Sinking City: Rapid Urbanization and Subsidence of Hanoi

Minh Nguyen 1,2,3,4, Yunung Nina Lin 2, Yu-Chang Chan 2,

Kuo-Hsin Tseng 3, Chung-Pai Chang 2,3
1
Earth System Science, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica
2
Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica
3
Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research, National Central University
4
Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, Vietnam

16 May 2019

Abstract

The past decade has seen rapid urban development and expansion over Hanoi, Vietnam.
This trend is accompanied by rapid ground subsidence propagating from center outwards.
In this study we utilized the Copernicus Sentinel-1 SAR image to detect and monitor the
subsiding zone between the year of 2016 and 2018. The InSAR time-series obtained
through Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) approach demonstrated subsiding rates of 20 to 40
mm/yr in the outer rim of the central Hanoi Capital Region. The most severe declining
zone is located at an industrial zone in Hoaiduc, up to 50 mm/yr. In other regions, the
subsidence is associated with long-term groundwater pumping, with the recent rate of 15
mm/yr, about 20% increase from the long-term average. We believe that this piece of
information should be properly considered and incorporated into the water resource
management plan in Hanoi, in order to mitigate or even reverse this deteriorating situation.

Keyword: subsidence, Sentinel-1, Hanoi, InSAR, groundwater.