Monitoring of geophysical processes in the area of western Herzegovina by satellite observations

Developments in sensor technology called Synthetic Antenna Radar (SAR) and associated data processing software have helped satellite radar interferometry (InSAR), a method that uses multiple SAR images of the same area collected from satellites, to become a widely used method for estimating soil deformation as well as other geophysical processes, because it provides millimeter precision with great spatial coverage. The paper deals with 24 Sentinel-1A images for the area of western Herzegovina, taken during 2020, and determined the average speeds of vertical displacements using the SNAP program (Sentinel Application Platform). Vertical displacements of 10 millimeters were recorded, while the mean annual displacement velocities were 8 millimeters in the vertical direction, without taking into account the correction for the influence of horizontal displacements. The first results in the study area indicate a trend of ground movement, but due to several types of atmospheric corrections, geomorphological characteristics of the study area and lack of in-situ measurements for comparison, external evaluation of the reliability of deformations will have to be assessed in future studies.