Monitoring the Impact of Groundwater Pumping on Infrastructure Using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI)

Abstract

Transportation infrastructure is critical for the advancement of society. Bridges are vital for an efficient transportation network. Bridges across the world undergo variable deformation/displacement due to the Earth’s dynamic processes. This displacement is caused by ground motion, which occurs from many natural and anthropogenic events. Events causing deformation include temperature fluctuation, subsidence, landslides, earthquakes, water/sea level variation, subsurface resource extraction, etc. Continual deformation may cause bridge failure, putting civilians at risk, if not managed properly. Monitoring bridge displacement, large and small, provides evidence of the state and health of the bridge. Traditionally, bridge monitoring has been executed through on-site surveys. Although this method of bridge monitoring is systematic and successful, it is not the most efficient and cost-effective. Through technological advances, satellite-based Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have provided a system for analyzing ground deformation over time. This method is applied to distinguish bridges that are more at risk than others by generating models that display the displacement at various locations along each bridge. A bridge’s health and its potential risk can be estimated upon analysis of measured displacement rates. In return, this process of monitoring bridges can be done at much faster rates; saving time, money and resources. PSI data covering Oxnard, California, revealed both bridge displacement and regional ground displacement. Although each bridge maintained different patterns of displacement, many of the bridges within the Oxnard area displayed an overall downward movement matching regional subsidence trends observed in the area. Patterns in displacement-time series plots provide evidence for two types of deformation mechanisms. Long-term downward movements correlate with the relatively large regional subsidence observed using PSI in Oxnard. Thermal dilation from seasonal temperature changes may cause short-term variabilities unique to each bridge. Overall, it may be said that linking geologic, weather, and groundwater patterns with bridge displacement has shown promise for monitoring transportation infrastructure and more importantly differentiating between regional subsidence and site-specific displacements.

The pattern of surface deformations in the Dąbrowa Basin (Poland) based on PSInSAR analysis

“…The PSInSAR tech nique is widely ap plied in the Earth sciences. Ex am ples in clude as fol lows: tec tonic ac tiv ity (Massironia et al, 2009;Antonielli et al, 2016), hydrogeological problems re lated to wa ter ex trac tion (Declercq et al, 2005;DePrekel et al, 2018), vol ca nic erup tions (Ferretti et al, 2008), seis mic ity pat tern anal y sis (Lagios et al, 2012), mea sure ments of dis place ments caused by earth quakes (Ishitsuka et al, 2015), and min ing-in duced ground de for ma tion mon i tor ing (Huang et al, 2019).…”

Monitoring deformations of infrastructure networks: A fully automated GIS integration and analysis of InSAR time-series

“…Due to the high cost of sensors, only a few assets around the world are equipped with sitebased instruments, while the health-structural evaluation is mainly performed through visual inspections. [15][16][17][18] Inspection timelines are different for different countries and specific assets. For example, in the USA routine bridgeinspections are usually performed every 1 or 2 years, while underwater inspections take place every 6 years.…”

“…This makes MT-InSAR techniques an excellent tool for detecting deformations over built-up areas [29][30][31] and civil infrastructure. 15,18,[32][33][34] Recent studies have shown the feasibility of space-borne MT-InSAR techniques to provide accurate spatial information for building monitoring, [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44] bridges, 16,45,46 dams, [47][48][49][50] railways [51][52][53][54] and other linear infrastructure, [55][56][57][58][59] demonstrating that remote-sensing data can be effectively utilised in combination with conventional ground-based monitoring systems, such as precise levellings and automated total stations. However, the information obtained from MT-InSAR analysis typically consists of a huge amount of data.…”

“…Geographic Information Systems (GIS) facilitate the integrated analysis of large volumes of multi-disciplinary data, allowing the integration of remote-sensing measurements and civil engineering assessment procedures. 16,39,57,[60][61][62][63] To facilitate a preliminary identification of the most vulnerable infrastructure assets or critical locations along linear infrastructure systems, a methodology based on the fully automated integration of MT-InSAR data and a GIS-based analysis is presented in this paper. The proposed methodology automatically processes large volumes of PS displacement timeseries and road network databases to extract deformation data over a given network, and performs local deformation analysis designed to detect anomalous differential movements between parts of the same piece of infrastructure.…”

Integrated InSAR monitoring and structural assessment of tunnelling‐induced building deformations

“…[26][27][28] Among the available MT-InSAR techniques, Persistent Scatterer (PS) Interferometry 29,30 is capable of extracting temporal series deformations for a high number of points located on buildings and structures. 31 The application of PS Interferometry to buildings, [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] archaeological sites, 42 bridges, [43][44][45] dams, [46][47][48] railways 49 and roadways 50 and the cross-validation of PS-InSAR-based measurements against GPS, [51][52][53][54] traditional levellings 36,38,[55][56][57][58] and other in situ instruments 46,[59][60][61][62] demonstrate the reliability of this approach for structural-health monitoring.…”