Estimating Actual 2D Ground Deformations Induced by Underground Activities with Cross-Heading InSAR Measurements

InSAR can only monitor relative ground deformations with respect to a reference area. In order to obtain actual deformations, GCPs or stable area is required in the study area, which, however, may be unavailable in the investigating of geohazards associated with underground activities (i.e., groundwater pumping, underground mining, and oil/gas exploitation). We propose a novel approach to estimate actual 2D deformations based on the InSAR relative LOS measurements acquired from cross-heading datasets. The errors induced by the arbitrary selection of reference areas can thus be avoided. The performance of the proposed approach is validated by a series of simulations. By providing the ascending and descending measurements with errors of 2 and 1.5 mm/year STDs, respectively, the RMSEs are 2.1 and 2.6 mm/year for the estimated vertical and east deformations, respectively. A case study is carried out in Cangzhou, China, for estimating the actual 2D ground deformations associated with groundwater pumping. By integrating ALOS ascending and ENVISAT descending datasets acquired between 2007 and 2010, we found that the Cangzhou area experienced ground subsidence of up to 23.4 mm/year in the suburbs but ground uplift of up to 20.9 mm/year in the urban area, both of which are accompanied by considerable lateral deformations.