Monitoring and modeling land subsidence at the Cerro Prieto geothermal field, Baja California, Mexico, using SAR interferometry

Images derived from repeat-pass spaceborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) systems offer the possibility of mapping surface deformation of small spatial extent and monitoring its spatio-temporal evolution. A slow local subsidence has been detected at the Cerro Prieto geothermal field from images acquired by the European Space Agency remote sensing satellites ERS-1/2 between 1993 and 1997. Although agricultural activity in the area limited the investigation, interferometric monitoring revealed that the ground deformation is associated with the withdrawal of geothermal fluid and agreed with the leveling data. Modeling of the subsidence was carried out assuming elastic deformation in a half-space from simple point sources, of which five were necessary to reproduce the fringe patterns observed on the interferograms. The depths and locations of three of the sources are compatible with the location of the known reservoir. The study improves prior knowledge of the displacement field and of the mecanisms involved in the subsidence phenomenon.