© The Geological Society of London 2006 1 Measurement of ground movements in Stoke-on-Trent (UK) using radar interferometry

Abstract: Stoke-on-Trent (UK) and the nearby towns make up a large industrial conurbation known as 'The Potteries, ' famous for its pottery and china manufacture. The area was also well known for iron and steel manufacture. These industries were based on the local availability of clay, ironstone and coal. To the northwest is the UK's largest halite field where salt extraction continues to the present. The other minerals are no longer extracted, coal mining having finished in the 1990's. Coal was mined by both partial total extraction methods. In addition, opencast working has taken place with the abandoned pits being reclaimed by infilling with domestic and other waste material. Ground movement (subsidence) was common while underground mining was going on but declined thereafter. However, as minewater levels have risen following abandonment, further some further (often substantial) subsidence has taken place, particularly adjacent to major faults. In the last decade the development of satellite radar interferometry (InSAR) and improvements in processing techniques have allowed the data from radar satellites to be analysed to produce millimetric measurements that can be related to ground movements. The raw data can be processed in various ways producing either interferograms for areas of ground movements or movement time series for points on the ground (PSInSAR). The time series covers more than a decade of measurements. However, the techniques do have limitations