ABSTRACT Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is commonly used to measure earthquake coseismic deformation. However, InSAR cannot be used to effectively measure all types of coseismic deformation, and it is influenced by numerous factors. Currently, for the limitations of InSAR coseismic deformation measurement, only empirical judgements are used to address these issues, and quantitive descriptions are lacking. To determine the limits of coseismic deformation that can be measured using InSAR, we assessed the effects of satellite parameters, earthquake magnitude, and earthquake depth on such measurements through coseismic deformation simulations and fault parameter traversals. By comparing the absolute deformation magnitudes, we identified the fault parameters that were most and least sensitive to coseismic deformation measurements using InSAR. We then quantitatively analysed the upper and lower limits of earthquake magnitude and depth for InSAR coseismic deformation measurements. The lower limit was determined by comparing noise and deformation, whereas the upper limit was determined from the phase gradient ambiguity. We used the least squares method to derive an empirical equation that can be used to screen earthquake catalogues for further inversion with InSAR measurements. We found that coseismic deformation measurements using satellites are limited by their sensitivities to fault strike, rake, and dip angles. Additionally, the smallest earthquake magnitude that can be measured by InSAR varies with depth. These findings can be used to improve our understanding of the limitations and capabilities of InSAR for measuring coseismic deformation.
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