Proceedings of the 2012 9th International Pipeline Conference IPC2012 September 24-28, 2012, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

IPC2012-90321
GEOHAZARD MAPPING AND IDENTIFICATION ALONG PIPELINE RIGHT-OF-WAYS USING SPACE-BORNE SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR
Michael D. Henschel, Gillian Robert , Benjamin Deschamps MDA Geospatial Services Inc. Ottawa, ON, Canada 1 Contact Author Richard W. Gailing Southern California Gas Company Los Angeles, CA, USA
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ABSTRACT Many energy pipelines traverse hilly and mountainous terrains that are prone to landslides and other geohazards. The mapping, identification, and monitoring of geohazards along pipeline right-of-ways are essential in effectively managing the risks they may pose to pipeline integrity and human safety. One approach to monitoring potential geohazards is to use spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR). SAR is an effective and proven technology used to monitor ground surface change over vast areas and can be used in a cost-efficient manner, especially in areas that are remote or challenging. This paper focuses on aspects of a novel three-fold approach for monitoring geohazards using satellite radar imagery. This is accomplished by combining interferometric SAR (InSAR), automated amplitude change detection, and polarimetric change detection. The resulting analyses are to be merged into a new geohazard index map that will provide a simplified overview of the change influence for given pipeline segments over an extensive area. It is anticipated that the geohazard index map would be used to support operator decision-making in proactively mitigating the potential adverse effects identified. A brief introduction to the methodologies employed and a discussion of the validation that is currently underway as a joint project between MDA Geospatial Services and Southern California Gas Company is provided by this paper. INTRODUCTION The mapping, identification and monitoring of ground surface conditions and geohazards along pipeline right-of-ways are the key goals of our current research work. The development of a wide area geohazard identification methodology will be of benefit to planning new pipeline installations and may be critical in optimally assigning 1

resources to monitor existing pipeline. Satellite earth observation should be a strong and effective tool for gathering the intelligence needed to do this monitoring. Indeed, recent satellite technology enhancements make it possible to consider the use of multiple types of information relating to ground change from a single satellite source. This application is centered on providing maps of ground surface conditions, surface change, and geohazards as opposed to capturing the actual pipeline movement. As such, the method provides a systematic system of ground change representation that extends the value of radar imagery as a tool for pipeline integrity surveys. Earth observation satellites are ideal for mapping, identification and monitoring ground surface change. The necessary first step is identifying the change that needs to be, and can be monitored in order to provide the most benefit to the pipeline operator. Our current research project has targeted vegetation change, ground surface deformation, and land use change as a means to categorize potential geohazards along pipeline right-of-ways. High resolution optical satellites have demonstrated the capacity to capture quality images of regions and consequently have a use in the categorization of the area around a pipeline. These satellites are indeed particularity well suited to applications in remediation. Optical satellites, however, are not a viable solution for the current research due to its inability to penetrate cloud cover and obtain precisely calibrated, repeatable information. SAR satellites differ from optical satellites in that they are active sensors, forming an image by emitting and receiving microwave energy. While optical satellites capture reflected solar energy in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths, the returned microwave energy is in a longer wavelength that is better related to surface roughness, surface soil moisture,

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vegetation canopy density and other conducting surfaces. The microwave return from a metallic object, for instance, may be much larger than the extent of the object on the ground, depending on how it is oriented to the sensor. This provides an ability to extract information about land use change to a resolution of a few 10s of metres. Furthermore, the polarization of the wave may be altered by the scatterers on the ground. Essentially, this change in the orientation of the returned wave can be exploited to identify the type of surface that is returning the energy. Changes in ground cover can be studied by tracking these changes in the polarimetric signature. Finally, the process of interferometry, or measuring the subtle changes in wave phase, can be used to provide a direct measurement of the ground surface movement to an accuracy of millimetres in the area imaged by the sensor. The RADARSAT-2 satellite, in particular, provides a robust platform for earth observation. The satellite provides a variety of coverage options from approximately 1 m to 500 m resolution with an exact 24-day repeat coverage. It is currently the only commercial radar platform that operationally delivers high resolution, fully polarized measurements of the ground. The SAR sensor on the RADARSAT-2 satellite provides the technical solution for our current monitoring programme. The following section provides an overview of the three methods we are developing for geohazard mapping and identification in the Ventura area of interest (AOI) that will be used for an operational demonstration. The Ventura region of California provides an excellent proving ground as it has been mapped and monitored since the 1970s and provides a region with active ground movement induced both by seismic and anthropogenic forces such as rainfall or fire, large changes in vegetation as well as land use pressures. GEOHAZARD IDENTIFICATION The four dominant geohazards that adversely impact pipeline integrity are earthquakes, landslides, ground subsidence, and flooding. Changes in ground conditions may provide information on how these dominant hazards will affect the local pipeline. For instance, a change in vegetation density that occurs before a heavy and continuous rainfall may affect the surface layer by making more the saturated soil susceptible to some form of landslide. Similarly, active enhanced oil recovery operations may make regions more susceptible to fissures or sink holes or other phenomena that may produce an additional geological strain on an area. Figures 1, 2 and 3 show areas where changes in the ground cover whether through natural causes or through anthropogenic causes (e.g., upstream mining) may have had an impact on soil stability. To quantify the geohazards, a Geohazard Susceptibility Map product is being developed to provide pipeline operators a high-level assessment of potential threats to pipeline integrity. The map will include the results from ground cover change, ground movement, and land use change for the area monitored.

Figure 1 Landslide, Rincon, California, 1998.

Figure 2 Lanslide, Hall Mountain, California, 1998.

Figure 3 Soil erosion enabled by up-stream mining, Apache Creek, California, 1998.

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In order to highlight the change itself, the strength of the change, the persistence of the change, and other important factors influencing these changes a symbolic Information Status in Geohazardous Terrain (InSIGHT) index was designed that will summarize the results at each given pipeline segment. The three sides of the triangle provide more detailed information of each measured component. The colours of the symbol and index value in the centre of the triangle provide a general assessment of geohazards; that is, they identify the changes during the monitoring period. Figure 4 shows a fictional example in which the InSIGHT symbols relate to geohazards in a 200 m buffer alongside a 500 m long segment of pipeline. This Hazard Susceptibility Map product can be paired with other more detailed maps containing further satellite derived information or ancillary data collected separately by the pipeline operator. The concept of using the InSIGHT index as a quick reference to information would provide a powerful tool to track and understand ground cover changes to successfully map, identify and monitor ground change and potential geohazards. Ground Movement Interferometric techniques for studying local ground movement from space are not new [1] and the techniques have been well validated [2]. Operationally, we have been using these techniques to monitor enhanced oil recovery sites throughout the world and especially in California. Interferometry exploits the phase difference between two waves measured with an extremely high precision. Since we are able to measure phase difference to approximately one tenth of a radian, satellite can be used to measure ground movement with millimetre accuracy (for RADARSAT-2, at C-band, with robust sampling). For instance, [5] have used InSAR to monitor landslides in different environments in Canada. The lateral and subsidence components of pipeline movement have also been monitored using InSAR from conventional SAR imagery [9, 10, 11]. Figure 5 shows an example in the San Joaquin Valley, California of ground surface deformation from Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operations impacting a pipeline as identified from InSAR analysis. The precise ground surface deformation along the pipeline is plotted for four dates as illustrated in Figure 6. Ground Cover Change Recent techniques in ground cover discrimination using polarimetric methods have provided a means to understand the ground change from the same space-borne sensor. The application of polarimetric methods has been demonstrated to provide application in ground cover discrimination [8,9, 10]. Recently, MDA Research & Development group has been developing a polarimetric change detection (PCD) toolkit. The toolkit provides a robust means of calculating a model for the scattering from each ground pixel. The changes in scattering define a difference in the type of object providing the return. Differences in vegetation can be readily observed by analysing 3

the proportions of backscattered energy related to surfaces, vegetation canopies, and man-made objects, a concept known as polarimetric decomposition [6, 7]. The PCD toolkit can also identify general change magnitude between two dates using the Wishart change metric [8].

Figure 4 Example of the use of the InSIGHT index to provide a general overview of the level of change for areas around pipeline segments. The values along the axis are statistics derived from each of the analyses that have been calculated from each of the methodologies to define the overall hazard index as illustrated in the centre of the triangle

Figure 5 Vertical ground deformation measurements for a three-month time period from EOR operations. The pipeline, as shown by the red vector traverses the oil field. Subsidence is shown in blue and uplift in red. (Courtesy of MDA GSI, 2012)

Figure 7 shows the RADARSAT-2 polarimetric images for an area north of Ventura, California that experienced a significant decrease in vegetation cover from May (Figure 7-A) to August (Figure 7-B). The colour coding shows changes in the type and distribution of vegetation over the region. Areas in purple and blue represent two categories of polarimetric signatures related to vegetation loss (Figure 7-C).

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Figure 6 Vertical ground surface deformation of up to 0.10 ft along a 2,000 ft pipeline segment derived from InSAR analysis on four particular dates.

Figure 7-D shows a general measure of the intensity of changes in the same area (Wishart metric). White pixels have undergone significant change while darker pixels have not. The polarimetric properties of bare soil and vegetation change only require a small sample of test sites to ensure the proper detection of the areas to be monitored. The ground cover change index is key to the overall methodology. Land Use Change The final element to the geohazard monitoring program will look at large-scale changes in land use (on the order of 10s of metres) as a means to classify bulk changes that may be missed. Amplitude change detection (ACD) is a relatively new concept for radar sensors. The use of change algorithms for the automatic discrimination of change is only now becoming operational for wide area systems. The automatic algorithms are replacing more traditional light table applications where imagery is placed side by side and an operator identifies the changes that can be seen. In automated change detection a series of images are exploited for the variations in the observed amplitude signal. The amplitude signal shows changes in the intensity of the backscatter returned to the satellite. These variations are related to changes in the actual objects that are observed. ACD algorithms are extremely useful for providing the location and extent of large-scale changes, especially from human activity. For instance, grading, material stockpiling, excavation and other human and industrial activities may be monitored very precisely by the use of an ACD algorithm. This technology is also well suited for the detection of unexpected or sudden ground surface changes, such as those caused by landslides, high rates of erosion or right-of-way encroachment. Figure 8 shows an example in which a road was extended between two RADARSAT-2 acquisitions. The new portion of the road is clearly visible in red. Combining the information that may be derived by well understood methods for vegetative cover, ground movement, and land use change into the InSIGHT index provides useful tool for pipeline geohazard monitoring. 4

Figure 7 Ground cover change from May to August 2011 over an 8-km square area near Ventura, California. RADARSAT-2 images for both dates (top). The vegetation cover decrease seen here is mostly due to seasonal climate trends or vegetation loss potentially associated with ground movement. Areas showing such change have been identified in blue and purple (bottom left). Areas having experienced significant changes over the selected time period are shown in white in figure 7D (bottom right).

Figure 8 Example of amplitude change detection over an area near Belridge, California. A new road segment (diagonal) appears in red, with some changes in crop and vegetation cover also highlighted in red and blue. Unchanged areas are shown in shades of gray, depending on backscatter.

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The project is being conducted over the mountainous region of Ventura, California, from the Pacific Coast to the San Joaquin Valley, where SoCalGas operates seven transmission pipelines that traverse steep terrain, rivers and drainage tributaries. The region's terrain and soil conditions are highly prone to landslides and erosion. The region is also highly vegetated and given its geographic location and relatively dry climate, the area is prone to fires as well. The loss of vegetation from fire leaves the burned terrain and basin areas highly susceptible to erosion and slope failure. All seven pipelines have been significantly impacted over the years under these conditions, especially during El Nio weather episodes or other heavy rainfall events. Landslides will often continue for more than a year after these events, even during a drought rainfall year. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK This research is currently in its first year of development. The work is combining stable methods for the analysis of ground change into a single interpretable InSIGHT Index that allows fast and complete observation of ground change related to geohazards. The acceptance of this work as a valid methodology for pipeline specific geohazard monitoring requires an on going validation. This research is being conducted to develop an effective, accurate and cost-efficient method to map, identify and monitor ground conditions and geohazards over a vast area where pipelines operate. Current methods used to perform these tasks such as field and aerial photo interpretations are time consuming, labor intensive, inefficient and often not timely. The desired frequency of updating pipeline right-of-way conditions using conventional means cannot be achieved costeffectively. Also, ground and aerial patrols during and immediately following heavy rainfall events are not always possible due to patrol road conditions and cloud ceilings. Having the ability to monitor right-of-way conditions at close intervals, say every one to three days, during El Nino weather episodes or consecutive heavy rainfall events would greatly enhance operational safety and decision making. Over the next year, MDA GSI and Southern California Gas Company will be actively monitoring the Ventura region with the InSIGHT methodology described in this paper. We expect to publish further results at upcoming IPC events. REFERENCES [1] Graham L. C. (1974). Synthetic interferometric radar for topographic mapping. Proc. IEEE, 62(6): 763-768. [2] Ferretti, A., et al. (2007). Submillimeter Accuracy of InSAR Time Series: Experimental Validation, Proc. IEEE, 45(5): 1142-1153. [3] Alberga, V. (2007). A study of land cover classification using polarimetric SAR parameters, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 28(17): 3851-3870. 5

[4] Dobson, M. C., Ulaby F. T., Pierce, L. E. (1995). Landcover classification and estimation of terrain attributes using synthetic aperture radar, Remote Sensing of Environment, 51(1): 199-124. [5] Qi, Z., Yeh, A. G., Li., Z., and Lin, Z. (2010). Land use and land cover classification using RADARSAT-2 polarimetric SAR image, ISPRS TC VII Symposium, Vienna, Austria, July 57, 2010, vol. 38, part 7A. [6] van Zyl, J.J. Arii, M. Yunjin K. (2011). Model-Based Decomposition of Polarimetric SAR Covariance Matrices Constrained for Nonnegative Eigenvalues, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 49(9), pp. 3452 3459. [7] Cloude, S. R. and Pottier, E. (1996). A review of target decomposition theorems in radar polarimetry, IEEE Proc. 34(2): 498-518. [8] Conradsen, K., Aabjerg, N., Schou, J. Skriver, H. (2003). A Test Statistic in the Complex Wishart Distribution and Its Application to Change Detection in Polarimetric SAR Data, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 41(1), pp. 4 19. [9] Singhroy, V., Alasset, P.J., Couture, R., Froese, C. (2008). InSAR Monitoring of Landslides in Canada, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS 2008, 3, pp. 202 205. [10] Power, D., Randell, C., Youden, Y., Gill, E. (2004). Lateral and subsidence movement estimation using InSAR, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARS 2004, 5, pp. 2991 2994. [11] Froese, C. R., van der Kooij, M. Kosar, K. (2004). Advances in the Use of Spaceborne InSAR for Application to Pipeline Route Selection and Integrity Management, Proc. 2004 International Pipeline Conference, 1-3, pp. 259 267.

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