Determining the Rate of Land Subsidence using Radar Interferometry Technique (Case Study: Industrial Area West of Kerman)

The subsidence caused by the increase in the exploitation of groundwater resources has a long history compared to its restoration potential in some internal regions of Iran. In recent years, land subsidence has caused serious environmental hazards in various plains and regions of Iran. Land subsidence is one of the environmental hazards that humans have faced in recent decades due to uncontrolled extraction of groundwater resources. This phenomenon, like other hazards such as earthquakes, droughts, floods, storms, landslides, etc., is one of the obstacles to socio-economic and development. The subsidence phenomenon is usually associated with many risks. This phenomenon can cause infrastructural, natural and ultimately damage to society and the economy. In recent years in Iran, with the increase in subsidence, buildings, airports, bridges, tunnels, streets, rail and road lines have been severely damaged. For this purpose, in this study, the amount of land subsidence in Kerman airport was analyzed using Sentinel-1 satellite radar images from 2014 to 2020 in Snap software using radar interference measurement technique. The subsidence rate of this range from 2014 to 2017 is at least 3.3 cm and maximum 6 cm, from 2017 to 2020 at least 3.6 cm and maximum 2.13 cm and from January 2020 to April was a minimum of 0.03 cm and a maximum of 13.2 cm, which shows a significant increase. Increased utilization of groundwater resources, compaction due to land drainage and compression due to the imposition of heavy loads (aircraft, structural loads, etc.) can be mentioned as main factors of subsidence in this area.