Characterizing the Topographic Changes and Land Subsidence Associated with the Mountain Excavation and City Construction on the Chinese Loess Plateau
A mega project, Mountain Excavation and City Construction (MECC), was launched in the hilly and gully region of the Chinese Loess Plateau in 2012, in order to address the shortage of available land and create new flat land for urban construction. However, large-scale land creation and urban expansio...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/8/1556 |
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| author | Chuanhao Pu Qiang Xu Kuanyao Zhao Yanan Jiang Lina Hao Jialiang Liu Wanlin Chen Pinglang Kou |
| author_facet | Chuanhao Pu Qiang Xu Kuanyao Zhao Yanan Jiang Lina Hao Jialiang Liu Wanlin Chen Pinglang Kou |
| author_sort | Chuanhao Pu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A mega project, Mountain Excavation and City Construction (MECC), was launched in the hilly and gully region of the Chinese Loess Plateau in 2012, in order to address the shortage of available land and create new flat land for urban construction. However, large-scale land creation and urban expansion significantly alters the local geological environment, leading to severe ground deformation. This study investigated the topographic changes, ground deformation, and their interactions due to the MECC project in the Yan’an New District (YND). First, new surface elevations were generated using ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3) stereo images acquired after the construction in order to map the local topographic changes and the fill thickness associated with the MECC project. Then, the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) time series and 32 Sentinel-1A images were used to assess the spatial patterns of the ground deformation in the YND during the postconstruction period (2017–2018). By combining the InSAR-derived results and topographic change features, the relationship between the ground deformation and large-scale land creation was further analyzed. The results indicated that the MECC project in the YND has created over 22 km<sup>2</sup> of flat land, including 10.8 km<sup>2</sup> of filled area, with a maximum fill thickness of ~110 m. Significant uneven ground deformation was detected in the land-creation area, with a maximum subsidence rate of approximately 121 mm/year, which was consistent with the field survey. The strong correlation between the observed subsidence patterns and the land creation project suggested that this recorded uneven subsidence was primarily related to the spatial distribution of the filling works, along with the changes in the thickness and geotechnical properties of the filled loess; moreover, rapid urbanization, such as road construction, can accelerate the subsidence process. These findings can guide improvements in urban planning and the mitigation of geohazards in regions experiencing large-scale land construction. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:14:13Z |
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| id | doaj.art-2ea23796b73145729136ccd0a02dd44e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:14:13Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-2ea23796b73145729136ccd0a02dd44e2023-11-21T15:56:43ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-04-01138155610.3390/rs13081556Characterizing the Topographic Changes and Land Subsidence Associated with the Mountain Excavation and City Construction on the Chinese Loess PlateauChuanhao Pu0Qiang Xu1Kuanyao Zhao2Yanan Jiang3Lina Hao4Jialiang Liu5Wanlin Chen6Pinglang Kou7State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, ChinaThe Chongqing Engineering Research Center for Spatial Big Data Intelligent Technology, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Chongqing 400065, ChinaA mega project, Mountain Excavation and City Construction (MECC), was launched in the hilly and gully region of the Chinese Loess Plateau in 2012, in order to address the shortage of available land and create new flat land for urban construction. However, large-scale land creation and urban expansion significantly alters the local geological environment, leading to severe ground deformation. This study investigated the topographic changes, ground deformation, and their interactions due to the MECC project in the Yan’an New District (YND). First, new surface elevations were generated using ZiYuan-3 (ZY-3) stereo images acquired after the construction in order to map the local topographic changes and the fill thickness associated with the MECC project. Then, the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) time series and 32 Sentinel-1A images were used to assess the spatial patterns of the ground deformation in the YND during the postconstruction period (2017–2018). By combining the InSAR-derived results and topographic change features, the relationship between the ground deformation and large-scale land creation was further analyzed. The results indicated that the MECC project in the YND has created over 22 km<sup>2</sup> of flat land, including 10.8 km<sup>2</sup> of filled area, with a maximum fill thickness of ~110 m. Significant uneven ground deformation was detected in the land-creation area, with a maximum subsidence rate of approximately 121 mm/year, which was consistent with the field survey. The strong correlation between the observed subsidence patterns and the land creation project suggested that this recorded uneven subsidence was primarily related to the spatial distribution of the filling works, along with the changes in the thickness and geotechnical properties of the filled loess; moreover, rapid urbanization, such as road construction, can accelerate the subsidence process. These findings can guide improvements in urban planning and the mitigation of geohazards in regions experiencing large-scale land construction.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/8/1556topographic changeland subsidencemountain excavation and city constructionSBAS-InSARLoess Plateau |
| spellingShingle | Chuanhao Pu Qiang Xu Kuanyao Zhao Yanan Jiang Lina Hao Jialiang Liu Wanlin Chen Pinglang Kou Characterizing the Topographic Changes and Land Subsidence Associated with the Mountain Excavation and City Construction on the Chinese Loess Plateau Remote Sensing topographic change land subsidence mountain excavation and city construction SBAS-InSAR Loess Plateau |
| title | Characterizing the Topographic Changes and Land Subsidence Associated with the Mountain Excavation and City Construction on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_full | Characterizing the Topographic Changes and Land Subsidence Associated with the Mountain Excavation and City Construction on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Characterizing the Topographic Changes and Land Subsidence Associated with the Mountain Excavation and City Construction on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterizing the Topographic Changes and Land Subsidence Associated with the Mountain Excavation and City Construction on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_short | Characterizing the Topographic Changes and Land Subsidence Associated with the Mountain Excavation and City Construction on the Chinese Loess Plateau |
| title_sort | characterizing the topographic changes and land subsidence associated with the mountain excavation and city construction on the chinese loess plateau |
| topic | topographic change land subsidence mountain excavation and city construction SBAS-InSAR Loess Plateau |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/8/1556 |
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