Assessment of Active Ground Subsidence in the Dibrugarh and Digboi Areas of Assam, Northeast India, Using the PSInSAR Technique

Abstract

Ground deformation on a regional to local scale is the consequence of a wide range of natural processes such as tectonic and anthropogenic activities. Globally, the over-extraction of groundwater and hydrocarbon exploitation are the primary causes of ground subsidence. The current study demonstrates regional scale ground subsidence analysis of the Dibrugarh and Digboi regions of Brahmaputra alluvial plain, Assam, Northeast India. To understand the ongoing surface deformation satellite base, the RADAR technique has been applied using SENTINEL-1A data, which were acquired between 15 October 2015 to 25 January 2022. The assessment carried out via the time series analysis of the radar data suggests that the Dibrugarh area is subsiding at a rate of ~5 mm/yr, whereas the Digboi is deforming at a much faster rate (±22 mm/yr) than Dibrugarh. The presence of active faults in the subsurface and associated deformation is another reason for active ground subsidence. The outcomes of the current study validate that the study area is currently undergoing active subsurface deformation caused by both endogenic as well as exogenic processes. Furthermore, our Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PSInSAR) and satellite-based analysis suggest that the over-exploitation of the natural resources is enhancing the rate of deformation in the Brahmaputra alluvial plain in the northeast of India.