Why was this data collected?

You may well ask yourself why we made this movie:

• We obtained data over the entire San Fernando Valley in order to study the effects of the Northridge Earthquake - We may also use this data set to compare with future data sets that may be collected.
• This technique of obtaining topography from interferometric SAR data is still somewhat experimental. In order to test it, we must acquire data from areas of known topography.
• The reason why the results from this technique are so exciting is the prospect of mapping remote areas or areas perpetually covered by clouds to such high accuracies.
• There is a lot of interest from many areas in a global mapping project. However, before embarking on such a large undertaking, techniques and ideas critical for the success of such a project must tried out.