Rebecca Alowo, Daphine Achiro, Innocent Musonda, Agneta Were, Adetayo Onososen, Funeka Grootboom

Abstract: This research delineates the assessment of surface displacement at the Ash Dam Facility in South Africa utilizing InSAR technology. ADF may fail owing to several circumstances, including structural instability, seepage, or seismic activity. Consequently, the application of InSAR technology necessitates the rapid identification and response to hazards in order to limit repercussions such as loss of life and property resulting from dam failures. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is an advanced remote sensing technology that is essential for assessing the safety and integrity of ash dams. The study utilized Vertex, the Alaska Satellite Facility's (ASF) data search application for remotely sensed imagery, facilitating efficient identification and download of SAR data, along with direct access to thematic datasets. ASF Data Search is a user-friendly tool for locating SAR data and efficiently processing advanced SAR products, including InSAR and Auto-RIFT, through ASF's services. The research performed a time series analysis with Mintpy on the OpenSAR Lab server. The Mintpy toolbox is a Python 3 application designed for modest baseline InSAR time series analysis. The input consists of a series of differential interferograms that create a completely interconnected network. The results indicated that the ash dam facility has experienced a total vertical displacement of 200 cm and a lateral displacement of 310 cm. The coordinates of the impacted area are (7145360, 739280) and (7160480, 714480) in terms of latitude and longitude. In conclusion, satellite remote sensing provides a cost-effective and time-efficient means to monitor extensive infrastructure assets, a task that would otherwise need significant resources through traditional approaches.

Keywords: Ash Dam Facility, Surface Displacement, InSAR, South Africa

Date Published: October 1, 2025
DOI: 10.11159/ijci.2025.013

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