SPINUA: A flexible processing chain for ERS / ENVISAT long term interferometry

The SPINUA (Stable Point INterferometry over Un-urbanised Areas) processing chain has been developed and tested in the framework of ASI-, ESA- and EU- funded projects, and represents an effort to adapt and optimise the general approach of long-term SAR interferometry for the study of un-urbanised areas such as those typical of Mediterranean sites affected by slope instabilities. In this work, the SPINUA processing framework is presented organically, highlighting innovative aspects and some ad hoc solutions which render the tool flexible and suitable for applications to areas characterized by low densities of persistent scatterers, of either spatially-extended or point-like nature. Examples of processing results are presented.