Permanent Scatterer investigation of land subsidence in Greater Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

SUMMARY Land subsidence is a major geomorphic problem commonly associated with densely populated areas, such as the Greater Cairo area. Prior to this study, rates and patterns of land subsidence in Greater Cairo were not known. The Permanent Scatterer interferometric approach has been applied in this study to detect and measure the magnitude and the spatial and temporal variations of subsidence in Greater Cairo. Thirty‐four Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images acquired by the European Radar Satellites (ERS‐1 and ERS‐2) during 1993–2000 have been used in this investigation. The main contributing factors to the rate of land subsidence in Greater Cairo include natural sediment compaction, tectonic activity and groundwater pumping. However, the measured rate of land subsidence is found significantly impacted by anthropogenic factors rather than natural factors. The average measured rate of subsidence is approximately 7 mm yr−1 during the period of observation, and the spatial and temporal patterns of land subsidence are demonstrated by a time‐series of surface deformation maps. InSAR results show differential surface displacements along the major surface and subsurface faults and indicate pumping‐induced subsidence, which is characterized by bowl shapes, in districts of high population density. The detected pattern of land subsidence in Greater Cairo implies a considerable contribution from the subway network as well. The results from this interferometric investigation can be used to help mitigate the environmental impacts and potential consequences of land subsidence in the region.

Perceptions, practices, and traditional beliefs related to neonatal jaundice among Egyptian mothers

“…Administratively, Greater Cairo (catchment area) encompasses 3 adjacent governorates: Cairo, Giza, and Qaluibyia. [ 12 ] Based on the 2014 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS), the total ever-married female population (15–49 years), potential study respondents, was 21.762 million, with 22.4% were inhabitants of Greater Cairo governorate. [ 13 ]…”

InSAR reveals coastal subsidence in the Pearl River Delta, China

“…2001; Schmidt & Bürgmann 2003; Bell et al. 2008; Aly et al. 2009; González & Fernández 2011), tectonic activities (Lanari et al.…”

“…It is therefore the best method to investigate regional-scale land subsidence when ground benchmarks (such as GPS and levelling) are not available. In recent years, InSAR has widely been used to measure subsidence associated with groundwater pumping (Hoffmann et al 2001;Schmidt & Bürgmann 2003;Bell et al 2008;Aly et al 2009;González & Fernández 2011), tectonic activities (Lanari et al 2004;Argus et al 2005;Wisely & Schmidt 2010), sediment compaction (Mazzotti et al 2009;Teatini et al 2011) and underground mining, oil and gas extraction (Gourmelen et al 2007;Jiang et al 2011).…”

Minimizing the Residual Topography Effect on Interferograms to Improve DInSAR Results: Estimating Land Subsidence in Port-Said City, Egypt

“…Numerous studies have recorded the vertical land subsidence velocities of the Nile Delta by using in situ observations [23,26,[28][29][30][31][32] as well as remote sensing techniques [15,19,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. Across the northern Delta, about 87 continuous sediment drill cores from the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) of the Smithsonian Institution were used to provide estimates of its subsidence [41].…”