Big Hill 2018 InSAR Analysis U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
The historical subsidence surveys shot over the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve Big Hill site, located in southeastern Texas, have indicated surface uplift since 2002. In order to better understand and substantiate the surface behavior inferred from annual elevation measurements, InSAR (interferometric synthetic aperture radar) data was acquired. InSAR involves the processing of multiple satellite synthetic aperture radar scenes acquired across the same location of the Earth's surface at different times to map surface deformation. The analysis of the data can detect millimeters of motion spanning days, months, year and decades, across specific sites. The InSAR analysis indicates the fastest subsidence rates are over the north central region of the site, specifically centered over caverns 104 and 103. Subsidence rates decrease towards both the west and east, with the western side subsiding at greater rate than the eastern edge. There is some uplift noted, off the site and off the dome to the east. Overall, the subsidence pattern is in line with subsidence behavior expected over a cavern field. In investigating the validity of the uplift measured during the ground surveys it was discovered that reference location can impact results. An exercise was conducted that took the current InSAR data and presented two varying results dependent on the reference location, either on or off the dome. The conclusion was that if the reference is located on the dome, as it has been for years for the ground surveys, the reference location is moving too, giving the appearance of uplift.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE), Petroleum Reserves; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
- OSTI ID:
- 1762355
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--2019-4962; 675220
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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