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Reza Bordbari

Reza Bordbari

  • Email: eerbs@leeds.ac.uk
  • Thesis title: Measuring Antarctic uplift due to ice loss, from space
  • Supervisor: Professor Andy Hooper, Dr Pippa Whitehouse (Durham University), Dr Grace Nield (Durham University), Dr. Alex Brisbourne (British Antarctic Survey)

Profile

I am a PhD researcher in the School of Earth and Environment, based in the Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics (IGT). I am part of the SENSE Earth Observation CDT program (cohort 2021), and my current research is focused on how we can use advanced radar remote sensing techniques to better analyse space-borne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data for the Antarctic uplift measurement. In doing so, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of how the ground beneath the Antarctic ice sheet is responding to the ice mass changes.

InSAR is a radar remote sensing technique that has transformed remote sensing from a largely interpretive science to a quantitative tool by providing spatially dense measurements of surface displacement from space. 

The main objectives of my project are:

  • Processing  InSAR data for the whole Antarctic Peninsula and extract time series for individual rocky outcrops; 
  • Applying the latest atmospheric correction techniques to the InSAR data; 
  • Installing radar reflectors on the Peninsula to provide absolute constraints on velocity; 
  • Using the InSAR measurements combined with GNSS data to constrain viscoelastic models.

The project CASE partner is SatSense Ltd.

Research interests

During my college years, I developed my research in remote sensing, mainly in active microwave remote sensing with SAR. My interests also cover other remote sensing technologies (multi- and hyper-spectral imaging, altimetry, LiDAR, etc.) and the combined use for environmental monitoring.

My main interests/contributions include:

  • Understanding, characterization and processing of SAR, Polarimetric SAR and Interferometric SAR data, with a special emphasis on coherent signal processing, estimation and detection, spectral analysis and qualitative/quantitative information extraction;
  • Polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) data analysis in the theoretical and applicative aspects, including target detection, coherent and in-coherent target decomposition, built-up area extraction, agriculture and environment, classification and, recently, polarimetric scattering targets de-orientation (i.e. orientation compensation) aiming at to resolve the orientation-induced scattering mechanism ambiguity;
  • Statistical analysis of speckle and interpretation of its effect on information extraction from the single-polarized and fully Polarimetric SAR data.

Qualifications

  • M.Eng., Civil Engineering - Remote Sensing, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
  • B.Eng., Civil Engineering - Geomatics, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

Research groups and institutes

  • Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics