ON THE USE OF PERSISTENT SCATTERERS INTERFEROMETRY (PSI) IN HIGHLY VEGETATED / AGRICULTURAL AREAS FOR LONG TERM CO2 STORAGE MONITORING

CO2 injection for storage activity results in ground surface deformation on long periods (several tens on years). Monitoring the evolution of the phenomenon is then required for risk management purposes. Space-borne InSAR can be regarded as an interesting alternative to ground based geodetic techniques (levelling). However, implementing interferometric analysis for the monitoring of surface deformation induced by deep CO2 injection is highly hindered by the surface conditions i.e. natural terrains, either agricultural or vegetated areas. Such surface conditions are expected for the future large-scale industrial storage sites. In this presentation we will address the difficulties to adapt the PSI techniques to the specificities of CO2 storage activities. We will investigate the characteristics of the monitored deformation and the possibility of improving the PSI method by densifying the PS network with DS and corner reflectors.