Orthorectification and interpretation of differential InSAR data over mountainous areas: a case study of the May 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake.

This paper illustrates the capabilities of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array Type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) instrument in the identification of macro- and meso-scale land deformation caused by the Wenchuan Earthquake of 12 May 2008. The specific location analysed is an area near the south west termination of the rupture zone where fault slip and surface deformations were relatively low and topography is relatively high. A full geometric processing of the interferometric synthetic aperature radar (InSAR) data is performed, including the removal of the stereoscopic effect, and the terrain effect fully compensated by identification and removal of layover and shadow areas. This allows for the full characterization of the main earthquake deformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]