Analyzing urbanization induced groundwater stress and land deformation using time-series Sentinel-1 datasets applying PSInSAR approach

Urban intensification has taken a serious toll on the groundwater reserves which is one of the primary sources of fresh water on earth. Exploitation of groundwater has exponentially increased over time, especially in urban landscapes, with ever increasing demands to cater the growing population and development processes. This emphasizes on the importance of proper monitoring of the groundwater variations, which is a difficult process for not being directly accessible for physical measurements. Therefore, it is essential to develop advanced innovative indirect methods to help long-term monitoring of groundwater reserves at a relatively higher resolution, so that local level variations and their impact could be studied in case of excessively exploited zones, like cities. Recent studies have linked landsubsidence to over-exploitation of groundwater, which can be critical for urban scenario, which requires longer duration for replenishment. Thus, this study focuses on monitoring of the groundwater variations using time-series Sentinel-1 Interferometric SAR (InSAR) datasets by retrieving land deformation by PsInSAR (Persistent Scatterer Interferometric SAR) technique; applying phase information of permanent scattering candidates. 58 and 60 images were acquired during ascending and descending passes respectively between 9/10/2014 to 2/7/2020 for the study area i.e., Lucknow city (India) and its surroundings. The field measurements of groundwater level for various seasons

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The article focuses on the serious impact of urban intensification on groundwater reserves and the development of advanced methods to monitor groundwater changes. This is crucial for urban development and population growth.