Deformation Monitoring and Analysis of the Geological Environment of Pudong International Airport with Persistent Scatterer SAR Interferometry

Yanan Jiang,Lu Zhang,Hanmei Wang,Timo Balz,Mingsheng Liao

doi:10.3390/rs8121021

Abstract

Many coastal cities have undertaken reclamation projects to satisfy the land demands of rapid urbanization. However, the foundations of reclaimed land are susceptible to settlement and can have undesirable environmental impacts that could adversely affect these dense, populated areas. In the case of international airports built on reclaimed areas especially, regional-scale deformation must be monitored to ensure operational security for public safety. Persistent Scatterer SAR Interferometry (PSI) technology has proven to be an effective tool to detect ground deformation in urban areas. However, it is still a challenge to apply PSI to effectively monitor settlement at airports built on newly developed coastal reclamation areas because of the scarcity of identifiable targets. Moreover, additional issues arise as the complicated deformation patterns associated with the underlying geological conditions make it difficult to interpret InSAR-derived results. In this study, a time-series analysis of a high-resolution TerraSAR-X satellite image stack acquired from September 2011 to October 2012 was performed by employing a modified PSI technique to retrieve the mean deformation velocity and time series of surface deformation at Pudong International Airport. Qualitative evaluation of spatial distribution and temporal evolution of deformation was conducted by joint analyses of deformation measurements and local geological data. Detailed analysis of various driving forces for deformation patterns confirmed that the results of deformation monitoring obtained by PSI are reliable and consistent with that of local geological surveys. Since the factors responsible for the subsidence within the airport are still at play, ongoing and routine deformation monitoring is warranted.

Highlights

Given the fast pace of economic development, many seaside cities are experiencing a shortage of land for urban construction and transportation
We focused on Shanghai Pudong International Airport, performed a time-series analysis of a high-resolution TerraSAR-X satellite image stack by employing a modified Persistent Scatterer SAR Interferometry (PSI) technique
To meet the growing demand for land for urban construction and transportation, a site with 40 km2 of coastal land has been reclaimed from the sea for the construction of Shanghai Pudong International Airport

Summary

Introduction

Given the fast pace of economic development, many seaside cities are experiencing a shortage of land for urban construction and transportation. To meet this growing need, it is a common practice to reclaim land from the sea in many coastal countries worldwide [1,2,3,4]. Many new airports servicing coastal cities have been built further away from populated areas and closer to the sea to mitigate the pressure on air transport, responding to varied land-use demands [1,5,6]. Hong Kong, Macao, Shanghai, Dalian and other cities have all reclaimed land from the sea for airport extensions. Understanding subsidence mechanisms is essential so that appropriate mitigation actions can be taken to prevent further damage

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Conclusion