Dr. Estelle Chaussard
Lead Research Scientist | Satellite Data Translator 

About me
Research
Publications


I am a Remote Sensing Data Scientist

I transform satellite data into actionable intelligence that addresses our planet's most pressing challenges.

My expertise bridges the gap between complex data and real-world solutions. By harnessing cutting-edge techniques like InSAR, GNSS, multispectral, and LiDAR remote sensing, I quantify the most subtle shifts and changes in Earth's surface dynamics. I build advanced physics-based and machine learning models to tackle natural hazards assessment and environmental sustainability issues.

My research spans volcanology, earthquake science, hydrology, land subsidence, carbon storage monitoring, and climate change impacts—delivering insights that inform decision-making for stakeholders worldwide.

 

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Publications

  35

    Citations

      >3,000  

      Talks & Seminars

        >80  

        Public Funding

        > M$1
          Research Publications


          How is Space-Based Technology Solving Earth's Biggest Challenges?

          My new book delves into the transformative power of remote sensing. Discover how data is helping create a more sustainable world.

          Editors:
          E. Chaussard, C. Jones, J. A. Chen, A. Donnellan

          https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-59306-2

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          Land Motion 

          Understanding where, why, and how fast the land is sinking is critical to building sustainable coastal communities & securing water access

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          Exposure & Damage

          From pre-disaster exposure mapping to post-event damage assessment, satellite data can guide the entire resilience lifecycle

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           Natural Hazards

          The Earth's subtle movements help us decipher the physics of earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides—turning data into preparedness

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           Environment 

          By integrating complex data with ML, historical patterns of changes become actionable intelligence for proactive management

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          Satellite Intelligence for
          Water Security and Coastal Resilience

          Land subsidence, the gradual sinking of the ground due to groundwater pumping, is a silent threat. In cities across the world, the ground sinks, increasing flood risk, limiting sustainable water planning, and jeopardizing coastal areas.
          But there is hope: Satellites reveal where and how fast risks are evolving, informing targeted intervention efforts that offer a blueprint for comprehensive resilience planning

          Subsidence is both widespread and rapid, but satellite data offer more than measurements of Earth's surface movement: they're tools for sustainability planning.

          See publications #1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35

          From groundwater depletion rates to sustainable extraction limits - we transform data into actionable water management strategies.

          See publications # 8, 18, 20, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33

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          Closing the Risk Management Loop:
          from Exposure to Damage Mapping


          Satellite intelligence helps closes the critical gap between fragmented and reactive risk assessment and comprehensive, proactive risk reduction.
          From prevention -exposure mapping, through response -post-event damage assessment, satellite data informs the full life-cycle of of risk management and resilience planning.

          The results: Emergency managers can allocate resources effectively, insurance companies can price risk accurately, and communities can invest in targeted mitigation. 

          See our book for details (publication #30)

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          From Space to Underground: Revealing the Physical Processes Driving Natural Hazards


          Earth's hidden dynamics are captured from space: from
          the steady accumulation of stress along faults, to the movement of magma beneath volcanoes, and the seasonal acceleration of landslides. These subtle shifts help understand the processes driving Natural Hazards, enhancing preparedness and resilience capabilities.

          Looking at a problem from a different angle: satellite data help resolve processes rooted underground, regardless of the peril:  earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides.

          See publications #2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 34

          Development of new techniques enables taking the pulse of the Earth - from natural to not-so-natural hazards (mining and carbon storage) we can now account for changing risks

          See publications #12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 24, 28, 30, 33

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          Proactive Environmental Management with Satellite Data + Machine Learning: 
          from Land Use Change to Wildfires


          Remote sensing combined with machine learning transforms environmental stewardship from crisis response into actionable management intelligence. 
          From creating a global wildfire propensity map, to quantifying contributions of degrading peatlands to CO2 emissions, satellite data capture environmental changes, while AI algorithms identify subtle patterns to empower actions grounded in observations.

          Thinking outside the box: we used satellite data to measure invisible carbon emissions by monitoring ground elevation across peatlands.

          See publications #25 and 35

          From historical fire patterns to climate conditions, human trends, and terrain analysis - our global wildfire propensity map synthesize data streams to pinpoint where fires are most likely to ignite and spread.

          Check out my AGU2025 abstract for a sneak peak 

          Employment & Publications

          Education & Appointments 

          Ph.D. Univ. of Miami (FL), 2013, (Marine) Geology & Geophysics
          M.Sc. Univ. of Montpellier II, Montpellier (France), 2008, Earth Sciences 
          B.Sc. Univ. of Montpellier II, Montpellier (France), 2006, Earth Sciences
          A.Sc. Univ. of Burgundy, Dijon (France), 2005, Biology

          Asst. Vice President, Lead Research Scientist (private sector) (since 2024)
          Senior Research Scientist (private sector) 
          Asst. Professor, Dept. of Earth Sciences, U. of Oregon 
          Asst. Professor, Dept. of Geology, U. at Buffalo 
          Postdoctoral investigator, U. of California, Berkeley 
          NASA Earth and Space Science Graduate Fellow, U. of Miami 
          Graduate Research Assistant, U. of Miami 
          Graduate Research Assistant, U. of Montpellier II (France)

          Publications

          **Student first-author under direct advising/mentoring     *Collaboration with student first-author

          35. Hoyt, A.M., Chaussard, E., Seppalainen, S.S., Harvey, C.F. (2024) Quantifying Subsidence in Tropical Peatlands. Remote Sensing for Characterization of Geohazards and Natural Resources, 347-357, Publisher: Springer

          34. Barnhart, W., Chaussard, E. (2024). The Seismic Cycle: From Observations to Models of Fault Slip. Remote Sensing for Characterization of Geohazards and Natural Resources, 305-326, Publisher: Springer

          33. Vellico, M., Chaussard, E. (2024) Carbon Capture and Storage. Remote Sensing for Characterization of Geohazards and Natural Resources, 509-519, Publisher: Springer

          32. Fu, Y., Thomas, B.F., Chaussard, E. (2024). Large-Scale Terrestrial Water Storage Changes Sensed by Geodesy. Remote Sensing for Characterization of Geohazards and Natural Resources, 473-491, Publisher: Springer

          31. Chen, J.A., Chaussard, E. (2024) Observations of Confined Aquifer Systems. Remote Sensing for Characterization of Geohazards and Natural Resources, 463-472, Publisher: Springer

          30. Chaussard, E., Jones, C., Chen, J. A., & Donnellan, A. (2024). Remote Sensing for Characterization of Geohazards and Natural Resources. (Book) Publisher: Springer

          29. Mirzadeh, S. M. J.*, Jin, S., Chaussard, E., Bürgmann, R., Rezaei, A., Ghotbi, S., and Braun, A. (2023). Transition and drivers of elastic to inelastic deformation in the Abarkuh Plain from InSAR multi‐sensor time series and hydrogeological data. JGR-Solid Earth, 128(7), e2023JB026430.

          28. Ermert, L. A.*, Cabral-Cano, E., Chaussard, E., Solano-Rojas, D., Quintanar, L., Morales Padilla, D., Fernández-Torres, E. A., and Denolle, M. A. (2023). Probing environmental and tectonic changes underneath Mexico City with the urban seismic field, Solid Earth, https://doi.org/10.5194/se-14-529-2023, 2023.

          27. Mirzadeh, S. M. J.*, Jin, S., Parizi, E., Chaussard, E., Bürgmann, R., Delgado Blasco, J. M., et al. (2021). Characterization of Irreversible Land Subsidence in the Yazd‐Ardakan Plain, Iran From 2003 to 2020 InSAR Time Series. JGR-Solid Earth, 126(11), e2021JB022258.

          26. Chaussard, E., Havazli, E., Fattahi, H., Cabral‐Cano, E., & Solano‐Rojas, D. (2021). Over a century of sinking in mexico city: No hope for significant elevation and storage capacity recovery. JGR-Solid Earth, 126, e2020JB020648. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB020648

          25. Hoyt, A.**, Chaussard E., Seppalainen, S.S., Harvey, C.F., (2020). Widespread Subsidence and Carbon Emissions across Southeast Asian Peatlands. Nature Geoscience, 13, 435–440. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-020-0575-4

          24. Chaussard, E., & Farr, T. G., (2019). A new method for isolating elastic from inelastic deformation in aquifer systems: Application to the San Joaquin Valley, CA. Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 10800– 10809. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084418

          23. Schaefer, L.N.*, Di Traglia, F., Chaussard, E., Lu, Z., Nolesini, T., Casagli N., (2019). Monitoring volcano slope instability with Synthetic Aperture Radar: A review and new data from Pacaya (Guatemala) and Stromboli (Italy) volcanoes. Earth-science reviews, 192, pp236-257, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.03.009

          22. Xu, W.*, Wu, S., Materna, K., Nadeau, R., Floyd, M., Funning, G., Chaussard, E., Johnson, C.W., Murray, J.R., Ding, X. and Bürgmann, R. (2018), Interseismic ground deformation and fault slip rates in the greater San Francisco Bay Area from two decades of space geodetic data, JGR-Solid Earth, 123(9), 8095-8109, doi: 10.1029/2018JB016004

          21. Cohen-Waeber, J.**, Burgmann, R., Chaussard, E., Giannico, C., and Ferretti, A. (2018), Spatiotemporal Patterns of Precipitation-Modulated Landslide Deformation from Independent Component Analysis of InSAR Time Series, Geophys. Res. Lett., 64(1), 70, doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2014.03.003

          20. Castellazzi, P.*, Longuevergne, L., Martel., R., Rivera, A., Brouard, C., Chaussard, E., Garfias, J. (2018) Combining GRACE and InSAR for quantitative mapping of groundwater depletion at the water management scale, Remote Sensing of Environment, 205, 408–418, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2017.11.025

          19. Zhan, Y.*, Gregg, P.M., Chaussard, E., and Aoki., Y. (2017) Sequential assimilation of volcanic monitoring data to quantify eruption potential: application to Kerinci volcano, Sumatra. Front. Earth Sci. 5:108. doi: 10.3389/feart.2017.00108

          18. Chaussard, E., Milillo P., Bürgmann R., Perissin D., Fielding E. J. & Baker B., (2017). Remote sensing of ground deformation for monitoring groundwater management practices: application to the Santa Clara Valley during the 2012-2015 California drought. JGR-Solid Earth, 122, 8566-8582. doi.org/10.1002/2017JB014676

          17. Chaussard, E., (2017). A low-cost method applicable worldwide for remotely mapping lava dome growth. J. Volcan. geotherm. Res. 341, 33-4, doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2017.05.017

          16. Castellazzi, P.*, Martel, R., Rivera, A., Huang, J., Pavlic, G., Calderhead, A. I., Chaussard, E., Garfias, J., and Salas, J., (2016), Groundwater depletion in Central Mexico: Use of GRACE and InSAR to support water resources management, Water Resources Res., 52, (8), 5985-6003.

          15. Chaussard, E., (2016) Subsidence in the Parícutin lava field: causes and implications for interpretation of deformation fields at volcanoes. J. Volcan. geotherm. Res., 320, 1-11.

          14. Chaussard, E., Kerosky, S.** (2016) Characterization of Black Sand Mining Activities and Their Environmental Impacts in the Philippines Using Remote Sensing. Remote Sensing, 8(2), 100; doi:10.3390/rs8020100

          13. Chaussard, E., Johnson, C.W., Fattahi, H., and Bürgmann, R., (2016) Potential and limits of InSAR to characterize interseismic deformation independently of GPS data: application to the southern San Andreas Fault system. G-cubed, 17, doi:10.1002/2015GC006246

          12. Chaussard, E., Bürgmann, R., Fattahi, H., Johnson, C. W., Nadeau, R., Taira, T., and Johanson, I., (2015) Interseismic coupling and refined earthquake potential on the Hayward-Calaveras fault zone, JGR-Solid Earth, 120, doi:10.1002/2015JB012230

          11. Chaussard, E., Bürgmann R., Fattahi, H., Nadeau, R., Taira, T., Johnson, C.W., and Johanson, I., (2015) Potential for larger earthquakes in the East San Francisco Bay Area due to the direct connection between the Hayward & Calaveras Faults, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, doi: 10.1002/2015GL063575

          10. Fattahi, H.*, Amelung, F., Chaussard, E., Wdowinski, S., (2015) Coseismic and postseismic deformation due to the 2007 M5.5 Ghazaband fault earthquake, Balochistan, Pakistan. Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, doi:10.1002/2015GL063686

          9. Cabral-Cano, E., Solano-Rojas, D., Oliver-Cabrera, T., Wdowinski, S., Chaussard, E., et al. (2015) Satellite geodesy tools for ground subsidence and associated shallow faulting hazard assessment in central Mexico, Proc. of the Int. Assoc. of Hydro. Sc., 372, doi:10.5194/piahs-372-255-2015

          8. Chaussard, E., Bürgmann, R., Shirzaei, M., Fielding, E.J., and Baker, B., (2014) Predictability of hydraulic head changes and basin-wide aquifer system and fault characterization from InSAR-derived ground deformation. JGR-Solid Earth, 119, 6572–6590, doi: 10.1002/2014JB011266

          7. Chaussard, E., and Amelung, F., (2014) Regional controls on magma ascent and storage in volcanic arcs. G-cubed, 15, doi:10.1002/2013GC005216

          6. Chaussard, E., Wdowinski, S., Cabral E., and Amelung, F., (2014). Land subsidence in central Mexico detected by ALOS InSAR time-series, Remote Sensing of Environment, 140, 94–106

          5. Chaussard, E., Amelung, F., Abidin, H., & Hong, S.-H., (2013) Sinking cities in Indonesia: ALOS PALSAR detects rapid subsidence due to groundwater and gas extraction. Remote Sensing of Environment, 128, 21, 150-161, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2012.10.015

          4. Chaussard, E., and Amelung F., (2013) Characterization of Geological Hazards Using a Globally Observing Spaceborne SAR. Photogram. Eng. & Rem. Sens., 79, 11, 982-986

          3. Chaussard, E., Amelung, F., and Aoki, Y., (2013) Characterization of closed and open volcanic systems in Indonesia and Mexico using InSAR time-series. JGR-Solid Earth, 118, doi:10.1002/jgrb.50288

          2. Chaussard, E., & Amelung F., (2012) Precursory inflation of shallow magma reservoirs at west Sunda volcanoes detected by InSAR. Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, 21, doi: 10.1029/2012GL053817

          1. Chaussard, E., Amelung, F., and Abidin, H., (2012) Sinking cities in Indonesia: space-geodetic evidences of the rates and spatial distribution of land subsidence. Proceedings of the FRINGE 2011 Workshop, Frascati, Italy (ESA SP-696)

          All information and images on this website are copyrighted (2025) by Estelle Chaussard.


          "We're only as solid as the ground we build on"


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