Article
New Orleans Subsidence: Rates and Spatial Variation Measured by Permanent Scatterer Interferometry
Nature
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1-2006
Disciplines
Abstract
It has long been recognized that New Orleans is subsiding and is therefore susceptible to catastrophic flooding. Here we present a new subsidence map for the city, generated from space-based synthetic-aperture radar measurements, which reveals that parts of New Orleans underwent rapid subsidence in the three years before Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. One such area is next to the Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet (MRGO) canal, where levees failed during the peak storm surge: the map indicates that this weakness could be explained by subsidence of a metre or more since their construction.
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Nature, v. 441, p. 587-588
Citation Information
Timothy H. Dixon, F. Amelung, A. Ferretti and F. Novali. "New Orleans Subsidence: Rates and Spatial Variation Measured by Permanent Scatterer Interferometry" Nature Vol. 441 (2006) p. 587 - 588 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/timothydixon/128/
Complete list of authors: Fabio Rocca, Roy Dokka, Giovanni Sella, Sang-Wan Kim, Shimon Wdowinski & Dean Whitman