Time‐series InSAR monitoring of surface deformation in Yakutsk, a city located on continuous permafrost

• Published in: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
• Main Authors: Li, Xianglong, Zhang, Ze, Zheleznyak, Mikhail, Jin, Huijun, Zhang, Shengrong, Wei, Hao, Zhai, Jinbang, Melnikov, Andrey, Gagarin, Leonid
• Other Authors: Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, National Natural Science Foundation of China
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Yakutsk; Climate change; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.5736; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/esp.5736

Abstract Permafrost, known for its high sensitivity to climate change and human activities, plays a crucial role in comprehending the environmental sustainability of Arctic cities. Yakutsk, being the largest city situated in continuous permafrost, has suffered irreversible damage to surface buildings due to the widespread permafrost thaw. Therefore, it is imperative to conduct detailed monitoring and assessment of surface deformation to ensure the stable operation of building facilities and to plan urban development situated above the permafrost. This study utilized 138 scenes of Sentinel‐1B images captured between 2017 and 2021 to process the surface deformation variations of Yakutsk using the Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PS‐InSAR) method. The surface deformation rate map reflects that the study area is undergoing extensive surface subsidence. The cumulative deformation time series maps effectively trace the temporal and spatial evolution of surface deformation, with the highest surface subsidence rates exceeding 40 mm/year and maximum cumulative subsidence exceeding 250 mm. In‐depth analysis of the obtained results indicated that the permafrost in Yakutsk is undergoing degradation, and the primary reason for surface subsidence is the thawing of foundation soils and the degradation of ice‐bearing permafrost. This study provides basic data for the investigation of geohazards caused by surface subsidence in Yakutsk.