The impact of ground-based uncorrelated radio frequency interference (RFI) sources on satellite radar interferometric ground motion analysis

The telecommunications sector has proposed to use the 5.350-5.470 GHz frequency band for ground-based communication services. The Sentinel-1, RadarSAT-2, and future RadarSAT constellation SAR satellites are operating in the same band. Here we assess the impact of these ground-based uncorrelated radio frequency interference (RFI) sources to radar interferometry-based ground motion analysis. Apart from a theoretical assessment, a Persistent Scatterer Interferometry analysis is performed based on a combination of real ENVISAT data and simulated RFI noise at different levels. The analysis shows that the RFI sources significantly reduce the applicability of radar interferometry, with a reduction of detected Persistent Scatterers with more than 50%. If the telecommunication sector would proceed with this plan, operational ground motion services based on Sentinel-1 data would no longer be possible.