InSAR: An innovative tool for remote sensing and monitoring of reservoirs and dams

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is widely used to detect and measure surface displacement in the mining industry on critical infrastructure such as tailings dams. It is a satellite-based monitoring technique now increasingly adopted for all types of dams, such as hydro dams. As it is a remote sensing technology, there is no need for fieldwork, it provides a high density (thousands of points per square kilometre) of measurements with high precision and can cover large areas (hundreds or thousands of square kilometres). InSAR is also the only technology that can provide historical data on dams from 1992 to the present day, thanks to numerous satellite archives. This paper highlights the role of InSAR in enhancing dam safety.