Advances in the Use of Spaceborne InSAR for Application to Pipeline Route Selection and Integrity Management

Spaceborne Synthetic Aperature Radar (InSAR) is a technique that has been used to measure ground movements associated with slope movements and subsidence since the mid-90’s. Previous applications had utilized either dry terrain with no vegetation cover or have relied on the use of articial targets to quanitify deformations. Recent advances in the processing technology have allowed for sub-millimetre level accuracy movements tracking over long time periods and for detection of movements as small as 2 mm/month in vegetated slopes in northern Canada. The archival data and the active aquisitions allow engineers working in the pipeline industry to both review previous movement rates and patterns for planning of pipeline routes and provides a tool for ongoing monitoring of deformations due to ground subsidence or slope movement for operational pipelines.