Multi-Temporal Analysis of Land Subsidence in Toluca Valley (Mexico) through a Combination of Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Historical Piezometric Data

Abstract

The Toluca Valley Aquifer (TVA) is considered one of the most overexploited aquifers in Mexico because of the high rate of groundwater extraction for supplying urban and industrial water to Mexico City and Toluca City, which causes land subsidence in urban and suburban areas. In this paper, we propose a multi-temporal analysis that uses persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) method to evaluate the subsidence processes in Toluca Valley. The PSI results revealed differential movements of the ground of as much as 83 mm/year. A spatial variation of PSI results was identified with respect to previous studies using the conventional Din SAR methodology. The spatial distribution and density suggested the possibility of an expanding trend of subsidence process at north, northeast and east of the TVA, which corresponds to the region with the highest density of pumping wells for industrial and agricultural use.