On the Monitoring of Small Islands Belonging to the Aeolian Archipelago by MT-InSAR Data

Abstract

The aim of the present work is to evaluate the performance of several MT-InSAR techniques based on satellite SAR data in monitoring ground deformation phenomena affecting complex scenarios such as small islands of volcanic origin. To such purpose, PS, SBAS and IPTA approaches are applied in the study of Lipari, Salina and Vulcano islands belonging to the Aeolian archipelago, southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy. The outcomes retrieved from each technique are then discussed in terms of intrinsic features, spatial coverage, linear trend and coherence. Moreover, the accuracy of PS, SBAS and IPTA results are evaluated by comparison with in-situ measurements from the GNSS network managed by INGV-OE and private operators considering different metrics. Experimental results show that in this case there is no preferred MT-InSAR technique in an absolute way but each of them has strengths and drawbacks that have to be taken into account in the monitoring of complex scenarios.