Refinement of Low Resolution DEM Using Differential Interferometry

Interferometry SAR (InSAR) is a technique to generate topographic map from complex data pairs observed by antennas at different locations. However, to obtain topographic information using InSAR is difficult task because it requires series of complicated process including phase unwrapping and precise recovery of the SAR geometry. Especially, accuracy of the DEM (Digital Elevation Model) produced by repeat pass single SAR pair could be influenced by atmospheric effect. Recently, a new InSAR technique to improve accuracy of DEM has been introduced that utilizes low resolution DEM with a number of SAR image pairs. The coarse DEM plays an important role in reducing phase unwrapping error caused by layover and satellite orbit error. In this study, we implemented DInSAR (Differential InSAR) method which combines low resolution DEMs and ERS tandem pair images. GTOPO30 DEM with 1km resolution, SRTM-3 DEM with 100m resolution, and DEM with 10m resolution derived from 1:25,000 digital vector map were used to investigate feasibility of DInSAR. The accuracy of the DEMs generated both by InSAR and DInSAR was evaluated.