The goal and significance of the project
The natural environment is experiencing new phenomena as a result of global warming. Particularly, massive sinkholes are caused by the rapid thawing of the Arctic permafrost. Sinkholes not only cause severe environmental changes, but they are also primarily linked to rising CO2 emissions. Climate change, on the other hand, indicates an intensification of the drought, which could be also accompanied by the sinkhole hazard. Sinkholes caused by humans have been observed in many countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, China, and RPA. Nevertheless, they are poorly monitored in comparison to other deformation processes such as landslides or compaction-induced subsidence. Traditional observation techniques such as levelling, GNSS, and tachymetry face difficulties in monitoring the movement of the terrain surface prior to the occurrence of sinkholes. However, remote techniques such as Satellite Radar Interferometry (InSAR) can be useful in resolving this problem. Simultaneously, the intensive development of satellite technologies promotes an effective ability to identify precursors of the sinkhole. Furthermore, Machine Learning (ML) tools, which has grown in popularity in recent years, are increasingly being used to identify patterns in big data. They enable evaluating phenomena for which a strict algorithm cannot be developed due to the multiplicity of factors, allowing for an unambiguous mathematical description of the phenomenon under study. As a result, advanced InSAR tools combined with ML algorithms will allow for a better understanding of the physics of sinkhole formation as well as the effective detection of developing sinkholes. The investigation of the displacement field characteristics in the sinkhole area will raise awareness of the nature of such accelerated deformations caused by climate change.
This project is funded by SONATA grant no. 2021/43/D/ST10/02048 from the National Science Center in Poland.
Principal Investigator: Wojciech Witkowski (wwitkow@agh.edu.pl)
Team Members: Artur Guzy, Magdalena Łucka, Ryszard Hejmanowski
Amount awarded: 735 660 PLN
Project start date: 2022-07-04
Project end date: 2025-07-03
