Abstract
Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) analysis of Sentinel-1 C-band radar spaceborne imagery was carried out to detect ground subsidence zones in the city of Tirana, Albania. Fifty-eight Sentinel-1A Interferometric Wide (IW) images of the time period January 2017 – December 2018, with a temporal resolution of 12 days, were used as input to the PSI. The PSI technique can detect millimeter-scale ground motion. The results show a zone of ground subsidence of about 7 mm/year along a segment of the Tirana Outer Ring road, where numerous tall buildings have been constructed in the last twenty years. In the northern part of the Kamza municipality a ground subsidence of about 2-3 mm/year is observed. In the western part of the Kamza municipality, it is also observed a ground subsidence of about 7 mm/year. In general, the areas where ground subsidence was detected from the PSI analysis, are characterized by urban expansion in the last thirty years. The ground subsidence could be a result of the lowering of the water table from the construction works or from over exploitation of groundwater resources. The study represents the first reported analysis of the Sentinel-1 imagery for ground motion detection in the city of Tirana. Further monitoring and detailed studies on the causes of the ground subsidence in this important urban area are necessary.
Highlights
The interferometric analysis of multi-temporal radar imagery is an important source for the detection and monitoring of ground subsidence in the urban areas (e.g., Ferretti et al, 2001; Kampes, 2006; Crosetto et al, 2010)
This paper presents results on the interferometric analysis of multi-temporal Sentinel-1A data to detect ground subsidence zones in the Tirana city, Albania
This ground subsidence zone is noted by Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) analysis of multi-temporal COSMO-SkyMed X-band radar data of the years 2011-2014 (Wasowski et al, 2015)
Summary
The interferometric analysis of multi-temporal radar imagery is an important source for the detection and monitoring of ground subsidence in the urban areas (e.g., Ferretti et al, 2001; Kampes, 2006; Crosetto et al, 2010). The Sentinel-1 records C-band (5.3 cm) radar imagery, with accurate orbit auxiliary data for interferometric analysis (e.g., Torres et al, 2012; Yagüe-Martínez et al, 2016). It has a revisiting time of 12 days (6 days if both Sentinel 1A and Sentinel 1B are considered), creating a dense multi-temporal dataset for interferometric studies (e.g., Haghighi and Motagh 2017; Kalia, 2018). The Sentinel-1 offers an improved data acquisition capability for deformation monitoring with respect to previous C-band sensors (ERS-1/2, Envisat, and Radarsat), considerably increasing the monitoring potential (Budillon et al, 2018)
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