Satellite radar measurements of land subsidence

The potential of satellite borne interferometric measurements for the mapping of slow land subsidence has been investigated. Two test sites, covered by the ERS-1 satellite, were selected in the Netherlands: the provinces of Groningen and Zeeland. In situ measurements on the weather and the actual subsidence were gathered. It is shown that under favourable conditions measurement accuracies for land subsidence in the range of millimetres are feasible. Atmospheric effects together with temporal decorrelation are the major limitations to the accuracy of the technique for this type of long term measurement.