This research assesses the accuracy of SRTM and AIRSAR DEMs acquired over the mountainous-hillands of Cameron Highlands with DEMs generated from Digital Aerial Photograph (DAP) with a fine (2 m) spatial resolution and height resolution of about 0.5 m. The ground control points used for generating stereo models from the DAP were acquired during field work using GPS which achieved accuracy better than 2 cm in most cases. To overcome the difficulty of overlaying the DEMs with the DAP DEM as no features can be easily identified on both the images, therefore a technique of using transects and contours generated from the DEMs were used to correct the horizontal displacement. For AIRSAR DEM, comparing the accompanying AIRSAR composite images was also employed. These then allowed an analysis of the height accuracy to be undertaken. The height of both the AIRSAR and SRTM DEMs were also corrected by applying Linear Regression Models. These models were produced by comparing pixels obtained from points, profiles and an area. Once again the corrected DEMs were assessed. Finally the extracted profiles and contours from the corrected SRTM and AIRSAR were compared with the reference DEM. From the comparisons, the horizontal errors were found to be about one and the half pixels (138.72 m: for SRTM) to the east and 1 pixel (10 m: for AIRSAR) to the south. The SD of height differences of the SRTM and AIRSAR DEMs using 90% data were 9.2 m and 5.2 m with profiles comparison; 10.4 m and 5.4 m with area comparison; 10.8 m and 2.4 m with GPS GCPs comparison respectively. From the three comparisons, the means of height differences are 5.2 m, 6.1 m and 15.2 m for SRTM and 8.1 m, 8.3 m and 7.9 m for AIRSAR DEM. The results suggest there is height offset in the AIRSAR DEM. When both heights of DEMs were corrected, the generated contours are close to each other and to reference contours. Using contour colours images and height modelling, the corrected DEM was found to have the potential to detect areas that prone to flash floods and mudslides.

Land subsidence and coastal erosion are worldwide problems, particularly in densely populated deltas. The Nile Delta is no exception. Currently, it is undergoing land subsidence and is simultaneously experiencing retreat of its coastline. The impacts of these long-term interrelated geomorphic problems are heightened by the economic, social and historical importance of the delta to Egypt. Unfortunately, the current measures of the rates of subsidence and coastal erosion in the delta are rough estimates at best. Sustainable development of the delta requires accurate and detailed spatial and temporal measures of subsidence and coastal retreat rates. Radar interferometry is a unique remote sensing approach that can be used to map topography with 1 m vertical accuracy and measure surface deformation with 1 mm level accuracy. Radar interferometry has been employed in this dissertation to measure urban subsidence and coastal change in the Nile Delta. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data of 5.66 cm wavelength acquired by the European Radar Satellites (ERS-1 and ERS- 2) spanning eight years (1993-2000) have been used in this investigation. The ERS data have been selected because the spatial and temporal coverage, as well as the short wavelength, are appropriate to measure the slow rate of subsidence in the delta. The ERS tandem coherence images are also appropriate for coastal change detection. The magnitude and pattern of subsidence are detected and measured using Permanent Scatterer interferometry. The measured rates of subsidence in greater Cairo, Mansura, and Mahala are 7, 9, and 5 mm yr-1, respectively. Areas of erosion and accretion in the eastern side of the delta are detected using the ERS tandem coherence and the ERS amplitude images. The average measured rates of erosion and accretion are -9.57 and +5.44 m yr-1, respectively. These measured rates pose an urgent need of regular monitoring of subsidence and coastline retreat in the delta. This study highlighted the feasibility of applying Permanent Scatterer interferometry in inappropriate environment for conventional SAR interferometry. The study addressed possibilities and limitations for successful use of SAR interferometry within the densely vegetated delta and introduced alternative strategies for further improvement of SAR interferometric measurements in the delta.

The Skelton Glacier is one of the many smaller outlet glaciers located in the Transantarctic Mountains, where it drains ice into the Ross Ice Shelf. These outlet glaciers are important when determining the past, present, and future state of the mass balance of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. This research uses satellite imagery acquired over a period of 15 years to obtain a high resolution velocity field for the Skelton Glacier which is then used to calculate the mass flux and mass balance at ten flux gates along the glacier using the input-output method. The high resolution velocity field is combined with ice thickness data and accumulation data from other sources to obtain the total mass balance. The high resolution velocity field of the Skelton Glacier was created using European Remote-Sensing Satellite 1 and 2 (ERS-1/2) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data acquired in 1996 with the processing technique of SAR interferometry (InSAR). Because of the lack of differential InSAR pairs, new auxiliary data from the ICESat and TanDEM-X mission were included into the analysis. A velocity field was created at a spatial resolution of 50m which was validated with in situ GPS measurements from 2011/12, and compared to lower resolution velocity fields of the Skelton Glacier. The ice velocity field is at improved accuracy for this area compared to previous studies and is thought to be representative for the mean ice velocity. The analysis of ice flux at several flux gates allowed an improved error estimation of the applied technique to estimate the overall mass balance. Mass flux estimates along the glacier were calculated using the new velocity field and additional thickness data, which was then compared to two accumulation datasets to give mass balance estimates along the glacier at selected flux gates. The mass flux through the grounding line was found to be 1.2165 Gt a⁻¹, which needs to be balanced in a state of mass balance equilibrium by a mean annual snow accumulation of about 185 mm a⁻¹ water equivalent over the total catchment area determined with 6569 km². The mass balance at the grounding line is slightly negative, but the second flux gate is thought to be more representative of the mass balance, which is estimated to be 0.0441 Gt a⁻¹. Error analysis of the mass balance estimates found uncertainties in this data to be approximately 0.110 Gt a⁻¹. It is concluded from the analysis that further improvements in the overall mass balance estimate can be primarily obtained by a better knowledge of ice thickness and snow accumulation.

This research assesses the accuracy of SRTM and AIRSAR DEMs acquired over the mountainous-hillands of Cameron Highlands with DEMs generated from Digital Aerial Photograph (DAP) with a fine (2 m) spatial resolution and height resolution of about 0.5 m. The ground control points used for generating stereo models from the DAP were acquired during field work using GPS which achieved accuracy better than 2 cm in most cases. To overcome the difficulty of overlaying the DEMs with the DAP DEM as no features can be easily identified on both the images, therefore a technique of using transects and contours generated from the DEMs were used to correct the horizontal displacement. For AIRSAR DEM, comparing the accompanying AIRSAR composite images was also employed. These then allowed an analysis of the height accuracy to be undertaken. The height of both the AIRSAR and SRTM DEMs were also corrected by applying Linear Regression Models. These models were produced by comparing pixels obtained from points, profiles and an area. Once again the corrected DEMs were assessed. Finally the extracted profiles and contours from the corrected SRTM and AIRSAR were compared with the reference DEM. From the comparisons, the horizontal errors were found to be about one and the half pixels (138.72 m: for SRTM) to the east and 1 pixel (10 m: for AIRSAR) to the south. The SD of height differences of the SRTM and AIRSAR DEMs using 90% data were 9.2 m and 5.2 m with profiles comparison; 10.4 m and 5.4 m with area comparison; 10.8 m and 2.4 m with GPS GCPs comparison respectively. From the three comparisons, the means of height differences are 5.2 m, 6.1 m and 15.2 m for SRTM and 8.1 m, 8.3 m and 7.9 m for AIRSAR DEM. The results suggest there is height offset in the AIRSAR DEM. When both heights of DEMs were corrected, the generated contours are close to each other and to reference contours. Using contour colours images and height modelling, the corrected DEM was found to have the potential to detect areas that prone to flash floods and mudslides.

abstract: The dynamic Earth involves feedbacks between the solid crust and both natural and anthropogenic fluid flows. Fluid-rock interactions drive many Earth phenomena, including volcanic unrest, seismic activities, and hydrological responses. Mitigating the hazards associated with these activities requires fundamental understanding of the underlying physical processes. Therefore, geophysical monitoring in combination with modeling provides valuable tools, suitable for hazard mitigation and risk management efforts. Magmatic activities and induced seismicity linked to fluid injection are two natural and anthropogenic processes discussed in this dissertation. Successful forecasting of the timing, style, and intensity of a volcanic eruption is made possible by improved understanding of the volcano life cycle as well as building quantitative models incorporating the processes that govern rock melting, melt ascending, magma storage, eruption initiation, and interaction between magma and surrounding host rocks at different spatial extent and time scale. One key part of such models is the shallow magma chamber, which is generally directly linked to volcano’s eruptive behaviors. However, its actual shape, size, and temporal evolution are often not entirely known. To address this issue, I use space-based geodetic data with high spatiotemporal resolution to measure surface deformation at Kilauea volcano. The obtained maps of InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) deformation time series are exploited with two novel modeling schemes to investigate Kilauea’s shallow magmatic system. Both models can explain the same observation, leading to a new compartment model of magma chamber. Such models significantly advance the understanding of the physical processes associated with Kilauea’s summit plumbing system with potential applications for volcanoes around the world. The unprecedented increase in the number of earthquakes in the Central and Eastern United States since 2008 is attributed to massive deep subsurface injection of saltwater. The elevated chance of moderate-large damaging earthquakes stemming from increased seismicity rate causes broad societal concerns among industry, regulators, and the public. Thus, quantifying the time-dependent seismic hazard associated with the fluid injection is of great importance. To this end, I investigate the large-scale seismic, hydrogeologic, and injection data in northern Texas for period of 2007-2015 and in northern-central Oklahoma for period of 1995-2017. An effective induced earthquake forecasting model is developed, considering a complex relationship between injection operations and consequent seismicity. I find that the timing and magnitude of regional induced earthquakes are fully controlled by the process of fluid diffusion in a poroelastic medium and thus can be successfully forecasted. The obtained time-dependent seismic hazard model is spatiotemporally heterogeneous and decreasing injection rates does not immediately reduce the probability of an earthquake. The presented framework can be used for operational induced earthquake forecasting. Information about the associated fundamental processes, inducing conditions, and probabilistic seismic hazards has broad benefits to the society. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geological Sciences 2018

This thesis evaluates the potential for using line of sight returns and return signals from underneath a forest canopy using X-band, airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) tomography. Approximately 30% of the Earth’s land surface is covered by vegetation, therefore global digital elevation models (DEMs) contain a signal from the forest canopy and not the ground. By uncovering new techniques to find the ground signals, using data collected from airborne platforms as verification, such procedures could be applied to currently operational and future X-band, spaceborne systems with the aim of resolving much of the vegetation bias on an international scale. Data from three sources is presented; data collected from Selex ES’s SAR systems, the GOTCHA dataset and simulated data. Before carrying out tomography it is shown that SAR interferometry (InSAR) can successfully be applied to X-band, helicopter data. A scatterer defined as a candidate persistent scatterer (CPS) is introduced, where the pixels are stable and coherent over a matter of days. An algorithm for selecting CPSs is developed by exploiting sparsity and a novel choice of hard thresholding operator. Using simulated forestry and SAR information the effects of changing input parameters on the outcome of the tomographic profile is analysed. What is found in this study is that model simulations demonstrate that ground points can be detected if the platform motion is relatively stable and that temporal decorrelation over the forest volume is kept to a minimal. An understory can confuse the tomographic profile since less line of sight observations can be made. By combining line of sight observations alongside new tomography techniques on high resolution SAR data this thesis shows it is possible to detect ground scatterers, even at X-band.

This study of alluvial aquifer basins in southern California is centered on observations of differential surface displacement and the search for the mechanisms of deformation. The San Bernardino basin and the Upper Coachella Valley aquifers are bound by range fronts and fault segments of the southern San Andreas fault system. I have worked to quantify long-term compaction in these groundwater dependent population centers with a unique synthesis of data and methodologies using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and groundwater data. My dissertation contributes to the understanding of alluvial aquifer heterogeneity and partitioning. I model hydrogeologic and tectonic interpretations of deformation where decades of overdraft conditions and ongoing aquifer development contribute to extreme rapid subsidence. I develop the Hydrogeologic InSAR Integration (HII) method for the characterization of surface deformation in aquifer basins. The method allows for the separation of superimposed hydraulic and/or tectonic processes in operation. This formalization of InSAR and groundwater level integration provides opportunities for application in other aquifer basins where overdraft conditions may be causing permanent loss of aquifer storage capacity through compaction. Sixteen years of SAR data for the Upper Coachella Valley exhibit rapid vertical surface displacement (#8804; 48mm/a) in sharply bound areas of the western basin margin. Using well driller logs, I categorize a generalized facies analysis of the western basin margin, describing heterogeneity of the aquifer. This allowed for assessment of the relationships between observed surface deformation and sub-surface material properties. Providing the setting and context for the hydrogeologic evolution of California's primary aquifers, the mature San Andreas transform fault is studied extensively by a broad range of geoscientists. I present a compilation of observations of creep, line integrals across the Pacific-North America Plate Boundary, and strain tensor volumes for comparison to the Working Group 2007 (UCERF 2) seismicity-based deformation model. I find that the moment accumulation across the plate boundary is consistent with the deformation model, suggesting fault displacement observations within the plate boundary zone accurately capture the strain across the plate boundary. This dissertation includes co-authored materials previously published, and also includes unpublished work currently under revisions for submission to a technical journal.

Landslides display a wide variety of behaviors ranging from slow persistent motion to rapid acceleration and catastrophic failure. Given the variety of possible behaviors, improvements to our understanding of landslide mechanics are critical for accurate predictions of landslide dynamics. Recent advances in remote sensing techniques, like satellite radar interferometry (InSAR), now enable high-resolution spatial and temporal measurements that provide insight into the mechanisms that control landslide behavior. In this dissertation, I use InSAR and high-resolution topographic data to identify 50 slow-moving landslides in the Northern California Coast Ranges and monitor their kinematics over 4 years. These landslides have similar mechanical properties and are subject to the same external forcings, which allows me to explore geometrical controls on kinematics. Each landslide displays distinct kinematic zones with different mean velocities that remain spatially fixed. Because these deformation patterns are sensitive to subsurface geometry, I employ a mathematical model to infer landslide thickness and find that these landslides exhibit a highly variable thickness and an irregular basal sliding surface. Time series analysis reveals that each landslide displays well-defined seasonal velocity changes with a periodicity of ∼ 1 year. These velocity variations are driven by precipitation- induced changes in pore-water pressure that lag the onset of rainfall by up to 40 days. Despite significant variations in geometry, I find no systematic differences in seasonal landslide behavior. To further explore how stress perturbations control landslide motion, I develop a mechanical model that reproduces both the displacement patterns observed at slow-moving landslides and the acceleration towards failure exhibited by catastrophic events. I find that catastrophic failure can only occur when the slip surface is characterized by rate-weakening friction and its spatial dimensions exceed a critical nucleation length that is shorter for higher effective stresses. These model simulations support my conclusions from the remote sensing analysis but also provide insight into the long-term evolution of landslides. This dissertation includes both previously published and unpublished co- authored material.

abstract: Aquifers host the largest accessible freshwater resource in the world. However, groundwater reserves are declining in many places. Often coincident with drought, high extraction rates and inadequate replenishment result in groundwater overdraft and permanent land subsidence. Land subsidence is the cause of aquifer storage capacity reduction, altered topographic gradients which can exacerbate floods, and differential displacement that can lead to earth fissures and infrastructure damage. Improving understanding of the sources and mechanisms driving aquifer deformation is important for resource management planning and hazard mitigation. Poroelastic theory describes the coupling of differential stress, strain, and pore pressure, which are modulated by material properties. To model these relationships, displacement time series are estimated via satellite interferometry and hydraulic head levels from observation wells provide an in-situ dataset. In combination, the deconstruction and isolation of selected time-frequency components allow for estimating aquifer parameters, including the elastic and inelastic storage coefficients, compaction time constants, and vertical hydraulic conductivity. Together these parameters describe the storage response of an aquifer system to changes in hydraulic head and surface elevation. Understanding aquifer parameters is useful for the ongoing management of groundwater resources. Case studies in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, focus on land subsidence from groundwater withdrawal as well as distinct responses to artificial recharge efforts. In Christchurch, New Zealand, possible changes to aquifer properties due to earthquakes are investigated. In Houston, Texas, flood severity during Hurricane Harvey is linked to subsidence, which modifies base flood elevations and topographic gradients. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Geological Sciences 2018

Microearthquake (< M3.0) swarms occur frequently in volcanic environments, but do not always culminate in an eruption. Such non-eruptive swarms may be caused by stresses induced by magma intrusion, hydrothermal fluid circulation, or regional tectonic processes, such as slow-slip earthquakes. Strandline Lake, located 30 km northeast of Mount Spurr volcano in south-central Alaska, experienced an intense earthquake swarm between August 1996 and August 1998. The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) catalog indicates that a total of 2,999 earthquakes were detected during the swarm period, with a maximum magnitude of Mw 3.1 and a depth range of 0-30 km below sea level (with the majority of catalog hypocenters located between 5-10 km BSL). The cumulative seismic moment of the swarm was 2.03e15 N-m, equivalent to a cumulative magnitude of Mw 4.2. Because of the swarm's distance from the nearest Holocene volcanic vent, seismic monitoring was poor and gas and GPS data do not exist for the swarm period. However, combined waveforms from a dense seismic network on Mount Spurr and from several regional seismic stations allow reanalysis of the swarm earthquakes. I first developed a new 1-D velocity model for the Strandline Lake region by re-picking and inverting precise arrival times for 27 large Strandline Lake earthquakes. The new velocity model reduced the average RMS for these earthquakes from 0.16 to 0.11s, and the average horizontal and vertical location errors from 3.3 to 2.5 km and 4.7 to 3.0 km, respectively. Depths of the 27 earthquakes ranged from 10.5 to 22.1 km with an average depth of 16.6 km. A moderately high b-value of 1.33 was determined for the swarm period, possibly indicative of magmatic activity. However, a similarly high b-value of 1.25 was calculated for the background period. 28 well-constrained fault plane solutions for both swarm and background earthquakes indicate a diverse mixture of strike-slip, dip-slip, and reverse faulting beneath Strandline Lake. Finally, five Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images spanning the swarm period unambiguously show no evidence of surface deformation. While a shallow volcanic intrusion appears to be an unlikely cause of the Strandline Lake swarm based on the new well-constrained earthquake depths and the absence of strong surface deformation, the depth range of 10.5 to 22.1 km BSL for relocated earthquakes and the high degree of FPS heterogeneity for this swarm are similar to an earthquake swarm beneath Lake Tahoe, California in 2003 caused by a deep intrusion near the base of the crust (Smith et al, 2004). This similarity suggests that a deep crustal magmatic intrusion could have occurred beneath the Strandline Lake area in 1996-1998 and may have been responsible for the resulting microearthquake activity.