Assessment of the Impact of Groundwater Decline on Land Subsidence Using Sentinel-1 Radar Images (Case Study: Sistan Region)

Document Type : Applied Article

Authors

Seyed Ali Almodaresi ¹

Leili Latifi ²

Samad Fotouhi ²

Hadi Siasar ³

¹ Department of Remote Sensing and GIS, Yazd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yazd, Iran.

² Department of Geomorphology, Faculty of Geography and Environmental Planning, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.

³ Department of Agriculture, Payame Noor University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

10.22067/jwsd.v13i1.2511-1470

Abstract

Land subsidence, as a creeping geomorphic hazard and a direct consequence of the overexploitation of groundwater resources, poses a serious threat to environmental sustainability and water security in arid and semi-arid regions. In this regard, the present study evaluates the impact of groundwater level decline on the rate of subsidence in the Sistan region using Sentinel-1 radar images. This research was conducted using a combined approach, utilizing 54 Sentinel-1 radar images (2014–2022), GRACE data, water level data from 29 piezometric wells, and Landsat 8 images of the Sistan region. The InSAR technique in SNAP software was employed to estimate subsidence, and the Random Forest algorithm (with a Kappa accuracy of 0.95) was used for land use classification. The findings indicate a direct and significant relationship between groundwater decline and subsidence. The average annual rate of groundwater decline increased from 6.5 cm/year in 2015 to 12.7 cm/year in 2017. Concurrently, the average subsidence rate increased from approximately -10 cm/year during 2014–2016 to more than -20 cm/year during 2020–2022. The highest subsidence rate (average -2.33 cm) was concentrated in the agricultural lands of the central and eastern parts of the Sistan Plain. A strong correlation coefficient of 0.82 between InSAR data and piezometric well observations confirms the accuracy of the method. Furthermore, the increase in barren land area between 2014 and 2024 indicates additional pressure on water resources. The overall results showed that the overextraction of water for agriculture is the main driver of subsidence in Sistan. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating Sentinel-1 and GRACE data as an accurate and cost-effective tool for regional subsidence monitoring.

Keywords

Land Subsidence

Subsurface Water Decline

InSAR Data Processing

Water Resource Management

Sistan Region

Subjects

• Surface and Groundwater Resources

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