In the bustling world of coastal city development, land reclamation projects are a double-edged sword. While they expand urban footprints and accommodate growing populations, they also introduce unique challenges, particularly when it comes to airport construction. Ground subsidence, a silent menace, can lead to infrastructure damage and safety hazards. Enter U. G. Sefercik, a geomatics engineer from Gebze Technical University in Kocaeli, Türkiye, who has been delving into innovative solutions to monitor and mitigate these risks.
Sefercik’s recent study, published in The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, focuses on the coherence between linear and cubic Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) displacement models in deformation monitoring. But what does this mean for the energy sector and commercial infrastructure?
Traditional ground deformation methodologies have served their purpose, but they’re labor-intensive and lack the spatial resolution needed for large-scale, precise monitoring. This is where Sefercik’s work comes in. By leveraging interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technology and the SBAS method, a multi-temporal InSAR approach, Sefercik has achieved sub-centimeter accuracy in ground deformation monitoring. “The SBAS method enhances the quality of interferograms by utilizing a SAR dataset with small baselines,” Sefercik explains. “This allows for periodic monitoring of ground deformation with unprecedented precision.”
The study, conducted at Hatay Airport using 151 Sentinel-1A single-look complex (SLC) SAR images, revealed fascinating insights. The mean deformation velocity and cumulative deformation values were determined in the satellite line-of-sight (LOS) direction. Cumulative vertical deformation maps were generated for both linear and cubic SBAS displacement models, with values ranging from -142.71 mm to 60.11 mm and from -224.84 mm to 69.9 mm, respectively. The coherence analysis yielded a standard deviation of ±8.525 mm after bias elimination, indicating a high level of agreement between the two models.
So, what does this mean for the energy sector? As coastal cities continue to expand, so does the demand for energy infrastructure. Pipelines, power plants, and other critical assets are often built on reclaimed land, making them susceptible to ground subsidence. Sefercik’s research offers a promising solution for monitoring these assets, ensuring their safety and longevity. “By understanding and predicting ground deformation, we can proactively mitigate risks and avoid costly repairs or, worse, catastrophic failures,” Sefercik says.
The implications of this research are far-reaching. As we move towards a future of smart cities and infrastructure, the ability to monitor and predict ground deformation will be crucial. Sefercik’s work paves the way for more accurate, efficient, and reliable deformation monitoring, shaping the future of geomatics engineering and beyond. The energy sector, in particular, stands to benefit greatly from these advancements, ensuring the safety and sustainability of our coastal cities.
