Application of Persistent Scatterer Interferometry for Land Subsidence Monitoring in Sydney, Australia using ENVISAT ASAR Data

The aim of this research is to investigate the terrain deformation in the metropolitan area of Sydney using multiple satellite radar imagery. The persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) strategy developed at Geodesy and Earth Observing Systems Group (GEOS) of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is used to map the land deformation in Sydney with C-band ENVISAT radar images in this study. A total of 49 ENVISAT images acquired from 21 April 2003 to 6 September 2010 over Sydney were used in this study. The results demonstrate that the area of Sydney was relatively stable with the majority of deformation at persistent scatter points within the range of -3 mm/yr to 3 mm/yr. The PSI result was overlaid with the water extraction bore and the boundary of Botany Sands Aquifer. No clear correlation between the groundwater extraction and the PSI measured deformation pattern has been observed.