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AGU: Water Resources Research

 

Index Terms

  • Hydrology: Groundwater hydrology

Abstract

WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH, VOL. 37, NO. 6, PP. 1551-1566, 2001
doi:10.1029/2000WR900404

Seasonal subsidence and rebound in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, observed by Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry

Jörn Hoffmann

Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, California

Howard A. Zebker

Department of Geophysics, Stanford University, Stanford, California

Devin L. Galloway

U.S. Geological Survey, Sacramento, California

Falk Amelung

Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii

Analyses of areal variations in the subsidence and rebound occurring over stressed aquifer systems, in conjunction with measurements of the hydraulic head fluctuations causing these displacements, can yield valuable information about the compressibility and storage properties of the aquifer system. Historically, stress-strain relationships have been derived from paired extensometer/piezometer installations, which provide only point source data. Because of the general unavailability of spatially detailed deformation data, areal stress-strain relations and their variability are not commonly considered in constraining conceptual and numerical models of aquifer systems. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) techniques can map ground displacements at a spatial scale of tens of meters over 100 km wide swaths. InSAR has been used previously to characterize larger magnitude, generally permanent aquifer system compaction and land subsidence at yearly and longer timescales, caused by sustained drawdown of groundwater levels that produces intergranular stresses consistently greater than the maximum historical stress. We present InSAR measurements of the typically small-magnitude, generally recoverable deformations of the Las Vegas Valley aquifer system occurring at seasonal timescales. From these we derive estimates of the elastic storage coefficient for the aquifer system at several locations in Las Vegas Valley. These high-resolution measurements offer great potential for future investigations into the mechanics of aquifer systems and the spatial heterogeneity of aquifer system structure and material properties as well as for monitoring ongoing aquifer system compaction and land subsidence.

Received 16 March 2000; accepted 12 December 2000; .

Citation: Hoffmann, J., H. A. Zebker, D. L. Galloway, and F. Amelung (2001), Seasonal subsidence and rebound in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, observed by Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry, Water Resour. Res., 37(6), 1551–1566, doi:10.1029/2000WR900404.

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