Monitoring of Land Subsidence and Ground Fissure Activity within the Su-Xi-Chang Area Based on Time-Series InSAR

Chengsheng Yang,Zuhang Hou,Chaoying Zhao,Qin Zhang,Tao Li,Sen Lv

doi:10.3390/rs14040903

Abstract

Serious land subsidence and ground fissure (GF) disasters have brought huge economic losses to the Su-Xi-Chang area (China) and threatened the safety of its residents. To better understand the development of these disasters, it is urgent to carry out long-term and large-scale deformation monitoring in this region. In this study, based on time-series interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technology, ground deformation characteristics were obtained at different periods. Meanwhile, Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua in Three Dimensions (FLAC3D) version 5.00 was used to study the stress, seepage field, and displacement changes in the soil layers caused by pumping activities at the bedrock bulge. The results showed that three subsidence centers were located in Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou from 2007 to 2010. The ground fissures in Guangming village had obvious differential settlements and intense activities. The land subsidence in the Su-Xi-Chang area was under control from 2018 to 2021, while there was a relative rebound in most areas. Combined with numerical simulation and geological data, we demonstrated that pumping activities would accelerate and intensify the land subsidence process, and differential subsidence was prone to occur at the buried hill, which in turn led to the formation of ground fissures. By comparing the characteristics of ground deformation in different periods, it was proven that banning groundwater exploitation is an effective measure for preventing and controlling such disasters.

Highlights

Overexploitation of groundwater resources may result in compression of aquifer systems, which causes rapid land subsidence [1]
In order to interpret the deformation information monitored by time-series interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), spatial analysis technology was applied, and time-series points of typical deformation area mote Sens. 2022, 14, x FOR PEER REVIEWwere extracted in our study
From 2007 to 2010, the largest deformation rate was more than results, we found that the southern part of JY was the main subsidence area

Summary

Introduction

Overexploitation of groundwater resources may result in compression of aquifer systems (aquifers and permeable aquifers), which causes rapid land subsidence [1]. Many major cities around the world are facing such geological disasters due to the excessive extraction of groundwater, such as central Mexico, Las Vegas in the USA, and the United. Ground subsidence disasters are often accompanied by the formation and development of ground fissures (GFs). Ground subsidence disasters pose an enormous threat to underground engineering, surface construction, and the safety and properties of human life [7,8,9]. Land subsidence in coastal areas or around lakes is prone to causing disasters such as waterlogging and flooding due to the loss of elevation [10,11]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion