SBAS-DInSAR monitoring of subsidence induced by extracting brine from an underground salt deposit in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Tuzla City, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is very famous for salt mining. The intensive extraction of brine from the underground salt deposit caused accumulative subsidence of up to -12 m from 1956 to 2003. It induced serious damage to residences, buildings, and infrastructures. Although the activity of brine extraction was officially stopped in 2007, reports of subsidence are still on-going for some areas of Tuzla City according to a previous study. In the present study, a satellite-based method, i.e., Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR), is applied for the subsidence monitoring of the induced underground brine extraction. Since October 2014, SAR data obtained by the Sentinel-1A and -1B satellites (European Space Agency: ESA) and Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) multi-temporal analyses have been employed to obtain the spatial distribution and the temporal transition of the land subsidence. The accuracy and effectiveness of the SBAS-DInSAR method are assessed and evaluated by using the real-time kinematic GNSS monitoring system. DInSAR detected that the subsidence is still on-going at a velocity of -36.4 mm/year in some areas, especially in an area northeast of the center of the city. This study presents the validity and effectiveness of SBAS-DInSAR as a useful subsidence monitoring tool.