Use of Satellite Radar Data for Surface Deformation Monitoring: A Wrap-Up After 10 Years of Experimentation

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Abstract Surface deformation monitoring can provide valuable information in assessing the environmental impact of activities, evaluating volume/pressure changes in a reservoir, as well as estimating other geophysical parameters. Eni and stogit have been studying the use of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) data for surface deformation monitoring since 2001. Based on almost 10 years of R&D and operational projects, this paper aims to summarise the strengths and weaknesses of this space geodetic tool, as well as providing an outlook on future developments in the up and down-stream activities. During the last decade, satellite InSAR data have been gaining increasing attention for their unique technical features and cost- effectiveness. In particular, second-generation InSAR techniques (e.g. PSInSAR™) are capable of providing thousands of displacement measurements per sqkm at millimeter precision. Since 2001, eni has financed projects based on InSAR data, first for environmental assessment and then for reservoir monitoring. In parallel, stogit has used these techniques for the standard monitoring of gas storage fields. Projects and results have followed as a result of the development of InSAR technology. Radar data were first validated, compared with optical leveling surveys, integrated with GPS data, and then used for geophysical inversion, in both local and regional analyses. For some areas, data have been gathered by two different satellite platforms, providing unique datasets for a thorough analysis of different data sources. Long-time records of injected/extracted gas volumes, together with a multi-year displacement data set, have allow the calibration of fluid-dynamic and geo-mechanical models, that can be used to investigate the effects of increased working gas volumes, especially in overpressure conditions, in natural gas storage fields. In the authors’ opinion, InSAR data will become a standard tool for reservoir monitoring in the next few years. The experience summarised in this paper can provide a useful contribution for petroleum engineers and the oil&gas community in general.