Mapping Urban Excavation Induced Deformation in 3D via Multiplatform InSAR Time-Series

Excavation of a subway station and rail crossover cavern in downtown Los Angeles, California, USA, induced over 1.8 cm of surface settlement between June 2018 and February 2019 as measured by a ground-based monitoring system. Point measurements of surface deformation above the excavation were extracted by applying Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time-series analyses to data from multiple sensors with different wavelengths. These sensors include C-band Sentinel-1, X-band COSMO-SkyMed, and L-band Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle SAR (UAVSAR). The InSAR time-series point measurements were interpolated to continuous distribution surfaces, weighted by distance, and entered into the Minimum-Acceleration (MinA) algorithm to calculate 3D displacement values. This dataset, composed of satellite and airborne SAR data from X, C, and L band sensors, revealed previously unidentified deformation surrounding the 2nd Street and Broadway Subway Station and the adjacent rail crossover cavern, with maximum vertical and horizontal deformations reaching 2.5 cm and 1.7 cm, respectively. In addition, the analysis shows that airborne SAR data with alternative viewing geometries to traditional polar-orbiting SAR satellites can be used to constrain horizontal displacements in the North-South direction while maintaining agreement with ground-based data.

Automated summary

The study used Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) time-series analysis to monitor and research surface deformations induced by the excavation of a subway station and rail crossover cavern in downtown Los Angeles, revealing previously unidentified deformations.