A Permanent Scatterers Method for Analysis of Deformation over Permafrost Regions of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

The surface displacement by seasonally freezing bulge and thawing subsidence are main hazards for engineering construction in permafrost regions, especially for the Qinghai-Tibet railway. One of the main problems is how to monitor the frozen ground's displacement in the process of construction and protection of the Qinghai-Tibetan railway. The technology of PS (Permanent Scatters) has been successfully use to detecting the long time subsidence at urban area. For detecting the subsidence of the frozen earth on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this paper extended the capability of the technology of Permanent Scatterers to investigate deformation phenomena in vegetated area. The paper analyzes interferometric phase model, and presents an improved PS-InSAR algorithms for separating different components in interferometric phase. The proposed technique is implemented by using ENVISAT ASAR images to detect the deformation over permafrost region of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results are in concordance with results provided by a traditional ground levelling, which encourages future development for use permanent scatterers method to analyze deformation of the frozen earth on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.