Monitoring subsidence rates along road network by persistent scatterer SAR interferometry with high-resolution TerraSAR-X imagery

Ground subsidence is one of the key factors damaging transportation facilities, e.g., road networks consisting of highways and railways. In this paper, we propose to apply the persistent scatterer synthetic aperture radar interferometry （PS-InSAR） approach that uses high- resolution TerraSAR-X （TSX） imagery to extract the regional scale subsidence rates （i.e., average annual sub- sidence in mm/year） along road networks. The primary procedures involve interferometric pair selection, interfer- ogram generation, persistent scatterer （PS） detection, PS networking, phase parameterization, and subsidence rate estimation. The Xiqing District in southwest Tianjin （China） is selected as the study area. This district contains one railway line and several highway lines. A total of 15 TSX images covering this area between April 2009 and June 2010 are utilized to obtain the subsidence rates by using the PS-InSAR （PSI） approach. The subsidence rates derived from PSI range from -68.7 to -1.3 mm/year. These findings show a significantly uneven subsidence pattern along the road network. Comparison between the PSI-derived subsidence rates and the leveling data obtained along the highways shows that the mean and standard deviation （SD） of the discrepancies between the two types of subsidence rates are 0.1 and 4-3.2 mm/year, respectively. The results indicate that the high-resolution TSX PSI is capable of providing comprehensive and detailed subsidence information regarding road networks with millimeter-level accuracy. Further inspections under geo- logical conditions and land-use categories in the study area indicate that the observed subsidence is highly related to aquifer compression due to groundwater pumping. Therefore, measures should be taken to mitigate groundwater extraction for the study area.

A technical review on persistent scatterer interferometry

This article focuses on reviewing the technologies of persistent scatterer interferometry （PSI）, which has been often used to monitor the deformation of Earth surface. Three critical steps in the implementation of PSI were introduced, i.e., （1） detection of persistent scatterer （PS）, （2） construction of PS network, and （3） PSI modeling and solution. Finally, the main problems and outlooks on the PSI technique are discussed and given.

Taiyuan City Subsidence Observed with Persistent Scatterer InSAR

C- and X-bands Synthetic Aperture Radar（SAR） images acquired from February 2009 to September 2010 were processed with Persistent Scatterer Interferometry（PS-InSAR） algorithm to investigate spatial and temporal variations in deformation over Taiyuan City, China. The spatial pattern of subsidence and the magnitude of subsidence rate are similar in the velocity field maps achieved by the algorithm from these two data sets. It shows that there are four primary subsidence centers in Taiyuan City：Xiayuan, Wujiabao, Xiaodian, Sunjiazhai, which are near the groundwater extraction wells. The maximum subsidence rate is up to 70 mm/year at Sunjiazhai. The locus of maximum subsidence has shifted from its historical location in the north to the south. In view of the severe shortage of water resources and presented features of subsidence over Taiyuan City, we inferred that excessive pumping of groundwater was the dominant reason of land subsidence.

Evaluation of PS-DInSAR technology for subsidence monitoring caused by repeated mining in mountainous area

The high resolution Terra SAR-X dataset was employed with DIn SAR and persistent scatterer interferometry（PSI） technique for subsidence monitoring in a mountainous area. For DInS AR technique, the generally used SRTM and relief-DEM, which was derived from aerial topographic map, were used to evaluate the influence of external DEM. The results show that SRTM could not fully compensate the complex topography of the research area. The corner reflectors installed during the acquisition of SAR dataset were used to estimate the accuracy of geocoding. The terrain corrected geocoding results based on relief-DEM were much better than using SRTM, with the root mean square error（RMSE） being 6.35 m in X direction and 11.65 m in Y direction（both in UTM projection）, around one pixel of the multilooked intensity image to be geocoded. For PSI technique, the results from time-series analysis of multi-baseline differential interferograms were integrated to restrict only persistent scatterer candidates near the boundary of subsiding area for regression analysis. The results demonstrate that PSI can refine the boundary of subsidence, which could then be used to derive some angular parameters to help people to learn the law of subsidence caused by repeated excavation in this area.

Monitoring of reclamation-induced ground subsidence in Macao (China) using PSInSAR technique

The long-term reclamation-induced ground subsidence in Macao, a coastal city of southern China was investigated. Persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) technique was applied to retrieve the deformation rate in Macao during the period from April 2003 to August 2010 with a total of 41 scenes of descending ASAR data sets. The PSI-retrieved results show a relatively stable pattern in Macao Peninsula, Taipa Island and Coloane Island, with an average subsidence velocity of -3 mm/a. In contrast, relatively large subsidence rates are highlighted in Cotai area, a new reclamation land in 1990s, in which an average subsidence velocity is about -10 mm/a. A consistent relationship between the PSI results and the leveling measurements indicate that this PSI technique is an effective tool to monitor the reclamation-induced ground subsidence with a high accuracy and adequate spatial details. Accordingly, the valuable ground subsidence results generated by PSI can be used not only for early detection and remedial activities of potential settlement of building, but also for helping the local government to formulate regional sustainable development planning and decision-making in disaster prevention and mitigation.

Comparison of density and positioning accuracy of PS extracted from super-resolution PSI with those from traditional PSI

In the application of persistent scatterer interferometry(PSI),deformation information is extracted from persistent scatterer(PS)points.Thus,the density and position of PS points are critical for PSI.To increase the PS density,a time-series InSAR chain termed as"super-resolution persistent scatterer interferometry"(SR-PSI)is proposed.In this study,we investigate certain important properties of SR-PSI.First,we review the main workflow and dataflow of SR-PSI.It is shown that in the implementation of the Capon algorithm,the diagonal loading(DL)approach should be only used when the condition number of the covariance matrix is sufficiently high to reduce the discontinuities between the joint images.We then discuss the density and positioning accuracy of PS when compared with traditional PSI.The theory and experimental results indicate that SR-PSI can increase the PS density in urban areas.However,it is ineffective for the rural areas,which should be an important consideration for the engineering application of SR-PSI.Furthermore,we validate that the positioning accuracy of PS can be improved by SRPSI via simulations.

Application of the nonlinear time series prediction method of genetic algorithm for forecasting surface wind of point station in the South China Sea with scatterometer observations

The present work reports the development of nonlinear time series prediction method of genetic algorithm（GA） with singular spectrum analysis（SSA） for forecasting the surface wind of a point station in the South China Sea（SCS） with scatterometer observations.Before the nonlinear technique GA is used for forecasting the time series of surface wind,the SSA is applied to reduce the noise.The surface wind speed and surface wind components from scatterometer observations at three locations in the SCS have been used to develop and test the technique.The predictions have been compared with persistence forecasts in terms of root mean square error.The predicted surface wind with GA and SSA made up to four days（longer for some point station） in advance have been found to be significantly superior to those made by persistence model.This method can serve as a cost-effective alternate prediction technique for forecasting surface wind of a point station in the SCS basin.

Building health monitoring in the old town of Madrid:applicability of SAR Imagery to the monitoring of underground works through classification indexes

The old city centers of many major cities represent a great challenge from a constructive point of view since the foundations of the buildings consist of an aggregation of previous constructions.This endorses thorough monitoring activities during any underground construction.The capabilities of the persistent scatterer interferometry(PSI)can be exploited to cope with these monitoring needs.However,the old city centers represent a very challenging urban scenario since the rooftops are usually filled with air conditioning systems and due to the fact that the streets are usually crowded.This work assesses the applicability of the PSI technique under this challenging scenario.Moreover,it proposes a set of novel classification indexes that allow an objective assessment of the building’s health and the impact derived from any activity.They can be applied in deformation monitoring and risk evaluation in urban areas.The applicability of the technique and the proposed indexes is validated in the monitoring of underground construction works in the old city center of Madrid comparing the results against on-ground measurements and identifying the potential and the limitation of the technique.