Land Subsidence Risk in US Metropolises

Vertical land motion (VLM), angular distortion, and building risks for 28 urban cities in the United States.Abstract: Land subsidence is a slow-moving hazard with adverse environmental and socioeconomic consequences worldwide. However, spatially dense subsidence rates to capture granular variations at high spatial density are often lacking, hindering assessment of associated infrastructure risk. We use space geodetic measurements from 2015 to 2021 to create high resolution maps of subsidence rates for 28 most populous US cities. We estimate that at least 20% of the urban area is sinking in all cities, mainly due to groundwater extraction, affecting ~34 million people. Additionally, more than 29,000 buildings are located in high and very high damage risk areas, indicating a greater likelihood of infrastructure damage. These datasets and information are crucial for developing ad hoc policies to adapt urban centers to these complex environmental challenges.

垂直地面运动（VLM）、角畸变及美国28个都市地区的建筑风险概述。摘要：地面沉降是一种具有全球性不良环境和社会经济后果的缓慢移动灾害。然而，为捕捉高空间密度下的细微变化，通常缺乏空间密集的沉降速率数据，这阻碍了对相关基础设施风险的评估。我们利用2015年至2021年的空间大地测量数据，为美国28个人口最多的城市创建了高分辨率的沉降速率地图。我们估计，所有城市中至少有20%的城区正在下沉，这主要归因于地下水开采，影响了约3400万人。此外，超过29,000座建筑物位于高及极高损害风险区域，表明基础设施损坏的可能性更大。这些数据集和信息对于制定针对性的政策，以适应城市中心面临的这些复杂环境挑战至关重要。