Operational Production of DEMs from ERS tandem Data

In 1995 Atlantis became involved in value added services using repeat-pass InSAR data. The joint in-house development of the EarthView commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software and the evolution of InSAR technology for value added services has been a key component to the success and growth of the services. This evolution included the development of robust innovative tools, methods for prediction of data quality, optimum data selection, project risk mitigation and efficiency improvements. Several new technical approaches have been implemented such as a phase unwrapping technique as well as methods to deal with problems such as temporal decorrelation, atmospheric effects and poor ground control. A strong integration of ancillary data sources such as low resolution DEMs, ground control points and maps has been proven to be of significant importance in an operational environment. ERS tandem data has been the main source of InSAR data and the critical factor in this success. Strong and flexible connections with ESA and data suppliers have been of great value to initiate the introduction of the technology. All these factors combined have contributed to a completion of 60 commercial InSAR projects and the use of 381 ERS, 112 JERS and 32 Radarsat scenes. The services department has grown and evolved to a size of 10-15 employees.