Remote Sensing of the Earthquake Deformation Cycle

In recent decades, the development of InSAR and optical correlation as well as the tremendous increase of SAR and optical satellite data available have revolutionized the measurement of surface displacements induced by the earthquake deformation cycle. In this chapter, we first provide an overview of what we learned from 30 years of tectonic InSAR. For each phase of the seismic cycle, we review the history of InSAR studies and what we learned about faults and earthquakes from them. In the second part of the chapter, we focus on the study of surface-rupturing earthquakes using optical correlation. We briefly describe the technique as well as its advantages and limitations. Then we show examples of 2D and 3D surface displacement fields obtained from optical correlation. Finally, we review the insights on earthquakes and fault mechanics brought by high-resolution optical correlation displacement fields.