The presentation of Dr. Emil Bayramov will focus on the role of Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) remote sensing techniques for the quantitative assessment of the ground deformation processes along the seismically active sections of buried petroleum and gas pipelines.

In the present research, although both PS-InSAR and SBAS measurements were highly consistent in deformation patterns and trends along pipelines, SBAS remote sensing technique performed better than PS-InSAR along buried petroleum and gas pipelines in the following aspects: the complete coverage of the measured points, significantly lower dispersion of the results, continuous and realistic measurements and higher accuracy of ground deformation rates against the GPS historical measurements.

The spatial distribution and variation of ground movement processes along pipelines demonstrated that general geological and geotechnical understanding of the study area is not sufficient to find and mitigate all the critical areas of subsidence and uplifts for the pipeline operators. The prediction of the potential subsidence or uplift locations based on the field visual verifications holds a lot of uncertainties without wide and detailed scale airborne, satellite and UAV space observation technologies. The justification of the budget for the geotechnical maintenance activities along long-range oil and gas pipelines requires sophisticated prioritization and planning of the remediation sites and clear quantitative and qualitative risk assessment proving the activeness of these sites and effectiveness of the remediation measures.

Even though SBAS demonstrated a reliable approach for the detection of ground deformation processes along petroleum and gas pipelines, it is highly recommended to advance these studies with the integration of other geological, geotechnical, thermal and climatic information to better understand controlling natural and man-made factors. It is also recommended to apply high-resolution SAR images to understand how much this would enhance the accuracy and reliability of the present studies.