Assessment of Land Subsidence Variations in the Urmia Plain Aquifer Using Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Geography Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

2 Master of Science, Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Urmia University

3 Associate Professor, Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Urmia University

Abstract

This study aims to analyze land subsidence variations and examine their relationship with groundwater level decline in the Urmia Plain aquifer, employing the Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) technique and Sentinel‑1 satellite data for the period 2015–2023, processed in the SNAP software environment. The results indicate that the highest subsidence rate, approximately 9 cm/year, occurred in the southern parts of the study area, whereas in the northern parts, ground uplift (positive displacement) was observed.
Concurrently, hydrogeological data from 23 piezometric wells over the period 2002–2022 reveal a severe groundwater level decline of more than 13 m during the past two decades. A key finding of the research is the presence of a nonlinear relationship between groundwater drawdown and subsidence intensity. Contrary to expectations, the largest extent of high‑class subsidence occurred in areas with moderate groundwater decline (−1.5 to −3.5 m), and the very high‑class subsidence zones were found in areas with low groundwater decline (0 to −1.5 m).
The present study demonstrates that the intensity of land subsidence is not necessarily directly correlated with the rate of excessive groundwater extraction. Surprisingly, the central and southern regions, characterized by moderate water loss, experienced the most significant subsidence, whereas the northern areas, despite severe water decline, exhibited negligible subsidence. This heterogeneous pattern suggests that local geological characteristics likely play a more determinative role in the spatial distribution of subsidence.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

References
Afzali, S., Mollaienia, M., komasi, M. & Salkhordeh Haghighi, M. (2021). Studying Causes of Decreasing Groundwater Level (Case Study: Urmia Aquifer). Irrigation and Water Engineering, 12(1), 276-294. (in persian)
Aghayary, L. & Abedini, M. (2023). Investigating and zoning land subsidence using Aras multi-criteria model analysis, case study: Ardabil plain). Journal of Hydrogeomorphology, 10(36), 94-112. (in persian).
Amighpey, M., Arabi, S., Ghoraiyan, F. & Molayi, A. (2023). Investigating the Land Subsidence around Urmia Lake using Geodetic Observations. Iran-Water Resources Research, 19(2), 196-206. (in persian).
Asghari Saraskanroud, S., Esfandyari, F., Faal Naziri, M. & Zeinali, B. (2025). Estimation and evaluation of the risk of land subsidence in the urban boundaries of Savajbalag-Nazarabad-Chaharbagh-Karaj-Ferdis cities. Journal of Hydrogeomorphology, 11(41), 135-161.(in persian).
Bashirian, F., Rahimi, D., Movahedi, S., & Zakerinejad, R. (2020). Water level instability analysis of Urmia Lake Basin in the northwest of Iran. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 13, 1-14.‏
Behmanesh, J., Samadi.R., &Rezaei.H. (2016). Investigation of groundwater level changes trend(Case Study: Urmia plain). Journal of Water and Soil Conservation, 22(4), 67-84. (in persian).
European Space Agency (ESA). (2022). Sentinel-1 Technical Guide. European Space Agency. Retrieved from https://scihub.copernicus.eu.
Farr, T. G., Rosen, P. A., Caro, E., Crippen, R., Duren, R., Hensley, S., & Alsdorf, D. (2007). The shuttle radar topography mission. Reviews of geophysics, 45(2), 1-33.
Ferretti, A., Prati, C., & Rocca, F. (2002). Permanent scatterers in SAR interferometry. IEEE Transactions on geoscience and remote sensing, 39(1), 8-20.‏
Geological Survey and Mineral Explorations of Iran (GSI). (2007). 1:100,000-scale geological maps: Urmia, Oshnaviyeh, and Saro sheets. Tehran: Geological Survey of Iran. (in persian)
Gharechaee, H., Samani, A. N., Sigaroodi, S. K., Baloochiyan, A., Moosavi, M. S., Hubbart, J. A., & Sadeghi, S. M. M. (2023). Land subsidence susceptibility mapping using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and machine learning models in a semiarid region of Iran. Land, 12(4), 1-20.
Ghiglia, D. C. (1998). Two-dimentional phase unwrapping: Theory. Algorithms, and Software.‏
Hanssen, R. F. (2001). Radar interferometry: data interpretation and error analysis (Vol. 2). Springer Science & Business Media.‏
Jamshidi Torkamani Mola, L., Alizadeh, A. & Hemmati, F. (2023). Geology and Evaluating Elevation Change in the Kahrez Plain Aquifer Using Interferometric Radar Techniques. Journal of Tectonics, 6(24), 57-68. (in persian)
Karimzadeh, S., Matsuoka, M., & Ogushi, F. (2018). Spatiotemporal deformation patterns of the Lake Urmia Causeway as characterized by multisensor InSAR analysis. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 5357.‏
Massonnet, D., & Feigl, K. L. (1998). Radar interferometry and its application to changes in the Earth's surface. Reviews of geophysics, 36(4), 441-500.‏
Moghimi, H., AbbasNovinpour, E. & Morshedi, B. (2021). Investigation of the phenomenon of subsidence due to the decrease of groundwater level in the city of Urmia using the zoning of changes in the distribution of soil layers. Journal of Ecohydrology, 8(3), 791-806. (in persian).
Normand, B., Daneshfaraz, R., & Barikhajasteh, H. (Habib). (2013). Water resources management of Urmia Plain using hydrological and hydrogeological studies. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Modeling Plant, Water, Soil and Weather, Kerman, Iran, 1-11.(in persian).
Radman, A., Akhoondzadeh, M., & Hosseiny, B. (2021). Integrating InSAR and deep-learning for modeling and predicting subsidence over the adjacent area of Lake Urmia, Iran. GIScience & Remote Sensing, 58(8), 1413-1433.
Rajabi, A. M., & Ghorbani, E. (2016). Land subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal in Arak plain, Markazi province, Iran. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 9, 1-7.‏
Sadeghi, V., Etemadfard, H. & Naeimi, Y. (2021). Design of water level-surface models for Urmia Lake based on ground and space observations. Iranian Water Researches Journal, 15(4), 83-96. (in persian)
Shahbazi, S., Mousavi, Z., & Rezaei, A. (2022). Constraints on the hydrogeological properties and land subsidence through GNSS and InSAR measurements and well data in Salmas plain, northwest of Urmia Lake, Iran. Hydrogeology Journal, 30(2), 533-555.‏
Tang, W., Zhao, X., Li, J., Cheng, S., & Xiong, W. Monitoring Land Subsidence in the Fenhe River Basin, Northern China, to Support Hazard Mitigation and Groundwater Management Using Sentinel-1 Insar Time Series Analysis. Northern China, to Support Hazard Mitigation and Groundwater Management Using Sentinel-1 Insar Time Series Analysis.‏
United States Geological Survey (USGS). (2015). Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) 1 Arc-Second Global Digital Elevation Model. NASA Earth Data via EarthExplorer. Retrieved from https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov.
West Azerbaijan Regional Water Organization. (2023). Groundwater level depth data of Urmia Plain observation wells (2015–2022) [Internal dataset, received as Excel file]. Urmia: West Azerbaijan Regional Water Company. (in persian)
Youneszadeh Jalili, S., Kamali, M., & Arasteh, P. D. (2017). Analytical study of land use changes (irrigated agriculture) in the watershed of Lake Urmia using Landsat imagery,‏ 20 (78) ,15-28. (in persian)
Yousefi, K., Dusti Rezaei, M. & Ahmadaali, J. (2024). Sensitivity Analysis of The Urmia Plain Aquifer Level. Desert Management, 11(4), 55-70. (in persian)
Zamiri Aghdam, F., Akhoondzadeh, M., & Dehghani Jabbarlou, M. (2022). Monitoring of Urmia Lake Bridge Subsidence during 2014-2021 Using DInSAR-SBAS Method and GPS Data. Journal of Geomatics Science and Technology, 11(4), 97-105.‏ (in persian).

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 28 June 2025
  • Revise Date: 27 September 2025
  • Accept Date: 01 October 2025

Share

How to cite

Statistics