SAR Sentinel-1: mitigation strategies for earth’s surface displacements in Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

Gayo plateau, Aceh-Indonesia is an urbanized areas affected by tectonic phenomena due to the presence of the Great Sumatran Fault, which extends from the north in Aceh to the south in Lampung. This area was affected by strong seismic phenomena (Gayo plateau earthquake on 2 July 2013, MW 6.3) which induced landslide and deformation. InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) application using Sentinel-1 times series with Terrain Observation Progressive Scans (TOPS) mode has permitted a short acquisition repetition cycle, an extremely large coverage, a high spatial resolution with respect to the covered area and a small baseline separation particularly suited for interferometry application. All of those characteristics suggest an intensive exploitation of these data through the use of the interferometry technology and in particular the stacking interferometry for monitoring ground surface displacement. Persistent Scatterer (PS) and Quasi – PS (Q-PS) techniques were used in this research. The results of PS, Q-PS and combination of both techniques with ascending and descending of Sentinel-1A were presented in this paper. The SARPROZ software which PS and Q-PS technique seems to be the best candidate for this application relative to the morphology and large extension of the Lut Tawar Lake in the Gayo plateau. SAR images since 2017 were downloaded over the Lut Tawar Lake. This allows taking into measures for seismic hazard mitigation widely in Gayo plateau. Based on the result processing the Gayo Plateau is movement with 20 mm/year.