Current trends in land subsidence of the North-Central part of Poland using DInSAR technique

¹ AGH University of Science and Technology, Department of Drilling and Geoengineering
² Faculty of Drilling, Oil and Gas; al. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

Abstract

The gradual change in the Earth’s surface elevation is known as land subsidence and it happens due to natural causes related to geological activities, such as sinkholes, or induced causes related to human activities, such as mining activities, or both. The historical records of land subsidence show that it is mainly related to human activities with damages of more than billions of dollars every year. This paper shows the current trends of land subsidence case of the North-Central part of Poland using the Differential Interferometric Satellite Aperture Radar (DInSAR) technique. That region is known as the extension of the oil and gas reservoir of the Baltic Sea and one of the most populated areas in Poland. This technique uses SAR data images from the sentinel-1A mission of the same area, taken on April 25, 2018 and April 26, 2020, in order to measure the surface changes between these time intervals. Thus, a two-year land subsidence map of that region has been created, with maximum subsidence of -85mm. There is no significant subsidence in the production area, but information on the population supports the alleged reasons for such subsidence, namely the infrastructure growth and the need for water resources. Besides, most of the occurred subsidence in the concerned area is concentrated in big cities such as Gdansk and Gdynia. Such result is very important for policymakers, especially concerning the sustainable development goals