Deriving time-series three-dimensional displacements of mining areas from a single-geometry InSAR dataset

This paper presents a method for deriving time-series three-dimensional (3-D) displacements of mining areas from a single-geometry interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) dataset (hereafter referred to as the SGI-based method). This is mainly aimed at overcoming the limitation of the traditional multi-temporal InSAR techniques that require SAR data from at least three significantly different imaging geometries to fully retrieve time-series 3-D displacements of mining areas. The SGI-based method first generates the multi-temporal observations of the mining-induced vertical subsidence from the single-geometry InSAR data, using a previously developed method for retrieving 3-D mining-related displacements from a single InSAR pair (SIP). The weighted least-squares solutions of the time series of vertical subsidence are estimated from these generated multi-temporal observations of vertical subsidence. Finally, the time series of horizontal motions in the east and north directions are estimated using the proportional relationship between the horizontal motion and the subsidence gradient of the mining area, on the basis of the SGI-derived time series of vertical subsidence. Seven ascending ALOS PALSAR images from the Datong mining area of China were used to test the proposed SGI-based method. The results suggest that the SGI-based method is effective. The SGI-based method not only extends the SIP-based method to time-series 3-D displacement retrieval from a single-geometry InSAR dataset, but also limits the uncertainty propagation from InSAR-derived deformation to the estimated 3-D displacements.     

An iterative PS-InSAR method for the analysis of large spatio-temporal baseline data stacks for land subsidence estimation

South-west of Tehran, the capital city of Iran, is subjected to a high deformation rate due to excessive groundwater extractions. Persistent Scatterrer SAR Interferometry (PS-InSAR) technique is used to monitor Tehran’s deformation. Three time series data including two Sentinel-1A (S-1A) spanning from 2014 to 2017, and an ENVISAT-ASAR data stack spanning from 2004 to 2010, are analyzed. The PS-InSAR technique does not perform well on ENVISAT-ASAR due to poor selection of PS points induced by large perpendicular baselines and strong temporal decorrelation of the dataset. In this paper, a novel Iterative PSI method (IPSI) is proposed to increase the PS points which are lost in PS-InSAR technique because of the unsuccessful derivation of the absolute phase value due to an integer ambiguity. The method selects PS points based on simultaneous analysis of their amplitude and phase. Results demonstrate that the density of PSs has been increased by about 4.5 times. Line of Sight (LOS) velocities obtained from both S-1A and ENVISAT-ASAR data analysis are highly compatible with each other, indicating the reliability of the both applied methods. The maximum cumulative displacements are estimated as 39.6 cm and 88.4 cm for Sentinel-1A and ENVISAT-ASAR datasets respectively. Moreover, the subsidence area has grown in the period between the data acquisition time. The methods are successfully validated by subsidence rates obtained from precise leveling and GPS observations.     

Monitoring of urban subsidence with SAR interferometric point target analysis: A case study in Suzhou,China

Ground subsidence, mainly caused by over exploitation of groundwater and other underground resources, such as oil, gas and coal, occurs in many cities in China. The annual direct loss associated with subsidence across the country is estimated to exceed 100 million US dollar. Interferometric SAR (InSAR) is a powerful tool to map ground deformation at an unprecedented level of spatial detail. It has been widely used to investigate the deformation resulting from earthquakes, volcanoes and subsidence. Repeat-pass InSAR, however, may fail due to impacts of spatial decorrelation, temporal decorrelation and heterogeneous refractivity of atmosphere. In urban areas, a large amount of natural stable radar reflectors exists, such as buildings and engineering structures, at which radar signals can remain coherent during a long time interval. Interferometric point target analysis (IPTA) technique, also known as persistent scatterers (PS) InSAR is based on these reflectors. It overcomes the shortfalls in conventional InSAR. This paper presents a procedure for urban subsidence monitoring with IPTA. Calculation of linear deformation rate and height residual, and the non-linear deformation estimate, respectively, are discussed in detail. Especially, the former is highlighted by a novel and easily implemented 2-dimensional spatial search algorithm. Practically useful solutions that can significantly improve the robustness of IPTA, are recommended. Finally, the proposed procedure is applied to mapping the ground subsidence in Suzhou city, Jiangsu province, China. Thirty-four ERS-1/2 SAR scenes are analyzed, and the deformation information over 38,881 point targets between 1992 and 2000 are generated. The IPTA-derived deformation estimates correspond well with leveling measurements, demonstrating the potential of the proposed subsidence monitoring procedure based on IPTA technique. Two shortcomings of the IPTA-based procedure, e.g., the requirement of large number of SAR images and assumed linear plus non-linear deformation model, are discussed as the topics of further research.     

Ground deformation associated with post-mining activity at the French–German border revealed by novel InSAR time series method

We present a novel methodology for integration of multiple InSAR data sets for computation of two dimensional time series of ground deformation. The proposed approach allows combination of SAR data acquired with different acquisition parameters, temporal and spatial sampling and resolution, wavelength and polarization. Produced time series have combined coverage, improved temporal resolution and lower noise level. We apply this methodology for mapping coal mining related ground subsidence and uplift in the Greater Region of Luxembourg along the French–German border. For this we processed 167 Synthetic Aperture Radar ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT images acquired between 1995 and 2009 from one ascending (track 29) and one descending (track 337) tracks and created over five hundred interferograms that were used for time series analysis. Derived vertical and east–west linear deformation rates show with remarkable precision a region of localized ground deformation located above and caused by mining and post-mining activities. Time series of ground deformation display temporal variability: reversal from subsidence to uplift and acceleration of subsidence in the vertical component, and horizontal motion toward the center of the subsidence on the east–west component. InSAR results are validated by leveling measurements collected by the French Geological Survey (BRGM) during 2006–2008. We determined that deformation rate changes are mainly caused by water level variations in the mines. Due to higher temporal and spatial resolution the proposed space-borne method detected a larger number of subsidence and uplift areas in comparison to leveling measurements restricted to annual monitoring of benchmark points along roads. We also identified one deformation region that is not precisely located above the mining sites. Comparison of InSAR measurements with the water levels measured in the mining pits suggest that part of the water that filled the galleries after termination of the dewatering systems may come from this region. Providing that enough SAR data is available, this method opens new opportunities for detecting and locating man-made and natural ground deformation signals with high temporal resolution and precision.     

一种联合GACOS与线性大气校正的StaMPS PSI时序分析方法

雷达信号通过大气层时,会产生路径延迟,从而影响InSAR测量精度。常规靠时空滤波的时序InSAR分析方法,虽能削弱其影响,但仍存在一定局限。其中StaMPS PSI方法凭借适用范围广、开源等优点,受到众多学者的青睐。为此本文以香港地区为例,提出了一种联合GACOS与线性大气校正的StaMPS PSI时序分析方法,并与常规StaMPS PSI对比,最后使用GNSS观测数据对InSAR结果进行验证。结果表明：在SAR数据集较为丰富的情况下,常规时序分析方法能较好地克服大气延迟影响,但相比而言,本文提出的新方法更能反映出真实的地表形变。     

雷达影像地表形变干涉测量的机遇、挑战与展望

随着合成孔径雷达(SAR)卫星的不断发射,合成孔径雷达干涉测量技术(interferometric synthetic aperture radar,InSAR)得到前所未有的发展机遇,同时也面临诸多挑战。本文首先简要介绍了SAR卫星发展现状与InSAR技术的基本原理,并系统梳理了干涉图堆叠(InSAR stacking)、小基线集干涉测量(small baseline subset InSAR,SBAS-InSAR)、永久散射体干涉测量(persistent scatterer InSAR,PS-InSAR)、分布式散射体干涉测量(distributed scatterer InSAR,DS-InSAR)和分频干涉测量(split-bandwidth interferometry,SBI)等先进InSAR技术的优缺点。在此基础上,指出目前InSAR技术面临的主要挑战(相位失相干、大气延迟、相位解缠、几何畸变和多维变形测量)及相应的解决方案。进一步从地震、火山、滑坡、地面沉降、冰川运动、人工建构筑物位移变形及大气水汽含量估计等不同的应用场景分析了InSAR技术的应用现状和存在的缺陷。最后,展望目前InSAR的发展趋势,随着更高空间分辨率,更高时间分辨率,更轻小化SAR卫星的不断发展,InSAR技术将会被应用到越来越多的新场景,激励我国雷达影像干涉测量更快发展。     

利用InSAR分析陕西省垂直形变

从2018—2019年欧空局Sentinel-1免费数据中获取陕西省全域垂直形变面状信息,并将其与全球导航卫星系统（global navigation satellite system,GNSS）以及水准点、线垂直形变信息进行对比分析,进一步验证合成孔径雷达干涉测量（interferometric synthetic aperture radar,InSAR）数据反映局部形变的有效性。垂直形变监测结果表明：在陕北榆林、神木地区,地下资源开采诱发的地表沉陷分布广泛、特征明显,地表沉陷速度达60 mm/a;在煤炭产区长武、彬县也出现不同程度的开采沉陷灾害,沉降速度达30 mm/a;西安市、渭南市等关中平原地区由于地下水开采出现不均匀沉降,其中,西安市的局部沉降最为严重,最大沉降速度达60 mm/a;InSAR与GNSS、水准获取的垂直运动趋势在全省范围总体上一致,但由于GNSS监测点、水准监测点一般布测在较稳定区域,其获取的沉降范围、沉降速度与InSAR沉降结果有一定差异。     

雷达遥感滑坡隐患识别与形变监测

滑坡是全球发生最为频繁、造成损失最严重的自然灾害之一,滑坡表面形变测量对于滑坡的早期识别、监测和预警具有重要意义。雷达遥感具有非接触式大范围空间连续覆盖和高精度形变测量等优势,在滑坡地质灾害领域中取得了广泛的应用。本文概述武汉大学干涉雷达遥感团队近几年在利用雷达遥感监测滑坡形变方面的研究内容,包括：雷达遥感在滑坡形变监测中的可行性和适用性分析、大范围滑坡隐患识别、复杂山区滑坡形变测量、大梯度滑坡形变测量、滑坡三维形变提取等。     

基于升降轨时序InSAR数据融合的沈阳市地表沉降监测

城市的地表沉降可能导致人民经济财产安全的损失,因此,对城区地表沉降进行持续监测是保证城市安全的重要环节。基于稳定散射地物的时间序列InSAR近年来被逐渐应用于形变监测中,来自不同轨道监测到的同一位置的形变情况不同,且无法获得一个完整地表沉降的形变信息。本文提出了一个新的多轨道时序InSAR数据融合方法,以辽宁省沈阳市铁西区为例,利用一组Terra SAR-X升轨数据和一组COSMO-SkyMed降轨数据,通过SBAS-InSAR方法进行处理,并采用Kriging插值方法和奇异值分解求逆等方法对其进行融合,得到了一个垂直方向的完整的形变场,为城市沉降值的获取和分析提供了一个更加准确的变形监测。     

Integration of Range Split Spectrum Interferometry and conventional InSAR to monitor large gradient surface displacements

Incorrect unwrapping of dense interferometric fringes caused by large gradient displacements make it difficult to measure mining subsidence using conventional Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). This paper presents a Range Split Spectrum Interferometry assisted Phase Unwrapping (R-SSIaPU) method for the first time. The R-SSIaPU method takes advantage of (i) the capability of Range Split Spectrum Interferometry of measuring surface displacements with large spatial gradients, and (ii) the capability of conventional InSAR of being sensitive to surface displacements with limited spatial gradients. Both simulated and real experiments show that the R-SSIaPU method can monitor large gradient mining-induced surface movements with high precision. In the case of the Tangjiahui mine, the R-SSIaPU method agreed with GPS with differences of approximately 4.2 cm, whilst conventional InSAR deviated from GPS with differences of nearly 1 m. The R-SSIaPU method makes phase unwrapping less challenge, especially in the cases with large surface displacements. In addition to mining subsidence, it is believed that the R-SSIaPU method can be used to monitor surface displacements caused by landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and glacier movements.     

高分辨率PSI上海市沉降探测及分析

本文在改进的永久散射体(PS)探测方法基础上,应用高分辨率永久散射体雷达干涉(PSI)探测上海市地表沉降,并对沉降原因进行了详细分析。实验选取2008年4月至2010年1月间,由德国卫星TerraSAR-X(TSX)所获取的18幅X波段(波长为3.1 cm)高分辨率SAR影像为数据源,进行PS探测、PSI建模、形变提取和分析。实验结果表明,改进的PS探测方法探测出的PS点是合理和可靠的,且高分辨率SAR影像对地面硬目标识别能力较强,显著提高了PS点的密度和覆盖范围。沉降探测结果显示,最大相对沉降速率达30 mm/yr,平均沉降速率为11.5 mm/yr。     

Surface deformation associated with the 2008 Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake from ALOS L-band SAR interferometry

The Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake (in China) occurred on 12 May 2008 as a result of slip on the northeastern-striking Longmen Shan (LMS) faults beneath the rugged margin between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Sichuan Basin. The catastrophic event caused significant surface ruptures and permanent ground displacement in a wide area. This paper concentrates on mapping surface deformation caused by the main shock with the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technology. The coseismic interferogram covering an area of over 83,000 km² is computed with use of 46 SAR images that were collected along 6 adjacent ascending orbits by the L-band SAR sensor onboard the Japanese Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS). The displacements measured at 16 GPS sites are used to check the accuracy of the InSAR deformation measurements. The radar coherence is computed and analyzed in relation to the topography and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) estimated from the Landsat-7 imagery. The results show that the coseismic surface deformation can be mapped up to a centimeter-accuracy level even over the highly mountainous and heavily vegetated area with the L-band interferometer. It is also demonstrated that the L-band interferograms with time interval of months to years can still maintain acceptable radar coherence for deformation extraction over the area under the extreme conditions. The extracted InSAR deformation measurements show that the lands in the Sichuan Basin had moved 0.1–1.3 m toward the satellite along the radar line of sight (LOS) direction with an azimuth of 349.8° and an elevation angle of 51.3°, while the lands in the LMS area had moved 1.4 m at most away from the satellite.     

利用Sentinel-1影像监测土地回填导致的地表形变

在机场填海区地表稳定散射的范围内,本文运用合成孔径雷达干涉测量（InSAR）技术对机场地表形变安全性进行了监测分析,反演获得了研究区域范围内的年形变速率数据结果和高分辨率形变时序结果,并以此分析了香港国际机场的地表形变区在监测周期内的形变时空分布特征。为证明监测结果的精度和可靠性,本文采用全球导航卫星系统（GNSS）观测站的垂直位移数据,对InSAR方法反演的结果进行了交叉验证,证明两者具有良好的一致性。     

改进的PS探测方法及其应用

提出一种改进的永久散射体PS(Persistent Scatterer)探测方法,首先基于时序SAR影像的振幅信息,利用振幅和振幅离差指数双阈值法获取PS候选点,然后根据干涉相位空间相关性,对所有候选点进行相位稳定性分析,筛选出既满足雷达反射强度高、又符合散射稳定性要求的真实PS点,最后基于所选PS点提取形变信息。选取上海市局部区域作为实验区,以16幅TerraSAR-X(TSX)影像为数据源,进行PS探测和形变信息提取。结果表明,相比于已有的PS探测方法,本文方法能够更准确、可靠地识别出时序SAR影像中的PS点。形变结果显示,研究区域内最大沉降速率为-51mm/a,平均沉降速率为-15.8mm/a,以水准实测数据进行检核,验证了基于改进的PS探测方法进行地表形变信息提取结果的可靠性。     

雷达干涉测量对甘肃南峪乡滑坡灾前二维形变追溯

利用存档光学遥感影像对灾前演变情况进行分析是目前常用的方法,但往往受限于获取时间密度、云量等因素。随着雷达遥感卫星数据质量的不断提升,合成孔径雷达干涉测量（interferometric syntheticaperture radar,InSAR）技术可以为滑坡灾前形变探测提供新的技术途径。基于欧洲空间局哨兵一号（Sentinel-1）雷达卫星数据,同时结合升轨与降轨视线向形变结果提取沿坡向与垂直向二维形变,对2018年7月12日甘肃南峪乡滑坡灾前二维形变进行追溯分析。时序结果显示,该滑坡自2017年6月起便已经开始缓慢的变形,至滑坡发生前13个月时最大累积形变量达77 mm。结合降雨量数据对比分析,发现该滑坡灾前变形与降雨量变化高度吻合,说明降雨是该滑坡发生的主要诱因之一。该InSAR追溯结果展示了星载雷达干涉测量技术在滑坡探测方面的应用潜力,为滑坡诱因分析、防灾减灾乃至滑坡监测预警工作提供了新的思路与参考。     

Subsidence in the Kathmandu Basin,before and after the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake,Nepal Revealed from Small Baseline Subset-DInSAR Analysis

Land subsidence in densely urbanized areas is a global problem that is primarily caused by excessive groundwater withdrawal. The Kathmandu Basin is one such area where subsidence due to groundwater depletion has been a major problem in recent years. Moreover, on 25 April 2015, this basin experienced large crustal movements caused by the Gorkha earthquake (Mw 7.8). Consequently, the effects of earthquake-induced deformation could affect the temporal and spatial nature of anthropogenic subsidence in the basin. However, this effect has not yet been fully studied. In this paper, we applied the SBAS-DInSAR technique to estimate the spatiotemporal displacement of land subsidence in the Kathmandu Basin before and after the Gorkha earthquake, using 16 ALOS-1 Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) images during the pre-seismic period and 26 Sentinel-1 A/B SAR images during the pre- and post-seismic periods. The results showed that the mean subsidence rate in the central part of the basin was about ?8.2 cm/year before the earthquake. The spatial extents of the subsiding areas were well-correlated with the spatial distributions of the compressible clay layers in the basin. We infer from time-series InSAR analysis that subsidence in the Kathmandu basin could be associated with fluvio-lacustrine (clay) deposits and local hydrogeological conditions. However, after the mainshock, the subsidence rate significantly increased to ?15 and ?12 cm/year during early post-seismic (108 days) and post-seismic (2015–2016) period, respectively. Based on a spatial analysis of the subsidence rate map, the entire basin uplifted during the co-seismic period has started to subside and become stable during the early-post-seismic period. This is because of the elastic rebound of co-seismic deformation. However, interestingly, the localized areas show increased subsidence rates during both the early-post- and post-seismic periods. Therefore, we believe that the large co-seismic deformation experienced in this basin might induce the local subsidence to increase in rate, caused by oscillations of the water table level in the clay layer.     

联合地震位错模型和InSAR数据构建2017年九寨沟Mw 6.5地震同震三维形变场

利用哨兵（Sentinel）-1A卫星升、降轨影像,在地震位错模型约束下获取了2017年九寨沟Mw 6.5地震的高质量三维形变场。首先,利用合成孔径雷达干涉测量技术（interferometric synthetic aperture radar,InSAR）提取九寨沟地震升、降轨同震形变场;然后,通过“两步法”反演获取该地震发震断层的几何参数和分布式滑动模型,以此为约束,采用方差分量估计算法联合解算九寨沟地震三维形变场。结果表明,九寨沟地震同震三维形变场以水平位移为主,垂向形变较弱;南北向形变呈拉张趋势,断层上盘向南、下盘向北滑动,最大位移分别为－19.81 cm和14.38 cm;东西向形变不对称性明显,断层上盘西北部向东水平运动,最大位移为18.37 cm,下盘东南部向西运动,最大位移不足8 cm。将南北、东西向形变与6个全球导航卫星系统（global navigation satellite system,GNSS）台站观测数据进行比较,两者一致性较好且均方根误差较小,分别为1.44 cm和1.77 cm,表明联合升、降轨InSAR观测和地震位错模型约束构建同震三维形变场方法具有较高可行性,显著降低了大地测量数据不足、InSAR观测对南北向形变不敏感等问题的影响。     

优化先验模型参数的矿区多轨InSAR三维形变监测

监测煤矿开采导致的地表三维形变对于矿区地质灾害防控和开采沉陷机理研究至关重要。针对单轨道InSAR和先验模型融合解算矿山三维形变存在精度不高、时间分辨率差的问题,本文提出了一种通过优化先验模型参数的矿区多轨InSAR三维形变解算方法。首先,利用Weibull模型同步4个轨道LOS向形变位移,以此削弱不同轨道之间时间异步对三维形变解算精度的影响,并采用加权最小二乘求解矿区垂直向和东西向形变;然后,根据垂直向和东西向形变优化矿区开采先验模型参数;最后,解算南北向形变位移。利用覆盖大同矿区的TerraSAR-X数据和3个轨道Sentinel-1 InSAR数据集对本文方法进行验证。研究结果表明,与地面GPS监测点相比,本文方法可以获得相对精确的三维形变结果,垂直向RMSE、东西向RMSE和南北向RMSE约为1.1、1.4和2.1 cm。     

Subsidence monitoring in coal area using time-series InSAR combining persistent scatterers and distributed scatterers

In coal mining areas, ground subsidence persistently happens, which produces serious environmental issues and affects the development of cities. To monitor the ground deformation due to coal mining, a modified time-series InSAR technique combining persistent scatterers (PSs) and distributed scatterers (DSs) is presented in this paper. In particular, DSs are efficiently identified using classified information and statistical characteristics. Furthermore, a two-scale network is introduced into traditional PSI to deal with PSs and DSs in a multi-layer framework by taking the advantage of the robust of PSs and the widely distribution of DSs. The proposed method is performed to investigate the subsidence of Huainan City, Anhui province (China), during 2012–2013 using 14 scenes of Radarsat-2 images. Experimental results show that the proposed method can ease the estimation complexity and significantly increase the spatial density of measurement points, which can provide more detailed deformation information. Result shows that there are obvious subsidence areas detected in the test site with subsidence velocity larger than 5 cm/year. The proposed method brings practical applications for non-urban area deformation monitoring.     

InSAR矿区地表三维形变监测与预计研究进展

首先,介绍了InSAR地表形变监测技术的基本原理和技术特点;然后,对当前InSAR矿区地表三维形变监测方法做了系统性分类,并探讨了各自的优缺点和适用范围;之后,综述了当前InSAR矿区地表三维形变预计方法的研究现状和进展;最后,归纳梳理了InSAR矿区三维形变监测预计在多源数据融合和沉降机理分析等方面的前沿问题。