Lithology-controlled subsidence and seasonal aquifer response in the Bandung basin, Indonesia, observed by synthetic aperture radar interferometry

• Subsidence in the Bandung basin is estimated using differential InSAR and IPTA.
• Subsidence is not well correlated with aquifer state or groundwater production.
• Rock types strongly control subsidence pattern in parts of the Bandung basin.
• Temporal subsidence trends are clearly related to the seasonal cycles in Indonesia.
• Seasonal deformation trends provide information of elastic expansion of aquifer.

Land subsidence in the Bandung basin, West Java, Indonesia, is characterized based on differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) and interferometric point target analysis (IPTA). We generated interferograms from 21 ascending SAR images over the period 1 January 2007 to 3 March 2011. The estimated subsidence history shows that subsidence continuously increased reaching a cumulative 45 cm during this period, and the linear subsidence rate reached ∼12 cm/yr. This significant subsidence occurred in the industrial and densely populated residential regions of the Bandung basin where large amounts of groundwater are consumed. However, in several areas the subsidence patterns do not correlate with the distribution of groundwater production wells and mapped aquifer degradation. We conclude that groundwater production controls subsidence, but lithology is a counteracting factor for subsidence in the Bandung basin. Moreover, seasonal trends of nonlinear surface deformations are highly related with the variation of rainfall. They indicate that there is elastic expansion (rebound) of aquifer system response to seasonal-natural recharge during rainy season.