Surface displacement monitoring at Joshimath region, Uttarakhand using SBAS-InSAR

The Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) techniques have now become an important tool for monitoring land surface deformations over large regions with day-night and all-weather capabilities. In this study, we monitored surface displacement in the Joshimath region in Uttarakhand Himalayas for 26-months (Jan 2021 to Feb 2023 by analyzing the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel-1A/B SAR scenes from both ascending P129 and descending P63 orbits with the SBAS-InSAR method. Results demonstrate the seasonal pattern of shrinkage and swell and cumulative Line of Sight (LOS) surface displacement up to 340 mm in ascending orbit and approximately 200mm LOS cumulative displacement in descending orbit. We identified deformation in the central and northeast parts of Joshimath in both ascending and descending orbits.