DPIM-Based InSAR Phase Unwrapping Model and a 3D Mining-Induced Surface Deformation Extracting Method: A Case of Huainan Mining Area

The mining subsidence in mining area could cause large-gradient deformation in a short period of time. When the deformation gradient exceeds the threshold value of the Differential Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (D-InSAR) technology monitoring gradient, D-InSAR technology is likely to cause the failure of InSAR phase unwrapping algorithm. At this time, the InSAR technology is unable to monitor the 3D surface deformation. Aiming at these problems, an dynamic probability integral method (DPIM)-based InSAR phase unwrapping model and a method of extracting 3D surface deformation were proposed. The phase unwrapping model firstly used the empirical parameters of the probability integral of the mining face to predict the line of sight (LOS) direction deformation phase of the mining subsidence surface. Secondly, the phase of differential interferogram was unwrapped with the assist of the predicted LOS deformation phase under the constraint of DPIM, and the true LOS deformation phase was obtained, then the true LOS deformation phase transformed into LOS deformation. Finally, according to the geometric projection relationship between the LOS deformation and 3D deformation of mining subsidence surface, the probability integral prior model was brought into the equation of the geometric projection relationship. On the basis of relevant boundary conditions, the 3D surface deformation was extracted from the LOS direction deformation field of mining subsidence. The feasibility of the method was verified by the simulation experiment results. The differential interferogram of the subsidence basin was obtained by the differential interference processing of image data of Sentinel-1A on Nov. 16, 2017 and Dec. 10, 2017 of 1613 working face of Guqiao South Mine. By using the DPIM-based phase unwrapping model, the phase of differential interferogram was unwrapped and the 3D surface deformation during this period as well as the deformation extraction method were developed. The results showed that the maximum fitting error value of subsidence was 79 mm, about 8.33% of the maximum value of subsidence, and the fitting error of mean square of subsidence was +/- 33.5 mm. The results showed that the DPIM-based phase unwrapping model and the method of extracting 3D surface deformation proposed in this paper have certain engineering application values.

Automated summary

This paper introduces a method based on DPIM for unwrapping InSAR phase and extracting 3D surface deformation, which is validated by simulation experiments and practical data processing of a coal mine working face. The results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method for monitoring mining subsidence.