Many coastal cities around the globe have initiated construction projects in reclaimed areas with the objective of constructing airports and expanding air transportation services. The looseness of soil structures in reclaimed lands can result in deformations in infrastructure and structures above. It is therefore crucial to implement effective detection and monitoring procedures to identify and assess such deformations. In this study, 151 Sentinel-1A single-look complex (SLC) images, obtained between 2 December 2017 and 29 January 2023, were employed for the purpose of detecting reclamation-induced ground deformation at Hatay Airport using persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI), a multi-temporal interferometric synthetic aperture radar (MT-InSAR) method, through the Stanford Method for Persistent Scatterers (StaMPS) software. Furthermore, the atmospheric phase delay contributions were corrected through the implementation of the Generic Atmospheric Correction Online Service for InSAR (GACOS) data using the Toolbox for Reducing Atmospheric InSAR Noise (TRAIN). The average line-of-sight (LOS) deformation velocity across the area was determined to be between -6.25 mm/year and 9.02 mm/year, with fluctuations observed. The deformation trend observed on the northern and southern sides exhibited disparate directionalities with respect to the LOS. Areas exhibiting a deficiency in PS points relative to the remainder of the dataset may be attributed to the presence of low coherence signals. The application of StaMPS PSI for the monitoring of ground deformation demonstrated an overall accuracy of sub-centimeter measurements in a reclaimed airport area. Overall, the application of MT-InSAR techniques, particularly StaMPS PSI combined with GACOS corrections, enabled the robust detection and monitoring of ground deformation patterns with remarkable precision. This advanced approach is essential for maintenance planning, safety management, and risk mitigation in critical infrastructures such as airports. Early identification of deformation allows for timely intervention, helping to safeguard both structural integrity and operational continuity, thus contributing to the long-term safety and resilience of these strategically important facilities.
Görken et al. (Wed,) studied this question.