InSARLite Documentation

Welcome to InSARLite, a comprehensive GUI application for Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) processing using the GMTSAR workflow. InSARLite provides an intuitive interface for processing Sentinel-1 SAR data to generate interferograms and perform time series analysis.

What is InSAR?

Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a radar technique used to generate maps of surface deformation or digital elevation models (DEMs) using differences in the phase of the waves returning to the satellite or aircraft. InSARLite simplifies the complex InSAR processing workflow by providing:

• Automated data download from ASF and other sources

• Interactive baseline planning and network design

• Streamlined interferogram generation

• Advanced visualization tools for results analysis

• Time series processing capabilities

Quick Start

Installation

Install InSARLite using pip:

pip install insarlite

For detailed installation instructions including GMTSAR setup, see the Installation Guide.

Launch the Application

InSARLiteApp

On first launch, InSARLite will automatically detect and install GMTSAR if needed.

Learn by Example

The best way to learn InSARLite is through our comprehensive tutorial using real research data:

Turkey Landslide Case Study →

This tutorial demonstrates the complete InSARLite workflow using 60 Sentinel-1 acquisitions to detect precursory deformation signals before the December 8, 2024 Güngören landslide in Turkey. You’ll learn:

• Complete project setup from installation to results

• Data querying, downloading, and extraction

• Interactive baseline network design

• Interferogram generation and unwrapping

• SBAS time series analysis

• Publication-quality visualization

Processing time: ~50 hours | Storage required: ~710 GB

Documentation Structure

Getting Started

• Project Overview
  • What is InSAR?
  • InSARLite Architecture
  • Processing Workflow
  • Key Features
  • Technical Specifications
  • Best Practices
  • Next Steps
• Installation Guide
  • Platform Compatibility
  • System Requirements
  • Dependencies
  • Installation Methods
  • Platform-Specific Instructions
  • Virtual Environment Setup (Recommended)
  • Verification
  • GMTSAR Automatic Installation Workflow
  • Manual GMTSAR Installation (Advanced Users)
  • Troubleshooting
  • Next Steps
  • Updating InSARLite
• Quick Start Guide
  • Prerequisites
  • Launch InSARLite
  • Learn InSARLite: Turkey Landslide Tutorial
  • Quick Workflow Overview
  • Adapting the Tutorial to Your Study Area
  • Getting Help
  • Next Steps
• Turkey Landslide Tutorial
  • Tutorial: Güngören Landslide Analysis - Complete Workflow
  • Tutorial Overview

User Guide

• User Guide
  • Available Documentation
  • Learn by Doing
  • Reference Documentation
  • Future Documentation
  • Getting Help

Developer Guide

• Developer Guide
  • Project Overview
  • Architecture Principles
  • Code Organization
  • Design Patterns
  • Key Components
  • Threading and Concurrency
  • Error Handling Strategy
  • Performance Optimization
  • Testing Framework
  • Development Workflow
  • Extending InSARLite
  • Best Practices
  • Release Process
  • Community and Support
  • Next Steps

About

• About InSARLite
• Contributing to InSARLite
• Changelog
• License

Indices and Tables

• Index

• Module Index

• Search Page

Citation

If you use InSARLite in your research, please cite:

@software{insarlite2025,
  title={InSARLite: A GUI Application for GMTSAR-based InSAR Processing},
  author={Muhammad Badar Munir},
  year={2025},
  version={1.3.0},
  url={https://github.com/mbadarmunir/InSARLite}
}

Support

• Documentation: You’re reading it!

• Issues: GitHub Issues

• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

License

InSARLite is licensed under the MIT License. See the license page for details.