TY - JOUR
T1 - Time series subsidence evaluation using NSBAS InSAR
T2 - a case study of twin megacities (Rawalpindi and Islamabad) in Pakistan
AU - Zafar, Waqar Ali
AU - Javed, Farhan
AU - Ahmed, Rizwan
AU - Shah, Muhammad Ali
AU - Ahmad, Mahmood
AU - Khan, Muhammad Younis
AU - Abdullah, Gamil M.S.
AU - Khan, Daud
AU - Najeh, Taoufik
AU - Gamil, Yaser
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2024 Zafar, Javed, Ahmed, Shah, Ahmad, Khan, Abdullah, Khan, Najeh and Gamil.
PY - 2024/2/23
Y1 - 2024/2/23
N2 - Ground deformation associated with natural and anthropogenic activities can be damaging for infrastructure and can cause enormous economic loss, particularly in developing countries which lack measuring instruments. Remote sensing techniques like interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) can thus play an important role in investigating deformation and mitigating geohazards. Rawalpindi and Islamabad are twin cities in Pakistan with a population of approximately 5.4 million, along with important government and private entities of national and international interest. In this study, we evaluate rapid paced subsidence in this area using a modified small baseline subset technique with Sentinel-1A imagery acquired between 2015 and 2022. Our results show that approximately 50 mm/year subsidence occurs in the older city of Rawalpindi, the most populated zone. We observed that subsidence in the area is controlled by the buried splays of the Main Boundary Thrust, one of the most destructive active faults in the recent past. We suggest that such rapid subsidence is most probably due to aggressive subsurface water extraction. It has been found that, despite provision of alternate water supplies by the district government, a very alarming number of tube wells are being operated in the area to extract ground water. Over 2017–2021, field data showed that near-surface aquifers up to 50–60 m deep are exhausted, and most of the tube wells are currently extracting water from depths of approximately 150–160 m. The dropping water level is proportional to the increasing number of tube wells. Lying downstream of tributaries originating from the Margalla and Murree hills, this area has a good monsoon season, and its topography supports recharge of the aquifers. However, rapid subsidence indicates a deficit between water extraction and recharge, partly due to the limitations inherent in shale and the low porosity near the surface lithology exposed in the area. Other factors amplifying the impacts are fast urbanization, uncontrolled population growth, and non-cultivation of precipitation in the area.
AB - Ground deformation associated with natural and anthropogenic activities can be damaging for infrastructure and can cause enormous economic loss, particularly in developing countries which lack measuring instruments. Remote sensing techniques like interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) can thus play an important role in investigating deformation and mitigating geohazards. Rawalpindi and Islamabad are twin cities in Pakistan with a population of approximately 5.4 million, along with important government and private entities of national and international interest. In this study, we evaluate rapid paced subsidence in this area using a modified small baseline subset technique with Sentinel-1A imagery acquired between 2015 and 2022. Our results show that approximately 50 mm/year subsidence occurs in the older city of Rawalpindi, the most populated zone. We observed that subsidence in the area is controlled by the buried splays of the Main Boundary Thrust, one of the most destructive active faults in the recent past. We suggest that such rapid subsidence is most probably due to aggressive subsurface water extraction. It has been found that, despite provision of alternate water supplies by the district government, a very alarming number of tube wells are being operated in the area to extract ground water. Over 2017–2021, field data showed that near-surface aquifers up to 50–60 m deep are exhausted, and most of the tube wells are currently extracting water from depths of approximately 150–160 m. The dropping water level is proportional to the increasing number of tube wells. Lying downstream of tributaries originating from the Margalla and Murree hills, this area has a good monsoon season, and its topography supports recharge of the aquifers. However, rapid subsidence indicates a deficit between water extraction and recharge, partly due to the limitations inherent in shale and the low porosity near the surface lithology exposed in the area. Other factors amplifying the impacts are fast urbanization, uncontrolled population growth, and non-cultivation of precipitation in the area.
KW - buried faults
KW - ground subsidence
KW - InSAR
KW - NSBAS
KW - subsurface water level
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85186929155&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.3389/feart.2024.1336530
DO - 10.3389/feart.2024.1336530
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85186929155
SN - 2296-6463
VL - 12
JO - Frontiers in Earth Science
JF - Frontiers in Earth Science
M1 - 1336530
ER -