InSAR-IDENTIFIED SURFACE DEFORMATION IN THE BLACK HILLS REGION OF SOUTH DAKOTA AND WYOMING

During the past two decades, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) has become a well established tool for quantifying surface deformation resulting from a myriad of geological phenomena. InSAR has the ability to provide sub-centimeter scale surface deformation observations over large (>10,000 square km) areas with a vastly improved spatial resolution over traditional leveling techniques. This study utilizes a newly established InSAR laboratory in the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology to investigate possible surface deformation in and around the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming.

Preliminary investigations of possible surface deformation resulting from coal mining and coalbed methane (CBM) production in Campbell County Wyoming, oil and gas production as well as groundwater use in Harding County, South Dakota, and subsidence resulting from dewatering of the Homestake Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) site in the central Black Hills are presented, including a discussion of the challenges of using this technique in an area with seasonal vegetation as well as prolonged snow cover.