Abstract
Abstract. Land subsidence in Tehran Plain, Iran, for the period of 2003–2017 was measured using an InSAR time series investigation of surface displacements. In the presented study, land subsidence in the southwest of Tehran is characterized using InSAR data and numerical modelling, and the trend is predicted through future years. Over extraction of groundwater is the most common reason for the land subsidence which may cause devastating consequences for structures and infrastructures such as demolition of agricultural lands, damage from a differential settlement, flooding, or ground fractures. The environmental and economic impacts of land subsidence emphasize the importance of modelling and prediction of the trend of it in order to conduct crisis management plans to prevent its deleterious effects. In this study, land subsidence caused by the withdrawal of groundwater is modelled using finite element method software Plaxis 2D. Then, the model was verified using InSAR data. The results were in good agreement with the measurement results. The calibrated model was used to predict the land subsidence in future years. It could predict future subsidence for any assumed rate of water depletion.
Highlights
Land subsidence is defined as the differential displacement of the ground surface with respect to surrounding terrain or sea level
Results from interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) analysis can be used for calibration of numerical methods that simulate land subsidence caused by the exploitation of groundwater
InSAR time series investigation of land subsidence for the period of 2003-2017 and finite element modelling are successfully used to predict the rate of land subsidence in the south-western area of Tehran plain, Iran in future years
Summary
Land subsidence is defined as the differential displacement of the ground surface with respect to surrounding terrain or sea level. If stresses are greater than the pre-consolidation stress, rearrangement of the fine-grained sediments occurs in order to make a more stable structure at higher stresses This rearrangement causes an irrecoverable reduction of pore volume and, inelastic compaction of the aquifer system. A number of tools are used to measure and monitor land subsidence due to extraction of groundwater including first order levelling (Bell 1981; Bell et al 2002; Bell and Price 1991), borehole and tape extensometers (Carpenter 1993; Carruth et al 2007; Pope and Burbey 2004; Riley 1969), and Global Positioning System (GPS) networks (Bell et al 2002; Ikehara et al 1998; Ikehara and Phillips 1994; Sneed and Galloway 2000). Subsequent images from a side-looking radar mounted on a satellite is used by InSAR for estimation of vertical displacement of the ground surface associated with land subsidence.
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