{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T15:52:06Z","timestamp":1772725926477,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,22]],"date-time":"2022-06-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1655856000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP)","award":["2019QZKK0905"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019QZKK0905"]}]},{"name":"Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP)","award":["42174046"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42174046"]}]},{"name":"Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP)","award":["42171443"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42171443"]}]},{"name":"Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP)","award":["2017YFA0603103"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2017YFA0603103"]}]},{"name":"Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP)","award":["XDA19070104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XDA19070104"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["2019QZKK0905"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019QZKK0905"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["42174046"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42174046"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["42171443"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42171443"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["2017YFA0603103"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2017YFA0603103"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["XDA19070104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XDA19070104"]}]},{"name":"National Key R &amp; D Program of China","award":["2019QZKK0905"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019QZKK0905"]}]},{"name":"National Key R &amp; D Program of China","award":["42174046"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42174046"]}]},{"name":"National Key R &amp; D Program of China","award":["42171443"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42171443"]}]},{"name":"National Key R &amp; D Program of China","award":["2017YFA0603103"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2017YFA0603103"]}]},{"name":"National Key R &amp; D Program of China","award":["XDA19070104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XDA19070104"]}]},{"name":"Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences","award":["2019QZKK0905"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2019QZKK0905"]}]},{"name":"Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences","award":["42174046"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42174046"]}]},{"name":"Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences","award":["42171443"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["42171443"]}]},{"name":"Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences","award":["2017YFA0603103"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2017YFA0603103"]}]},{"name":"Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences","award":["XDA19070104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XDA19070104"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>As an important indicator of permafrost degradation, surface deformation is often used to monitor the thawing and freezing process in the permafrost active layer. However, due to the large area of the continuous permafrost of the Qinghai\u2013Tibet Plateau (QTP) and the large amount of data processed by conventional time-series InSAR, previous studies have mostly focused on local area investigations, and regional characteristics of surface deformation of the continuous permafrost area on the QTP are still unclear. In this paper, we characterized surface deformation in space and time over the main continuous permafrost area on the QTP, by analyzing 11 ascending and 8 descending orbits of Sentinel-1 SAR data acquired between 2018 and 2021 with the time-series InSAR processing system LiCSAR. The reliability of the InSAR deformation results was verified by a combination of leveling measurement data, the intercomparison of overlapping area results, and field verification. The results show that the permafrost regions of the central QTP exhibited the most significant linear subsidence trend. The subsidence trend of permafrost on the QTP was mainly related to the thermal stability of permafrost, and the regions with larger subsidence rates were concentrated in sub-stable, transitional and unstable permafrost areas. We also found that, according to analysis of time-series displacement, the beginning and ending times of permafrost thawing were highly spatially heterogeneous, with the time of maximum thawing depth varying between mid-October and mid-November, which was probably attributed to the active layer thickness (ALT), water content in the active layer, and vegetation cover in these regions. This study is of great significance for understanding the changing trend of permafrost on the QTP under the background of climate change. In addition, this study also demonstrates that combination of Sentinel-1 SAR images with the LiCSAR system has significant potential for detecting permafrost deformation with high accuracy and high efficiency at regional and global scales.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs14132987","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,22]],"date-time":"2022-06-22T23:11:19Z","timestamp":1655939479000},"page":"2987","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Monitoring Regional-Scale Surface Deformation of the Continuous Permafrost in the Qinghai\u2013Tibet Plateau with Time-Series InSAR Analysis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Zhida","family":"Xu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth\u2019s Dynamics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430077, China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1127-9823","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liming","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth\u2019s Dynamics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430077, China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}]},{"given":"Fujun","family":"Niu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environmental and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4402-5010","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rui","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth\u2019s Dynamics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430077, China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}]},{"given":"Ronggang","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth\u2019s Dynamics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430077, China"}]},{"given":"Zhiwei","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth\u2019s Dynamics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430077, China"}]},{"given":"Zhiping","family":"Jiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Geodesy and Earth\u2019s Dynamics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430077, China"},{"name":"University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2783","DOI":"10.1360\/TB-2019-0191","article-title":"Characteristic, changes and impacts of permafrost on Qinghai-Tibet plateau","volume":"64","author":"Cheng","year":"2019","journal-title":"Chin. Sci. Bull."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"1223","article-title":"Permafrost Changes and Its Effects on Hydrological Processes on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau","volume":"34","author":"Zhao","year":"2019","journal-title":"Bull. Chin. Acad Sci."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3656","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-018-22024-2","article-title":"Soil organic carbon and total nitrogen pools in permafrost zones of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau","volume":"8","author":"Zhao","year":"2018","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104344","DOI":"10.1016\/j.earscirev.2020.103433","article-title":"The status and stability of permafrost carbon on the Tibetan Plateau","volume":"211","author":"Mu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Earth-Science Reviews"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111927","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2020.111927","article-title":"Remote sensing spatiotemporal patterns of frozen soil and the environmental controls over the Tibetan Plateau during 2002\u20132016","volume":"247","author":"Zheng","year":"2020","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1007\/s10040-012-0927-2","article-title":"Permafrost and groundwater on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and in northeast China","volume":"21","author":"Cheng","year":"2013","journal-title":"Hydrogeol. J."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1016\/j.gloplacha.2014.09.002","article-title":"Changes in active-layer thickness and near-surface permafrost between 2002 and 2012 in alpine ecosystems, Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau, China","volume":"124","author":"Wu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Glob. Planet. Chang."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"31","DOI":"10.1016\/j.earscirev.2010.07.002","article-title":"Permafrost degradation and its environmental effects on the Tibetan Plateau: A review of recent research","volume":"103","author":"Yang","year":"2010","journal-title":"Earth Sci. Rev."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"595","DOI":"10.5194\/tc-12-595-2018","article-title":"Climate warming over the past half century has led to thermal degradation of permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau","volume":"12","author":"Ran","year":"2018","journal-title":"Cryosphere"},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"F01005","article-title":"Estimating 1992\u20132000 average active layer thickness on the Alaskan North Slope from remotely sensed surface subsidence","volume":"117","author":"Liu","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116404","DOI":"10.1016\/j.epsl.2020.116404","article-title":"Ice loss in the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau permafrost as seen by 16 yr of ESA SAR missions","volume":"545","author":"Daout","year":"2020","journal-title":"Earth Planet. Sci. Lett."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1935","DOI":"10.1002\/2015JF003599","article-title":"Remote sensing measurements of thermokarst subsidence using InSAR","volume":"120","author":"Liu","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2663","DOI":"10.1029\/2018JF004618","article-title":"Using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry to Map and Quantify Permafrost Thaw Subsidence: A Case Study of Eboling Mountain on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau","volume":"123","author":"Chen","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf."},{"key":"ref_14","first-page":"F03023","article-title":"InSAR measurements of surface deformation over permafrost on the North Slope of Alaska","volume":"115","author":"Liu","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112007","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2020.112007","article-title":"Active layer freeze-thaw and water storage dynamics in permafrost environments inferred from InSAR","volume":"248","author":"Chen","year":"2020","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen, J., G\u00fcnther, F., Grosse, G., Liu, L., and Lin, H. (2018). Sentinel-1 InSAR Measurements of Elevation Changes over Yedoma Uplands on Sobo-Sise Island, Lena Delta. Remote Sens., 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs10071152"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138","DOI":"10.1186\/s40623-020-01266-3","article-title":"Surface displacement revealed by L-band InSAR analysis in the Mayya area, Central Yakutia, underlain by continuous permafrost","volume":"72","author":"Abe","year":"2020","journal-title":"Earth Planets Space"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"901","DOI":"10.1002\/2016GL070781","article-title":"Large-scale InSAR monitoring of permafrost freeze-thaw cycles on the Tibetan Plateau","volume":"44","author":"Daout","year":"2017","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"102527","article-title":"Monitoring surface deformation of permafrost in Wudaoliang Region, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with ENVISAT ASAR data","volume":"104","author":"Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112778","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2021.112778","article-title":"Magnitudes and patterns of large-scale permafrost ground deformation revealed by Sentinel-1 InSAR on the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau","volume":"268","author":"Chen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1029\/2015EO023967","article-title":"Earthquake monitoring gets boost from new satellite","volume":"96","author":"Elliott","year":"2015","journal-title":"Eos Trans. Am. Geophys. Union"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2020GL087376","DOI":"10.1029\/2020GL087376","article-title":"High-resolution surface velocities and strain for Anatolia from Sentinel-1 InSAR and GNSS data","volume":"47","author":"Weiss","year":"2020","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lazeck, M., Spaans, K., Gonz\u00e1lez, P.J., Maghsoudi, Y., and Wright, T.J. (2020). LiCSAR: An automatic InSAR tool for measuring and moni-toring tectonic and volcanic activity. Remote Sens., 12.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints202005.0520.v1"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"396","DOI":"10.1002\/ppp.2056","article-title":"Changing climate and the permafrost environment on the Qinghai-Tibet (Xizang) plateau","volume":"31","author":"Zhao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Permafr. Periglac. Processes"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"155886","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2022.155886","article-title":"Interannual and seasonal variations of permafrost thaw depth on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau: A comparative study using long short-term memory, convolutional neural networks, and random forest","volume":"838","author":"Liu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2527","DOI":"10.5194\/tc-11-2527-2017","article-title":"A new map of permafrost distribution on the Tibetan Plateau","volume":"11","author":"Zou","year":"2017","journal-title":"Cryosphere"},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"183","article-title":"Mapping the permafrost stability on the Tibetan Plateau for 2005\u20132015","volume":"51","author":"Ran","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci. China Earth Sci."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11604","DOI":"10.1002\/2017JD026858","article-title":"Numerical Modeling of the Active Layer Thickness and Permafrost Thermal State across Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau","volume":"122","author":"Qin","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Atmos."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4403","DOI":"10.1109\/JSTARS.2018.2873219","article-title":"Active Layer Thickness Retrieval of Qinghai-Tibet Permafrost Using the TerraSAR-X InSAR Technique","volume":"11","author":"Wang","year":"2018","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Obs. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"118","DOI":"10.1061\/(ASCE)CR.1943-5495.0000153","article-title":"Embankment Stability of the Qinghai\u2013Tibet Railway in Permafrost Regions","volume":"32","author":"Sun","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Cold Reg. Eng."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.1016\/j.coldregions.2009.02.003","article-title":"Study on long-term stability of Qinghai\u2013Tibet Railway embankment","volume":"57","author":"Li","year":"2009","journal-title":"Cold Reg. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Morishita, Y., Lazecky, M., Wright, T.J., Weiss, J.R., Elliott, J.R., and Hooper, A. (2020). LiCSBAS: An Open-Source InSAR Time Series Analysis Package Integrated with the LiCSAR Automated Sentinel-1 InSAR Processor. Remote Sens., 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs12030424"},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"1476","article-title":"Investigation of the Seasonal oscillation of the permafrost over Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with SBAS-InSAR algorithm","volume":"56","author":"Li","year":"2013","journal-title":"Chin. J. Geophys."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4609","DOI":"10.1007\/s11434-012-5323-8","article-title":"Temporal and spatial variations of the active layer along the Qinghai-Tibet highway in a permafrost region","volume":"57","author":"Li","year":"2012","journal-title":"Chin. Sci. Bull."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106033","DOI":"10.1016\/j.enggeo.2021.106033","article-title":"Integration of Sentinel-1 and ALOS\/PALSAR-2 SAR datasets for mapping active landslides along the Jinsha River corridor, China","volume":"11","author":"Liu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eng. Geol."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1763","DOI":"10.1109\/JSTARS.2015.2402168","article-title":"A DInSAR Investigation of the Ground Settlement Time Evolution of Ocean-Reclaimed Lands in Shanghai","volume":"8","author":"Zhao","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Obs. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pepe, A., Bonano, M., Zhao, Q., Yang, T., and Wang, H. (2016). The use of C-\/X-band time-gapped SAR data and geotechnical models for the study of Shanghai\u2019s ocean-reclaimed lands through the SBAS-DInSAR technique. Remote Sens., 8.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints201608.0083.v1"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"359","DOI":"10.1002\/ppp.630","article-title":"Solifluction Processes on Permafrost and Non-Permafrost Slopes: Results of a Large-scale Laboratory Simulation","volume":"19","author":"Harris","year":"2008","journal-title":"Permafr. Periglac. Processes"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107880","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ecolind.2021.107880","article-title":"Variations in active layer soil hydrothermal dynamics of typical wetlands in permafrost region in the Great Hing\u2019an Mountains, northeast China","volume":"129","author":"Dong","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ecol. Indic."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6681","DOI":"10.1029\/2019GL082187","article-title":"Climate Change Drives Widespread and Rapid Thermokarst Development in Very Cold Permafrost in the Canadian High Arctic","volume":"46","author":"Farquharson","year":"2019","journal-title":"Geophys. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1016\/S0304-3800(99)00127-1","article-title":"Analytic representation of the active layer thickness field, Kuparuk River Basin, Alaska","volume":"123","author":"Shiklomanov","year":"1999","journal-title":"Ecol. Model."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"055028","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/abfa4c","article-title":"Active layer thickness as a function of soil water content","volume":"16","author":"Clayton","year":"2021","journal-title":"Environ. Res. Lett."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/14\/13\/2987\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T23:37:47Z","timestamp":1760139467000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/14\/13\/2987"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,22]]},"references-count":42,"journal-issue":{"issue":"13","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7]]}},"alternative-id":["rs14132987"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs14132987","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,22]]}}}