InSAR time-series analysis of land subsidence under different land use types in the eastern Beijing plain, China

In the Beijing plain, the long-term groundwater overexploitation, exploitation, and the utilization of superficial urban space have led to land subsidence. In this study, the spatial-temporal analysis of land subsidence in Beijing was assessed by using the small baseline subset (SBAS) interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique based on 47 TerraSAR-X SAR images from 2010 to 2015. Distinct variations of the land subsidence were found in the study regions. The maximum annual land subsidence rate was 146 mm/year from 2011 to 2015. The comparison between the SBAS InSAR results and the ground leveling measurements showed that the InSAR land subsidence results achieved a precision of 2 mm. In 2013, the maximum displacement reached 132 and 138 mm/year in the Laiguangying and DongbalizhuangDajiaoting area. Our analysis showed that the serious land subsidence mainly occurred in the following land use types: water area and wetland, paddy field, upland soils, vegetable land, and peasant-inhabited land. Our results could provide a useful reference for groundwater exploitation and urban planning.