PCI Geomatics launches tool to map structural movement across construction corridors

PCI Geomatics has launched UrbanSAR, a satellite monitoring tool that detects how individual buildings are moving, floor by floor, across entire city corridors. The technology uses interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), analysing radar signals from orbiting satellites to measure millimetre-scale structural movement, and extends decades of proven science into dense urban environments where conventional sensors have struggled to keep pace with construction. PCI Geomatics is a leading provider of Earth observation analytics and intelligence solutions operating under the trade name Catalyst.

Cities worldwide are building upward at an unprecedented pace. In a case study over Toronto's Yonge and Eglinton corridor, UrbanSAR detected movement of up to 30mm at the upper floors of newly built towers – levels above where ground-based monitoring typically reaches. Dozens of high-rises now sit directly above a new subway extension and alongside decades-old structures, while residents report sinkholes, cracked pavements and road closures. Until now, there has been no practical way to see what is moving, where and why across the full corridor.

Stripping away surrounding interference

Conventional monitoring is precise but confined to the single structure it is attached to. The tunnel below, the neighbouring tower, the road between them all fall outside its reach – and city-wide sensor networks cost millions while still leaving gaps. UrbanSAR closes them by processing satellite radar through proprietary algorithms that strip away surrounding interference, isolate individual structures and map movement vertically along each tower, delivering continuous corridor-wide coverage at a fraction of the cost.

June McAlarey, CEO at PCI Geomatics, said: "Gaining accuracy in complex environments has always been a challenge when monitoring cities through satellite technology. Now we can show a construction firm what was already moving before they broke ground, an insurer the risk they were underwriting blind, and a city authority the consequences of densification they had approved but were not monitoring. UrbanSAR data delivers the evidence that changes how decisions get made at a fraction of the cost of traditional surveys."

One point is not enough

Kevin Jones, chief product officer at PCI Geomatics, said: "Ground sensors are precise, but they only tell you what is happening at one point. If you have got a development corridor with 30 new towers going up above a subway extension, you need to know what is happening across all of it, not just where you happened to install a sensor. What our team has developed is fundamentally new, the ability to remove the masking effects of adjacent buildings, isolate a single structure, and measure vertical displacement floor by floor."

UrbanSAR is available now as a service from Catalyst. Regulatory precedent for mandated satellite-based monitoring of urban construction already exists in Australia and the United Kingdom. The technology supports data from multiple satellite radar sensors and can be applied to any urban area globally.