Geophysical and Environmental Applications of Imaging Radar Systems

Abstract: Radar imaging is a powerful technique in Earth Observation (EO) and remote sensing that can provide novel insights into the physical processes that shape and govern the Earth system. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an active source microwave imaging technique that exploits the relative motion of the instrument platform – including satellites, aircraft, and drones – to generate a synthetic long aperture phased array, which enables coherent phase and backscatter imaging at fine (~1-10 m) spatial resolution.  SAR enables detailed, non-invasive mapping and exploration of surface and near-subsurface features, with applications in geological hazard mitigation, environmental resource management, land surface dynamics, hydrology, and geospatial intelligence collection. In this seminar, I will provide a brief overview and introduction to the field of SAR and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), with an emphasis on applications in the realm of environmental geophysics. I will also discuss emerging trends in InSAR time series analysis, error and uncertainty quantification, SAR focusing algorithms.

Bio: Roger Michaelides received B.A. degrees in Physics and Science of Earth Systems from Cornell University in 2015, and the Ph.D. degree in Geophysics from Stanford University in 2020. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis. He is broadly interested in geospatial and radar remote sensing applications for terrestrial and planetary geophysics. His main research interests include time series analysis and geodetic inversion, error quantification and modeling, multisensor fusion of InSAR and LiDAR datasets, and SAR signal modeling and processing, with an emphasis on studying hydrologic, cryologic, and environmental processes in periglacial landscapes. Dr. Michaelides is a member of the NASA ABoVE Science Team and the Decadal Survey Incubation (DSI) Surface Topography and Vegetation Incubation Team (STV-IT).

Geophysical and Environmental Applications of Imaging Radar Systems

Abstract: Radar imaging is a powerful technique in Earth Observation (EO) and remote sensing that can provide novel insights into the physical processes that shape and govern the Earth system. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an active source microwave imaging technique that exploits the relative motion of the instrument platform – including satellites, aircraft, and drones – to generate a synthetic long aperture phased array, which enables coherent phase and backscatter imaging at fine (~1-10 m) spatial resolution.  SAR enables detailed, non-invasive mapping and exploration of surface and near-subsurface features, with applications in geological hazard mitigation, environmental resource management, land surface dynamics, hydrology, and geospatial intelligence collection. In this seminar, I will provide a brief overview and introduction to the field of SAR and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), with an emphasis on applications in the realm of environmental geophysics. I will also discuss emerging trends in InSAR time series analysis, error and uncertainty quantification, SAR focusing algorithms.

Bio: Roger Michaelides received B.A. degrees in Physics and Science of Earth Systems from Cornell University in 2015, and the Ph.D. degree in Geophysics from Stanford University in 2020. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis. He is broadly interested in geospatial and radar remote sensing applications for terrestrial and planetary geophysics. His main research interests include time series analysis and geodetic inversion, error quantification and modeling, multisensor fusion of InSAR and LiDAR datasets, and SAR signal modeling and processing, with an emphasis on studying hydrologic, cryologic, and environmental processes in periglacial landscapes. Dr. Michaelides is a member of the NASA ABoVE Science Team and the Decadal Survey Incubation (DSI) Surface Topography and Vegetation Incubation Team (STV-IT).