Monitoring Land Subsidence along the Subways in Shanghai on the Basis of Time-Series InSAR

In recent years, Shanghai has entered a stage of microscale land subsidence, but the uneven subsidence is still significant, with long-term impacts on the operational safety of subways and other infrastructures. On the basis of 154 high-resolution Terra Synthetic Aperture Radar-X (TerraSAR-X) images captured from 2013 to 2020 and the time-series persistent scatterer-interferometric SAR (PS-InSAR) method, the land subsidence along the subways in Shanghai was acquired, and the levelling data of 56 benchmarks were used to validate the measurements derived by PS-InSAR. The results indicated that the two data sets agreed well, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9 and maximum D-value of 4.0 mm derived from six pairs of comparative data sequences. The proportion of PS points showing deformation rates between -3.0 mm/a and 3.0 mm/a reached 99.4%. These results indicated that the land subsidence trend along the subway was relatively stable overall, while significant deformation was distributed mainly along the suburban subways, especially the lines that were newly open to traffic, such as Line 5 and the Pujiang line (PJ Line); along these lines, the proportions of PS points with deformation rates exceeding +/- 3 mm/a were 7.2% and 7.6%, respectively, and the proportions were much smaller in the other lines. The maximum cumulative deformation (MCD) along the subways was located between Jiangchuan Road Station and Xidu Station of Line 5 with a value of -66.4 mm, while the second and third MCDs were -48.2 mm along Line 16 and -44.5 mm along PJ Line, respectively. Engineering constructions, such as human-induced ground loads, foundation pit constructions, and road constructions, were the main factors affecting local land subsidence. The analysis results also showed that land subsidence was relatively significant during the period before the subways were open to traffic due to subway construction, while land subsidence clearly slowed after the subway lines were open to traffic. This deceleration in land subsidence was closely related to the rise in the groundwater level.

Automated summary

Shanghai has experienced microscale land subsidence in recent years, affecting the operational safety of subways and other infrastructures. Using high-resolution TerraSAR-X images and the PS-InSAR method, the land subsidence along the subways in Shanghai was analyzed. The results showed overall stability in land subsidence along the subway lines, with significant deformation mainly occurring along suburban subways that were newly open to traffic. Factors such as human-induced ground loads, foundation pit constructions, and road constructions were identified as the main causes of local land subsidence. The rise in groundwater level was found to be closely related to the deceleration in land subsidence after the subway lines were open to traffic.