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WorldNerve

Earth Intelligence for Assets, Infrastructure, and Risk

Know where the ground is moving before the risk becomes visible.

WorldNerve uses satellite radar and InSAR analysis to help insurers, property owners, engineers, and infrastructure operators understand historical ground movement, screen assets, and prioritise further investigation.

Sentinel-1TerraSAR-XCOSMO-SkyMedPSInSAR
PS-0492 · −6.2 mm/yr52°N51°N1°ELOS velocity (mm/yr)+5−15ILLUSTRATIVE VIEW

Persistent-scatterer velocity field · demonstration data

PhD-led

Scientific Interpretation

Remote sensing expertise applied to every result.

4 systems

Radar & Processing Experience

Sentinel-1, TerraSAR-X, COSMO-SkyMed & PSInSAR.

Global

Suitable Radar Coverage

International analysis wherever the archive supports it.

Scientific interpretation, not black-box scoringUncertainty documented in every reportUrban deformation, infrastructure & earthquake research

The problem

Ground Risk Decisions Are Made with a Blind Spot

Traditional review methods answer what a site looks like today. They rarely answer how it has been behaving.

The Missing Dimension

2014Today

Satellite archives preserve a movement history that inspections cannot recreate later.

Add time to the risk picture

See onset, trend, seasonal behaviour, and local context before deciding where closer investigation is justified.

  1. Blind Spot 01

    Movement Develops Between Inspections

    Gradual change can continue for years before visible symptoms appear.

  2. Blind Spot 02

    Inspections Show Today

    A site visit cannot reconstruct how an asset behaved before that date.

  3. Blind Spot 03

    Portfolios Resist Manual Review

    Hundreds of assets cannot be assessed consistently through site visits alone.

  4. Blind Spot 04

    Claims Lack a Historical Record

    Teams often need evidence from before a loss, policy period, or trigger date.

  5. Blind Spot 05

    Hazard Maps Are Too Broad

    Regional susceptibility does not reveal the behaviour of a specific asset.

  6. Blind Spot 06

    Property Data Has No Time Dimension

    Age, soil, and construction attributes rarely show whether the ground moved.

The approach

From location to evidence in five steps

Radar satellites have been imaging most of the world every few days for a decade. We turn that archive into asset-level movement evidence.

  1. Submit a location

    A property, portfolio, or area of interest — an address or coordinates is enough to start.

  2. Data assessment

    Available satellite radar archives and measurement conditions are reviewed for the site.

  3. Processing & QC

    Ground movement is processed from the radar time series and quality checked.

  4. Interpretation

    Results are interpreted in the context of the asset and its surroundings.

  5. Clear report

    Maps, trends, limitations, and recommended next steps — written for decision-makers.

ASCDSCLINE-OF-SIGHT MEASUREMENT · ASCENDING + DESCENDING GEOMETRY

We analyse satellite radar observations to identify where measurable ground movement has occurred and how it has changed over time — often reaching back to 2014 or earlier, even for sites nobody was monitoring.

Every result is interpreted in context: how the asset behaves relative to its surroundings, what the data quality supports, and what it does not.

Read the full methodology

Use cases

Built for decisions, not dashboards

Use historical movement evidence to prioritise inspections, review assets, and focus technical investigation.

Insurance underwriting

Historical movement context for referral decisions, inspection triggers, and risk selection on subsidence-exposed business.

Learn more

Claims investigation support

Independent, dated evidence of how a site moved before and after a reported loss — supporting, not deciding, the investigation.

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Commercial property due diligence

Movement history for acquisitions, developments, and lending decisions, compared against the surrounding area.

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Infrastructure monitoring

Screening of rail, road, pipeline, and utility networks so inspection effort concentrates on moving sections.

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Portfolio screening

Consistent movement indicators across hundreds or thousands of locations, ranked for further review.

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Engineering & geotechnical support

A historical deformation layer that complements site investigation, instrumentation, and structural assessment.

Learn more

Commercial formats

Three practical ways to engage

Single-Site Assessment

One property, facility, development, or infrastructure location.

  • Site location map
  • Historical ground movement screening
  • Velocity and displacement maps
  • Time-series plots
  • Surrounding-area comparison
  • Data availability assessment
Submit a Site for Review

Portfolio Screening

Multiple properties, assets, or insured locations.

  • Portfolio-wide risk screening
  • Asset prioritisation
  • Movement indicators per location
  • Regional comparison
  • Ranked review list
  • Exportable tables
Request Portfolio Screening

Ongoing Monitoring

Clients who need repeated observations over time.

  • Periodic deformation updates
  • Change alerts
  • Time-series tracking
  • New movement identification
  • Portfolio monitoring summaries
  • Technical consultation
Discuss a Monitoring Programme

Full deliverable lists on the Reports page.

Deliverables

What a report may include

Exact contents depend on the site, the data, and the question — every inclusion is listed and explained.

  • Ground velocity map
  • Displacement time series
  • Historical movement summary
  • Nearby reference comparison
  • Data quality and confidence notes
  • Asset-level interpretation
  • Technical appendix
  • Recommended next actions

Real-data sample report

See Exactly How a Portfolio Becomes a Decision Queue

A complete report built from real Houston satellite measurements and public reference locations, with the same evidence, confidence, and limitations expected in a live deliverable.

Cover of the WorldNerve Portfolio Ground Movement Screening real-data sample
Real Houston Measurements · 9 Pages

Inside the Sample

A ranked decision queue backed by visible evidence.

The sample uses real satellite measurements and public reference locations to demonstrate the structure and transparency of a WorldNerve portfolio screening deliverable without exposing private client data.

  • 30-location ranked action register
  • Immediate, focused, monitor, and routine outcomes
  • Portfolio movement and referral map
  • Evidence history behind a referred location
  • Routine-location comparison
  • Confidence, limitations, and client-ready outputs

9-Page PDF

Real Measurements

Public Locations

Read the Real-Data Sample

Claims, insurance, property, infrastructure, municipal, and monitoring samples are available in the full report library.

Who you work with

Specialist analysis, personally delivered

Dr. Zeeshan Afzal

Remote Sensing and InSAR Specialist

Dr. Zeeshan Afzal is a remote sensing researcher specialising in SAR, InSAR, and PSInSAR time-series analysis, urban deformation, subsidence, infrastructure monitoring, and satellite-based geohazard assessment.

His research experience spans multi-temporal InSAR and persistent scatterer analysis, urban growth and deformation studies, and earthquake-related change assessment — the same methods WorldNerve applies to commercial property and infrastructure questions.

Sentinel-1TerraSAR-XCOSMO-SkyMedPSInSARMulti-temporal InSAR

Common questions

Asked by underwriters, engineers, and asset managers

What is InSAR?

InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) is a technique that compares radar images acquired by satellites at different times. By analysing the phase difference between acquisitions, it is possible to estimate how the ground surface has moved along the satellite's line of sight — often at the level of millimetres to centimetres per year, depending on conditions.

Can satellite data detect subsidence at an individual property?

Often, yes — but it depends on the site. InSAR relies on stable radar-reflective features such as buildings, hard surfaces, and exposed structures. Urban and industrial sites usually offer good measurement points; heavily vegetated or frequently changing surfaces may offer few or none. The first step of every engagement is a data availability review that tells you what is measurable before any commitment.

How accurate are the measurements?

Achievable precision depends on data availability, surface characteristics, atmospheric conditions, viewing geometry, processing method, temporal coverage, and validation. Under favourable conditions, multi-temporal InSAR velocity estimates can reach millimetre-per-year precision, but this cannot be assumed universally. Every report documents the confidence level and uncertainty of its measurements.

Does ground movement mean a building is damaged?

No. Measured surface displacement does not automatically indicate structural damage, and the absence of measured movement does not guarantee absence of risk. Satellite analysis identifies where and how the surface has moved; assessing structural condition requires engineering inspection. Our reports are designed to help prioritise those inspections, not replace them.

Can the analysis identify the cause of subsidence?

Satellite data alone cannot conclusively determine causation. Spatial and temporal patterns can be consistent with certain mechanisms — for example seasonal signals, mining-related settlement, or groundwater-related movement — and we interpret them carefully in context. Confirming cause typically requires geotechnical, geological, hydrological, or engineering investigation.

How much historical data is available?

Sentinel-1 provides free, systematic global coverage from late 2014 onwards, typically every 6–12 days in most regions. Earlier or higher-resolution archives (e.g. TerraSAR-X, COSMO-SkyMed, ERS/Envisat) exist for many areas but vary by location. The data availability review establishes exactly what archive exists for your site.

More answers on the methodology page.

Low-risk pilot

Start with one location.

Before committing to a larger project, submit one property, facility, or infrastructure site for an initial review. We will assess available satellite coverage, explain what analysis may be feasible, and recommend the most appropriate next step.

Not every site can be analysed successfully — measurement depends on surface characteristics and data coverage. The pilot review tells you honestly whether analysis is worthwhile before you spend anything on it.

Start a conversation

Have a property, asset portfolio, or infrastructure site you want to review?

Submit the location and receive an initial assessment of data availability and project suitability.