Abstract
This paper describes the results from the recently launched SAR satellites for the purpose of subsidence monitoring over underground coal mine sites in the state of New South Wales, Australia, using differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) technique. The quality of the mine subsidence monitoring results is mainly constrained by noise due to the spatial and temporal decorrelation between the interferometric pair and the phase discontinuities in the interferogram. This paper reports on the analysis of the impact of these two factors on the performance of DInSAR for monitoring ground deformation. Simulations were carried out prior to real data analyses. SAR data acquired using different operating frequencies, for example, X-, C- and L-band, from the TerraSAR-X, ERS-1/2, ENVISAT, JERS-1 and ALOS satellite missions, were examined. The simulation results showed that the new satellites ALOS, TerraSAR-X and COSMO-SkyMed perform much better than the satellites launched before 2006. ALOS and ENVISAT satellite SAR images with similar temporal coverage were searched for the test site. The ALOS PALSAR DInSAR results have been compared to DInSAR results obtained from ENVISAT ASAR data to investigate the performance of both satellites for ground subsidence monitoring. Strong phase discontinuities and decorrelation have been observed in almost all ENVISAT interferograms and hence it is not possible to generate the displacement maps without errors. However these problems are minimal in ALOS PALSAR interferograms due to its spatial resolution and longer wavelength. Hence ALOS PALSAR is preferred for ground subsidence monitoring in areas covered by vegetation and where there is a high rate ground deformation.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Carnec, C., D. Massonnet, and C. King, Two examples of the use of SAR interferometry on displacement fields of small spatial extent, Geophys. Res. Lett., 23(24), 3579–3582, 1996.
Chang, H. C., L. Ge, and C. Rizos, Radar interferometry for monitoring land subsidence due to underground water extraction, Spatial Sciences Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 736–743, CD-ROM procs, 12–16 September, 2005.
Chen, C. W. and H. A. Zebker, Phase unwrapping for large SAR interferograms: statistical segmentation and generalized network models, Geosci. Remote Sensing, IEEE Trans., 40(8), 1709–1719, 2002.
Costantini, M., A novel phase unwrapping method based on network programming, Geosci. Remote Sensing, IEEE Trans., 36, 813–818, 1998.
Ge, L., H. C. Chang, and C. Rizos, Satellite radar interferometry for mine subsidence monitoring, 22nd Australian Institute of Mine Surveyors Annual Seminar, Wollongong, Australia, paper 5, CD-ROM procs, 18–20 August, 2004.
Ge, L., H. C. Chang, and C. Rizos, Mine subsidence monitoring using multi-source satellite SAR images, J. Photogrammetric Eng. & Remote Sensing, 73(3), 259–266, 2007.
GeoTerra Pty Ltd., Centennial Tahmoor Longwall panels 24 to 26, Surface water & Groundwater, subsidence management plan, Tahmoor, NSW, 80 pp., GeoTerra Pty Ltd., 2006.
Goldstein, R. M., H. Engelhardt, B. Kamb, and R. M. Frolich, Satellite radar interferometry for monitoring ice sheet motion: Application to an Antarctic ice stream, Science, 262, 1525–1530, 1993.
Hanssen, R. F., Radar Interferometry—Data Interpretation and Error Analysis, 328 pp., Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001.
Lanari, R., P. Lundgren, and E. Sansosti, Dynamic deformation of Etna volcano observed by satellite radar interferometry, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 1541–1544, 1998.
Massonnet, D. and K. L. Feigl, Satellite radar interferometric map of the coseismic deformation field of the M = 6.1 Eureka Valley, California, earthquake of May 17, 1993, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 1541–1544, 1995.
Nestbitt, A., Subsidence monitoring West Cliff Colliery longwall 5A4, APAS (Association of Public Authority Surveyors) 2003 Conference, Wollongong, Australia, 1–4 April, 133–139, 2003.
Nolan, M. and D. R. Fatland, New DEMs may stimulate significant advancements in remote sensing of soil moisture, Eos Trans. AGU, 84(25), 233, 2003.
Peng, Syd. S., Coal Mine Ground Control, 2nd edition, 506 pp., John Wiley & Sons, 1986.
Schofield, W., Engineering Surveying, 554 pp., Laxton’s, Oxford, UK, 1993.
Solomon, S. C., V. R. Baker, J. Bloxham, J. Booth, A. Donnellan, C. Elachi, D. Evans, E. Rignot, D. Burbank, B. F. Chao, A. Chave, A. Gillespie, T. Herring, R. Jeanloz, J. LaBrecque, B. Minster, W. C. Pitman, III, M. Simons, D. L. Turcotte, and M. L. C. Zoback, Plan for living on a restless planet sets NASA’s solid Earth agenda, Eos Trans. AGU, 84(45), 485–491, 2003.
Zebker, H. A., P. A. Rosen, R. M. Goldstein, A. Gabriel, and C. L. Werner, On the derivation of coseismic displacement fields using differential radar interferometry: The Landers earthquake, J. Geophys. Res., 99(19), 19,617–19,643, 1994.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Ng, A.HM., Chang, HC., Ge, L. et al. Assessment of radar interferometry performance for ground subsidence monitoring due to underground mining. Earth Planet Sp 61, 733–745 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353180
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353180