Monitoring tropical peat related settlement using ISBAS InSAR, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)

Marshall, Chris; Large, David J.; Athab, Ahmed; Evers, Stephanie L.; Sowter, Andrew; Marsh, Stuart; Sjögersten, Sofie

Abstract

Rapid population growth in South-East Asia has placed immense pressure upon lowland regions both to supply food and employment and space for residential, commercial and infrastructure development. This pressure has led to sites on tropical peatland previously considered unsuitable for development to be revisited. One such site, the KLIA2 terminal and runway, Kuala Lumpur International Airport which opened in May 2014 at a cost of 3.6 billion MYR has been beset by well documented subsidence problems. Coverage of the tropics by the Sentinel-1 satellite constellation presents an opportunity to monitor the ongoing subsidence at KLIA 2, identify potential knowledge gaps and help inform more sustainable infrastructure development in tropical peatland regions. Our results show that the ISBAS InSAR method produces reproducible ground deformation maps which can clearly identify the patterns of deformation across both urban infrastructure and adjacent rural plantations and tropical peat swamp. This is particularly well defined around the terminal building at KLIA-2 where different ground preparation and foundation design have resulted in stable terminal buildings and subsidence of surrounding pavement. Deformation is greatest in the runway area where alternate bands of uplift and subsidence presumably accompany the greatest loads associated with landing aircraft. In contrast, areas where peat replacement was the primary form of ground preparation, ground motion is stable, however this comes at high economic and environmental cost.

Citation

Marshall, C., Large, D. J., Athab, A., Evers, S. L., Sowter, A., Marsh, S., & Sjögersten, S. (2018). Monitoring tropical peat related settlement using ISBAS InSAR, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Engineering Geology, 244, 57-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2018.07.015

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 17, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jul 19, 2018
• Publication Date: Oct 3, 2018
• Deposit Date: Sep 26, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 20, 2019
• Journal: Engineering Geology
• Print ISSN: 0013-7952
• Electronic ISSN: 1872-6917
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 244
• Pages: 57-65
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2018.07.015
• Keywords: Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology; Geology; InSAR; Intermittent SBAS (ISBAS); Subsidence; Kuala Lumpur Airport; Tropical peat; Settlement
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1135093
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013795217316836
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Monitoring tropical peat related settlement using ISBAS InSAR, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA); Journal Title: Engineering Geology; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2018.07.015; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.