Ground Surface Deformation Research Articles

Ground Deformation and Damage Assessment using SAR Observations: A Case Study of Hinatuan, Philippines in the 2023 Surigao Del Sur Earthquake

Abstract. Earthquakes are among the major hazards that lead to economic loss every year. Rapid damage assessment is essential for a more efficient disaster response. The 2023 Surigao del Sur earthquake in the Philippines with moment magnitude (Mw) 7.4 occurred on December 2, 2023, with Hinatuan as the nearest municipality located 12 km south of the epicenter. Thus, this study examined the co-seismic impacts in Hinatuan using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations. Using phase interferometry and displacement maps to estimate the ground surface deformation, results show that the phase interferograms, Line-of-sight (LOS) displacements, and vertical displacements were consistent, with most of Hinatuan experiencing an uplift of up to 7.2 cm. In contrast, subsidence as low as –9.0 cm was observed in some isolated areas. The damage assessment conducted through change detection analysis revealed 6.15 ha (6.4%) of built area out of the total 84 ha was significantly damaged. The damage mainly occurred in the uplifted regions between 0 to 5 cm. Building codes, land-use planning, and risk management and assessment can be improved and strengthened with these findings for a more earthquake-resilient community. The findings will be a basis for disaster risk reduction and management actions. These may, furthermore, serve as a reference for the development planning of local government units, especially for urban and built-up areas. These can also be used in developing Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) materials and advisory for residents in Hinatuan and the vulnerable adjacent regions.

Permafrost thaw and thermokarst in the source region of the Yangtze river in the central Tibetan plateau revealed by radar and optical remote sensing

AbstractThe landscape and landforms in permafrost regions are transforming due to climate change and permafrost thaw. This study uses optical and radar remote sensing, alongside spatial analysis, to examine thermokarst features and their driving factors in the source region of the Yangtze River (SRYR) on the central Tibetan Plateau. We analyse the distribution, interaction, and key environmental factors influencing thermokarst ponds and ground surface deformation, which are the two widespread and noticeable thermokarst features. Since the 1960s, the number of small water bodies has doubled from approximately ~2 × 104 to ~4 × 104 by the 2020s, with the median size of these water bodies decreasing from 2.3 × 104 m2 to 1.4 × 104 m2. The permafrost terrain has an average subsidence rate of 6.8 mm/a. About 50.9% of the SRYR exhibits evident thermokarst features. Surficial geological factors, especially geomorphology and slope, are primary factors in shaping the spatial distributions of thermokarst features. Both seasonal deformation and long‐term subsidence rates are more pronounced in areas with thermokarst ponds. However, once pond coverage exceeds around 5%, the amplifying effect on long‐term subsidence rates and seasonal deformation diminishes. The investigation further reveals that the relationship between seasonal deformation and long‐term subsidence is not strictly linear and that the combined increase in seasonal deformation and long‐term subsidence applies only to areas with seasonal deformation below approximately 20 mm. Beyond this threshold, the long‐term subsidence rate is no longer exacerbated by increased seasonal deformation.

Mathematical modelling for strata deformation caused by rectangular pipe jacking construction in composite layered ground

In this study, analytical solutions of vertical deformation of ground surface and horizontal displacement of strata are derived combining the Mindlin solution and the mirror method due to rectangular pipe jacking tunneling in composite strata, which considers the combined effect of five factors of additional excavation pressure, friction of rectangular pipe jacking and soils, segment-soil friction, grouting filling and strata loss, respectively. The theoretical calculation results were verified against the measured data in two project cases. Moreover, effect factors of rectangular jacking pipe cross-sectional dimensions, embedment of tunnel axial depth, elasticity modulus on the interlayer and the Poisson's ratio of the interlayer on strata deformation is investigated. The results imply that the theoretical calculation values obtained using this method are more closely correlated with the observed values compared to those computed using the single stratum model. The primary cause of terrene upheaval in front of the working surface is the increased excavation pressure on the working face and the horizontal displacement of the deep soils and the surface subsidence behind the excavation face is resulting from the soil loss as the main influencing factor. The varying cross-section size of pipe jacking is able to impact on the vertical deformation of the soil, but it has a limited impact on the lateral displacement of the strata. The affection of the buried depth of the tunnel axis on strata deformation is more notable in the rectangular pipe jacking construction. As the axial tunnel depth growth, the ground surface maximum subsidence value gradually decreases, while the crest value of horizontal distortion mildly increases. When the rise of the interlayered modulus of elasticity, the maximum earth surface subsidence enlarged gradually while the subsidence trough slight diminution. Moreover, the greatest horizontal displacement exhibits a relatively minor fluctuation, but there is a trend of upward movement in the position. The influence of Poisson's ratio of the interlayer on the strata deformation is comparatively weak.

Thermokarst landslides susceptibility evaluation across the permafrost region of the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: Integrating a machine learning model with InSAR technology

Thermokarst landslides (TLs), which are made up of retrogressive thaw slumps (RTSs) and active-layer detachments slides (ALDSs), are quickly increasing in the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) permafrost area. TLs induce many environmental problems and threaten the safety of infrastructure. A landslide susceptibility map is crucial to prevent the negative impacts of these landslides. However, traditional thermokarst landslides susceptibility (TLS) evaluations do not consider real-time surface deformation information. Therefore, we propose a novel method that integrates a conventional machine learning model with ground surface deformation. Nine influencing factors, including slope, normalized difference vegetation index, elevation, precipitation, thawing degree days, soil content, active layer thickness, water content, and vegetation type were selected based on the q-index detector, and support vector machine was employed to obtain an initial model (IM). We obtained surface deformation in the study area using the enhanced Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) method. The accuracy of the InSAR results was validated through comparison with data from two field monitoring cross-sections. Subsequently, we established an integrated model (ITM) by combining the initial model with surface deformation using the contribution matrix, and confirmed the fusion model’s higher rationality and accuracy through comparison with the IM. Furthermore, we examined the impact of the quadtree segmentation method on atmospheric correction and validated the TLS results obtained using the ITM with high-resolution optical remote sensing imagery from GF6. Finally, the influencing factors and distribution characteristics of TLS was analyzed, and the results indicated that climatic conditions are the primary factors affecting the distribution of TLS.

Rapid early afterslip characteristics of the 2010 moment magnitude (Mw) 8.8 Maule earthquake determined with sub-daily GPS solutions

Ground surface deformations can be observed during the coseismic and postseismic periods. The accurate determination of displacements is of paramount importance for the assessment of the destructive power of large earthquakes and the characterization of fault behaviors. Therefore, we employ the sub-daily Global Positioning System (GPS) solutions at 19 GPS stations to determine the coseismic and postseismic deformations of the 2010 moment magnitude (Mw) 8.8 Maule earthquake. Using sub-daily GPS data, we can accurately measure both coseismic and early postseismic deformation signals, which can precisely identify the distribution of coseismic slip and the spatiotemporal evolution of early afterslip within the first 36 h. In particular, the sub-daily solution can provide more accurate and quicker results, nearly 10% smaller than those with the daily solution. Furthermore, there is significant ground motion in the immediate postseismic period, which decreases rapidly thereafter. The largest postseismic deformation observed during the first 2 h occurred at station CONZ and amounted to 3.6 cm. During the immediate postseismic period of the 2010 Maule earthquake, afterslip is the dominant mechanism, while poroelasticity plays a negligible role within the first 36 h. Meanwhile, early aftershocks tend to occur in the boundary and the inner part of the afterslip, indicating that the afterslip has the potential to drive the occurrence of aftershocks in the initial stages of postseismic activity.

Research on the thermo-hydro-mechanical coupling simulation and deformation spatiotemporal evolution for the entire process of oil shale in-situ mining

The ground surface deformation (GSD) caused by oil shale in-situ mining poses a threat to land resources and human's lives and property. This study, for the first time, conducts a full stratum simulation of the Fuyu oil shale in-situ pyrolysis pilot base, analyzing the evolution characteristics of the temperature field, stress field, and deformation field of the entire stratum profile during the heating and cooling processes of convective heating mining. Considering the changes in the pore structure, thermophysical, and mechanical properties of the stratum, the environmental geological effects of rock deformation during in-situ mining were identified. Simulation results show that after heating, the temperature within 80 cm of the heating well reaches above the initial pyrolysis temperature of 350 °C for oil shale organic matter, and there is a significant stress concentration near the heat source. In the simulation, ground displacement rises in a wave-like manner during heating, quickly subsides after cooling, and finally stabilizes. Eventually, the entire stratum exhibited subsidence, with a subsidence amount of 0.59 cm. The spatiotemporal deformation trend obtained from SBAS-InSAR real-time monitoring results is similar to the simulation results. By comparing the monitoring results with the simulation results, the synergistic deformation mechanism of underground and ground surface co-deformation during in-situ mining of geochemical reactions in the study area was analyzed. The deformation rate is determined by the thermal hysteresis phenomenon and the temperature difference between the heated fluid and the rock layer. This provides scientific support for the geological effect evaluation of oil shale in-situ mining, which helps to improve mining safety and efficiency.

Original Insights Into Rock Slope Damage Processes Until Collapse From Passive Seismic Monitoring

AbstractWe performed a passive seismic monitoring of the La Praz ∼14,000 m3 unstable slope (French Alps) spanning over 10 years. During the last 6 months prior to collapse, we detected a clear 24% decrease in the slope's fundamental resonance frequency, f0, caused by a reduction in overall rock mass stiffness. The combined study of f0 and slope deformation suggested the alternating importance of sudden brittle failure processes versus more ductile phases with possible sliding. Seismic monitoring revealed slope damage that remained ambiguous or undetected with ground surface deformation monitoring, and highlighted critical periods with intense damage. Only some of these critical damage periods could be related to clear external forcing factors such as intense rainfall episodes. These new insights into rock slope's structural condition at depth represent an asset for future monitoring systems. Surface deformation and passive seismic stiffness tracking combined could reveal active slopes with ongoing damage processes.

Assessing the Predictive Power of GPS-Based Ground Deformation Data for Aftershock Forecasting

Abstract We present a machine learning approach for aftershock forecasting of the Japanese earthquakes catalog. Our method takes as sole input the ground surface deformation as measured by Global Positioning System (GPS) stations on the day of the mainshock to predict aftershock location. The quality of data heavily relies on the density of GPS stations: the predictive power is lost when the mainshocks occur far from measurement stations, as in offshore regions. Despite this fact and the small number of samples and the large number of parameters, we are able to limit overfitting, which shows that this new approach is very promising.

Engineering Visual Presentation E04: Predicting ground surface deformation induced from CO2 plume movement using machine learning

Engineering Visual Presentation E04: Predicting ground surface deformation induced from CO2 plume movement using machine learning

Predicting ground surface deformation induced from CO2 plume movement using machine learning

Carbon capture and storage (CCS), which involves injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) into subsurface, is an increasingly popular process for mitigating human caused greenhouse gas emissions. In order to ensure the safety and efficacy of CCS implementation, it is necessary to possess a comprehensive understanding of the complex behaviour of CO2 plumes within geological formations and their potential impact on ground surface deformation. Therefore, conducting research and analysis on these critical aspects is of vital importance. This research provides a methodology to anticipate ground surface deformations, which result from the motion of CO2 plumes utilising an advanced machine learning (ML) technique. The ML surrogate model has been developed using conditional Generative Adversarial Networks (cGAN). The dataset used for the model training and testing comprises ground surface measurements (tiltmeters), reservoir properties, as well as pressure/volume data. The model has been trained and tested using a set of samples created using a forward finite element model. Results show that the surrogate model is capable of predicting reasonably accurate results while running much faster than the forward model.

Research on land subsidence-rebound affected by dualistic water cycle driven by climate change and human activities in Dezhou City, China

Over-exploitation of groundwater is the principal anthropogenic trigger for land subsidence in the North China Plain (NCP). With the promulgation of policies on groundwater extraction restrictions and bans, seasonal fluctuations and uplift have begun to occur in some typical subsidence areas in the NCP. In order to explore the land subsidence-rebound drivers, this study takes Dezhou City, a typical subsidence area in the NCP, as the study area and selects the main drivers in climate change: precipitation and evapotranspiration and the main driver in human activities: groundwater extraction, which together forms the background of the regional dualistic water cycle. In this background, this study selects the corresponding datasets and uses the improved Water Balance constraints Recurrent Neural Network (WB-RNN) method to establish the link between precipitation data, evapotranspiration data, groundwater extraction and groundwater level. Then uses the Gate Recurrent Unit-Convolutional Neural Network (GRU-CNN) method to establish the link between groundwater level and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) deformation, and then obtains the link between the drivers of the dualistic water cycle and land subsidence. Comparative analysis and changing model inputs found that 1) Seasonal fluctuations in land subsidence-rebound in Dezhou City are mainly controlled by the groundwater levels in Aquifer Groups III and IV, with amplitudes up to 15 mm per year. 2) Groundwater level changes in different layers lag precipitation at different times. Excluding the influence of human extraction factors, the maximum ground surface deformation fluctuation caused by monthly 260 mm precipitation can be up to 21.44 mm. 3) The impact of short-term heavy precipitation caused by Typhoon Lekima and Doksuri in 2019 and 2023 can cause deformation fluctuations to a certain extent.

Analysis of surface deformation and related factors over mining areas based on InSAR: A case study of Fengcheng mine

Abstract. Ground surface deformation in mines affects mining production, damages the ecological environment, and endangers human safety. Mastering the detailed time series deformation and related triggering factors can provide key information for the safety of the mining area. Therefore, the Fengcheng mining area, a large and ancient coal mine in Jiangxi Province, China, was selected as the study area in this work, and the following research was conducted: 1. The accuracy and applicability of the Stacking, Small-Baseline Subset InSAR (SBAS-InSAR), and Interferometric Point Target Analysis (IPTA) methods were preliminarily explored while monitoring the annual deformation rate based on Sentinel-1A data from October 2019 to November 2022. 2. The time-series deformation of the Fengcheng mining area was obtained with SBAS-InSAR technology, and the sedimentation was validated with leveling results. 3. The correlation factors of deformation, such as rainfall and land cover, were studied, and the relationship between the influencing factors, such as coal mining dip angle, digital elevation, coal mining elevation, and deformation, was quantitatively explored with the Grey correlation model and Pearson correlation analysis method. The following conclusions were drawn: The SBAS method has the best adaptability in the dense vegetation mining area, and the root-mean-square error of the difference between deformation results and leveling data does not exceed 4mm. The evolution process of deformation centers is mainly divided into the stages of initial deformation, constant velocity deformation, accelerated deformation, and stable condition. Compared with the natural factors, the settlement of the Fengcheng mining area is mainly affected by human-induced mining and construction of artificial facilities.

Co-seismic deformation and related hazards associated with the 2022 Mw 5.6 Cianjur earthquake in West Java, Indonesia: insights from combined seismological analysis, DInSAR, and geomorphological investigations

IntroductionOn November 21, 2022, a magnitude Mw 5.6 earthquake struck Cianjur Regency in the West Java Province of Indonesia. It was followed by at least 512 aftershocks that persisted from November to June 2023. This seismic event occurred in an area previously unrecognized as an active fault zone. The consequences of this earthquake in Cianjur were severe, leading to both loss of life and extensive structural damage. The substantial damage to buildings was likely a result of abrupt alterations in the local topography due to surface deformation effects.ObjectivesThis research endeavor aims to spatially determine the patterns of ground surface deformation and its relationship with local geomorphological setting due to earthquakes in Cianjur in 2022.MethodsIn this study we conduct seismological analysis of 45 seismic stations, statistical analysis of mainshock and aftershocks data, RADAR Sentinel-1 imagery and employed the DInSAR methodology. Field survey was also conducted to determine the geomorphological characteristics in the study area.ResultsThe outcomes disclosed that the deformation encompassed both subsidence and uplift. The results signify that there was subsidence deformation in the vicinity of Cianjur and its environs during the primary earthquake on November 21, 2022, with an average deformation value of approximately -5 cm. In contrast, the measured deformation during the aftershocks exhibited uplift deformation, with an average value of 10 cm. The examination of deformation patterns amid the 2022 Cianjur earthquake sequence detects elevated deformation values in the vicinity of Cugenang district, with an orientation running from northwest to southeast. The geomorphological investigation conducted indicates that the region of Cianjur encompasses a variety of landforms, such as volcanic, structural, fluvial, and denudational. These landforms exhibit distinct responses to seismic activities. Co-seismic hazards, such as landslides frequently occur as a consequence of seismic events in mountainous terrain.Main ConclusionsSpatio-temporal variation of ground deformation could arise from various causes, such as the number and distribution of aftershocks, stress redistribution, fault interactions, secondary effects, and local geological settings. The mainshocks release accumulated stress along a fault, resulting in particular types of deformation, whereas aftershocks may redistribute stress exhibiting on adjacent faults. Secondary effects triggered by aftershocks, coupled with local geological and geomorphological conditions, further contribute to the diverse patterns of ground deformation observed during seismic events. The results of the study revealed that ground deformation had the greatest impact on fluvial, volcanic, and denudational processes, resulting in notable subsidence and uplift in specific regions. The occurrence and magnitude of co-seismic landslides were triggered by both mainshock and aftershock events, which occurred on weathered geological materials. These effects were further amplified by the simultaneous presence of the rainy season.ImplicationsThe knowledge gained from this research can be applied to evaluate the impacts of earthquakes and to proactively reduce future risks.

Ground Surface Movements and Deformations at Almaz-Zhemchuzhina Deposit from Surveying Techniques

Ground Surface Movements and Deformations at Almaz-Zhemchuzhina Deposit from Surveying Techniques

GNSS Ground deformation observation network optimization assisted using prior InSAR-derived ground surface deformation and multiscale iteration estimation

ABSTRACT Ground surface deformation must be monitored to understand and prevent geological hazards. Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) technology has been widely used in deformation monitoring; however, current GNSS station layout strategies are often subjective and lack theoretical guidance. Therefore, in this study, a GNSS deformation observation network optimization method was developed based on interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) prior to deformation assistance. This method considers the deformation distribution, cost, accuracy, topography, and actual monitoring requirements and uses kriging interpolation and multiscale iterative optimization to obtain the reference number, spatial distribution, and deformation capture accuracy of GNSS stations in areas experiencing deformation. Simulation experiments showed that the proposed method strengthened the spatial deformation monitoring ability of GNSS by 46%–68% compared with the traditional station layout methods, which ignore the distribution of the deformation. Then, based on the small baseline subset (SBAS) InSAR technology and applying the new method, we evaluated the number and location of the most suitable GNSS stations for a mining area and found that 89.6% of the error was less than 1.5 cm, which further illustrates the practicability and reliability of the proposed method. This method provides an effective supplement to station layouts for monitoring GNSS deformation.

Magma budget, plutonic growth and lateral spreading at Mt. Etna

AbstractThe quantitative estimation of eruptible magma is essential to assess volcanic hazard. In case of high and frequent volcanic activity, different episodes and cycles can be observed and used to gain insights on magma residence and volcano dynamics. Here, by using surface ground deformation for 26 inflation and 14 deflation phases at Mt. Etna, we inferred two partially overlapping magmatic reservoirs located beneath the summit area in the 4-9 km (inflation sources) and in the 3-6 km (deflating sources) depth ranges. Our geodetic models highlight a continuous magma supply of 10.7 ×106 m3/yr that took place in the last two decades. About 28.5% of this magma (i.e. volume loss inferred by geodetic models) contributed to the effusive activity at the surface, while the remaining 71.5% fed the endogenous volumetric growth of the plutonic crystallized mush and promoted the lateral spreading of Mt. Etna. The consistency of this behavior through time sets strong constraints on the eruptible quantity of magma in forecasting activity during a paroxysm.

Risk of surface movements and reservoir deformation for high-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES)

High-temperature aquifer thermal energy storage (HT-ATES) systems are designed for seasonal storage of large amounts of thermal energy to meet the demand of industrial processes or district heating systems at high temperatures (> 100 °C). The resulting high injection temperatures or pressures induce thermo- and poroelastic stress changes around the injection well. This study estimates the impact of stress changes in the reservoir on ground surface deformation and evaluates the corresponding risk. Using a simplified coupled thermo-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) model of the planned DeepStor demonstrator in the depleted Leopoldshafen oil field (Upper Rhine Graben, Germany), we show that reservoir heating is associated with stress changes of up to 6 MPa, which can cause vertical displacements at reservoir depth in the order of 10–3 m in the immediate vicinity of the hot injection well. Both the stress changes and the resulting displacements in the reservoir are dominated by thermoelasticity, which is responsible for up to 90% of the latter. Uplift at the surface, on the contrary, is primarily controlled by poroelasticity with by two orders of magnitude attenuated displacements of << 10–3 m. Our calculations further show that the reservoir depth, elastic modulus, and injection/production rates are the dominant controlling parameters for the uplift, showing variations of up to two order of magnitudes between shallower reservoirs with low elastic moduli and deeper and more competent reservoirs. In addition, our findings demonstrate that the cyclic operation of HT-ATES systems reduces the potential for uplift compared to the continuous injection and production of conventional geothermal doublets, hydrocarbon production, or CO2 storage. Consequently, at realistic production and injection rates and targeting reservoirs at depths of at least several hundred meters, the risk of ground surface movement associated with HT-ATES operations in depleted oil fields in, e.g., the Upper Rhine Graben is negligible.

Ground control by L-shaped cemented paste backfilling technology in underground coal seam mining: a case study

Traditional cemented paste backfilling continues to face the shortcomings such as paste leakage, poor adaptability to geological structures and insufficient roof-contact. To solve the limitations, a novel L-shaped cemented paste backfilling (LCPB) technology was proposed in this study. It is to set L-shaped filling zones and partition zones in the goaf to perform interval and multiple filling. A mechanical model was established to calculate backfilling body strength, widths of L-shaped filling zones and partition zones and backfilled ratio and etc. The results of a case study showed that: (1) The LCPB mining has a high backfilled ratio, without prominent ground pressure. The maximum values of roof-to-floor convergence of the working face and roadway were 58 mm and 259 mm, respectively. It could effectively control the deformation of surrounding rock and achieve roadway retention. (2) When the floor strata were intact, the maximum floor damage depth was less than 4 m, and the floor near the fault was 10–12 m. The secondary lift height of the confined water was about 5 m near the fault. The LCPB mining allows for safety mining above a confined aquifer. (3) The maximum surface inclination and curvature were 1.75 mm/m and 0.06 mm/m2, respectively. The draw angle was 11.3°, and the subsidence factor was 0.085. The ground surface deformation was reduced to be less than that allowed in the first level of the building damage (inclination and curvature of 3 mm/m and 0.2 mm/m2, respectively).

Prognosis of Ground Surface Deformation of the Victoria Mine –Slănic Prahova Saline

The Victoria mine, from Slănic Prahova Saline operated in the period 1970-1992 and was mined with small rooms and square pillars, on 11 overstory levels, of 16 m high. It resulted in a volume of mining voids of 7.4 million m3, which led to the pronounced degradation of the resistance structures (rooms and pillars) and to the deformation of the ground surface of the saline. Systematic, annual monitoring of ground surface deformation has been carried out since 2004, through geometric levelling, on certain representative alignments. The prediction of the time evolution of ground surface subsidence was carried out with some power approximation functions of prognosis and the future ground subsidence curves were established on the analyzed alignments. Also, 3D numerical modeling was used to estimate ground surface subsidence and displacements.

HYDRODYNAMIC MODEL OF SOLOTVYN ROCK SALT DEPOSIT

Rock salt development brings risks of harmful impact on water resources, in particular the Tysa River, posing a threat of cross-border spread of saline pollution on the border between Ukraine and Romania (Solotvyn rock salt deposit, Transcarpathia, western Ukraine). The impact of technogenic load (underground mining of rock salt) within the deposit led to deformation of the structure and nature of water exchange, intensification of suffusion and karst processes, ground surface deformations, catastrophic inflows of groundwater into mines, and, as a result, to the cessation of development of this deposit in 2010. However, the suspension of salt mining did not stop the development of the above-mentioned hazardous geological processes caused by both natural and man-made factors. In order to justify measures for prevention pollution of the Tysa River basin, a hydrogeological model of the Solotvyna rock salt deposit and surrounding areas was created, which allowed to predict the direction and flow rate of fresh and saline groundwater. The model was developed using new data on the geological structure and hydrogeological conditions of the study area (groundwater monitoring data). The modernised hydrodynamic model includes five layers (main aquifers and confining layers). As a result of modelling, maps of the velocity vectors and head contours for two aquifers (Quaternary and Tortonian) were obtained. Based on the results of solving a number of inverse problems, the functional correspondence of the model to natural and anthropogenic conditions was proved. According to the preliminary calculations of the actual groundwater filtration velocity and the path lines of the inert pollutant spreading, it was found that the time of its migration from the salt contour to the Tysa River is approximately 2–3 years. The developed groundwater flow model will be used to substantiate the network of hydrological and hydrogeological observation points in order to optimise the monitoring of water pollution processes.