Use of multifrequency (C-band and L-band) SAR data to monitor peat subsidence based on time-series SBAS InSAR technique

Peatlands in tropical regions like Indonesia are undergoing irreversible subsidence due to changes in land use (e.g., deforestation) and land management practices (e.g., drainage alteration), resulting in massive amounts of soil carbon loss. Several satellite-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors are operating concurrently at different frequencies, providing potentially useful data for monitoring surface motion over tropical peatlands. This study focused on the capability of C-band (SENTINEL-1) and L-band (PALSAR-2) SAR data to monitor the surface changes in the tropical peatlands area of Bengkalis Island, Indonesia, by applying time-series interferometric SAR (InSAR) with the small baseline subset (SBAS) technique. The average vertical velocity measured by SENTINEL-1 and PALSAR-2 for the period of 2018–2019 was −1.41 and −2.65 cm yr−1, respectively. We also explored the potential of groundwater level (GWL) data converted to vertical displacement for validating SBAS InSAR. PALSAR-2 performed the best, exhibiting lower RMSE values for each land use compared to SENTINEL-1, with an overall RMSE of 1.383 and 1.988 cm yr−1, respectively. Also, the subsidence rates of SENTINEL-1 were underestimated, showing a significantly lower mean subsidence difference (0.96 cm yr−1) than the reference. Our GWL-based subsidence data offered an alternative validation method for InSAR-based subsidence estimation. Therefore, the integration of time-series InSAR and GWL data can provide crucial information for monitoring the degradation of tropical peatlands. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.