Land Subsidence Control Research Articles

Land subsidence along the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway before and after the South-to-North water diversion project with multi-source monitoring datasets

The development of land subsidence has seriously affected the safe operation of Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway. The South-to-North Water Diversion Project Central Route (SNWDP-CR) was officially put into operation in December 2014. It has changed the water supply pattern in Beijing and provided conditions for reducing groundwater exploitation and controlling land subsidence. In this paper, the time-series interferometric data, in situ monitoring data of recent 20 years and the basic geological datasets are combined to compare and analyze the changes of groundwater level, land subsidence and the main subsidence layers along the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway before and after the SNWDP-CR. The effects of the environment of Quaternary sedimentary, groundwater exploitation and soil deformation of different lithology on land subsidence along the high-speed railway under the background of new water conditions are revealed. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) The serious land subsidence area along the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway always concentrated in the section of DK11-DK23. After the operation of SNWDP-CR, the land subsidence along the railway generally showed a slowing trend. The maximum subsidence rate was reduced from 80 mm/yr to 49 mm/yr. The length of subsidence rate that more than 50 mm/yr of the section was reduced from 8.0 km to 0 km. 2) The groundwater level of different aquifer groups along the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway rose and declined before and after the SNWDP-CR. in eastern part of the plain, the groundwater level of each aquifer group has changed from a continuous decline (range 0.13–1.82 m) to a gradual rise (range 0.45–1.87 m) since 2017. However, in the southeast of the plain, the groundwater level still showed a continuous decline trend, with an average annual decline of 1.2–1.8 m. 3) From 2006 to 2019, the subsidence of the first, second and third compression layer group along the railway accounted for 2.71%, 28.29% and 69%, respectively. The third compression layer group (monitoring layer 94–182 m) had the largest subsidence proportion and was the main subsidence layer. 4) The land subsidence along the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway is controlled by the basement structure. The difference of groundwater exploitation intensity led to differences in the spatial distribution of land subsidence along the railway. The subsidence of the soil layer below the bearing layer (about 50 m) of the high-speed railway pile foundation exhibited the characteristics of viscoplastic or viscoelastic plasticity deformation. This section of strata is a key layer that needs to be considered for land subsidence control along the Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railway in the future.

Integrating SBAS-InSAR and Random Forest for Identifying and Controlling Land Subsidence and Uplift in a Multi-Layered Porous System of North China Plain

Controlling groundwater table decline could mitigate land subsidence and induced environmental hazards in over-explored areas. Nevertheless, this becomes a challenge in the multi-layered porous system as (in)elastic deformation simultaneously occurs due to vast spatiotemporal variability in the groundwater table. In this study, SBAS-InSAR was used to estimate annual land deformation during 2017–2022 in a specific region of North China Plain, in which aquifers are composed of many layers of fine-grained compressible sediments and the groundwater table has experienced a prolonged decline. The random forest (RF) was applied to establish the nonlinear relationship between accumulated deformation and its potential driving factors, including the depth to the groundwater table (GWD) and its change rate, and the compressible sediment thickness. Results show that the marked subsidence and uplift co-exist in the region even though the groundwater table has risen widely since the South–North Water Diversion Project. The land subsidence is attributed to inelastic compaction of the thick compressible deposits in depression cone centers, where the GWD is over 40 m and 90 m in the shallow and deep aquifers, respectively. In contrast, the marked uplift is primarily attributed to fast rising of the groundwater table (e.g., −2.44 m/a). The RF predictions suggest that, to control the subsidence, the GWD should be less than 20 and 70 m in the shallow and deep aquifers, respectively, and the rising rate of the GWD should increase to 2–5 times of current rates in the depression cones. To mitigate the marked uplift, the rising rate of the GWD should reduce to 1/2–1/5 of the current rates in the shallow aquifers. The uneven deformations of sediments in the depression cone centers and uplift in their boundaries may exacerbate geohazards. Therefore, it is vital to implement appropriate governance of groundwater recovery in the multi-layered porous system.

Thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupled simulation of the land subsidence due to aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system in soft soils

Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system has received attention for heating or cooling buildings. However, it is well known that land subsidence becomes a major environmental concern for ATES projects. Yet, the effect of temperature on land subsidence has received practically no attention in the past. This paper presents a thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupled numerical study on an ATES system in Shanghai, China. Four water wells were installed for seasonal heating and cooling of an agriculture greenhouse. The target aquifer at a depth of 74–104.5 m consisted of alternating layers of sand and silty sand and was covered with clay. Groundwater level, temperature, and land subsidence data from 2015 to 2017 were collected using field monitoring instruments. Constrained by data, we constructed a field scale three-dimensional (3D) model using TOUGH (Transport of Unsaturated Groundwater and Heat) and FLAC3D (Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua) equipped with a thermo-elastoplastic constitutive model. The effectiveness of the numerical model was validated by field data. The model was used to reproduce groundwater flow, heat transfer, and mechanical responses in porous media over three years and capture the thermo- and pressure-induced land subsidence. The results show that the maximum thermo-induced land subsidence accounts for about 60% of the total subsidence. The thermo-induced subsidence is slightly greater in winter than that in summer, and more pronounced near the cold well area than the hot well area. This study provides some valuable guidelines for controlling land subsidence caused by ATES systems installed in soft soils.

Mechanism the land subsidence from multiple spatial scales and hydrogeological conditions – A case study in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, China.

Study regionBeijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, China Study focusBTH has long been suffering from severe and uneven land subsidence. Finding out the spatial evolution of land subsidence is helpful to collaborative prevention and control. We innovatively revealed the spatial distribution of land subsidence from the mountains to the coastal area along four hydrogeological profiles, and inferred the land subsidence mechanism on the overall scale, local plain scale and typical regional scale. Small Baseline Subsets Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar was employed to collect displacement information in the BTH region from January 2012 to January 2020. We obtained groundwater storage data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment. New hydrological insights for the regionOn the overall scale, from 2012 to 2019, the Changping-TongZhou district of Beijing suffered the most serious land subsidence, with an annual subsidence rate of 159 mm and a cumulative subsidence as high as 928 mm. On the local plain scale, areas experiencing severe subsidence were generally located in the central plain. Fractures in the area obviously influenced the spatial distribution of subsidence. On the typical regional scale, a positive correlation was found between land subsidence and groundwater depletion. The relationship between precipitation and land subsidence in Hebei was the most convincing (R2 = 0.64). This study provides a scientific basis for regional coordination in land subsidence control. Data availabilityData can be provided by the corresponding authors upon request.

Importance of Aquitard Response Time for Groundwater Management in Multi-Aquifer Systems Subject to Land Subsidence

Groundwater management models have been widely applied to obtain optimal pumping strategies for land subsidence control, but most of them do not explicitly incorporate land subsidence variables (such as cumulative settlement and land subsidence rates) within the model constraints and neglect the transient effect due to aquitard storage. Here, three operating scenarios of a hypothetical multi-aquifer system, which include a highly compressible aquitard, were implemented with the aim of evaluating land subsidence and identifying management schemes with the support of an optimization model for groundwater management. In a 50-year management period, maximizing pumping while restricting drawdown to 10 m after year 25 stabilizes groundwater levels within the aquifer, but land subsidence continues to reach 4.8 m at year 50. The effect of reducing pumping rates and how early in the management period this is implemented is also analyzed. Restricting the pumping rate as early as year 6 leads to reduced land subsidence at year 50 by 17%. If pumping reduction is delayed, larger land subsidence rates occurred in the system (7.9, 8.3 and 9.6 cm/year in the tested cases); however, if the total settlement is evaluated as a proportion of the thickness of the aquitard, values of the order of 10% are presented. Our results highlight the importance of timely decisions for groundwater management based on the response time of the aquitards in multi-aquifer systems.

Developing a decision-making model for improving the groundwater balance to control land subsidence

This study aimed to control land subsidence by improving the groundwater balance in the Varamin plain using the Groundwater Modelling System software and a multi-criteria decision model. For this purpose, aquifer level quantification and subsidence rate simulation were performed with the MODFLOW model and SUB package, respectively. The results showed a 6 m decrease in the aquifer level over a 5-year period and the subsidence rate in the central parts was 37 cm. Accordingly, the aquifer was evaluated by considering eight different restoration strategies based on reduced exploitation and artificial feeding. The results showed that the environmental criterion related to the subsidence adjustment index had the highest weight (0.27) and was introduced as the most important decision-making criterion. The evaluation of the results and priorities using the Complex Proportional Assessment (COPRAS) method showed that a 30% reduction in exploitation with artificial feeding is the best restoration strategy and can improve the subsidence rate and aquifer level by 36% and 76%, respectively, over a 5-year period (2024).

Numerical investigation of processes, features, and control of land subsidence caused by groundwater extraction and coal mining: a case study from eastern China

Numerical investigation of processes, features, and control of land subsidence caused by groundwater extraction and coal mining: a case study from eastern China

Land Subsidence Characteristics and Numerical Analysis of the Impact on Major Infrastructure in Ningbo, China

For the construction and safe operation of major infrastructure in coastal cities, the impact of regional land subsidence that has occurred or is slowly proceeding deserves attention. Previous studies have mainly focused on the surrounding land subsidence caused during construction or operation, as well as the superposition effect of land subsidence caused by groundwater extraction. However, research on the different impacts of damage due to land subsidence in the construction and operation of urban infrastructure needs to be carried out according to the actual geological environmental conditions, reflected in parameters such as the soil properties and common loads. Numerical simulation cannot fully reflect the details of reality; however, it can avoid the influence of other conditions to focus on different factors influencing land subsidence and thus highlight the contribution of a single factor influencing land subsidence. Therefore, in this paper, we adopt field measurement data and carry out a numerical simulation analysis of different influencing factors. First, taking the Ningbo Jiangdong subsidence center (now located in Yinzhou District) as an example, area growth, cumulative subsidence and the occurrence and development of the subsidence rate of a typical urban subsidence funnel area are analyzed. Then, taking the Ningbo Chunxiao–Meishan area as an example, based on the physical and mechanical characteristics of the main soil layers in the coastal reclamation area, a numerical analysis of the self-weight/backfill and surcharge consolidation settlement of the soil layer (considering the water permeability/impermeability of the bottom surface) and a numerical analysis of the nonuniform settlement caused by pile foundation engineering are carried out. Finally, the Ximenkou–Gulou area is taken as the analysis object. Numerical simulation of metro tunnel pipeline deformation is carried out considering uniform/nonuniform settlement. The results show that the comprehensive prohibition of groundwater exploitation is beneficial to slow the land subsidence rate, while the sedimentation of silty clay in Layer 4 (muddy clay) is the largest among all the soil layers. Compared with uniform settlement, nonuniform settlement is more likely to cause connection failure between tunnel segments. The above research results can provide references for the prevention and control of land subsidence and thus the safe operation of major infrastructure.

Characterization of the Land Deformation Induced by Groundwater Withdrawal and Aquifer Parameters Using InSAR Observations in the Xingtai Plain, China

Long-term overexploitation of groundwater has led to significant land subsidence and ground fissures in the Xingtai plain. These geo-hazards have threatened the safety of buildings and infrastructures. It is extremely important to investigate the coupling relationship between land deformation and hydraulic head change for controlling land subsidence and mitigating ground fissures. In this study, we obtained the spatial and temporal evolution of land deformation in the Xingtai plain by using Envisat/ASAR data during 2009~2010 and Sentinel-1A data during 2015~2021. Combining InSAR results, head observations and geological data, we investigated the response of land deformation to head change and estimate the aquifer parameters. First, joint analysis of displacement time series and head changes infers that land subsidence was mainly caused by the inelastic compaction in aquitards. Compared with the subsidence patterns during 2009~2010, both the rate and spatial extent of land subsidence increased obviously during 2015~2021. Second, seasonal fluctuations in hydraulic head resulted in significant seasonal deformation with an amplitude of 10~30 mm and peak time of January~March, of which the spatial–temporal distribution was consistent with that of the rapid subsidence. Third, obvious differences in the deformation rate and seasonal amplitude were observed across the Longyao ground fissures and other three potential fissures during 2015~2021, suggesting that the activity of ground fissures increased compared with that during 2009~2010. Finally, using InSAR results and head observations, we estimated the elastic and inelastic skeletal storativity, with values ranging from 0.9 × 10−3 to 12.4 × 10−3 and 6.2 × 10−3 to 88.0 × 10−3, respectively. The comparison between elastic and inelastic skeletal storativity suggests that ~84.5% of total subsidence was irreversible and permanent.

Uncovering the Structural Effect Mechanisms of Natural and Social Factors on Land Subsidence: A Case Study in Beijing

Understanding the effect mechanisms of various factors on land subsidence may help in the development of scientific measures to control land subsidence. Previous studies mainly focused on exploring local effect mechanisms, such as extracting hotspots and analyzing their spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and identifying the interaction mechanisms of the associated factors. However, the scarcely discussed structural effect mechanisms on a small scale suggests a need to further explore the effects on land subsidence. Therefore, in this paper, an analytical framework was proposed to elaborate the structural effect mechanisms of influencing factors on land subsidence. First, the local effect mechanisms were identified using the geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model, followed by a spatial clustering analysis and the detection of their aggregation pattern using the spatially constrained multivariate clustering (SCMC) model to show the structural mechanisms. Study datasets included the monitoring results of land subsidence during 2003–2010 and the related socioeconomic factors by using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from Beijing. Factors such as population, annual average rainfall, underground water, and static load were identified to measure the changes in land subsidence, and all of these had both negative and positive impacts. Among these, the annual average rainfall had the largest coefficient variation range. These four geographically associated factors revealed various spatiotemporal effects on land subsidence in Beijing, showing land subsidence changes resulting from the urbanization process of Beijing during that period.

Land Subsidence Monitoring and Dynamic Prediction of Reclaimed Islands with Multi-Temporal InSAR Techniques in Xiamen and Zhangzhou Cities, China

Artificial islands and land reclamation are one of the most important ways to expand urban space in coastal cities. Long-term consolidation of reclaimed material and compaction of marine sediments can cause ground subsidence, which may threaten the buildings and infrastructure on the reclaimed lands. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor the land subsidence and predict the future deformation trend to mitigate the damage and take measures for the land reclamation and any infrastructure. In this paper, a total of 125 SAR images acquired by the C-band Sentinel-1A satellite between June 2017 and September 2021 are collected. The small baseline subsets (SBAS) SAR interferometry (InSAR) method is first conducted to detect the land deformation in Xiamen and Zhangzhou cities of Fujian Province, China, and the distributed scatterers (DS)-InSAR method is used to recover the complete deformation history of some typical areas including Xiamen Airport in Dadeng Island and Shuangyu Island. Then, the sequential estimation and the geotechnical model are jointly applied to demonstrate the current and future evolution of land subsidence of the constructed roads on Shuangyu Island. The results show that the maximum cumulative deformation reaches 425 mm of Xiamen Xiang’an Airport and 626 mm of Shuangyu Island, and the maximum deformation is predicted to be as large as 1.1 m by 2026 of Shuangyu Island. This research will provide important guidelines for the design and construction of Xiamen Xiang’an Airport and Shuangyu Island to prevent and control land subsidence.

Generating strategies for land subsidence control and remediation based on risk classification evaluation in Tianjin, China

Generating strategies for land subsidence control and remediation based on risk classification evaluation in Tianjin, China

Assessing Land Subsidence-Inducing Factors in the Shandong Province, China, by Using PS-InSAR Measurements

Shandong Province (SDP) experienced serious land subsidence from March 2017 to December 2020. Exploring the response relationships between land subsidence and its inducing factors plays an important role in ensuring the development of the economy and residential safety. Firstly, we applied Persistent Scatterers Interferometric Aperture Radar (PS-InSAR) technology to 558 Sentinel-1 images to determine the land subsidence in SDP from March 2017 to December 2020. Secondly, we mosaicked the land subsidence monitoring results of five tracks to obtain a land subsidence map covering the whole SDP and validated the land subsidence monitoring results using Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring results and leveling benchmark monitoring results observed in the same period. Finally, the response relationships between the land subsidence and its inducing factors in SDP were analyzed. The findings are as follows: (1) the PS-InSAR outcomes showed that the land subsidence was widely distributed in SDP and that the maximum land subsidence rate was −298.9 mm/year during the study period. (2) The PS-InSAR monitoring results coincide well with the GPS monitoring results and leveling benchmark monitoring results; the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) values between the PS-InSAR monitoring results and the GPS measurement results and leveling benchmark monitoring results were 0.97 and 0.98, respectively. We found that Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (SRCC) values between any two adjacent tracks of the mosaic PS-InSAR monitoring results were greater than 0.95, indicating good consistency. (3) The long-term overexploitation of groundwater in middle and deep aquifers and mining of underground mineral resources are the main inducing factors of land subsidence in SDP when considering this problem on a large geographical scale. Moreover, the type of bridge material is an important inducing factor causing the large variation in the land subsidence of the bridge body within a small geographical range. These findings may provide scientific support for land subsidence control measures in SDP.

Construction optimization and settlement analysis of Pile Beam Arc method in subway station

Subway stations are generally built in areas with dense buildings, heavy traffic, or dense pipelines. In this case, the control of land subsidence and building deformation is very strict. The Pile Beam Arc (PBA) method has its unique advantages in these aspects, and it is especially suitable for northern China. In this research, the Zhongjie subway station of Shenyang Metro Line 1 is taken as the research object, and MIDAS GTS NX software is used to simulate the various stages of the PBA method construction of the subway station. In this paper, the optimal construction scheme of the subway station is analyzed by numerical simulation. This study also uses the monitoring data provided by the construction site to analyze the influence and distribution law of the subway station on the ground surface deformation in each construction stage. In this paper, the results of numerical simulation are compared with the field monitoring data, and the most dangerous construction stage is obtained. The conclusions of this study can provide accurate supporting scheme and control measures for the subsequent construction.

Sustainable development of coastal cities through control of land subsidence: activities of IGCP Project 663 in Jakarta

by Xuexin Yan, Yan Xu, Tianliang Yang, Luigi Tosi, Esther Stouthamer, Philip Minderhoud, Pietro Teatini, Henk Kooi, Heri Andreas, Dhota Pradipta, Sandra Donnici, and Roberta Bonì. Episodes -0001;0:. https://doi.org/10.18814/epiiugs/2021/021014

Mathematical Evaluation on the Control of Mining-Induced Ground Subsidence in Thick Loose Strata.

Coal mining under thick loose strata in North China leads to ground subsidence, which is a natural result of hydromechanical coupling (fluid flow coupled with solid deformation). Therefore, the land surrounding the mining areas is greatly damaged. In this study, the combined weight (CW) method and the fuzzy matter-element analysis (FMEA) method were used to analyze and evaluate the control effect of subsiding land. Overall, 20 sets of geological samples were collected from this area. The influencing factors and the corresponding weights for the control effect of subsiding land were comprehensively analyzed, and an FMEA model was built to predict and verify the results. The results showed that (1) the two evaluation indicators with the most significant impact on land reclamation were the degree of integration and the economic and social benefits and (2) among the 20 sets of samples selected, the predicted conclusions of 17 sets were consistent with the actual engineering situations, which led to an accuracy of 85%. In other words, the CW-FMEA model showed good reliability for evaluating the control effect of subsiding land, which can provide scientific references for control and quality evaluations of land subsidence due to coal mining.

Investigating impacts of deep foundation pit dewatering on land subsidence based on CFD-DEM method

For a deep excavation in sandy cobble stratum, the loss of fine sand particles caused by dewatering generally leads to ground settlement. This paper first analyzed the rules of land subsidence caused by dewatering in the water-rich sandy cobble stratum by dewatering experiments. It is found that even after the groundwater level was restored, the land subsidence basically did not rebound, which shows that the land subsidence is consolidation settlement caused by the loss of fine particles. Then the coupled CFD-DEM numerical model was used to analyze the relationship between the fine particle loss, surface settlement and the grain size of filter media, dewatering rate. On this basis, the rules of land subsidence under the coupling effect of foundation pit dewatering and excavation were further explored by numerical calculation and field measurement. Foundation pit dewatering and excavation in the sandy cobble stratum is the key stage for land subsidence control, As the grain size of the filter media increases, the impact of dewatering on land subsidence gets stronger, therefore, the filter media grain size should be less 8 mm. This study is of great significance to the design of deep foundation pit dewatering in water-rich sandy cobble strata.

Analysis and Evaluation of Land Subsidence along Linear Engineering Based on InSAR Data

Land subsidence is a worldwide geological environment problem, which can bring about lasting and serious harm to linear engineering and urban construction. In this paper, land subsidence along the linear engineering was monitored and analyzed by the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images, high-precision leveling results, groundwater level monitoring data. Combined with Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technology, spatial analysis technology of geographic information system and contribution rate method, the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics, influencing factors, and the contribution rate of each factor to land subsidence along the Lunan high-speed railway from 2016 to 2018 were researched. The accuracy of subsidence results by InSAR monitoring was verified by the linear fitting method and root mean square error method. The influence of uneven subsidence on linear engineering was discussed based on the evaluation results of subsidence gradient zoning. The results indicate that the maximum accumulated subsidence along the Lunan high-speed railway is 499 mm. Multiple subsidence center areas have been formed in the study area, with the maximum subsidence rate exceeding -55 mm/yr. The maximum subsidence gradient and curvature radius of the Lunan high-speed railway meet the requirements of line smoothness when the train speed is 350 km/h. The coal mining, compressible layer thickness, and changes in groundwater level are positively correlated with land subsidence, the total contribution rate to land subsidence is more than 90%. The research results provide scientific support for the prevention and control of land subsidence along the linear engineering.

Soil pore characteristics, morphology, and soil hydraulic conductivity following land subsidence caused by extraction of deep confined groundwater in Xi'an, China: Quantitative analysis based on X-ray micro-computed tomography

The extraction of deep confined groundwater has been widely identified as the main factor leading to land subsidence. However, how soil pore characteristics and morphology may change as a result of land subsidence remains unclear. The objective of this study was to (1) quantify and compare the effects of soil compression due to deep confined aquifer exploitation on soil pore characteristics and morphology and (2) assess the relationships between pore parameters and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat). Three kinds of lithology (clay, silt, and silty clay soils) from two 300-m engineering geological boreholes were investigated at natural saturated state (NSS) and complete drainage state (CDS). Seventeen undisturbed soil samples, 70 and 50-mm in diameter and height, respectively, were collected and subjected to steps of uniformly increasing loads in uniaxial confined compression tests to analyze pore characteristics, morphology, and Ksat. Keeping the samples in a strain-locked state, pore parameters were assessed after each loading step by using X-ray micro-computed tomography (CT; voxel resolution: 3-μm) images. A hundred CT images were acquired and quantified for each treatment in each soil sample. Soil pore characteristics and morphological parameters including number of pores, number of macropores (diameter (∅) > 1000-μm), number of coarse mesopores (∅ 200–1000-μm), number of fine mesopores (∅ < 200-μm), porosity, macroporosity, coarse mesoporosity, fine mesoporosity, largest pore area, average pore diameter, shape factor, structure model index, degree of anisotropy, and the Euler number were analyzed using ImageJ software. All parameters differed between NSS and CDS treatments, especially in silt and silty clay soils below 100-m depth, and the differences seemed to increase with increasing depth. However, parameter variations were not obvious for clay soil. Furthermore, Ksat differed significantly between treatments. The largest pore area, average pore diameter, and regular porosity accounted for 78.2 % of the change in Ksat. Thus, the decrease in proportion of elongated macropores favors land subsidence, particularly in silt and silty clay soils below 100-m depth. Efforts such as optimization of groundwater exploitation depth should be made to alleviate and control land subsidence.

Temporal and Spatial Evolution Characteristics Analysis of Beijing Land Subsidence Based on InSAR

Land subsidence is one of the main geological disasters in the Beijing Plain. Accurate and quantitative monitoring of the evolution of land subsidence will help scientifically guide the prevention and control of land subsidence. We use PS-InSAR technology and TerraSAR 3m resolution images as our data source to study the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of Beijing’s land subsidence from 2012 to 2015. The research indicates that, from a spatial perspective, the land subsidence presents a funnel shape, the central area of the settlement funnel is maintained at 112.5km², and the total land subsidence area remains basically unchanged. From the temporal point of view, the central area of the ground subsidence funnel subsides at a rate of 110mm/y, the ground subsidence rate in other areas decreases as it far away from the settlement center.