Identification of crustal deformation in the Saurashtra region, western India: insights from PSI and GNSS derived investigation

Abstract

The Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) techniques were used to identify the deformation rates in the Saurashtra region, western India. A sizable number of mild to severe earthquakes (with up to M5.1) have been observed in this part of the Indian plate. In order to calculate the crustal deformation, 241 Sentinel 1A images of path 107 with frame numbers 518 and 523, acquired between 2017 and 2020, were used. Similarly, processing of the GNSS dataset was done for four sites between 2009 and 2020. The foremost geodetic results from Saurashtra indicate the existence of a significant amount of deformation. PSI results show movements towards the satellite line of sight (LOS) of up to 5.0 ± 2.0 mm/year at several places and GNSS results indicate horizontal movements of less than 1.0 ± 0.4 mm/year and vertical movements of up to 2.3 ± 0.5 mm/year in the Saurashtra region. The projected LOS displacement of the GNSS is closely comparable with the PSI derived displacement. The results highlight isolated deformation pockets in various parts of the study area. Further, two loci with significant linear displacement were observed in south and east Saurashtra. Considering the seismic activity of the region, the inferred deformation rates may pose increased seismic risk for the region.