SCEC Award Number 25141 View PDF
Proposal Category Collaborative Research Project (Multiple Investigators / Institutions)
Proposal Title Leveraging operational OPERA DISP-S1 product archive to expand and refine time-series InSAR analysis in support of the Community Geodetic Model
Investigator(s)
Name Organization
Simran Sangha National Aeronautics and Space Administration Marin Govorcin National Aeronautics and Space Administration Gareth Funning University of California, Riverside
SCEC Milestones A1-1, A1-3, A3-5, A3-6 SCEC Groups CEM, Geodesy, SDOT
Report Due Date 03/15/2026 Date Report Submitted 03/13/2026
Project Abstract
 We propose to expand our interseismic line-of-sight (LOS) velocities to cover the entire state of California by leveraging the official, validated release of the Surface Displacement products from Sentinel-1 (DISP-S1) developed and provided through the JPL Observational Products for End-users from Remote Sensing Analysis (OPERA) project.
Under a previous effort (#24081), we updated our existing workflows to support ingestion of sample DISP-S1 products to reconstruct time-series and perform functional-fitting analysis to derive LOS velocities. We are planning to expand this analysis across California once the final validated DISP-S1 products are made available in advance of this proposed period. We will also support the ingestion of sample DISP products from NISAR (DISP-NI) in our workflows once they are made available. Such analyses are relevant to multiple research areas, including constraints on fault slip rates, aseismic slip and off-fault deformation.
This work will supplement our complimentary suite of post-analysis products derived from the Advanced Rapid Image Analysis (ARIA) project’s formulated archive of Sentinel-1 Geocoded Unwrapped Phase products (ARIA-S1-GUNW) (#22059, #21035, #20177, #23109). Our LOS analysis products were previously also used as an input to the SCEC CGM. To facilitate the production of a combined CGM deformation product, we will align and reference the DISP-S1 post-analysis products to GNSS displacement time-series.
Additionally, we will continue to share updates to a group of targeted federal stakeholders through a series of quarterly working group meetings dedicated to the DISP product and at an annual workshop that are both facilitated by the OPERA Stakeholder Engagement Program.
SCEC Community Models Used Community Geodetic Model (CGM)
Usage Description Our LOS analysis products were previously also used as an input to the SCEC CGM. To facilitate the production of a combined CGM deformation product, we work to align and reference our updated post-analysis products to GNSS displacement time-series.
Intellectual Merit This project contributes to SCEC’s mission by advancing the CGM through the integration of large-scale InSAR archives. We have established a high-resolution, statewide velocity baseline (2014–2023) and developed workflows to ingest operational OPERA DISP-S1 products. This research advances our understanding of earthquake-cycle processes, including shallow fault creep and off-fault deformation, by providing continuous spatial constraints that complement sparse GNSS networks. By transitioning research-grade analysis into an operational framework, this work provides a scalable foundation for utilizing incoming NISAR data for seismic hazard analysis.
Broader Impacts A collaboration between SCEC and JPL, this project enhances geodetic infrastructure by providing open-access velocity products to the scientific community. Our developments support regional hazard response and resource management, such as monitoring land subsidence in the Central Valley and landslide stability in Los Angeles. We have promoted training through EarthScope workshops and shared technical workflows with federal stakeholders via the OPERA Stakeholder Engagement Program. These efforts help make advanced InSAR products much more accessible, enabling a broader range of researchers and government agencies to monitor infrastructure stability and natural hazards across the California plate boundary.
Project Participants Sangha coordinated with the OPERA team and collaborator David Bekaert, a former Radar Scientist at JPL and OPERA Project Manager and current Copernicus Data Project Manager at the Flemish Institute for Technological Research, to process DISP-S1 across California and advise on analysis of ARIA-S1-GUNW products. Sangha led the efforts to deploy post-analysis workflows to reconstruct time-series and constrain the interseismic velocities. Co-I Marin Govorcin helped to manage these developments and advise on time-series analysis efforts. Co-I Gareth Funning coordinated efforts to compare time-series results generated by this project with other, independent efforts.
Exemplary Figure Figure 1: Mosaic of line-of-sight (LOS) surface velocities from ARIA-S1-GUNW InSAR products spanning 2014–2023. Velocities are estimated assuming a linear rate for nine Sentinel-1 tracks, corrected for tropospheric noise using weather-model-based corrections, and referenced to local GNSS stations (black squares). Coseismic events (yellow stars) are included in the time-series modeling. General agreement is observed between ascending and descending tracks, with LOS rates consistent with independent GNSS estimates (scatter plots, right), providing a robust statewide benchmark for the Community Geodetic Model. Credit: Simran Sangha (JPL), Gareth Funning (UC Riverside), Marin Govorcin (JPL), David Bekaert (VITO).
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