Sentinel-1A–Sentinel-1C cross-satellite interferogram, Atacama Desert

Only launched two months ago and still in the process of being commissioned for service, the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite has, remarkably, shown how its radar data can be used to map the shape of Earth’s land surface with extreme precision. These first cross-satellite ‘interferometry’ results assure its ability to monitor subsidence, uplift, glacier flow, and disasters such as landslides and earthquakes.

This cross-satellite interferogram is of the Atacama Desert plateau in northern Chile and was generated from images acquired just one day apart, by Sentinel-1A on 19 January and Sentinel-1C on 20 January. The ‘grey-scale amplitude’ radar image is for reference.

Read full story: Sentinel-1C demonstrates its power to map land deformation