Ground-truthing InSAR against drill data

Satellite measurements feel like magic until someone asks how much to trust them. Our answer is simple: never ship a number we haven't reconciled against physical ground truth.

For tonnage and volume, that means validating photogrammetric and radar-derived estimates against drill-hole data and survey control. For ground movement, it means correlating InSAR deformation signals with in-place instrumentation on the wall.

This discipline does two things. It quantifies the confidence interval on every estimate, so decisions are made with eyes open. And it catches the rare systematic error before it reaches a report, rather than after.

Orbital sensing doesn't replace ground survey, it makes it dramatically more efficient. The two together are far stronger than either alone.