scholarly journals Tracking Deformation Processes at the Legnica Glogow Copper District (Poland) by Satellite InSAR—I: Room and Pillar Mine District

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 653
Author(s):  
Benedetta Antonielli ◽  
Alessandra Sciortino ◽  
Stefano Scancella ◽  
Francesca Bozzano ◽  
Paolo Mazzanti

Mining exploitation leads to slow or rapid ground subsidence resulting from deformation until the collapse of underground post-mining voids following excavation activities. Satellite SAR interferometry capabilities for the evaluation of ground movements allows the monitoring of intensive surface mine subsidence and can provide new knowledge about the risks in the mining industry. This work integrates both conventional and advanced Differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR) to study the ground subsidence in the Legnica Glogow Copper District (LGCD, Poland) by processing about 400 Sentinel-1 images from October 2014 to April 2019. Even without field data and information on past and ongoing excavation activities, the DInSAR approach allowed us to identify 30 troughs of subsidence, ranging from 500 m to 2.5 km in diameter, which in some cases, took place several times during the analyzed time span. The cumulative subsidence in 4 years and 7 months exceeds 70 cm in several zones of the LGCD. The sub-centimetric precision achieved by advanced analysis (A-DInSAR), allowed us to monitor the real extent of the mining influence area on the surface, with deformation velocities of up to 50 mm/year. The ground deformation detected at LGCD can be due to both mining-induced tremors and roof subsidence above the underground excavation rooms. As deformations do not occur concurrently with tremors, this can be related to excavation activities or to degradation of abandoned mines.

Author(s):  
C. Dou ◽  
H. Guo ◽  
C. Han ◽  
X. Yue ◽  
Y. Zhao

Short temporal baseline and multiple ground deformation information can be derived from the airborne differential synthetic aperture radar Interforemetry (D-InSAR). However, affected by the turbulence of the air, the aircraft would deviate from the designed flight path with high frequent vibrations and changes both in the flight trajectory and attitude. Restricted by the accuracy of the position and orientation system (POS), these high frequent deviations can not be accurately reported, which would pose great challenges in motion compensation and interferometric process. Thus, these challenges constrain its wider applications. The objective of this paper is to investigate the accurate estimation and compensation of the residual motion errors in the airborne SAR imagery and time-varying baseline errors between the diffirent data acquirations, furthermore, to explore the integration data processing theory for the airborne D-InSAR system, and thus help to accomplish the correct derivation of the ground deformation by using the airborne D-InSAR measurements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 3215
Author(s):  
Sergey Samsonov ◽  
Alexandr Baryakh

In this study we used RADARSAT-2 and Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar data for measuring subsidence above a flooded potash mine, which is almost entirely located within the city of Berezniki (Perm Krai, Russia), population 150,000. This area has experienced very fast subsidence since October 2006 when the integrity of the Berezniki-1 mine was compromised, resulting in water intrusion, subsequent flooding and closure of the mine. Due to the ongoing dissolution of carnallite, subsidence in this region is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. In addition to rapid subsidence, at least five sinkholes have formed in the region, with the largest being 440 × 320 m. We observed ground subsidence during the period October 2011–April 2014 (RADARSAT-2) with a vertical rate up to 14 cm/year and horizontal rate up to 10 cm/year; during the period July 2016–June 2020 (Sentinel-1) with a vertical rate up to 17 cm/year. Our results were validated by precise leveling, with a coefficient of correlation of 0.75. Subsidence faster than 17 cm/year observed by precise leveling was not resolvable with Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR). Our results show the complementary nature of ground-based and space-borne measurement techniques. The precise leveling captures subsidence along profile lines with high precision but lower temporal resolution, while DInSAR captures subsidence with high spatial and temporal resolutions but with lower precision. DInSAR is also significantly affected by decorrelation outside of urban areas. An important advantage of our methodology is the ability to measure the horizontal east component of the ground deformation when both, ascending and descending, data are available. This measurement directly characterizes the level of anthropogenic load on buildings and infrastructure. We recommend continuing monitoring subsidence using both measurement techniques, which can also be complemented by continuous Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 654
Author(s):  
Paolo Mazzanti ◽  
Benedetta Antonielli ◽  
Alessandra Sciortino ◽  
Stefano Scancella ◽  
Francesca Bozzano

The failures of tailings dams have a major negative impact on the economy, surrounding properties, and people’s lives, and therefore the monitoring of these facilities is crucial to mitigate the risk of failure, but this can be challenging due to their size and inaccessibility. In this work, the deformation processes at Żelazny Most tailings dam (Poland) were analyzed using satellite Ad-vanced Differential SAR Interferometry (A-DInSAR) from October 2014 to April 2019, showing that the dam is affected by both settlements (with a maximum rate of 30 mm/yr), and horizontal sliding in radial direction with respect to the ponds. The load of the tailings is pushing the dam forward along the glacio-tectonic shear planes located at depth, in the Pliocene clays, causing horizontal displacements at a rate up to 30 mm/yr, which could lead to a passive failure of the dam. The measured displacements have been compared with the ones observed by in situ data from the 90s to 2013, available in the literature. The outcomes indicate that intense localized deformations occur in the eastern and northern sectors of the dam, while the western sector is deforming evenly. Moreover, although the horizontal deformation had a slowdown from 2010 until 2013, it continued in 2014 to 2019 with recovered intensity. The upper and the recent embankments are affected by major settlements, possibly due to a lower consolidation degree of the most recent tailings and a larger thickness of compressible materials.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Wu Zhu ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Zhanke Liu ◽  
Qian Zhu

On the evening of 7 February 2018, a deadly collapse of a metro tunnel under construction in the Southern China city of Foshan caused 11 deaths, 8 injuries, and 1 missing person. For disaster prevention and mitigation, the spatiotemporal ground deformations before and after the collapse event were derived from 55 Sentinel-1A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images spanning from March 2017 to January 2019. The results showed that prominent ground subsidence in the shape of a funnel with a maximum rate of 42 mm/year was observed in the vicinity of the collapse area before the accident. After the accident, the area and magnitude of subsidence decreased compared with precollapse subsidence. This decrease is related to the progress of tunnel excavation and groundwater changes. In the temporal domain, continuous subsidence was observed over a year before and after the accident, and accelerated subsidence appeared one month before the collapse accident. Soft soil consolidation and tunnel-induced soil losses were the main reasons for the subsidence over the study area. The leakage of groundwater accounted for the collapse event. The leaked groundwater eroded the soil, resulting in the formation of an arched hole. The connection between the arched hole and the tunnel reduced the bearing capacity of the soil layer above the arched hole, triggering the collapse event. The findings provide scientific evidence for future collapse monitoring and early warning due to tunnel excavation.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamila Pawłuszek-Filipiak ◽  
Andrzej Borkowski

<p>Since launching Sentinel 1 satellites, the European Space Agency has been providing a huge amount of repeated SAR data. Thanks to 6-days revisiting time, it creates a perfect possibility for the monitoring of ground deformation, caused by underground mining activity, by using Differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR).</p><p>Because, DInSAR exploits single interferometric SAR pairs, the accuracy of this technique is limited by spatial and temporal decorrelation and atmospheric artifacts. To minimize the atmospheric influence on DInSAR results, we investigated precipitation and relative humidity data acquired from the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW). Theoretically, the summed atmospheric LOS errors due to relative humidity for 106 ascending and 112 descending images are -3.5 cm and 7,5 cm, respectively.  In fact, we observed that there is a moderate correlation between precipitation/relative humidity and “bad” acquisition in relatively small study area. Nevertheless, we were able to remove 33 ascending and 15 descending images from the queue of consecutive DInSAR. Finally, it allowed to estimate up to 1m subsidence in the period of 1 Jan 2017–8 Oct 2018 in the Rydułtowy mine located in the southwest part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB), Poland.</p><p>To evaluate our DInSAR accuracy due to atmospheric artefacts, we decided to compare the results with “atmospheric-free” results acquired by SBAS technique. SBAS separates diverse interferometric components that correspond to deformation, topographic error, atmospheric error, and orbital errors.</p><p>The Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE) has been calculated between SBAS and DInSAR for selected subsidence profiles. The maximal RMSE was found to be 3.6 cm and 4.1cm for ascending and descending LOS displacements, respectively. This shows that DInSAR cannot be used for monitoring millimeter-level deformation. On the contrary, it can be effectively used to assess quick nonlinear deformations reaching several decimeters /year such as in the presented study case.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3044
Author(s):  
Mingjie Liao ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Jichao Lv ◽  
Bin Yu ◽  
Jiatai Pang ◽  
...  

In recent years, many cities in the Chinese loess plateau (especially in Shanxi province) have encountered ground subsidence problems due to the construction of underground projects and the exploitation of underground resources. With the completion of the world’s largest geotechnical project, called “mountain excavation and city construction,” in a collapsible loess area, the Yan’an city also appeared to have uneven ground subsidence. To obtain the spatial distribution characteristics and the time-series evolution trend of the subsidence, we selected Yan’an New District (YAND) as the specific study area and presented an improved time-series InSAR (TS-InSAR) method for experimental research. Based on 89 Sentinel-1A images collected between December 2017 to December 2020, we conducted comprehensive research and analysis on the spatial and temporal evolution of surface subsidence in YAND. The monitoring results showed that the YAND is relatively stable in general, with deformation rates mainly in the range of −10 to 10 mm/yr. However, three significant subsidence funnels existed in the fill area, with a maximum subsidence rate of 100 mm/yr. From 2017 to 2020, the subsidence funnels enlarged, and their subsidence rates accelerated. Further analysis proved that the main factors induced the severe ground subsidence in the study area, including the compressibility and collapsibility of loess, rapid urban construction, geological environment change, traffic circulation load, and dynamic change of groundwater. The experimental results indicated that the improved TS-InSAR method is adaptive to monitoring uneven subsidence of deep loess area. Moreover, related data and information would provide reference to the large-scale ground deformation monitoring and in similar loess areas.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Ezquerro ◽  
Matteo Del Soldato ◽  
Lorenzo Solari ◽  
Roberto Tomás ◽  
Federico Raspini ◽  
...  

The launch of the medium resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Sentinel-1 constellation in 2014 has allowed public and private organizations to introduce SAR interferometry (InSAR) products as a valuable option in their monitoring systems. The massive stacks of displacement data resulting from the processing of large C-B and radar images can be used to highlight temporal and spatial deformation anomalies, and their detailed analysis and postprocessing to generate operative products for final users. In this work, the wide-area mapping capability of Sentinel-1 was used in synergy with the COSMO-SkyMed high resolution SAR data to characterize ground subsidence affecting the urban fabric of the city of Pistoia (Tuscany Region, central Italy). Line of sight velocities were decomposed on vertical and E–W components, observing slight horizontal movements towards the center of the subsidence area. Vertical displacements and damage field surveys allowed for the calculation of the probability of damage depending on the displacement velocity by means of fragility curves. Finally, these data were translated to damage probability and potential loss maps. These products are useful for urban planning and geohazard management, focusing on the identification of the most hazardous areas on which to concentrate efforts and resources.


2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Crosetto ◽  
Oriol Monserrat ◽  
María Cuevas ◽  
Bruno Crippa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Di Traglia ◽  
Claudio De Luca ◽  
Alessandro Fornaciai ◽  
Mariarosaria Manzo ◽  
Teresa Nolesini ◽  
...  

<p>Steep-slope volcanoes are geomorphological systems receptive to both exogenous and endogenous phenomena. Volcanic activity produces debris and lava accumulation, whereas magmatic/tectonic and gravitational processes can have a destructive effect, triggering mass-wasting and erosion.</p><p>Optical and radar sensors have often been used to identify areas impacted by eruptive and post-eruptive phenomena, quantify of topographic changes, and/or map ground deformation related to magmatic-tectonic-gravitational processes.</p><p>In this work, the slope processes on high-gradient volcano flanks in response to shift in volcanic activity have been identified by means of remote sensing techniques. The Sciara del Fuoco unstable flank of Stromboli volcano (Italy) was studied, having a very large set (2010-2020) of different remote sensing data available.</p><p>Data includes LiDAR and tri-stereo PLEIADES-1 DEMs, high-spatial-resolution (HSR) optical imagery (QUICKBIRD and PLEIADES-1), and space-borne and ground-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. Multi-temporal DEMs and HSR optical imagery permits to map areas affected by major lithological and morphological changes, and the volumes of deposited/eroded material. The results lead to the identification of topographical variations and geomorphological processes that occurred in response to the variation in eruptive intensity. The joint exploitation of space-borne and ground-based Differential and Multi Temporal SAR Interferometry (InSAR and MT-InSAR) measurements revealed deformation phenomena affecting the volcano edifice, and in particular the Sciara del Fuoco flank.</p><p>The presented results demonstrate the effectiveness of the joint exploitation of multi-temporal DEMs, HSR optical imagery, and InSAR measurements obtained through satellite and terrestrial SAR systems, highlighting their strong complementarity to map and interpret the slope phenomena in volcanic areas.</p><p>This work was financially supported by the “Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri – Dipartimento della Protezione Civile” (Presidency of the Council of Ministers – Department of Civil Protection); this publication, however, does not reflect the position and official policies of the Department".</p>


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