Coal mining induced land subsidence monitoring using multiband spaceborne differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar data

The differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR)(DInSAR) technique has been applied to the earth surface deformation monitoring in many areas. In this paper, the DInSAR technique is used to process the spaceborne SAR data including C band ENVISAT ASAR, L band JERS SAR, and ALOS PALSAR data to derive the temporal land subsidence information in the Fengfeng coal mine area, Hebei province in China. Since JERS and ALOS do not have precise orbit, an orbit adjustment must be accomplished before the DInSAR interferogram was formed. Twenty-three differential interferograms are derived to show the temporal change of the land subsidence range and position. At the acquisition time of ENVISAT ASAR, the leveling in the Dashucun coal mine in Fengfeng area was carried, the historical excavation data in 8 coal mines in Fengfeng area from 1992 to 2007 were collected as well. In our analysis, the DInSAR results are compared with leveling data and historical excavation data. The comparison results show the DInSAR subsidence results are consistent with the leveling results and the historical excavation data, and the L band DInSAR shows more advantages than C band in the coal mining induced subsidence monitoring in a rural area. The feasibility and limitations in coal mining induced subsidence monitoring with DInSAR are analyzed, and the possibility of underground mining activity monitoring by spaceborne InSAR data is evaluated. The experimental results show that both C and L band can accomplish monitoring mining area subsidence, but C band has more restricted conditions of its perpendicular baseline. In order to get a satisfactory outcome in mining area subsidence by the DInSAR method, the time series of SAR images of every visit and SAR deformation interferograms should be archived. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3571038]