On the application of InSAR in civil-, geo-engineering and natural hazard projects: Opportunities, obstacles and recommendations

Ground deformation caused by natural hazards or construction activities can pose risks to people, infrastructure and the environment. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), a satellite-based remote sensing technique, offers promising capabilities for monitoring surface deformation with high spatial and temporal resolution. Despite its technical potential, the use of InSAR in civil and geo-engineering projects and for natural hazard assessment remains limited. This study investigates both the technical and non-technical factors influencing the integration of InSAR in practice. Through a comprehensive literature review and interviews with InSAR users and providers, this research identifies key benefits and obstacles for implementation and provides recommendations to improve the uptake of InSAR in civil engineering, geo-engineering and natural hazards projects. The findings highlight the need for interdisciplinary collaboration, clear communication, training and the development of application-specific tools and guidelines to facilitate wider adoption of InSAR in engineering practice.
Next, an operational framework is developed for using InSAR in accordance with geotechnical design standards, such as Eurocode 7, throughout all phases of infrastructure projects. The proposed framework is a practical tool that can be used by planners and engineers in the whole lifecycle of an infrastructure project. Finally, the study examines two practical InSAR applications. First, the use of InSAR in a shield tunnelling project in an urban environment is investigated. The applicability of InSAR prior, during, and after tunnel construction is evaluated. Special emphasis is placed on the influence of the InSAR phase ambiguities in relation to short-term settlements that may occur during tunnel construction. Second, the use of a persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) map for alpine permafrost monitoring is examined. The results demonstrate that mean surface velocities are higher in permafrost zones than in zones without permafrost. However, it is not possible to monitor structures and infrastructure in permafrost areas using C-band data.
In summary, the study explores the challenges and potential of using Interferometric
Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) for monitoring ground deformations in civil
engineering, geo-engineering, and natural hazard projects. Technical and nontechnical
obstacles are discussed and recommendations are provided for improving
InSAR’s adoption in practice.