InSAR measurements of surface deformation over permafrost on Fenghuoshan Mountains section, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

doi:10.23919/JSEE.2021.000109

Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics ›› 2021, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (6): 1284-1303.doi: 10.23919/JSEE.2021.000109

• RADAR DIFFERENTIAL INTERFEROMETRY TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS • Previous Articles Next Articles

InSAR measurements of surface deformation over permafrost on Fenghuoshan Mountains section, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Honglei YANG^1,*(), Qiao JIANG²(), Jianfeng HAN¹(), Ki-Yeob KANG³, Junhuan PENG¹()

¹ School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
² Central Southern China Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd, China Power Engineering Consulting Group Corporation, Wuhan 430071, China
³ Australasian Joint Research Centre for Building Information Modelling, School of Built Environment, Curtin University, Perth WA 6845, Australia

Received:2021-03-10 Online:2022-01-05 Published:2022-01-05
Contact: Honglei YANG E-mail:hongleiyang@cugb.edu.cn;2640105418@qq.com;924247310@qq.com;pengjunhuan@163.com
About author:|YANG Honglei was born in 1983. He is a Ph.D. and an associate professor in China University of Geosciences (Beijing). His research interests include deformation monitoring using interferometric synthetic aperture radar interferomet (InSAR) time series and remote sensing data processing. E-mail: hongleiyang@cugb.edu.cn||JIANG Qiao was born in 1994. He graduated from China University of Geosciences with a master’s degree. He is an engineer of Central Southern China Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd. His current research interests are development of GPS and interferometric synthetic aperture radar algorithms, and studies of structural and ground deformations. E-mail: 2640105418@qq.com||HAN Jianfeng was born in 1996. He is a graduate student in China University of Geosciences (Beijing). His research interest is interferometric synthetic aperture radar. E-mail: 924247310@qq.com||KANG Ki-Yeob was born in 1987. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in naval architecture and ocean engineering, in 2012 and 2014, from Pusan National University in South Korea and Ph.D. degree in construction management from Curtin University in Perth, Australia in March 2020. His research interests are oil and gas energy resources, offshore drilling technologies, construction materials, engineering design, and facility management. E-mail: kiyeob.kang@postgrad.curtin.edu.au||PENG Junhuan was born in 1964. He received his Ph.D. degree in geodesy from Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, in 2003. He is a professor with the School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China. His current research interests are in the areas of temporal-spatial data analysis, surveying adjustment, applied statistics, and their associated application in surveying engineering, image geodesy, remote sensing, and satellite geodesy. E-mail: pengjunhuan@163.com
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42174026), and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFE011004).

Abstract

Abstract:

The permafrost development in the Qinghai-Tibet Engineering Corridor (QTEC) is affected by natural environment changes and human engineering activities. Human engineering activities may damage the permafrost growing environment, which in turn impact these engineering activities. Thus high spatial-temporal resolution monitoring over the QTEC in the permafrost region is very necessary. This paper presents a method for monitoring the frozen soil area using the intermittent coherence-based small baseline subset (ICSBAS). The method can improve the point density of the results and enhance the interpretability of deformation results by identifying the discontinuous coherent points according to the coherent value of time series. Using the periodic function that models the seasonal variation of permafrost, we separate the long wavelength atmospheric delay and establish an estimation model for the frozen soil deformation. Doing this can raise the monitoring accuracy and improve the understanding of the surface deformation of the frozen soil. In this study, we process 21 PALSAR data acquired by the Alos satellite with the proposed ICSBAS technique. The results show that the frozen soil far from the QTR in the study area experiences frost heave and thaw settlement (4.7 cm to 8.4 cm) alternatively, while the maximum settlement along the QTR reaches 12 cm. The interferomatric syntnetic aperture radar (InSAR)-derived results are validated using the ground leveling data nearby the Beiluhe basin. The validation results show the InSAR results have good consistency with the leveling data in displacement rates as well as time series. We also find that the deformation in the permafrost area is correlated with temperature, human activities and topography. Based on the interfering degree of human engineering activities on the permafrost environment, we divide the QTEC along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway into engineering damage zone, transition zone and natural permafrost.

Key words: permafrost, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, small baseline subset interferomatric syntnetic aperture radar (SBAS-InSAR), deformation model

Honglei YANG, Qiao JIANG, Jianfeng HAN, Ki-Yeob KANG, Junhuan PENG. InSAR measurements of surface deformation over permafrost on Fenghuoshan Mountains section, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau[J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2021, 32(6): 1284-1303.

Figures/Tables 24

Fig 1

Table 1

Fig 2

Fig 3

Fig 4

Fig 5

Fig 6

Fig 7

Fig 8

Fig 9

Fig 10

Fig 11

Fig 12

Fig 13

Fig 14

Fig 15

Table 2

Fig 16

Fig 17

Table 3

Fig 18

Fig 19

Fig 20

Table 4

References 45

1	ZHOU Y W, GUO D X Principle characteristics of permafrost in China. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 1982, 4 (1): 1- 19.
2	NELSON F E, ANISIMOV O A, SHIKLOMANOV N I Subsidence risk from thawing permafrost. Nature, 2001, 410 (6831): 889- 890. doi: 10.1038/35073746
3	SMITH S, BURGESS M, RISEBOROUGH D, et al Recent trends from Canadian permafrost thermal monitoring network sites. Permafrost and Periglacial Process, 2005, 16, 19- 30. doi: 10.1002/ppp.511
4	YU Q H, LIU Y Z, TONG C J, et al Analysis of the subgrade deformation of the Qinghai-Tibetan Highway. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 2002, 24 (5): 623- 627.
5	JONATHON D L, HEATH S, MICHAEL T, et al Application of differential global positioning systems to monitor frost heave and thaw settlement in tundra environments. Permafrost and Periglacial Processes, 2003, 14, 349- 357. doi: 10.1002/ppp.466
6	SCOTT W, SELLMANN P, HUNTER J Geophysics in the study of permafrost. Geophysicists Investigation in Geophysics, 1990, 5, 355- 384.
7	HINKEL K, DOOLITTLE J, BOCKHEIM J, et al Detection of subsurface permafrost features with ground-penetrating radar, barrow, alaska. Permafrost Periglacial Process, 2001, 12, 179- 190. doi: 10.1002/ppp.369
8	MASSONNE D, ROSSI M, CARMONA C, et al The displacement field of the landers earthquake mapped by radar interferometry. Nature, 1993, 364 (6433): 138- 142. doi: 10.1038/364138a0
9	WANG Z, LI S Detection of winter frost heaving of the active layer of arctic permafrost using SAR differential interferograms. Proc. of the IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 1999, 4, 1946- 1948.
10	LI Z, LI X W, LIU Y Z, et al Detecting the displacement field of thaw settlement by means of SAR interferometry. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 2004, 26 (4): 389- 396.
11	BUTTERWORTH C. Measuring seasonal permafrost deformation with differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Calgary, Canada: University of Calgary, 2008.
12	XIE C, LI Z, LI X W A study of deformation in permafrost regions of Qinghai-Tibet plateau based on ALOS/PALSAR D-InSAR interferometry. Remote Sensing for Land and Resources, 2008, 30 (3): 15- 19.
13	WANG P. Using D-InSAR to monitor the motion of frozen ground in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Changsha, China: Centrol South University, 2008. (in Chinese)
14	HU B, WANG H S, JIA L L DInSAR technology to monitor deformation of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau permafrost experimental study. Geodesy and Geodynamics, 2010, 30 (5): 53- 56.
15	FERRETI A, PRATI C, ROCCA F Non-linear subsidence rate estimation using permanent scatterers in differential SAR interferometry. IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2000, 38 (5): 2202- 2212. doi: 10.1109/36.868878
16	BERARDINO P, FORNARO G, LANARI R, et al A new algorithm for surface deformation monitoring based on small baseline differential SAR interferograms. IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2002, 40 (11): 2375- 2383. doi: 10.1109/TGRS.2002.803792
17	LIU L, ZHANG T J, WAHR J et al. InSAR measurements of surface deformation over permafrost on the North Slope of Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface, 2010, 115(F3). DOI: 10.1029/2009JF001547.
18	SHORT N, BRISCO B, COUTURE N, et al A comparison of TerraSAR-X, RADARSAT-2 and ALOS-PALSAR interferometry for monitoring permafrost environments, case study from Herschel Island, Canada. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2011, 115 (12): 3491- 3506. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2011.08.012
19	CHEN F L, LIN H, LI Z, et al Interaction between permafrost and infrastructure along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway detected via jointly analysis of C- and L-band small baseline SAR interferometry. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2012, 123, 532- 540. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2012.04.020
20	LIU L, SCHAEFER K, ZHANG T J, et al Estimating 1992–2000 average active layer thickness on the Alaskan North Slope from remotely sensed surface subsidence. Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface, 2012, 117, 14.
21	LI S S, LI Z W, HU J, et al Investigation of the seasonal oscillation of the permafrost over Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with SBAS-InSAR algorithm. Chinese Journal of Geophysics, 2013, 56 (5): 1476- 1486.
22	LIU L, SCHAEFER K, GUSMEROLI A, et al Seasonal thaw settlement at drained thermokarst lake basins, Arctic Alaska. The Cryosphere, 2014, 8 (6): 5793- 5822.
23	SHORT N, LEBLANC A M, SLADEN W, et al RADARSAT-2 D-InSAR for ground displacement in permafrost terrain, validation from Iqaluit Airport, Baffin Island, Canada. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2014, 141, 40- 51. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2013.10.016
24	SCHAEFER K, LIU L, PARSEKIAN A, et al Remotely sensed active layer thickness (ReSALT) at Barrow, Alaska using interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Remote Sensing, 2015, 7 (4): 3735- 3759. doi: 10.3390/rs70403735
25	ZHAO R, LI Z W, FENG G C, et al Monitoring surface deformation over permafrost with an improved SBAS-InSAR algorithm: with emphasis on climatic factors modeling. Remote Sensing of Environment, 2016, 184, 276- 287. doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2016.07.019
26	ZHANG Y H, WU H A, SUN G T Deformation model of time series interferometric SAR techniques. Acta Geodaetica et Cartographica Sinica, 2012, 41 (6): 864- 869.
27	WANG C, ZHANG Z J, ZHANG H Seasonal deformation features on Qinghai-Tibet railway observed using time-series InSAR technique with high-resolution TerraSAR-X images. Remote Sensing Letters, 2017, 8 (1): 1- 10. doi: 10.1080/2150704X.2016.1225170
28	CHEN Y X, JIANG L M, LIANG L L, et al Monitoring permafrost deformation in the upstream Heihe River, Qilian Mountain by using multi temporal Sentinel INSAR dataset. Chinese Journal of Geophysics, 2019, 62 (7): 2441- 2454.
29	HUANG S B, CHANG Z Q, XIE C Deformation monitoring of frozen soil in salt lake area based on SBAS-InSAR. Advances in Geosciences, 2020, 10 (2): 100- 120. doi: 10.12677/AG.2020.102011
30	CHENG J, WANG T, ZHU Z R, et al Research on subgrade defects of Fenghuoshan section on Qinghai-Tibet railway and countermeasures. Railway Standard Design, 2015, 8 (59): 14- 17.
31	COLESANTI C, FERRETTI A, NOVALI F, et al SAR monitoring of progressive and seasonal ground deformation using the permanent scatterers technique. IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2003, 41 (7): 1685- 1701. doi: 10.1109/TGRS.2003.813278
32	KAMPES B M, HANSEEN R F Ambiguity resolution for permanent scatterer interferometry. IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2004, 42 (11): 2446- 2453. doi: 10.1109/TGRS.2004.835222
33	YANG H L, PENG J H, WANG B C, et al Ground deformation monitoring of Zhengzhou city from 2012 to 2013 using an improved IPTA. Natural Hazards, 2016, 80, 1- 17. doi: 10.1007/s11069-015-1953-x
34	SCHMID T, DAVID A. Time-dependent land uplift and subsidence in the Santa Clara Valley, California. Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, 2003, 108(B9): 2416.
35	BROWN C G, SARABANDI K, PIERCE L E Validation of the shuttle radar topography mission height data. IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2005, 43 (8): 1707- 1715. doi: 10.1109/TGRS.2005.851789
36	LI Z W, DING X L, HUANG C, et al Improved filtering parameter determination for the Goldstein radar interferogram filter. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 2008, 63 (6): 621- 634. doi: 10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2008.03.001
37	COSTANTINI M, ROSEN P A generalized phase unwrapping approach for sparse data. Proc. of the IEEE International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium, 1999, 1 (10): 267- 269.
38	GARBALLO G F, FIEGUTH P W Probabilistic cost functions for network flow phase unwrapping. IEEE Trans. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 2001, 38 (5): 2192- 2201.
39	ZHANG L X Regularity of ground temperature variation in Qinhgai-Tibet Plateau permafrost region and its effect on subgrade stability. China Railway Science, 2000, 21 (1): 37- 47.
40	YUAN S C, ZHANG L X, HAN L M, et al Influences of environmental conditions on construction safety reliability of Qinghai-Tibet railway in permafrost region. Journal of Engineering Geology, 2006, 14 (4): 433- 437.
41	DONG C H, ZHAO X Q Analysis on subgrade deformation features and influence factors in permafrost regions on Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Railway Standard Design, 2013, 6, 5- 8.
42	YANG X D. The study of the subgrade deformation and characteristic over permafrost. Shaanxi, China: Xi’an Jiaotong University, 1996.
43	WU Q B, ZHU Y L, SHI B Study of frozen soil environment relating to engineering activities. Journal of Glaciology and Geocryology, 2001, 23 (2): 200- 207.
44	SUN Z, WANG L, BAI M, et al Finite element analysis on temperature field of Qinghai-Tibet Railway embankment on permafrost. Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering, 2004, 23 (20): 3454- 3459.
45	CHOU Y L, SHENG Y, MA W, et al Calculation of difference in temperature between sunny slope and shady slope along railways in permafrost regions in Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering, 2007, 26 (2): 4102- 4107.

Number	Sensor	Acquisition time (year-month-day)	Perpendicular baseline/m
1	PALSAR	2007-01-17	0
2	PALSAR	2007-03-04	1 839.02
3	PALSAR	2007-07-20	2 527.09
4	PALSAR	2007-09-04	2 708.44
5	PALSAR	2007-10-20	2 925.88
6	PALSAR	2008-01-20	3 484.94
7	PALSAR	2008-03-06	4 067.51
8	PALSAR	2008-04-21	4 518.52
9	PALSAR	2008-06-06	4 462.98
10	PALSAR	2008-07-22	1 516.82
11	PALSAR	2008-09-06	?663.26
12	PALSAR	2008-10-22	?91.87
13	PALSAR	2009-01-22	498.06
14	PALSAR	2009-03-09	904.87
15	PALSAR	2009-07-25	1 131.38
16	PALSAR	2009-09-09	1 641.92
17	PALSAR	2009-10-25	1 898.51
18	PALSAR	2010-01-25	2 612.77
19	PALSAR	2010-07-28	3 499.58
20	PALSAR	2010-09-12	3 551.67
21	PALSAR	2010-10-28	3 968.39

Distance from the QTR	Positive correlation ratio/%	Negative correlation ratio/%
Within 100 m	62.5	37.5
100?500 m	20	80
Larger than 1 000 m	7.5	92.5

Slope	Positive correlation ratio/%	Negative correlation ratio/%
0?8	9.33	90.67
8?36	38.1	61.9

Slope	Positive correlation ratio	Negative correlation ratio
Shady slope	19	81
Sunny slope	34.3	65.7

InSAR measurements of surface deformation over permafrost on Fenghuoshan Mountains section, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

RichHTML

PDF (PC)

Knowledge

Abstract

Cite this article

Share this article

Figures/Tables 24

References 45

Related Articles 0

Recommended Articles

Metrics

Comments