Evaluation of aquifer interaction behavior with land subsidence and its relation to groundwater level and vegetation changes using DInSAR technique

Subject Areas : Applications in water resources management

Fateme Rafiei ¹ , Saeid Gharechelou ² , Saeed Golian ³

1 - MSc of Water Resources Engineering and Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran
2 - Department of Surveying, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, ,Iran
3 - Associate Professor, Department of Water and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

Received: 2022-01-15 Accepted : 2022-02-16 Published : 2023-03-21

Keywords: Groundwater, DINSAR, Subsidence, Sentinel-1, Aquifer interaction,

Abstract :

Global climate change and overpopulation increased the need for groundwater resources. Land subsidence due to groundwater extraction and water depletion is one of the environmental hazards that threatens the communities. This research has been done as a case study in Semalghan plain, one of the agricultural plains in North Khorasan province. According to the information of the Regional Water Organization of this province, most of the groundwater resources have been extracted from the deep wells of this plain and groundwater resources are in a critical situation. In this study, to investigate land subsidence due to groundwater depletion in Semalghan plain radar differential interferometry technique of Sentinel-1 satellite Descending data from 2014 to 2020 have been produced and analyzed. Also, to monitor vegetation changes Landsat-8 satellite images and study of aquifer interaction behavior was applied. Groundwater depletion maps have been produced using GIS and piezometric data of plain, and their relationship with subsidence was assessed. The result maps showed a direct relationship between water table head fall and subsidence in the Semalghan aquifer during the study period. The maximum subsidence which occurred in this plain in 2019 is equal to 34 cm and a minimum of 18 cm in 2015 and 2018 respectively. Finally, the relationship between groundwater level decline and land subsidence was studied and the behavior of the aquifer was investigated. The results showed the elastic behavior over the Semalghan aquifer and around Chamanbid city. Furthermore, by processing Landsat-8 images from 2015 to 2020, the temporal-spatial relationship of vegetation changes with subsidence was studied. The results showed that the destruction of vegetation has occurred by 5.9% in some areas in the plain due to groundwater level decline which has occurred all over the plain and subsidence in the region and revealed a high temporal-spatial correlation.