Iris

Iris is EarthDaily's web application for monitoring ground and structure deformation with InSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar). It is aimed at mine operators, owners of tailings storage facilities and dams, regulators and insurers. EarthDaily notes that subtle deformation measurable by InSAR has historically preceded catastrophic failures, while remote and small dams are often too costly to instrument fully on the ground.

Iris displays results from EarthDaily's automated InSAR pipeline, the Global Deformation System (GDS). GDS ingests radar imagery from Sentinel-1 and from commercial sources such as TerraSAR-X and delivers millimetre-scale measurements of subsidence and uplift within 18 hours of acquisition. In the browser, users view line-of-sight or east-west and vertical deformation, velocity, acceleration, coherence and uncertainty layers. They can inspect time series at points, areas and transects, and see steady, sudden and complex anomaly alerts together with their history. DEM-error-corrected point locations offset outdated elevation models over active pits. Quicklook runs on-demand Sentinel-1 analyses over small areas anywhere in the world, a Global Velocity Layer shows annual motion over large areas, and a separately licensed viewer tracks the water extent of tailings ponds. Optical imagery, elevation models and customer drone or LiDAR data can be overlaid. Results export as Parquet or CSV files for GIS software such as ArcGIS and QGIS.

EarthDaily cites 75% cost savings compared with traditional monitoring programmes. It has published retrospective Iris analyses of the 2024 Çöpler heap-leach failure, which showed measurable deformation months beforehand, and the 2020 Sardoba dam failure, where anomalies appeared about seven months before the collapse. Access is by subscription, arranged through EarthDaily's sales team.