Coherent stacks of RADARSAT-2 spotlight mode interferometry data for monitoring Arctic DEW Line Clean-Up

The DEW Line Clean-Up proof-of-concept project was conducted to determine if space-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from the Canadian satellite RADARSAT-2 can be used for landfill monitoring at the DEW Line sites. Interferometric stacks (time series consisting of interleaved 24-day cycles) of RADARSAT-2 Spotlight mode images are being acquired over four of the former DEW Line sites. Results show that amplitude change detection, coherent change detection and surface deformation products are useful for detecting change in and around landfills. Although these techniques cannot fully eliminate site visits and visual inspection, this study has shown that space-borne SAR can detect structural changes not yet evident to the field inspection teams and provide other useful information such as flooding. The RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM) with its four-day coherent repeat (scheduled for launch in 2018) will prove a great asset for monitoring the former DEW Line sites.