InSAR Workshop Summary Report is now available [click here] Errata for the Workshop Summary Report [click here] Useful links and workshop presentations [click here] Updates on the ESSP AO [click here] InSAR video [click here | close captioned]

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We are forming a community-led InSAR Working Group dedicated to the advancement of radar remote sensing research.  The potential of a robust InSAR observational capability has generated strong interest amongst the research and applications communities. The role of InSAR spans a broad spectrum of end uses including crustal deformation science related to earthquakes, volcanoes,  hydrologic processes, ice sheet and glacier variability,  vegetation structure, and  disaster management.  Long-term access to InSAR data will greatly advance our understanding of how these basic processes affect life on Earth.  Consequently, the US scientific community should devise a long-term strategy for US InSAR activities, including the funding of dedicated US InSAR satellites, access to foreign SAR data, and continued education and advocacy for InSAR science.

Creation of an InSAR Working Group is timely and important for a number of reasons. 

1. In the next year there are likely to be opportunities to develop proposals for an InSAR mission.  A well-organized community will improve the response to any announcements of opportunity. 
2. Several large scientific endeavors including geohazards natural laboratories such as EarthScope and the upcoming International Polar Year can greatly benefit from InSAR science, data, and missions.
3. Several countries have expressed interest in contributing to an InSAR mission either through funding support or sharing of data from existing satellites.  Nurturing these opportunities with our international colleagues will help assure both short-term and long-term access to InSAR data. We must continue to develop interagency and international support for a robust InSAR observational program. 

A three-day community workshop is planned to provide an assessment of current InSAR science research and mission technology and further define science objectives that can be addressed through the use of InSAR.  The workshop will also include discussions of mission architecture scenarios, ideas for community education and advocacy, and the objectives and structure of an InSAR Working Group.  The Workshop will be held October 20-22, 2004 at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach in Oxnard, California. Travel funds for US participants have been secured from NASA.  Foreign participants are invited, but are expected to fund their own travel.

The InSAR Working Group will coordinate with and report to NASA, the National Science Foundation, USGS, NOAA, the EarthScope Education and Science Advisory Committee, and other appropriate organizations such as the IPY planning group.  The group will produce documents outlining the science drivers, targets, and requirements for an InSAR mission, and will participate in community advocacy for radar science.  These efforts will help seed the development of opportunities and proposals to the appropriate government agencies.

This effort is being coordinated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC).

Workshop Organizing Committee

Jill Andrews, California Institute of Technology
Sean Buckley, University of Texas, Austin
Andrea Donnellan, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Maggi Glasscoe, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Ken Jezek, Ohio State University
Nettie La Belle-Hamer, University of Alaska
John McRaney, Southern California Earthquake Center
Bernard Minster, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Will Prescott, UNAVCO
Paul Rosen, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
John Rundle, University of California, Davis
Jeanne Sauber, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Mark Simons, California Institute of Technology
Wayne Thatcher, US Geological Survey, Menlo Park
Howard Zebker, Stanford University

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