Towards synergy of GNSS and InSAR mining deformation monitoring with Sentinel-1 data

The determination of ground deformation may be carried out by applying various measurement methods such as levelling, laser scanning, satellite navigation systems, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and many others. In this work, we focus on the comparison of the deformation effects measured by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and satellite Interferometric SAR (InSAR) methods in the Upper-Silesian coal mining region (SW Poland).

An unquestionable advantage of GNSS technology is the possibility of continuous monitoring of deformations in three-dimensional space. Moreover, the evolution of real-time (RT) techniques such as: near real-time (NRT), ultra-fast NRT or RT allows to obtain a high precise position determination with a relatively slight latency (ranging from a few seconds to less than one hour). The limitation of the satellite navigation technology is the spatial range of the measurements. The deformation can only be observed at the point where the GNSS antenna is located. Furthermore, the acquisition, installation and maintenance of the equipment may also involve high costs.

In contrast to the GNSS technique, the InSAR methods enable measurement of the large-scale subsidence areas with possibility to use free products and software (e.g. Sentinel-1 and SNAP). The large-scale InSAR investigations provide a better overview of local terrain changes. Unfortunately, InSAR methods also have some limitations related to data acquisition technology:  

• a few days latency in acquiring a new image,
• insensitivity to changes in the northern component,
• acquiring deformation only in the LOS direction.

The main goal of this research is to analyse the deformation results obtained using GNSS and InSAR methods with respect to the capabilities and limitations of these two techniques. We investigated the level of agreement of eight GNSS and InSAR time series in areas with no subsidence, together with results acquired on seven regions of mining deformation where the maximum subsidence velocity exceeds 50 cm/year. The mean RMS time series fitting error obtained in subsidence basin is more than 5 cm and in non-deformed areas is equal to 2 cm. The study also investigated the effect of coherence threshold levels (0.3 ÷ 0.6) with introduction of the northern GNSS component on the InSAR decomposition process. Assuming the same GNSS deformation value in each directions (north, east, and up), the impact of the northern component was estimated as 10% of the total LOS subsidence.