Monitoring deformation at the Geysers Geothermal Field, California using C‐band and X‐band interferometric synthetic aperture radar

Abstract

We resolve deformation at The Geysers Geothermal Field using two distinct sets of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data. The first set of observations utilize archived European Space Agency C‐band synthetic aperture radar data from 1992 through 1999 to image the long‐term and large‐scale subsidence at The Geysers. The peak range velocity of approximately 50 mm/year agrees with previous estimates from leveling and global positioning system observations. Data from a second set of measurements, acquired by TerraSAR‐X satellites, extend from May 2011 until April 2012 and overlap the C‐band data spatially but not temporally. These X‐band data, analyzed using a combined permanent and distributed scatterer algorithm, provide a higher density of scatterers (1122 per square kilometer) than do the C‐band data (12 per square kilometer). The TerraSAR‐X observations resolve 1 to 2 cm of deformation due to water injection into a Northwest Geysers enhanced geothermal system well, initiated on October 2011. The temporal variation of the deformation is compatible with estimates from coupled numerical modeling.