Long-Term Subsidence Monitoring of the Alluvial Plain of the Scheldt River in Antwerp (Belgium) Using Radar Interferometry
The coupled effects of climate change, sea-level rise, and land sinking in estuaries/alluvial plains prone to inundation and flooding mean that reliable estimation of land movements/subsidence is becoming more crucial. During the last few decades, land subsidence has been monitored by precise and co...
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doaj-a03e9a0c8b204ecab595132117d173172021-03-19T00:02:15ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-03-01131160116010.3390/rs13061160Long-Term Subsidence Monitoring of the Alluvial Plain of the Scheldt River in Antwerp (Belgium) Using Radar InterferometryPierre-Yves Declercq0Pierre Gérard1Eric Pirard2Jan Walstra3Xavier Devleeschouwer4Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, O.D. Earth and History of Life, Geological Survey of Belgium, Rue Jenner 13, 1000 Brussels, BelgiumBATir Department, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CP194/02, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, 1050 Bruxelles, BelgiumDepartment ARGENCO/Gemme–GEO3, Université de Liège (ULg), Allée de la découverte, 9-Bat. B 52/, 4000 Liège, BelgiumRoyal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, O.D. Earth and History of Life, Geological Survey of Belgium, Rue Jenner 13, 1000 Brussels, BelgiumRoyal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, O.D. Earth and History of Life, Geological Survey of Belgium, Rue Jenner 13, 1000 Brussels, BelgiumThe coupled effects of climate change, sea-level rise, and land sinking in estuaries/alluvial plains prone to inundation and flooding mean that reliable estimation of land movements/subsidence is becoming more crucial. During the last few decades, land subsidence has been monitored by precise and continuous geodetic measurements either from space or using terrestrial techniques. Among them, the Persistent Scaterrer Interferometry (PSInSAR) technique is used on the entire Belgian territory to detect, map and interpret the identified ground movements observed since 1992. Here the research focuses on one of the biggest cities in Belgium that became the second European harbour with giant docks and the deepening of the Scheldt river allowing the navigation of the largest container vessels. The areas along the embankments of the Scheldt river and the harbour facilities are associated to Holocene fluviatile deposits overlain by recent landfills. These sedimentary deposits and human-made landfills are affected by important and ongoing land subsidence phenomena. The land subsidence process is highlighted by an annual average Line of Sight (LOS) velocity of about −3.4 mm/year during the years 1992–2001 (ERS1/2 datasets), followed by an annual average LOS velocity of about −2.71 mm/year and −2.11 mm/year, respectively, during the years 2003–2010 (ENVISAT) and 2016–2019 (Sentinel 1A). The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery data indicate a progressive decrease in the average annual velocities on a global scale independently of important local variations in different districts along the Scheldt river. On the contrary, the city centre and the old historic centre of Antwerp are not affected by negative LOS velocities, indicating stable ground conditions. A geological interpretation of this difference in settlement behaviour between the different areas is provided.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1160PSInSARInSARsubsidenceestuaryantwerp |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Pierre-Yves Declercq Pierre Gérard Eric Pirard Jan Walstra Xavier Devleeschouwer |
spellingShingle |
Pierre-Yves Declercq Pierre Gérard Eric Pirard Jan Walstra Xavier Devleeschouwer Long-Term Subsidence Monitoring of the Alluvial Plain of the Scheldt River in Antwerp (Belgium) Using Radar Interferometry Remote Sensing PSInSAR InSAR subsidence estuary antwerp |
author_facet |
Pierre-Yves Declercq Pierre Gérard Eric Pirard Jan Walstra Xavier Devleeschouwer |
author_sort |
Pierre-Yves Declercq |
title |
Long-Term Subsidence Monitoring of the Alluvial Plain of the Scheldt River in Antwerp (Belgium) Using Radar Interferometry |
title_short |
Long-Term Subsidence Monitoring of the Alluvial Plain of the Scheldt River in Antwerp (Belgium) Using Radar Interferometry |
title_full |
Long-Term Subsidence Monitoring of the Alluvial Plain of the Scheldt River in Antwerp (Belgium) Using Radar Interferometry |
title_fullStr |
Long-Term Subsidence Monitoring of the Alluvial Plain of the Scheldt River in Antwerp (Belgium) Using Radar Interferometry |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long-Term Subsidence Monitoring of the Alluvial Plain of the Scheldt River in Antwerp (Belgium) Using Radar Interferometry |
title_sort |
long-term subsidence monitoring of the alluvial plain of the scheldt river in antwerp (belgium) using radar interferometry |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Remote Sensing |
issn |
2072-4292 |
publishDate |
2021-03-01 |
description |
The coupled effects of climate change, sea-level rise, and land sinking in estuaries/alluvial plains prone to inundation and flooding mean that reliable estimation of land movements/subsidence is becoming more crucial. During the last few decades, land subsidence has been monitored by precise and continuous geodetic measurements either from space or using terrestrial techniques. Among them, the Persistent Scaterrer Interferometry (PSInSAR) technique is used on the entire Belgian territory to detect, map and interpret the identified ground movements observed since 1992. Here the research focuses on one of the biggest cities in Belgium that became the second European harbour with giant docks and the deepening of the Scheldt river allowing the navigation of the largest container vessels. The areas along the embankments of the Scheldt river and the harbour facilities are associated to Holocene fluviatile deposits overlain by recent landfills. These sedimentary deposits and human-made landfills are affected by important and ongoing land subsidence phenomena. The land subsidence process is highlighted by an annual average Line of Sight (LOS) velocity of about −3.4 mm/year during the years 1992–2001 (ERS1/2 datasets), followed by an annual average LOS velocity of about −2.71 mm/year and −2.11 mm/year, respectively, during the years 2003–2010 (ENVISAT) and 2016–2019 (Sentinel 1A). The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery data indicate a progressive decrease in the average annual velocities on a global scale independently of important local variations in different districts along the Scheldt river. On the contrary, the city centre and the old historic centre of Antwerp are not affected by negative LOS velocities, indicating stable ground conditions. A geological interpretation of this difference in settlement behaviour between the different areas is provided. |
topic |
PSInSAR InSAR subsidence estuary antwerp |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1160 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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