This issue:

Another successful year for TRE
TRE exhibits at ASITA 2006
Second generation algorithm for PSInSAR™
University of Miami and TRE working together again on New Orleans subsidence
TRE artificial reflectors installed in a landslide area in Italy
The City of Richmond – TRE’s first Canadian municipal customer

Another successful year for TRE

A happy new year to all our readers!

In 2006, TRE’s revenues rose by 30% compared to those in 2005.
As Alessandro Ferretti, Managing Director of TRE, comments: “This growth in sales volume reflects the growing interest in PS data not only at home but from all over the world.”
TRE Management attributes this success to the company’s policies and philosophy: i.e. developing a wide range of service products - all of them based on proprietary technologies - that are tailored to the needs of final users while maintaining a strong commitment to quality and R&D activities.
”A successful technology should be easy-to-use, reliable and available to a wide range of different users” said Ferretti, adding: “indeed, this philosophy is embraced by all of the staff of TRE.”

TRE exhibits at ASITA 2006

ASITA – Italy’s principal conference and exhibition on geodesy, geographical information and land management systems – took place in November 2006, at the Exhibition Centre in Bolzano.

The main point of interest at TRE’s booth was the display of results from the PSInSAR™ analysis of the whole Piemonte Region, an area of 22,000 Km², coupled with the geological interpretation conducted by geoscientists from the Piemonte Regional Office for Environmental Protection.

Second generation algorithm for PSInSAR™ - preliminary results

To keep up with market expectations regarding the performance of the PSInSAR™ technology, TRE has been developing a second generation algorithm aimed at overcoming most of the constraints of current PSI technologies. We are pleased to be able to provide a glimpse into what our customers can expect from the new algorithm, once it enters full commercial use.

Figures 1 and 2, below, show the results of a PSInSAR™ analysis of a coal mine area in France. The same data set of SAR images was used in both analyses. Figure 2 shows the results from using the new algorithm. Comparing this image with the results shown in Figure 1 (using the current PSInSAR™ algorithm), an increase in PS density is evident.


enlarge

University of Miami and TRE working together again on
subsidence mapping in New Orleans

TRE and the University of Miami announce that they were selected by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), together with NASA and USGS, to continue studying the subsidence phenomenon in Greater New Orleans using Radarsat-1 acquisitions (ascending and descending datasets) until the end of March 2007.
As a consequence of the previous study of subsidence in New Orleans, which was published in Nature June 2006, this project will provide measurements of displacement both before and after the 2005 flooding of the city. Furthermore, ascending and descending data-sets will be jointly processed in order to estimate both horizontal and vertical components of the local displacement field as a function of time. The use of the two data-sets also is expected to increase the PS density allowing the identification of other phenomena related to individual structures (such as the levee system) and/or buildings.
PSInSAR™ data processing will be conducted mainly by TRE. The University of Miami will be in charge of quality assessment, data validation and interpretation.

TRE artificial reflectors installed in a landslide area in Italy

An increase in customer interest for deformation data from highly vegetated areas has led TRE to focus part of its in-house research in developing artificial reflectors and PS methodologies that require such instruments.

The Regione Lombardia and TRE have identified an unstable slope near the village of Idro, in Italy’s Brescia Province, where last December six 1-m trihedral reflectors were installed.

TRE’s senior researcher, Giuliano Savio, manager of TRE’s projects related to artificial reflectors, is optimistic that a successful outcome will arise. “Using artificial reflectors to study an heavily vegetated area has several challenges” Savio explains “Most of the problems are related to the installation and the logistics. The use of an helicopter, for example, was essential. However, I’m confident that our efforts will lead to significant improvements in our understanding of the phenomenon, leading to the right mitigation strategy”.

The City of Richmond – TRE’s first Canadian municipal customer

During the late summer of 2006, the City of Richmond commissioned TRE to undertake an InSAR analysis of the entire City area, using PSInSAR™. The results were delivered to the City in October.

Richmond is one of the municipalities in the greater Vancouver area, in British Columbia, Canada. It sits on pre-and post-glacial sediments within the Fraser River delta. Comprised of a number of islands covering an area of 130 Km², much of the City is lower than high tide levels and is protected from flooding and storm surges by dikes. In recent years the City’s population has expanded, stimulating new development.

The PS analysis provided the City with new information about deformation patterns from 1992 to 2006, using archived SAR data from the ERS and Envisat satellites.