Ground displacements caused by aquifer-system water-level variations observed using interferometric synthetic aperture radar near Albuquerque, New Mexico

Six synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images were
processed to form five unwrapped interferometric
(InSAR) images of the greater metropolitan area in the
Albuquerque Basin. Most interference patterns in the
images were caused by range displacements resulting
from changes in land-surface elevation. Loci of land-
surface elevation changes correlate with changes in
aquifer-system water levels and largely result from the
elastic response of the aquifer-system skeletal material
to changes in pore-fluid pressure. The magnitude of the
observed land-surface subsidence and rebound
suggests that aquifer-system deformation resulting
from ground-water withdrawals in the Albuquerque
area has probably remained in the elastic (recoverable)
range from July 1993 through September 1999.
Evidence of inelastic (permanent) land subsidence in
the Rio Rancho area exists, but its relation to
compaction of the aquifer system is inconclusive
because of insufficient water-level data. Patterns of
elastic deformation in both Albuquerque and Rio
Rancho suggest that intrabasin faults impede ground-
water-pressure diffusion at seasonal time scales and
that these faults are probably important in controlling
patterns of regional ground-water flow.