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Under construction - updated July 14, 2003

 An InSAR-GPS Investigation of the Seasonal Groundwater Response In Reno, Nevada

Proposal Title: An Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) research capability for developing integrated groundwater-monitoring methods 

PI:  Gary Oppliger
  Arthur Brant Laboratory for Exploration Geophysics, University of Nevada, Reno.

NASA EPSCoR funded proof-of-concept study March 2003 - August, 2004.  

Reno-Tahoe Region ERS2 Radar Reflectance (negative) Track 256 Frame 2817

ABSTRACT

This proposal requests NASA EPSCoR core funding to purchase satellite radar scenes (ERS 1-2 platform) for an integrated time-series Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Positioning System (GPS) proof-of-concept study of seasonal effects over groundwater basins in the Reno, Nevada region. The study’s objective is to improve the understanding of natural and cultural seasonal groundwater changes on InSAR-GPS ground displacement applications and explore methods to isolate the InSAR groundwater signal from other effects.  InSAR-GPS assessment is beginning to be widely applied to monitor ground subsidence problems related to aquifer overproduction.  This study compliments these applications by focusing on the subtle seasonal and long-term effects present in basins with natural and/or non-depletive groundwater cycles. To identify these signals, JPL’s ROI PAC software (currently on our Sun system) will be utilized to process sequences of InSAR scenes in a time-series mode. Existing, archives of basin-located continuous GPS sites will be processed for precision elevation control on our Sun system utilizing JPL’s GIPSY software. Monitor well data will be compiled and correlated with the InSAR-GPS displacement times-series. Results will be reported on a project web site. 

This project’s first-year goal is to establish proof-of-concept results, which will form the basis for a full proposal to NASA.  This work will ultimately lead to improved accuracy and reliability in InSAR-GPS applications currently being applied to Nevada’s high economic impact areas of water resource management and seismic hazard monitoring.

 Proposal (pdf)