our algorithms allowing us to offer ground movement data to the accuracy of +/- 1mm/yr

-data over the UK is stored within our database from up to seven years ago - historical trends can be studied to determine what may happen in the future

-data is now automatically accessible via our SatShop Portal

The SatShop Portal


The SatShop portal gives our customers the ability to access to high quality InSAR data at a click of a button. A colour-coded system is used across all of our data, making risks easily identifiable. You have full customisability with users able to select where in the UK they would like the receive data and also more in-depth information is available by selecting velocities, time series, data format and more. Aside from a simple interface, the portal can be accessed out in the field via tablets, phones and laptops. Our data is also extremely easy to integrate into your own GIS systems to allow you to make informed decisions on where to monitor. SatShop is a cost effective and accurate solution to help identify ground movement across the whole of the UK. This new way of working greatly speeds up the data ordering and acquisition process for engineers.

If you have any questions about our solution, then don’t hesitate to contact us. You can also read our full user guide here.