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Inverse modelling using PS‐InSAR data for improved land subsidence simulation in Las Vegas Valley, Nevada
Author(s) -
Zhang Meijing,
Burbey Thomas J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.10945
Subject(s) - geology , interferometric synthetic aperture radar , subsidence , groundwater , aquifer , geomorphology , fault (geology) , groundwater flow , las vegas , terrain , structural basin , hydrology (agriculture) , seismology , geotechnical engineering , remote sensing , synthetic aperture radar , medicine , ecology , metropolitan area , pathology , biology
Las Vegas Valley has had a long history of groundwater development and subsequent surface deformation. InSAR interferograms have revealed detailed and complex spatial patterns of subsidence in the Las Vegas Valley area that do not coincide with major pumping regions. This research represents the first effort to use high spatial and temporal resolution subsidence observations from InSAR and hydraulic head data to inversely calibrate transmissivities ( T ), elastic and inelastic skeletal storage coefficients ( S ke and S kv ) of the developed‐zone aquifer and conductance ( CR ) of the basin‐fill faults for the entire Las Vegas basin. The results indicate that the subsidence observations from InSAR are extremely beneficial for accurately quantifying hydraulic parameters, and the model calibration results are far more accurate than when using only groundwater levels as observations, and just a limited number of subsidence observations. The discrepancy between distributions of pumping and greatest levels of subsidence is found to be attributed to spatial variations in clay thickness. The Eglington fault separates thicker interbeds to the northwest from thinner interbeds to the southeast and the fault may act as a groundwater‐flow barrier and/or subsidence boundary, although the influence of the groundwater barrier to this area is found to be insignificant. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.