Crustal deformation estimation using InSAR, West of the Gulf of Suez, Egypt
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Ahmed Nabil
,
Mohamed El-Ashquer
Abstract
Egypt, for its location in the northeastern corner of Africa, is exposed to continuous tectonic activities. To the North, the subduction of the oceanic African plate under the Eurasian plate provides a seismic activity along the Hellenic and Cyprian arcs. To the East, Egypt is affected by the divergence between the African and Arabian plates along the Red Sea. The E-W fault trend is one of the three main fault trends in Egypt and it starts at the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez towards Cairo. Moreover, the government is planning to expand economically development along the Cairo-Suez Province. Most of the new housing and industrial cities are located between Cairo and Suez. To estimate of crustal deformation in the region, ∼140 Sentinel-1 SAR images were collected and distributed equally over 7 years (2015–2021). The PSI processing is applied to calculate a Line-of-sight velocity field. A GNSS station that exists in the area of study “SUEZ” as well as a close station “KATA” are analyzed using Bernese software V. 5 to validate InSAR results. The estimated horizontal velocities show the northwestern part of the study area is moving westward with 3–4 mm/yr while the southeastern zone is moving eastward with 2–4 mm/yr. The configuration of motion indicates a strike-slip motion along the local E-W fault. The velocity rate obtained from Bernese software for SUEZ station is 2 ± 0.35 mm/yr in the northeastern direction. Vertically, the northwestern part of the study area shows uplift rate of 2 mm/yr while the southeastern part along the coast of the Gulf of Suez subsides with 4–5 mm/yr. For GNSS, SUEZ station is shown to have an uplift rate of 1.55 ± 0.40 mm/yr. A remarkable agreement is noticed between the results of InSAR and GNSS for both horizontal and vertical components. Decision makers shall take such results into consideration while the large planning of investments in promising areas.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express gratitude to the team of National Research Institute of Astronomy & Geophysics (NRIAG) for the field collection of GNSS data. We are also grateful for the European Space Agency (ESA) for its open-access policy to provide Sentinel-1 products. Most of the plots in this paper are generated using Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) V. 6.3. The SRTM30 Digital Elevation Model of 30-meter resolution is downloaded from GMTSAR website.
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Research ethics: Not applicable.
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Informed consent: Not applicable.
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Author contributions: Data collection and Formal analysis, Ahmed Nabil; Methodology, Mohamed Elashquer; Validation, Mohamed Saleh; Writing – original draft, Ahmed Nabil; Final Reviewing, Ashraf Mousa and Gamal El-fiky. All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.
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Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
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Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.
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Research funding: None declared.
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Data availability: 1. InSAR Data: The analyzed datasets are available through the platforms of FRENCH ACCESS TO THE SENTINEL PRODUCTS (cnes peps: https://peps.cnes.fr/rocket/#/search?maxRecords=50&page=1) and/or through NASA EARTH DATA platform (Alaska Satellite Facility ASF: https://search.asf.alaska.edu/#/?zoom=9.127¢er=31.124, 30.001). 2. GNSS Data: The analyzed data were collected by a team of National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG). The data that support the findings of this study are available from [NRIAG] but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of [NRIAG]. Two of the authors are members of NRIAG.
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© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Special Issue: Joint International Symposium on Deformation Monitoring 2025
- Impact of mathematical correlations
- Employing variance component estimation for point cloud based geometric surface representation by B-splines
- Deterministic uncertainty for terrestrial laser scanning observations based on intervals
- Investigating the potential of stochastic relationships to model deformations
- Laser scanning based deformation analysis of a wooden dome under load
- Classifying surface displacements in mining regions using differential terrain models and InSAR coherence
- Water multipath effect in Terrestrial Radar Interferometry (TRI) in open-pit mine monitoring
- Multi-temporal GNSS, RTS, and InSAR for very slow-moving landslide displacement analysis
- Reviews
- Evaluation of the regional ionosphere using final, ultra-rapid, and rapid ionosphere products
- Experiences with techniques and sensors for smartphone positioning
- Original Research Articles
- Crustal deformation estimation using InSAR, West of the Gulf of Suez, Egypt
- Factors affecting the fitting of a global geopotential model to local geodetic datasets over local areas in Egypt using multiple linear regression approach
- Utilization of low-cost GNSS RTK receiver for accurate GIS mapping in urban environment
- Seasonal variations of permanent stations in close vicinity to tectonic plate boundaries
- Time-frequency and power-law noise analyzes of three GBAS solutions of a single GNSS station
- A 2D velocity field computation using multi-dimensional InSAR: a case study of the Abu-Dabbab area in Egypt
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Special Issue: Joint International Symposium on Deformation Monitoring 2025
- Impact of mathematical correlations
- Employing variance component estimation for point cloud based geometric surface representation by B-splines
- Deterministic uncertainty for terrestrial laser scanning observations based on intervals
- Investigating the potential of stochastic relationships to model deformations
- Laser scanning based deformation analysis of a wooden dome under load
- Classifying surface displacements in mining regions using differential terrain models and InSAR coherence
- Water multipath effect in Terrestrial Radar Interferometry (TRI) in open-pit mine monitoring
- Multi-temporal GNSS, RTS, and InSAR for very slow-moving landslide displacement analysis
- Reviews
- Evaluation of the regional ionosphere using final, ultra-rapid, and rapid ionosphere products
- Experiences with techniques and sensors for smartphone positioning
- Original Research Articles
- Crustal deformation estimation using InSAR, West of the Gulf of Suez, Egypt
- Factors affecting the fitting of a global geopotential model to local geodetic datasets over local areas in Egypt using multiple linear regression approach
- Utilization of low-cost GNSS RTK receiver for accurate GIS mapping in urban environment
- Seasonal variations of permanent stations in close vicinity to tectonic plate boundaries
- Time-frequency and power-law noise analyzes of three GBAS solutions of a single GNSS station
- A 2D velocity field computation using multi-dimensional InSAR: a case study of the Abu-Dabbab area in Egypt
