NASA May Be Able To Predict Sinkholes

Space Agency May Have Way To Predict Sinkholes
In this Thursday, June 27, 2013 photo, a truck hauling dirt rides along a berm set up to contain an approximate 22-acre sinkhole in Bayou Corne, La. Neighbors in tiny Bayou Corne face a wrenching decision after a huge sinkhole opened up near their community: Do they stay put or should they pack up and move? The sinkhole resulted from a collapsed underground salt dome cavern about 40 miles south of Baton Rouge. After oil and natural gas came oozing up and acres of swampland liquefied into muck, the community?s 350 residents were advised to evacuate. Texas Brine Co., the operator of the salt dome, is negotiating buyouts of residents who have not joined lawsuits against the company. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
In this Thursday, June 27, 2013 photo, a truck hauling dirt rides along a berm set up to contain an approximate 22-acre sinkhole in Bayou Corne, La. Neighbors in tiny Bayou Corne face a wrenching decision after a huge sinkhole opened up near their community: Do they stay put or should they pack up and move? The sinkhole resulted from a collapsed underground salt dome cavern about 40 miles south of Baton Rouge. After oil and natural gas came oozing up and acres of swampland liquefied into muck, the community?s 350 residents were advised to evacuate. Texas Brine Co., the operator of the salt dome, is negotiating buyouts of residents who have not joined lawsuits against the company. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Sinkholes may not be as unpredictable as we once thought. NASA announced this week that routine radar images could, in some cases, indicate where and when a sinkhole will form.

The news follows the realization that 2012 radar data indicated the location of a massive depression before it collapsed in Louisiana, swallowing 25 acres of land.

Describing the finding in the February issue of Geology, researchers said analyses of the data revealed that the ground surface layer in Bayou Corne, La., became drastically deformed at least a month before the collapse in August 2012. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) imagery obtained in June 2011 and July 2012 by one of the agency's jets showed that before the ground gave way, it rose 10 inches higher than the land around it -- a possible harbinger of impending collapse.

"While horizontal surface deformations had not previously been considered a signature of sinkholes, the new study shows they can precede sinkhole formation well in advance," lead researcher Cathleen Jones of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a written statement. "This kind of movement may be more common than previously thought, particularly in areas with loose soil near the surface."

Though researchers are optimistic that radar imagery could pinpoint subtle land deformations, those changes may not be an identifying factor for every sinkhole. That's why routine flyovers to obtain radar data may be more costly than they're worth.

Still, the technique could be useful in specific situations.

Since its collapse in 2012, the Louisiana sinkhole has continued to grow, forcing longtime residents to flee their homes. Researchers cannot stop the depression from growing, but they may be able to predict the direction of the sinkhole's next expansion by tracking surface deformations.

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