Quantifying groundwater exploitation induced subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain, southeastern Iran, using InSAR time-series and in situ measurements

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review

Authors

  • Mahdi Motagh
  • Roghayeh Shamshiri
  • Mahmud Haghshenas Haghighi
  • Hans-Ulrich Wetzel
  • Bahman Akbari
  • Hossein Nahavandchi
  • Sigrid Roessner
  • Siavash Arabi

Research Organisations

External Research Organisations

  • Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ)
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
  • Forest, Range and Watershed Management Organization of Iran
  • National Cartographic Centre of Iran (NCC)
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)134-151
Number of pages18
JournalEngineering Geology
Volume218
Early online date19 Jan 2017
Publication statusPublished - 23 Feb 2017

Abstract

Decades of groundwater overexploitation for agriculture and industrial development have resulted in substantial land subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain of southeastern Iran. This work presents the results of an InSAR time series analysis obtained by the exploitation of Envisat, ALOS and Sentinel-1 (S1) SAR data archives between June 2004, and May 2016, to investigate land subsidence in the plain. The InSAR analysis revealed an area of approximately 1000 km2 within the study area showing subsidence of > 5 cm/year and locally exceeding 30 cm/yr in the last decade. This area of significant subsidence is limited in its spatial extent to the agricultural land and is partly influenced by Quaternary faults. The temporal and areal relationships of subsidence and groundwater level data suggest that a significant part of the observed subsidence in the Rafsanjan region is caused by intense groundwater extraction that has led to widespread compaction within the upper parts of the up to 300 m thick unconsolidated sediments, causing irreversible and inelastic deformation of the aquifer. The average volume storage loss of the aquifer system due to overexploitation is estimated to have been approximately 300 million cubic metre (mcm)/yr over the last decade.

Keywords

    Agriculture, Groundwater extraction, InSAR, Iran, Subsidence

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cite this

Quantifying groundwater exploitation induced subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain, southeastern Iran, using InSAR time-series and in situ measurements. / Motagh, Mahdi; Shamshiri, Roghayeh; Haghshenas Haghighi, Mahmud et al.
In: Engineering Geology, Vol. 218, 23.02.2017, p. 134-151.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review

Motagh, M, Shamshiri, R, Haghshenas Haghighi, M, Wetzel, H-U, Akbari, B, Nahavandchi, H, Roessner, S & Arabi, S 2017, 'Quantifying groundwater exploitation induced subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain, southeastern Iran, using InSAR time-series and in situ measurements', Engineering Geology, vol. 218, pp. 134-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2017.01.011
Motagh, M., Shamshiri, R., Haghshenas Haghighi, M., Wetzel, H.-U., Akbari, B., Nahavandchi, H., Roessner, S., & Arabi, S. (2017). Quantifying groundwater exploitation induced subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain, southeastern Iran, using InSAR time-series and in situ measurements. Engineering Geology, 218, 134-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2017.01.011
Motagh M, Shamshiri R, Haghshenas Haghighi M, Wetzel HU, Akbari B, Nahavandchi H et al. Quantifying groundwater exploitation induced subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain, southeastern Iran, using InSAR time-series and in situ measurements. Engineering Geology. 2017 Feb 23;218:134-151. Epub 2017 Jan 19. doi: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2017.01.011
Motagh, Mahdi ; Shamshiri, Roghayeh ; Haghshenas Haghighi, Mahmud et al. / Quantifying groundwater exploitation induced subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain, southeastern Iran, using InSAR time-series and in situ measurements. In: Engineering Geology. 2017 ; Vol. 218. pp. 134-151.
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abstract = "Decades of groundwater overexploitation for agriculture and industrial development have resulted in substantial land subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain of southeastern Iran. This work presents the results of an InSAR time series analysis obtained by the exploitation of Envisat, ALOS and Sentinel-1 (S1) SAR data archives between June 2004, and May 2016, to investigate land subsidence in the plain. The InSAR analysis revealed an area of approximately 1000 km2 within the study area showing subsidence of > 5 cm/year and locally exceeding 30 cm/yr in the last decade. This area of significant subsidence is limited in its spatial extent to the agricultural land and is partly influenced by Quaternary faults. The temporal and areal relationships of subsidence and groundwater level data suggest that a significant part of the observed subsidence in the Rafsanjan region is caused by intense groundwater extraction that has led to widespread compaction within the upper parts of the up to 300 m thick unconsolidated sediments, causing irreversible and inelastic deformation of the aquifer. The average volume storage loss of the aquifer system due to overexploitation is estimated to have been approximately 300 million cubic metre (mcm)/yr over the last decade.",
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AU - Motagh, Mahdi

AU - Shamshiri, Roghayeh

AU - Haghshenas Haghighi, Mahmud

AU - Wetzel, Hans-Ulrich

AU - Akbari, Bahman

AU - Nahavandchi, Hossein

AU - Roessner, Sigrid

AU - Arabi, Siavash

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N2 - Decades of groundwater overexploitation for agriculture and industrial development have resulted in substantial land subsidence in the Rafsanjan plain of southeastern Iran. This work presents the results of an InSAR time series analysis obtained by the exploitation of Envisat, ALOS and Sentinel-1 (S1) SAR data archives between June 2004, and May 2016, to investigate land subsidence in the plain. The InSAR analysis revealed an area of approximately 1000 km2 within the study area showing subsidence of > 5 cm/year and locally exceeding 30 cm/yr in the last decade. This area of significant subsidence is limited in its spatial extent to the agricultural land and is partly influenced by Quaternary faults. The temporal and areal relationships of subsidence and groundwater level data suggest that a significant part of the observed subsidence in the Rafsanjan region is caused by intense groundwater extraction that has led to widespread compaction within the upper parts of the up to 300 m thick unconsolidated sediments, causing irreversible and inelastic deformation of the aquifer. The average volume storage loss of the aquifer system due to overexploitation is estimated to have been approximately 300 million cubic metre (mcm)/yr over the last decade.

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