School of Earth and Environment
Untitled Document

Tim Wright Dr Tim Wright

Reader: Satellite Geodesy; Co-director of Research

Telephone number: +44(0) 113 34 35258
Email address: t.j.wright@leeds.ac.uk
Room: 8.142

Biography

Tim Wright is (since 2006) a Royal Society University Research Fellow and (since 2010) Reader in Satellite Geodesy. His work has been at the forefront of developing the use of satellite radar interferometry (InSAR) for measuring tectonic and volcanic deformation. Major achievements include the first demonstration that inter-seismic strain can be measured using InSAR, in this case for the North Anatolian Fault; the investigation of a series of major earthquakes using geodesy, seismology and geomorphology, including Bam (Iran, 2003), Denali (Alaska, 2002), and Izmit (Turkey, 1999); the mapping and modelling of precursory inflation at a volcanic centre (Dabbahu, Ethiopia), and the subsequent discovery of a major rifting episode in Afar, Ethiopia. He has published 41 articles in major international journals, and his work is highly cited. He leads the NERC-funded Afar Rift Consortium, a £3M project that is using a wide range of geophysical, geochemical and geologic techniques to investigate how the crust grows at divergent plate boundaries. In 2006, he was awarded the William Smith Fund of the Geological Society, and a Philip Leverhulme Prize. In 2007 he was selected to give a public lecture at the Geological Society - one of twelve to celebrate the society's bicentenary. He is the lead investigator for the technical requirements of the SuperSAR satellite mission, a €100M proposal submitted to ESA's Earth Explorer 8 call in June 2010. If launched, this satellite will provide precise measurements of Earth surface deformation in 3D from a single platform. He is a co-PI of the Dynamic Earth Theme of the NERC-funded National Centre for Earth Observation, and coordinates the geodynamics/tectonics research group at Leeds.

Postdocs and PhD students

Former Students and Group Members

Software

Download the π-rate software for estimating InSAR displacement rates and time series here.

Publications

  • Walters, RJ; Holley, RJ; Parsons, B; Wright, TJ (2011) Interseismic strain accumulation across the North Anatolian Fault from Envisat InSAR measurements, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 38, . doi:10.1029/2010GL046443
  • Ebinger, C; Ayele, A; Keir, D; Rowland, J; Yirgu, G; Wright, T; Belachew, M; Hamling, I (2010) Length and Timescales of Rift Faulting and Magma Intrusion: The Afar Rifting Cycle from 2005 to Present, ANNU REV EARTH PL SC, 38, pp.439-466. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-040809-152333
  • Ernst, GGJ; d'Oreye, N; Kervyn, F; Yirgu, G; Ebinger, C; Tedesco, D; Pagliuca, NM; Lukaya, F; Wright, T; Calais, E; AVCOR Guest Editor Team (2010) Active Volcanism and Continental Rifting in Africa (AVCOR): Introduction to the Special Issue, J AFR EARTH SCI, 58, pp.V-VIII. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2010.10.002
  • Hamling, IJ; Wright, TJ; Calais, E; Bennati, L; Lewi, E (2010) Stress transfer between thirteen successive dyke intrusions in Ethiopia, NAT GEOSCI, 3, pp.713-717. doi:10.1038/NGEO967
  • Cote, DM; Belachew, M; Quillen, AC; Ebinger, CJ; Keir, D; Ayele, A; Wright, T (2010) Low-Frequency Hybrid Earthquakes near a Magma Chamber in Afar: Quantifying Path Effects, B SEISMOL SOC AM, 100, pp.1892-1903. doi:10.1785/0120090111
  • Ayele, A; Keir, D; Ebinger, C; Wright, TJ; Stuart, GW; Buck, WR; Jacques, E; Ogubazghi, G; Sholan, J (2009) September 2005 mega-dike emplacement in the Manda-Harraro nascent oceanic rift (Afar depression), GEOPHYS RES LETT, 36, . doi:10.1029/2009GL039605
  • Dehghani, M; Zoej, MJV; Saatchi, S; Biggs, J; Parsons, B; Wright, T (2009) Radar Interferometry Time Series Analysis of Mashhad Subsidence, J INDIAN SOC REMOT, 37, pp.147-156.
  • Barisin, I; Leprince, S; Parsons, B; Wright, T (2009) Surface displacements in the September 2005 Afar rifting event from satellite image matching: Asymmetric uplift and faulting , GEOPHYS RES LETT, 36, . doi:10.1029/2008GL036431
  • Keir, D; Hamling, IJ; Ayele, A; Calais, E; Ebinger, C; Wright, TJ; Jacques, E; Mohamed, K; Hammond, JOS; Belachew, M; Baker, E; Rowland, JV; Lewi, E; Bennati, L (2009) Evidence for focused magmatic accretion at segment centers from lateral dike injections captured beneath the Red Sea rift in Afar , GEOLOGY, 37, pp.59-62. doi:10.1130/G25147A.1
  • Hamling, IJ; Ayele, A; Bennati, L; Calais, E; Ebinger, CJ; Keir, D; Lewi, E; Wright, TJ; Yirgu, G (2009) Geodetic observations of the ongoing Dabbahu rifting episode: new dyke intrusions in 2006 and 2007, GEOPHYS J INT, 178, pp.989-1003. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2009.04163.x
  • Wang, H; Wright, TJ; Biggs, J (2009) Interseismic slip rate of the northwestern Xianshuihe fault from InSAR data, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 36, . doi:10.1029/2008GL036560
  • Biggs, J; Burgmann, R; Freymueller, JT; Lu, Z; Parsons, B; Ryder, I; Schmalzle, G; Wright, T (2009) The postseismic response to the 2002 M 7.9 Denali Fault earthquake: constraints from InSAR 2003-2005, GEOPHYS J INT, 176, pp.353-367. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2008.03932.x
  • Nooner, SL; Bennati, L; Calais, E; Buck, WR; Hamling, IJ; Wright, TJ; Lewi, E (2009) Post-rifting relaxation in the Afar region, Ethiopia, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 36, . doi:10.1029/2009GL040502
  • Ebinger, CJ; Keir, D; Ayele, A; Calais, E; Wright, TJ; Belachew, M; Hammond, JOS; Campbell, E; Buck, WR (2008) Capturing magma intrusion and faulting processes during continental rupture: seismicity of the Dabbahu (Afar) rift, GEOPHYS J INT, 174, pp.1138-1152. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2008.03877.x
  • Elliott, JR; Biggs, J; Parsons, B; Wright, TJ (2008) InSAR slip rate determination on the Altyn Tagh Fault, northern Tibet, in the presence of topographically correlated atmospheric delays, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 35, . doi:10.1029/2008GL033659
  • Baer, G; Funning, GJ; Shamir, G; Wright, TJ (2008) The 1995 November 22, M-w 7.2 Gulf of Elat earthquake cycle revisited, GEOPHYS J INT, 175, pp.1040-1054. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2008.03901.x
  • Fukahata, Y; Wright, TJ (2008) A non-linear geodetic data inversion using ABIC for slip distribution on a fault with an unknown dip angle, GEOPHYS J INT, 173, pp.353-364. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03713.x
  • Funning, GJ; Parsons, B; Wright, TJ (2007) Fault slip in the 1997 Manyi, Tibet earthquake from linear elastic modelling of InSAR displacements, GEOPHYS J INT, 169, pp.988-1008. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03318.x
  • Nissen, E; Emmerson, B; Funning, GJ; Mistrukov, A; Parsons, B; Robinson, DP; Rogozhin, E; Wright, TJ (2007) Combining InSAR and seismology to study the 2003 Siberian Altai earthquakes - dextral strike-slip and anticlockwise rotations in the northern India-Eurasia collision zone, GEOPHYS J INT, 169, pp.216-232. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03286.x
  • Rowland, JV; Baker, E; Ebinger, CJ; Keir, D; Kidane, T; Biggs, J; Hayward, N; Wright, TJ (2007) Fault growth at a nascent slow-spreading ridge: 2005 Dabbahu rifting episode, Afar, GEOPHYS J INT, 171, pp.1226-1246. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03584.x
  • Taymaz, T; Wright, TJ; Yolsal, S; Tan, O; Fielding, E; Seyitoglu, G (2007) Source characteristics of the 6 June 2000 Orta-Çankiri (central Turkey) earthquake: a synthesis of seismological, geological and geodetic (InSAR) observations, and internal deformation of the Anatolian plate , Special Publication Geological Society of London, 291, pp.259-290. doi:10.1144/SP291.12
  • Ryder, I; Parsons, B; Wright, TJ; Funning, GJ (2007) Post-seismic motion following the 1997 Manyi (Tibet) earthquake: InSAR observations and modelling, GEOPHYS J INT, 169, pp.1009-1027. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03312.x
  • Biggs, J; Wright, T; Lu, Z; Parsons, B (2007) Multi-interferogram method for measuring interseismic deformation: Denali fault, Alaska, GEOPHYS J INT, 170, pp.1165-1179. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03415.x
  • Wright, TJ; Ebinger, C; Biggs, J; Ayele, A; Yirgu, G; Keir, D; Stork, A (2006) Magma-maintained rift segmentation at continental rupture in the 2005 Afar dyking episode, NATURE, 442, pp.291-294. doi:10.1038/nature04978
  • Jackson, J; Bouchon, M; Fielding, E; Funning, G; Ghorashi, M; Hatzfeld, D; Nazari,, H; Parsons, B; Priestley, K; Talebian, M; Tatar, M; Walker, R; Wright, TJ (2006) Seismotectonic, rupture process, and earthquake-hazard aspects of the 2003 December 26 Bam, Iran, earthquake , Geophysical Journal International, 166, pp.1270-1292. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03056.x
  • Muller, JR; Aydin, A; Wright, TJ (2006) Using an elastic dislocation model to investigate static Coulomb stress change scenarios for earthquake ruptures in the eastern Marmara Sea region, Turkey , In: UITER, SJHB; SCHREURS, G (Ed) Analogue and Numerical Modelling of Crustal-Scale Processes, Geological Society, London, Special Publications , 253, Analogue and Numerical Modelling of Crustal-Scale Processes, pp.397-414. doi:10.1144/GSL.SP.2006.253.01.21
  • Pathier, E; Fielding, EJ; Wright, TJ; Walker, R; Parsons, BE; Hensley, S (2006) Displacement field and slip distribution of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake from SAR imagery, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 33, . doi:10.1029/2006GL027193
  • Parsons, B; Wright, T; Rowe, P; Andrews, J; Jackson, J; Walker, R; Khatib, M; Talebian, M; Bergman, E; Engdahl, ER (2006) The 1994 Sefidabeh (eastern Iran) earthquakes revisited: new evidence from satellite radar interferometry and carbonate dating about the growth of an active fold above a blind thrust fault, GEOPHYS J INT, 164, pp.202-217. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2005.02655.X
  • Biggs, J; Bergman, E; Emmerson, B; Funning, GJ; Jackson, J; Parsons, B; Wright, TJ (2006) Fault identification for buried strike-slip earthquakes using InSAR: The 1994 and 2004 Al Hoceima, Morocco earthquakes, GEOPHYS J INT, 166, pp.1347-1362. doi:10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.03071.x
  • Resor, PG; Pollard, DD; Wright, TJ; Beroza, GC (2005) Integrating high-precision aftershock locations and geodetic observations to model coseismic deformation associated with the 1995 Kozani-Grevena earthquake, Greece, J GEOPHYS RES-SOL EA, 110, . doi:10.1029/2004JB003263
  • Funning, GJ; Parsons, B; Wright, TJ; Jackson, JA; Fielding, EJ (2005) Surface displacements and source parameters of the 2003 Bam (Iran) earthquake from Envisat advanced synthetic aperture radar imagery, J GEOPHYS RES-SOL EA, 110, . doi:10.1029/2004JB003338
  • Funning, GJ; Barke, RMD; Lamb, SH; Minaya, E; Parsons, B; Wright, TJ (2005) The 1998 Aiquile, Bolivia earthquake: A seismically active fault revealed with InSAR, EARTH PLANET SC LETT, 232, pp.39-49. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2005.01.013
  • Wright, TJ; Parsons, B; England, PC; Fielding, EJ (2004) InSAR observations of low slip rates on the major faults of western Tibet, SCIENCE, 305, pp.236-239.
  • Fielding, EJ; Wright, TJ; Muller, J; Parsons, BE; Walker, R (2004) Aseismic deformation of a fold-and-thrust belt imaged by synthetic aperture radar interferometry near Shahdad, southeast Iran, GEOLOGY, 32, pp.577-580. doi:10.1130/G20452.1
  • Talebian, M; Fielding, EJ; Funning, GJ; Ghorashi, M; Jackson, J; Nazari, H; Parsons, B; Priestley, K; Rosen, PA; Walker, R; Wright, TJ (2004) The 2003 Bam (Iran) earthquake: Rupture of a blind strike-slip fault, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 31, . doi:10.1029/2004GL020058
  • Wright, TJ; Parsons, BE; Lu, Z (2004) Toward mapping surface deformation in three dimensions using InSAR, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 31, . doi:10.1029/2003GL018827
  • Wright, TJ; Lu, Z; Wicks, C (2004) Constraining the slip distribution and fault geometry of the M-w 7.9, 3 November 2002, Denali fault earthquake with interferometric synthetic aperture radar and global positioning system data, B SEISMOL SOC AM, 94, pp.S175-S189.
  • Wright, TJ; Lu, Z; Wicks, C (2003) Source model for the M-w 6.7, 23 October 2002, Nenana Mountain Earthquake (Alaska) from InSAR, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 30, . doi:10.1029/2003GL018014
  • Burgmann, R; Ayhan, ME; Fielding, EJ; Wright, TJ; McClusky, S; Aktug, B; Demir, C; Lenk, O; Turkezer, A (2002) Deformation during the 12 November 1999 Duzce, Turkey, earthquake, from GPS and InSAR data, B SEISMOL SOC AM, 92, pp.161-171.
  • Wright, TJ (2002) Remote monitoring of the earthquake cycle using satellite radar interferometry, PHILOS T ROY SOC A, 360, pp.2873-2888. doi:10.1098/rsta.2002.1094
  • Wright, T; Fielding, E; Parsons, B (2001) Triggered slip: observations of the 17 August 1999 Izmit (Turkey) earthquake using radar interferometry, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 28, pp.1079-1082.
  • Wright, T; Parsons, B; Fielding, E (2001) Measurement of interseismic strain accumulation across the North Anatolian Fault by satellite radar interferometry, GEOPHYS RES LETT, 28, pp.2117-2120.
  • Berberian, M; Jackson, JA; Fielding, E; Parsons, BE; Priestley, K; Qorashi, M; Talebian, M; Walker, R; Wright, TJ; Baker, C (2001) The 1998 March 14 Fandoqa earthquake (M-w 6.6) in Kerman province, southeast Iran: re-rupture of the 1981 Sirch earthquake fault, triggering of slip on adjacent thrusts and the active tectonics of the Gowk fault zone, GEOPHYS J INT, 146, pp.371-398.
  • Wright, TJ; Parsons, BE; Jackson, JA; Haynes, M; Fielding, EJ; England, PC; Clarke, PJ (1999) Source parameters of the 1 October 1995 Dinar (Turkey) earthquake from SAR interferometry and seismic bodywave modelling, EARTH PLANET SC LETT, 172, pp.23-37.