Rock Mass Condition Assessment Using InSAR and Numerical Modeling

The applicability of InSAR technique in stress–strain assessment and alteration prediction in rock mass is illustrated as a case-study of the Upper Kama Salt Deposit. The object of research is Berezniki Mine-1 flooded in 2006 after an accidental freshwater inrush. Because of high solubility of salt rocks, velocity of ground subsidence is yet very high within the mine field. Subsidence monitoring is carried out here using benchmark surveying along existing profile lines and TerraSAR-X-base radar survey with a period of 11 days. The InSAR data were interpreted using 3D mathematical modeling of deformation process in undermined rock mass. The computational model displayed a whole set of geological and geotechnical conditions, and a group of factors associated with the freshwater inrush. The numerical calculations used the semi-analytical finite element method. Within the framework of the developed modification of the method for variable-module deformations, InSAR data were a part of the parametric content of the geomechanical model determining deformation of undermined rock mass in time.