Research Status, Challenges and Future Perspectives of InSAR Technology for Surface Deformation Monitoring in Mining Areas

Surface deformation monitoring is essential for preventing geological hazards, safeguarding major engineering projects, and extracting mineral resources. Due to its all-weather, continuous, wide-coverage observation capabilities and millimeter-level accuracy, InSAR technology has emerged as an indispensable tool for monitoring surface deformation in mining regions. This paper presents a comprehensive review of recent advancements in InSAR technology for monitoring surface subsidence and horizontal displacement. It evaluates both fundamental D-InSAR techniques and advanced time-series analysis frameworks, such as PS-InSAR, SBAS-InSAR, and DS-InSAR. The review details the methodologies for extracting LOS deformation, multi-track combined horizontal displacement retrieval, and 3D deformation reconstruction. Furthermore, it provides a comprehensive overview of the causal mechanisms, correction strategies, impacts on deformation retrieval results, and developmental trends regarding major error sources such as decorrelation noise, residual orbital errors, and atmospheric delay. Drawing on typical case studies of large-gradient subsidence and landslide monitoring, this paper evaluates the efficacy and limitations of time-series InSAR in complex mining environments. Our analysis indicates that the InSAR monitoring system for mining areas is transitioning from single-dimensional deformation detection to multi-dimensional deformation analysis and intelligent dynamic monitoring. However, significant challenges remain regarding phase decorrelation in rapid deformation areas, the complete reconstruction of 3D displacements, the suppression of atmospheric errors under complex meteorological conditions, and real-time processing capabilities. Concurrently, this paper identifies multi-source data fusion, artificial intelligence-assisted retrieval, and cloud-based real-time processing as crucial future directions. These advancements will provide robust technical support for safe production and the early warning of geological hazards in mining regions.