Analysis of the Spatial and Temporal Evolution of Land Subsidence in Wuhan, China from 2017 to 2021

Land subsidence is a common geological hazard. Rapid urban expansion has led to different degrees of ground subsidence within Wuhan in the past few years. The novel coronavirus outbreak in 2020 has seriously impacted urban construction and people's lives in Wuhan. Land subsidence in Wuhan has changed greatly with the resumption of work and production. We used 80 Sentinel-1A Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images covering Wuhan to obtain the land subsidence change information of Wuhan from July 2017 to September 2021 by using the small baseline subset interferometric SAR technique. Results show that the subsidence in Wuhan is uneven and concentrated in a few areas, and the maximum subsidence rate reached 57 mm/yr during the study period. Compared with land deformation before 2017, the land subsidence in Wuhan is more obvious after 2020. The most severe area of subsidence is located near Qingling in Hongshan District, with a maximum accumulated subsidence of 90 mm, and obvious subsidence funnels are observed in Qiaokou, Jiangan, Wuchang and Qingshan Districts. The location of subsidence centers in Wuhan is associated with building intensity, and most of the subsidence funnels are formed in connection with urban subway construction and building construction. Carbonate belt and soft ground cover areas are more likely to lead to karst collapse and land subsidence phenomena. Seasonal changes are observed in the land subsidence in Wuhan. A large amount of rainfall can replenish groundwater resources and reduce the rate of land subsidence. The change in water level in the Yangtze River has a certain impact on the land subsidence along the rivers in Wuhan, but the overall impact is small. An obvious uplift is observed in Caidian District in the south of Wuhan, and the reason may be related to the physical and chemical expansion effects of the expansive clay.

Automated summary

This article investigates the land subsidence situation in Wuhan and finds that it is unevenly distributed and related to building intensity. The most severe subsidence occurs near Qingling in Hongshan District, which is associated with subway and building construction. Seasonal changes and rainfall are found to affect land subsidence, while the change in the water level of the Yangtze River has a small overall impact. An obvious uplift is observed in Caidian District, possibly due to the expansion effects of expansive clay.