Network Rail has awarded a major contract to the Earth Observation Company SatSense to monitor the UK’s entire rail network using satellite Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technology.

This is a world first, as it is the first time that a major rail operator has used the technology on such a large scale. The multi-million-pound, multi-year contract will integrate data from Sentinel-1 and the upcoming NISAR mission to monitor Britain’s rail network.

The process will build upon Network Rail’s operational expertise and proven asset management processes to manage railway assets by combining regular satellite radar data with advanced analytics to map deformation, flooding and surface changes.

SatSense will use satellites, including the Sentinel-1, NISAR, and TerraSAR-X constellations, to produce data, which it will process and integrate into Network Rail’s earthwork asset management systems. The approach will reduce the need for costly, subjective, and untimely repeat on-site examinations.

By using this technology, the advantages over traditional monitoring methods include:

• A cost-effective alternative to actually visiting scheduled sites.
• A reduced risk to personnel, by minimising the time needed for working on the track and on slopes.
• Faster data collection by eliminating the time constraints of ground-based surveys.
• High data accuracy and consistency with millimetre-level precision enable repeatable measurements over time for trend analysis while reducing human error and subjectivity.
• Instead of relying on responding reactively, continuous and proactive monitoring using near real-time analysis after each satellite overpass will enable predictive maintenance and improved data-driven decision making.

Network Rail’s decades of expertise in manually examining assets will not be replaced. Instead, existing asset data will be used to validate and interpret Earth Observation data to enhance decisions on asset management.

It is expected that the successful implementation of the system will lead to the global rail industry adopting integrated InSAR solutions, especially as other major operators are evaluating similar approaches. By demonstrating the commercial viability of using integrated satellite-based infrastructure monitoring, it should establish a new benchmark for railway asset management.

Britain’s railways are increasingly making use of satellite technology, such as providing Wi-Fi to the Scottish Highlands and on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.