Background:
Several centimetres of uplift were observed extending over a square-kilometre area around the geothermal site of Landau, Germany.Methods:
This observation is based on the interpretation of a geodetic survey using radar satellite images of the Upper Rhine Graben recorded between April 2012 and April 2014. Observations are based on two data processing methods for synthetic aperture radar acquisitions: synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) and permanent scatterer InSAR (PS-InSAR) monitoring.
Results:
The inferred time evolution shows that the displacement began in July 2013 and that the displacement rate reaches its maximum (about 16 cm/year) during the summer period (from July to September 2013). We observe a surface displacement of 3.5 cm during this period.
Conclusions:
A preliminary inversion of the source of the deformation based on a simple elastic model of a buried cavity suggests that a significant injection of fluid occurred at a depth of approximately 450 m below the geothermal plant.
