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Three Gorges Dam stability monitoring with time-series InSAR image analysis

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Abstract

In this paper, we carried out a combination of permanent scatterer and quasi permanent scatterer time-series InSAR image analyses to extract geometric information over the area of the Three Gorges Dam. For the first time, we measured and analyzed the deformation of the Three Gorges Dam and its surrounding area using 40 SAR images acquired from 2003 to 2008. Our results indicate that the temporal deformation of the left part of the dam has ceased and that the deformation of the dam was influenced by the changing level of the Yangtze River. Seasonal deformation due to varying temperature is also observed. The obtained results agree well with the published results of the Three Gorges Dam deformation obtained by employing conventional survey methods. We also found that there is an area of abnormal subsidence near Zigui County. This paper demonstrates the potential of time-series InSAR image analysis in the monitoring of dam stability and measurement of subsidence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Teng Wang & Ming-Sheng Liao

  2. Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, 20133, Italy

    Teng Wang, Daniele Perissin & Fabio Rocca

  3. Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Daniele Perissin

Authors
  1. Teng Wang
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  2. Daniele Perissin
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  3. Fabio Rocca
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  4. Ming-Sheng Liao
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Correspondence to Teng Wang.

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Wang, T., Perissin, D., Rocca, F. et al. Three Gorges Dam stability monitoring with time-series InSAR image analysis. Sci. China Earth Sci. 54, 720–732 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-010-4101-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-010-4101-1

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