Investigating the Structural Health of High-Rise Buildings and Its Influencing Factors Using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery: A Case Study of the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan Area

Urban growth is increasingly shifting from horizontal expansion to vertical development, resulting in skylines dominated by high-rise buildings. The post-construction operations and maintenance of these buildings are critical, requiring regular structural health monitoring (SHM) to proactively ident...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Di Huang, Zhixin Qi, Suya Lin, Yuze Gu, Wenxuan Song, Qianwen Lv
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Buildings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/14/12/4074
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850049388212125696
author Di Huang
Zhixin Qi
Suya Lin
Yuze Gu
Wenxuan Song
Qianwen Lv
author_facet Di Huang
Zhixin Qi
Suya Lin
Yuze Gu
Wenxuan Song
Qianwen Lv
author_sort Di Huang
collection DOAJ
description Urban growth is increasingly shifting from horizontal expansion to vertical development, resulting in skylines dominated by high-rise buildings. The post-construction operations and maintenance of these buildings are critical, requiring regular structural health monitoring (SHM) to proactively identify and address potential safety concerns. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has proven effective for monitoring building safety, but most studies rely on high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The high cost and limited coverage of these images restrict their use for large-scale monitoring. Sentinel-1 medium-resolution SAR images, which are freely available and offer broad coverage, make large-scale SHM more feasible. However, studies on the use of Sentinel-1 SAR images for structural health monitoring, especially at large spatial scales, remain limited. To address this gap, in this study, Sentinel-1 SAR images and PS-InSAR technology are proposed for performing a comprehensive structural safety assessment of super high-rise buildings in the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan Area (GFMA) and for analyzing the influencing factors. Our assessment shows that while the overall structural safety of these buildings is satisfactory, certain areas, including Pearl River New Town, central Huadu district in Guangzhou, and southeastern Shunde district in Foshan, exhibit suboptimal safety conditions. We verified these findings using GNSS data and on-site investigations, confirming that Sentinel-1 SAR imagery offers reliable accuracy for monitoring building structural health. Furthermore, we identified factors such as settlement in soft soil layers, the construction of surrounding (underground) infrastructure, and building aging, which could potentially impact building structural safety. The results demonstrate that Sentinel-1 SAR images provide a reliable, rapid, and cost-effective method for the large-scale monitoring of building stability, enhancing our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and informing strategies to prevent potential safety crises, and also ensuring the sustainable development of society.
format Article
id doaj-art-df13a52f4c5e4b0c9f63b870a2f1c50f
institution DOAJ
issn 2075-5309
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Buildings
spelling doaj-art-df13a52f4c5e4b0c9f63b870a2f1c50f2025-08-20T02:53:43ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092024-12-011412407410.3390/buildings14124074Investigating the Structural Health of High-Rise Buildings and Its Influencing Factors Using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery: A Case Study of the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan AreaDi Huang0Zhixin Qi1Suya Lin2Yuze Gu3Wenxuan Song4Qianwen Lv5School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaSchool of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaSchool of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaSchool of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaSchool of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaSchool of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, ChinaUrban growth is increasingly shifting from horizontal expansion to vertical development, resulting in skylines dominated by high-rise buildings. The post-construction operations and maintenance of these buildings are critical, requiring regular structural health monitoring (SHM) to proactively identify and address potential safety concerns. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) has proven effective for monitoring building safety, but most studies rely on high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The high cost and limited coverage of these images restrict their use for large-scale monitoring. Sentinel-1 medium-resolution SAR images, which are freely available and offer broad coverage, make large-scale SHM more feasible. However, studies on the use of Sentinel-1 SAR images for structural health monitoring, especially at large spatial scales, remain limited. To address this gap, in this study, Sentinel-1 SAR images and PS-InSAR technology are proposed for performing a comprehensive structural safety assessment of super high-rise buildings in the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan Area (GFMA) and for analyzing the influencing factors. Our assessment shows that while the overall structural safety of these buildings is satisfactory, certain areas, including Pearl River New Town, central Huadu district in Guangzhou, and southeastern Shunde district in Foshan, exhibit suboptimal safety conditions. We verified these findings using GNSS data and on-site investigations, confirming that Sentinel-1 SAR imagery offers reliable accuracy for monitoring building structural health. Furthermore, we identified factors such as settlement in soft soil layers, the construction of surrounding (underground) infrastructure, and building aging, which could potentially impact building structural safety. The results demonstrate that Sentinel-1 SAR images provide a reliable, rapid, and cost-effective method for the large-scale monitoring of building stability, enhancing our understanding of the underlying mechanisms and informing strategies to prevent potential safety crises, and also ensuring the sustainable development of society.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/14/12/4074Sentienl-1structural health monitoring (SHM)Guangzhou–Foshan metropolitan areaPS-InSARsuper high-rise building
spellingShingle Di Huang
Zhixin Qi
Suya Lin
Yuze Gu
Wenxuan Song
Qianwen Lv
Investigating the Structural Health of High-Rise Buildings and Its Influencing Factors Using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery: A Case Study of the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan Area
Buildings
Sentienl-1
structural health monitoring (SHM)
Guangzhou–Foshan metropolitan area
PS-InSAR
super high-rise building
title Investigating the Structural Health of High-Rise Buildings and Its Influencing Factors Using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery: A Case Study of the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan Area
title_full Investigating the Structural Health of High-Rise Buildings and Its Influencing Factors Using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery: A Case Study of the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan Area
title_fullStr Investigating the Structural Health of High-Rise Buildings and Its Influencing Factors Using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery: A Case Study of the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan Area
title_full_unstemmed Investigating the Structural Health of High-Rise Buildings and Its Influencing Factors Using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery: A Case Study of the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan Area
title_short Investigating the Structural Health of High-Rise Buildings and Its Influencing Factors Using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery: A Case Study of the Guangzhou–Foshan Metropolitan Area
title_sort investigating the structural health of high rise buildings and its influencing factors using sentinel 1 synthetic aperture radar imagery a case study of the guangzhou foshan metropolitan area
topic Sentienl-1
structural health monitoring (SHM)
Guangzhou–Foshan metropolitan area
PS-InSAR
super high-rise building
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/14/12/4074
work_keys_str_mv AT dihuang investigatingthestructuralhealthofhighrisebuildingsanditsinfluencingfactorsusingsentinel1syntheticapertureradarimageryacasestudyoftheguangzhoufoshanmetropolitanarea
AT zhixinqi investigatingthestructuralhealthofhighrisebuildingsanditsinfluencingfactorsusingsentinel1syntheticapertureradarimageryacasestudyoftheguangzhoufoshanmetropolitanarea
AT suyalin investigatingthestructuralhealthofhighrisebuildingsanditsinfluencingfactorsusingsentinel1syntheticapertureradarimageryacasestudyoftheguangzhoufoshanmetropolitanarea
AT yuzegu investigatingthestructuralhealthofhighrisebuildingsanditsinfluencingfactorsusingsentinel1syntheticapertureradarimageryacasestudyoftheguangzhoufoshanmetropolitanarea
AT wenxuansong investigatingthestructuralhealthofhighrisebuildingsanditsinfluencingfactorsusingsentinel1syntheticapertureradarimageryacasestudyoftheguangzhoufoshanmetropolitanarea
AT qianwenlv investigatingthestructuralhealthofhighrisebuildingsanditsinfluencingfactorsusingsentinel1syntheticapertureradarimageryacasestudyoftheguangzhoufoshanmetropolitanarea