Faculty/Staff

Jiang, Yu

Status: Postdoctoral Researcher

Summary

Yu Jiang received his Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of Liverpool, following a B.S. and M.S. from the China University of Petroleum (East China). After completing his doctorate, he worked as a Research Fellow at the Earth Observatory of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, from 2022 to 2024.

In 2024, Yu joined the University of Nevada, Reno as a Postdoctoral Scholar, where his research aligns with the mission of the Nevada Seismological Laboratory. His current work focuses on geodetic imaging of crustal deformation in the Walker Lane, a tectonically active region that accommodates a significant portion of western North America’s plate boundary deformation. He integrates InSAR, GNSS, and earthquake catalogs to investigate fault slip processes, with particular interest in earthquake swarms in Nevada and the interactions between seismic and aseismic slip.

Outside of research, Yu enjoys hiking in the forests of the Sierra Nevada and around Lake Tahoe, where he finds both inspiration and balance between science and nature.

Research interests:

Dr. Jiang’s research integrates geodetic observations (InSAR and GNSS) with physics-based models of fault mechanics to investigate earthquake cycle processes. His work advances the robustness and precision of InSAR products, develops physics-constrained inversion frameworks, and applies these tools to reveal how aseismic slip interacts with seismic slip, thereby illuminating the mechanisms of earthquake nucleation, stress evolution, and crustal deformation.

- New algorithms leveraging advanced signal processing and high-performance computing to process large volumes of noisy InSAR data

- Large-scale InSAR mapping of crustal deformation in tectonically active regions

- Physics-constrained fault slip inversions with uncertainty quantification

- Stress evolution modeled within the rate-and-state friction framework

- Earthquake swarms, foreshock sequences, and aseismic slip transients

- Earthquake cycle processes in subduction zones, emphasizing structural controls on seismicity

- Applications of InSAR and seismology to surface deformation and induced seismicity in oil and gas reservoirs

Education:

Ph.D., University of Liverpool, 2022

M.S., China University of Petroleum (East China), 2017

B.S., China University of Petroleum (East China), 2014

Selected publications:

[9] Zeng, H., Ma, Z., Li, C., Yin, X., Jiang, Y., Chen, Y., Rosakis, A., Konca, O., & Wei, S. (2025). Super-shear and generalized Rayleigh rupture of the 2023 Turkey earthquake doublet influenced by fault material contrast. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JB031560

[8] Ma, Z., Zeng, H., Luo, H., Liu, Z, Jiang, Y., Aoki, Y., Wang, W., Itoh, Y., Lyu, M., Cui, Y., Yun, S., Hill, E., & Wei, S. (2024). Slow rupture in a fluid-rich fault zone initiated the 2024 Mw 7.5 Noto earthquake. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ado5143

[7] Ma, Z., Li, C., Jiang, Y., Chen, Y., Yin, X., Aoki, Y., Yun, S., & Wei, S. (2024). Space geodetic insights to the dramatic stress rotation induced by the February 2023 Turkey‐Syria earthquake doublet. Geophysical Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL107788

[6] Jiang, Y., Samsonov, S., & Gonz?lez, P. (2022). Aseismic fault slip during a shallow normal-faulting seismic swarm constrained using a physically-informed geodetic inversion method. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB022621

[5] Jiang, Y., Gonz?lez, P., & B?rgmann, R. (2022). Subduction earthquakes controlled by incoming plate geometry: The 2020 M>7.5 Shumagin, Alaska, earthquake doublet. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117447

[4] Jiang, Y., & Gonz?lez, P. (2020). Bayesian inversion of wrapped satellite interferometric phase to estimate fault and volcano surface ground deformation models. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 125. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JB018313

[3] Song, X., Jiang, Y., Shan, X., Gong, W., & Qu, C. (2019). A fine velocity and strain rate field of present-day crustal motion of the northeastern Tibetan Plateau inverted jointly by InSAR and GPS. Remote Sensing, 11. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11040435

[2] Jiang, Y., Shan, X., Song, X., Gong, W., & Wang, Z. (2017). Atmospheric correction for InSAR and its application in mapping ground motion due to interseismic strain accumulation. Acta Seismologica Sinica, 39. https://www.dzxb.org/article/doi/10.11939/jass.2017.03.007

[1] Song, X., Jiang, Y., Shan, X., & Qu, C. (2016). Deriving 3D coseismic deformation field by combining GPS and InSAR data based on the elastic dislocation model. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2016.12.019

Contacts:

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