Monitoring ground deformation in Urumqi using small baseline time series InSAR technique

Due to long term over-exploring groundwater, ground subsidence has taken place in Urumqi city for many years. Traditional ways of monitoring ground deformation utilize levelling and global positioning system (GPS) measurement. They have the advantage of high accuracy. However, they are very costly and cannot achieve enough spatial sampling density. Recently, space-born synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) is playing an important role in monitoring ground deformation. In this paper, 11 ALOS PALSAR images from 2007 to 2010 have been acquired to monitor the Urumqi City using small baseline time series InSAR technique. Results show that the subsidence is mainly taken place in Qidaowan Industry Park, Urumqi Development Zone and North Industry Park. The maximum subsidence velocity can reach to -64.6mm/year.