Rock Glacier Topography Mapping and Deformation Monitoring Over Tibetan Plateau Periglacial Environment Using Lutan-1 SAR Satellite Constellation

The Kinematics of rock glaciers is a key indicator for studying periglacial environment hydrology, climate, and disasters. Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) has been demonstrated to be an effective technique for detecting the deformation of rock glaciers. In this study, we present an investigation of the potential of the Lutan-1 (LT-1) SAR constellation for rock glacier topography mapping and deformation monitoring over a periglacial environment with complex topography using Stacking InSAR methods. Firstly, a high-resolution digital surface model (DSM) is generated by the bistatic formation data of the LT-1 SAR constellation. Compared with the ICESat GLAS points elevation product distributed in the study area, the R
²
reached 0.96, and the root mean square error (RMSE) reached 1.6m, indicating the accuracy of the LT-1 derived DSM product. Then, the deformation velocities of the rock glaciers were acquired from the Stacking InSAR method over the study area. The results indicated that the LOS deformation velocities of rock glaciers in the study area ranged from −0.8 m/y to approximately 0.6 m/y, with an average velocity amplitude of 0.06 m/y. With 241 of the rock glaciers exhibit active zones. The results demonstrated that the LT-1 SAR constellation could provide a new SAR data source for periglacial landform topography mapping and deformation monitoring.