InSAR time series investigation of land subsidence due to groundwater overexploitation in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Land surface deformation associated with groundwater overexploitation is a serious challenge for plain aquifers of Iran, particularly in semiarid and arid region. In the Greater Tehran area, the capital of Iran with a population of 14 million people, ground-water discharge has exceeded natural recharge over the last decades, causing significant drawdown of groundwater level and land subsidence. In this study we use 46 Envisat ASAR data acquired in descending and ascending orbits between 2003 and 2007 to examine in detail the spatio-temporal pattern of land subsidence in Tehran.