The PIs will convene a workshop to bring together experts and stake-holders in synthetic aperture radar and GNSS systems, the data processing and the products they generate. The workshop will examine the wide range of different approaches that have been developed to understand and mitigate the atmospheric ?noise? in SAR signals, and establish the current best-practices in atmospheric imaging and mitigation techniques, generate priorities for further investigations, and recommendations for upcoming missions for how best to maximize the utility of the data products they will produce. Ionospheric and tropospheric imaging using SAR and GNSS and stochastic and deterministic modeling have great potential for correcting media effects on space geodetic systems, however, although many of these approaches have shown promise in particular circumstances, effectiveness and general applicability are yet to be demonstrated. Small amplitude, non-linear and non-periodic ground motion signals abound in geodesy from a wide range of sources, and InSAR holds great promise for giving us new insights into these types of physical phenomena. For a wide spectrum of the signals we might hope to explore, however, the delays induced in the SAR signals by the ionosphere and the troposphere overprint and confuse the interpretation of interferograms.
This workshop is multi-disciplinary bringing together atmospheric and solid earth researchers, operational centers and technologists to find ways to understand and mitigate the effects of the atmosphere on new satellite SAR systems. Coupled with the compelling hazards research applications of SAR and GPS, this workshop provides an excellent venue to engage students. Two students and one career researcher will be recruited from a pool of protégés from UNAVCO and UCAR?s RESESS and SOARS summer internship program. These two programs have operated in partnership for many years providing research opportunities for students from underrepresented groups. In addition, a workshop report of the results and outcomes of the workshop and statement of recommendations for upcoming SAR missions will be generated after the meeting and disseminated via the UNAVCO website.
