Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID LA_2023_Abdalla

Determination of precise land subsidence for groundwater management using InSAR

Institute: Louisiana
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2024-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $19,060 Total Non-Federal Funds: $19,093

Principal Investigators: Ahmed Abdalla

Project Summary: The relationship between groundwater and land subsidence is complicated and depends on the type of soil, the characteristics of the underground water source, and how people manage the water. To ensure we use groundwater responsibly and prevent long-term damage, we need to monitor how much the land is sinking. This project will use Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to monitor subsiding land and changes in groundwater levels in the five parishes in Louisiana's capital. This information can help us determine where to use less groundwater so the ground doesn't sink too much and develop ways to prevent or reduce the damage. Additional data (CORS and well logs) will validate the InSAR results to comprehensively understand the groundwater and subsidence dynamics in the investigated area. Finally, we want to ensure we have enough groundwater to use in the future without causing harm to the land.