Spatial-temporal characteristics of land subsidence corresponding to dynamic groundwater funnel in Beijing Municipality, China

Abstract

Due to long-term over-exploitation of groundwater in Beijing Municipality, regional groundwater funnels have formed and land subsidence has been induced. By combining a groundwater monitoring network, GPS monitoring network data, radar satellite SAR data, GIS and other new technologies, a coupled process model based on the dynamic variation of groundwater and the deformation response of land subsidence has been established. The dynamic variation of groundwater funnels and the land subsidence response process were analyzed systematically in Beijing.Study results indicate that current groundwater funnel areas are distributed mainly in the southwest of Shunyi District, the northeast of Chaoyang District and the northwest of Tongzhou District, with an average decline rate of groundwater level of 2.66 m/yr and a maximum of 3.82 m/yr in the center of the funnels. Seasonal and interannual differences exist in the response model of land subsidence to groundwater funnels with uneven spatial and temporal distribution, where the maximum land subsidence rate was about -41.08 mm/yr and the area with a subsidence rate greater than 30 mm/yr was about 1637.29 km 2 . Although a consistency was revealed to exist between a groundwater funnel and the spatial distribution characteristics of the corresponding land subsidence funnel, this consistency was not perfect. The results showed that the response model of land subsidence to the dynamic variation of groundwater was more revealing when combining conventional technologies with InSAR, GIS, GPS, providing a new strategy for environmental and hydrogeological research and a scientific basis for regional land subsidence control.

Imaging Land Subsidence Induced by Groundwater Extraction in Beijing (China) Using Satellite Radar Interferometry

“…It can be observed in Figure 7 and Figure 8 that the subsidence bowls located in the east, north-east and north parts of Beijing have been gradually connected, indicating the serious situation in these areas. Consequently, this bowl, which appeared for the first time in 1975 [15], has gradually increased in depth and extension until the present. The Xianninghou-Shuangqiao subsidence area, located in the eastern suburbs of Chaoyang District, is in the maximum settlement centre from the East bowl.…”

“…Although existing investigations have tried different ways of monitoring land subsidence in the Beijing region [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], the consistency of the land subsidence monitoring results in this densely populated area in the world acquired by multi-wavelength InSAR time series analysis and validation by GPS data is rarely covered. Furthermore, the comprehensive and quantitative spatio-temporal analysis to identify the main conditioning and triggering factors of land subsidence still need to be systematically researched further.…”

Land subsidence due to groundwater withdrawal in the northern Beijing plain, China

“…Chen et al (2011) analyzed the relation between groundwater level and land subsidence in Beijing Municipality. Zhu et al (2013) used an artificial intelligence approach to develop a land subsidence model.…”

Effects of anthropogenic water regulation and groundwater lateral flow on land processes

“…Over-exploitation of groundwater leads to a decline of the groundwater table, and depression cones near wells are commonplace in these regions [Chen et al, 2003[Chen et al, , 2011. The changed groundwater heads cause changes in lateral flow, which naturally transports groundwater from surrounding areas to the local groundwater depressions.…”