Monitoring land subsidence and fault deformation using the small baseline subset InSAR technique: A case study in the Datong Basin, China

The Datong Basin is located to the north of the Fenwei Graben Basin, where ground fissures and subsidence are common geological hazards. The Datong Basin is also one of China's main energy bases and is known as “the hometown of coal”. In this study, the small baseline subset InSAR technique was used to process 40 scenes of Envisat ASAR images that cover this area. The magnitude and distribution of subsidence in the Datong Basin were obtained. Additionally, the relationships among the regional land subsidence, ground fissures and fault activity were addressed. The results reveal that Datong ground subsidence is affected by the groundwater exploitation and the nearby faults. The Datong ground fissures are controlled by regional fault activity (e.g., seismic activity) and its interaction with the ground subsidence. Meanwhile, the influence of surface precipitation on ground fissure activity was analyzed. The differential subsidence on both sides of the ground fissures was also studied.