Multi-scale and multi-dimensional time series InSAR characterizing of surface deformation over Shandong Peninsula, China

Abstract

Shandong peninsula, the largest peninsula of China, is prone to severe land subsidence hazards along the coastline. In this paper, we provide, for the first time, multi-scale and multi-dimensional time series deformation measurements of the entire Shandong peninsula with advanced time series Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) techniques. We derive the spatiotemporal evolutions of the land subsidence by integrating multi-track Sentinel-1A/B and RADARSAT-2 satellite images. InSAR measurements are cross validated by the independent deformation rate results generated from different SAR tracks, reaching a precision of less than 1.3 cm/a. Two-dimensional time series over the Yellow River Delta (YRD) from 2017 to 2019 are revealed by integrating time series InSAR measurements from both descending and ascending tracks. Land subsidence zones are mainly concentrated on the YRD. In total, twelve typical localized subsidence zones are identified in the cities of Dongying (up to 290 mm/a; brine and groundwater exploitation for industrial usage), Weifang (up to 170 mm/a; brine exploitation for industrial usage), Qingdao (up to 70 mm/a; aquaculture and land reclamation), Yantai (up to 50 mm/a; land reclamation) and Rizhao (up to 60 mm/a; land reclamation). The causal factors of localized ground deformation are discussed, encompassing groundwater and brine exploitation, aquaculture and land reclamation. Multi-scale surveys of spatiotemporal deformation evolution and mechanism analysis are critical to make decisions on underground fluid exploitation and land reclamation.