Quick Start Guide

Get up and running with InSARLite quickly! This guide provides essential information to start your first InSAR processing workflow.

Prerequisites

• InSARLite installed (see installation guide)

• NASA EarthData account for Sentinel-1 data downloads

Important

Platform Requirements: InSARLite has been developed and tested exclusively on Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04 LTS. Other operating systems (including WSL, macOS, or other Linux distributions) have not been tested and are not officially supported.

Note

GMTSAR Auto-Installation: InSARLite will automatically detect and install GMTSAR on first startup. No manual installation required!

Launch InSARLite

Start the application from your terminal:

InSARLiteApp

Important

First-Time Setup: On first launch, InSARLite will:

1. Check for GMTSAR installation

2. Prompt to install GMTSAR automatically (if needed)

3. Install required system dependencies

4. Configure environment variables

This process takes 15-30 minutes but only happens once. See the Installation Guide for details.

Learn InSARLite: Turkey Landslide Tutorial

The best way to learn InSARLite is through our comprehensive tutorial:

🏔️ Turkey Landslide Case Study →

This complete end-to-end tutorial demonstrates InSARLite’s full workflow using real research data from the December 8, 2024 Güngören landslide in northeastern Turkey. The tutorial includes 63 screenshots covering every step from installation to scientific results.

What’s Covered:

• ✅ GMTSAR automatic installation (8 screenshots)

• ✅ Project configuration with AOI and temporal range (14 screenshots)

• ✅ Data querying, downloading, and extraction

• ✅ Baseline network design and master selection (9 screenshots)

• ✅ Interferogram generation (3 screenshots)

• ✅ Phase unwrapping with mask and reference point (20 screenshots)

• ✅ SBAS inversion and time series analysis (6 screenshots)

• ✅ Interactive visualization and results (2 screenshots)

Dataset Details:

• Acquisitions: 60 Sentinel-1 scenes

• Processing Time: ~50 hours

• Storage Required: ~710 GB

• Results: Mean VLOS velocities up to 25 mm/yr, precursory deformation detected

Tip

The Turkey tutorial uses actual research data demonstrating how InSAR can detect precursory deformation signals before catastrophic landslide failures—perfect for understanding InSARLite’s scientific capabilities!

Quick Workflow Overview

For reference, here are the main processing steps covered in the Turkey tutorial:

1. Installation: GMTSAR automatic setup

2. Project Configuration: Define AOI, temporal range, download data

3. Baseline Network: Design interferometric pairs using Base2Net

4. Interferogram Generation: Align and generate IFGs

5. Phase Unwrapping: Create mask, select reference point, unwrap

6. SBAS Inversion: Time series analysis and velocity mapping

7. Visualization: Interactive exploration of results

Adapting the Tutorial to Your Study Area

Once you’ve completed the Turkey case study, you can adapt the workflow to your own study area by adjusting key parameters:

Spatial Parameters

• AOI coordinates: Draw your own bounding box on the interactive map

• Location: Any area covered by Sentinel-1 (global coverage)

• Frame selection: Automatic based on your AOI

Temporal Parameters

• Start date: Beginning of your analysis period

• End date: End of your analysis period

• Temporal baseline threshold: 24-96 days typical (adjust based on application)

Network Parameters

• Perpendicular baseline threshold: 150-300m (depends on coherence requirements)

• Master image: Select based on network centrality or specific date

• Network density: More pairs increase computation but improve temporal coverage

Processing Parameters

• Subswath: IW1, IW2, IW3, or combinations thereof

• Correlation threshold: 0.05-0.15 (lower for challenging areas)

• Reference point: Select stable area in your region (critical for accurate results)

• SBAS smoothing: Adjust based on noise characteristics

Tip

Start with parameters similar to the Turkey case study, then refine based on your specific application, study area characteristics, and coherence conditions.

Getting Help

If you encounter issues:

• Check processing logs: InSARLite provides detailed logs for each processing step

• Review the tutorial: The Turkey Case Study includes troubleshooting tips

• Search GitHub Issues: https://github.com/mbadarmunir/InSARLite/issues

• Create new issue: Provide error messages, screenshots, and system details

Next Steps

• Complete the tutorial: Work through the Turkey Landslide Case Study

• Explore your data: Apply InSARLite to your own research area

• Understand the architecture: Read the Overview for technical details

Happy processing! 🛰️📊