Zhang et al. (2025) Groundwater volume loss and land subsidence in the North China plain investigated using wide-area InSAR surveying and mechanical modeling

Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing of Environment
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-02
• Authors: Xing Zhang, Jun Hu, Mahdi Motagh, Mingjia Li, Yuedong Wang, Qiuhong Yang, Guangli Su, Haigang Wang
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2025.115164

Research Groups

• School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
• Hunan Geological Disaster Monitoring, Early Warning and Emergency Rescue Engineering Technology Research Center, Changsha, China
• Section of Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
• Institute of Photogrammetry and GeoInformation, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany
• Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
• School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China
• Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
• First Monitoring and Application Center, CEA, Tianjin, China
• Hebei Cangzhou Groundwater and Land Subsidence National Observation and Research Station, Cangzhou, China
• Schools of Resources Environment and Tourism, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China

Short Summary

This study integrates wide-area InSAR data with a mechanical model to map aquifer deformation and groundwater storage loss (GWSL) across the North China Plain, revealing severe subsidence, quantifying aquifer elastic recovery, and providing the first 2-km resolution GWSL dataset. It highlights a shift in subsidence from urban to agricultural areas, with urban deformation stabilizing while agricultural subsidence intensifies.

Objective

• To reveal the detailed spatiotemporal dynamics of aquifer system deformation and groundwater storage loss (GWSL) across the entire North China Plain (NCP) by integrating wide-area InSAR survey data with a mechanical model.
• To quantify the elastic recovery capacity of the Quaternary aquifer system and investigate the spatiotemporal variation patterns of land subsidence under the combined influence of human activities and natural factors.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Entire North China Plain (NCP); 2-kilometer resolution for groundwater storage loss (GWSL) dataset.
• Temporal Scale: Sentinel-1 A SAR data from 2017 to 2023; investigation of land subsidence patterns over the past 63 years.

Methodology and Data

• Models used:
  • Time-series InSAR technology
  • Wide-area multi-track network adjustment model (incorporating spatial constraints)
  • Cross-wavelet analysis
  • Volume Strain Model (VSM) integrated with InSAR (InSAR-VSM)
• Data sources:
  • Sentinel-1 A SAR dataset (2017-2023, two ascending orbits T40 and T142, eight frames)
  • Groundwater level data

Main Results

• Seamless, millimeter-level accuracy time-series deformation sequences were obtained for the NCP.
• Three severe subsidence areas were identified, with maximum vertical velocity exceeding -150 mm/year and cumulative subsidence reaching up to 1 meter.
• The elastic skeletal storage coefficient (Sₖₑ) of the Quaternary aquifer system ranged from 0.0002 to 0.021.
• Aquifer response differed significantly between regions: the piedmont plain showed mostly elastic deformation, while the flood plain exhibited mostly plastic deformation with no elastic recovery in subsidence funnel areas.
• The first 2-kilometer resolution dataset of groundwater storage loss (GWSL) for the NCP was generated.
• Average annual groundwater loss from 2017 to 2023 was estimated to be -4.346 × 10⁸ m³/yr to -8.692 × 10⁸ m³/yr.
• Land deformation shows a spatial migration characteristic from urban areas to agricultural land; urban deformation has stopped or reversed, while agricultural areas continue to experience intensifying subsidence.

Contributions

• Integration of wide-area InSAR survey data with a mechanical model to provide detailed spatiotemporal dynamics of aquifer system deformation and groundwater storage loss across the entire NCP.
• Development and application of a wide-area multi-track network adjustment model for seamless, millimeter-level accuracy deformation sequences.
• Quantification of the elastic recovery capacity of the Quaternary aquifer system, revealing significant regional differences in aquifer response.
• Construction of a novel groundwater loss inversion model (InSAR-VSM) to produce the first 2-kilometer resolution dataset of GWSL for the NCP.
• Systematic investigation of long-term (63 years) spatiotemporal land subsidence patterns under combined human and natural influences, identifying a critical shift in subsidence trends.
• Provides crucial scientific support for adaptive groundwater management and subsidence mitigation strategies in water-scarce sedimentary basins.

Funding

[No specific funding projects, programs, or reference codes were explicitly listed in the provided text.]

Citation

@article{Zhang2025Groundwater,
  author = {Zhang, Xing and Hu, Jun and Motagh, Mahdi and Li, Mingjia and Wang, Yuedong and Yang, Qiuhong and Su, Guangli and Wang, Haigang},
  title = {Groundwater volume loss and land subsidence in the North China plain investigated using wide-area InSAR surveying and mechanical modeling},
  journal = {Remote Sensing of Environment},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1016/j.rse.2025.115164},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2025.115164}
}