Research Project
The Use of InSAR Data to Monitor Subsidence in the Kings Groundwater Basin, Central Valley, California
The Place
The Kings Groundwater Basin is found in the southeastern region of the Central Valley, CA.
The Problem
The agricultural economy in the Central Valley is reliant on groundwater supplies extracted from confined aquifers. However, it has been found that such heavy groundwater extraction can lead to permanent subsidence of Earth's surface and a loss of aquifer storage.
Our Approach
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) has been previously used to quantify permanent subsidence over a number of urban or arid areas around the world. The question we ask is: Can InSAR data provide useful information for groundwater managers in this agricultural area?
Agriculture (almond trees) in the Central Valley.
Project Lead/Contact
Jessica Reeves, Rosemary Knight, Howard Zebker
Project Collaborators
David Orth, Kings River Conservation District
Eric Osterling, Kings River Conservation District
Tom Farr, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
Zhen Liu, NASA Jet Propoulsion Lab
Project Sponsors
Bechtel Foundation
