Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) uses radar satellite images that sample surface deformation of the Earth at faults and volcanoes at high spatial resolution. During the past 10 years radar interferometric surface deformation data have provided significant new insights into how fault processes work. Surface displacements are either caused by coseismic displacement at the fault, or by time dependent afterslip and postseismic relaxation processes that follow large earthquakes. Part of the IPOC is to use InSAR to investigate the time series of fault activation along the selected target faults. InSAR studies in N-Chile successfully allowed imaging megathrust fault activity, aimed at e.g. inverting for coseismic slip of the Antofagasta earthquake, to detect afterslip of the same event or to analyse volcano deformation and triggered volcanism in the volcanic arc. First results show that local faults might have been reactivated by large thrust earthquakes, as volcanoes at distances of up to 250 km commenced new or an increased uplift phase.
As a part of IPOC we use the catalogue of Synthetic Aperture Radar data mainly acquired by the European and Japanese satellites. Initially we process selected SAR frames by applying the interferometry technique (Repeat Pass Interferometry) to resolve centimeter scale displacements across surface ruptures potentially triggered by the Antofagasta or Tocopilla earthquakes. To obtain the residual LOS displacement the dominant co-seismic signal will be removed by high-pass filtering of the unwrapped interferograms, which shall allow comparison of the signal to other projects within IPOC such as the Creepmeter stations.