Artificial slope deformation monitoring and analyzing based on SBAS technology

Jincang Liu ^1,2,3 Ting Yang ^1,2,3* Yun Li ^1,2,3 Lipeng Zhou ^1,2,3

• ¹ Surveying and Mapping Institute Lands and Resource Department of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China
• ² Key Laboratory of Natural Resources Monitoring in Tropical and Subtropical Area of South China, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou, China
• ³ Guangdong Science and Technology Collaborative Innovation Center for Natural Resources, Guangzhou, China

The current research panorama predominantly converges on large-scale geological disasters in select regions, leaving a noticeable gap in targeted investigations pertaining to safety evaluations and hazard identification of artificial slopes adjacent to mountainous highways in these areas, particularly in the context of leveraging Small Baseline Subset Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SBAS-InSAR). This study fills this void by employing the SBAS-InSAR methodology to analyze 44 Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images of a highway slope region in Foshan City, Guangdong Province. By meticulously integrating the slope's construction status, we conduct a temporal dissection of deformation outcomes, thereby assessing the geological disaster risk and evaluating the slope's stability. Our findings illuminate that the maximum annual average settlement rate within the study area stands at -35.69 mm/yr, with a peak cumulative settlement of -28.9 mm. Notably, a comprehensive examination of the deformation trajectory reveals a congruence with the slope's construction timeline, pinpointing the primary settlement period from April 2022 to March 2023. Despite localized disparities in deformation time series, attributed to varied construction schedules across different areas, the absence of large-scale anomalous settlement underscores favorable geological underpinnings. Furthermore, the gradual stabilization of settlement trends implies a diminished likelihood of geological disasters in the long term. Spatially, the settlement is predominantly localized at the slope's base, with a slight uplift observed at its crest. This research carries paramount practical significance, not only in ensuring the safety of highway slope constructions and road usage but also in fostering environmental protection. It contributes to the advancement of safe construction practices and sustainable development initiatives for analogous projects, thereby enriching the broader knowledge base and informing future endeavors in this domain.