Abstract. Rock salt has remarkable mechanical properties and high
economic importance; however, the strength of salt compared to other rocks
makes it a rather vulnerable material. Human activities could lead to
acceleration of the dissolution of soluble rock salt and collapse of
subsurface caverns. Although sinkhole development can be considered a local
geological disaster regarding the characteristic size of surface depressions,
the deformations can result in catastrophic events. In this study we report
the spatiotemporal evolution of surface deformation in the Solotvyno salt
mine area in Ukraine based on Sentinel-1 interferometric synthetic aperture
radar measurements. Although the mining operations were finished in 2010,
several sinkholes have been opened up since then. Our results show that
despite the enormous risk management efforts, the sinkholes continue to
expand with a maximum line-of-sight deformation rate of 5 cm/yr. The
deformation time series show a rather linear feature, and unfortunately no
slowdown of the processes can be recognized based on the investigated 4.5-year-long data set. We utilized both ascending and descending satellite
passes to discriminate the horizontal and vertical deformations, and our
results revealed that vertical deformation is much more pronounced in the
area. Analytical source modeling confirmed that the complex deformation
pattern observed by Sentinel-1 radar interferometry has a direct connection
to the former mining activity and is confined to the mining territory. With
the 6 d repetition time of Sentinel-1 observations, the evolution of
surface changes can be detected in quasi real time, which can facilitate
disaster response and recovery.
Abstract. Rocksalt has remarkable mechanical properties and a high economic importance, however, this strength of salt compared to other rocks makes it a rather vulnerable material. Human activities could lead to acceleration of the dissolution of soluble rocksalt and collapse of subsurface caverns. Although sinkhole development can be considered local geological disaster regarding the characteristic size of surface depressions the deformations can result in catastrophic events. In this study we report the spatiotemporal evolution of surface deformation in Solotvyno salt mine area in Ukraine based on Sentinel-1 interferometric synthetic aperture radar measurements. Although the mining operations were finished in 2010 several sinkholes have been opened up since then. Our results show that even though the enormous risk managing efforts the sinkholes continue to expand with a maximum line-of-sight deformation rate of 5 cm/yr. The deformation time series show a rather linear feature and unfortunately no slowdown of the processes can be recognized based on the investigated 4.5 year-long data set. We utilized both ascending and descending satellite passes to discriminate the horizontal and vertical deformations and our results revealed that vertical deformation is much more dominant in the area. With the 6-day repetition time of Sentinel-1 observations the evolution of surface changes can be detected in quasi real-time which can facilitate disaster response and recovery.
There are potentially dangerous areas where InSAR technology cannot be applied routinely in the absence of proper persistent or distributed scatterers. Here, we planned and investigated the use of truncated trihedral triangle corner reflectors (CRs) oriented to ascending and descending directions for Sentinel-1 orbit, which were mounted on the optimal concrete basement including an additional global navigation satellite system (GNSS) adapter. These integrated benchmarks were designed to produce a signal-to-clutter ratio of about 100 (i.e., 20 dB). The mechanical design allows optimal orientation of the reflectors and resistance against dynamic effects. We investigated 1:5 models of the CRs and integrated benchmarks in an anechoic chamber to estimate the effects of truncation and the interference of the twin reflectors. The main effect of the interference is the asymmetric monostatic radar cross section, which can be neglected. The integrated benchmarks were also investigated in two recent landslide areas in Hungary using Sentinel-1 single look complex (SLC) scenes, which confirmed that the preliminary requirements can be met.
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