From InSAR Norway to a Global Ground Motion Service: Operational Monitoring for Disaster Risk Reduction

Abstract. Operational satellite-based ground-motion monitoring has developed from a national service in Norway to a continental service through the European Ground Motion Service (EGMS). This paper examines that progression and uses it to assess the feasibility of extending such services to a global scale. InSAR Norway (InSAR.no), established in 2018, was the first fully operational national ground-motion service based on Sentinel-1. It showed that the value of wide-area deformation monitoring depends not only on processing capability, but also on sustained operations, clear institutional roles, open access, and careful interpretation.

The experience gained in Norway helped inform EGMS, which demonstrated that these principles can be scaled to the continental level through harmonised products and coordinated service delivery. Building on these examples, the paper evaluates the requirements and constraints of a future Global Ground Motion Service (GGMS). The analysis shows that global implementation is technically realistic but cannot rely on a single uniform product model. Outside Europe, satellite coverage is less dense and less consistent, which limits the types of products that can be delivered consistently everywhere.

The main conclusion is that a future GGMS should be designed as a harmonised yet regionally adaptive reference service that supports national authorities and users with consistent data, common standards, and capacity-building.