Browsing by Author "Cheng, Ching-Chung"

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Absolute gravity change in Taiwan: Present result of geodynamic process investigation
(2017-12-01)
Kao, Ricky
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Hwang, Cheinway
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Kim, Jeong Woo
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Ching, Kuo-En
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Masson, Frederic
Gravity values at 24 sites over 2004-2016 measured with absolute gravimeters are used to study geodynamic processes in Taiwan. We model rain-induced gravity effects and other temporal effects of non-geodynamic origins to obtain residual gravity, which cannot be fully explained by GPS-derived vertical displacements. We explain the gravity changes associated with deposited debris, earthquake, volcanism and Moho deepening. Gravity changes of 53.37 and 23.38 mu Gal near Sinwulyu and Laonong Rivers are caused by typhoon Morakot, leading to estimated volumes of 6.0 x 10(5) and 3.6 x 10(5)m(3) in deposited debris. The observed co-seismic gravity change near the epicenter of the M 6.9 Pingtung earthquake (26 December 2006) is 3.12 +/- 0.99 mu Gal, consistent with a dislocation-based gravity change at the mu Gal level, thereby supplying a gravity constraint on the modeled fault parameters. The AG record at the Tatun Volcano Group is the longest, but large temporal gravity effects here has led to a current gravity signal-to-noise ratio of less than one, which cannot convince a sinking magma chamber, but supply an error bound for gravity detections of long-term or transient magma movements. The gravity values at Ludao and Lanyu decline steadily at the rates of -2.20 and -0.50 mu Gal yr(-1), consistent with the expected magma states of the two extinct volcanoes. The gravity rates at an uplifting site in central Taiwan and three subsiding sites in eastern Taiwan are negative, and are potentially caused by Moho deepening at a rate of -3.34 cm yr(-1) and a combined Moho deepening and plate subduction at the rates of -0.18, -2.03, and -1.34 cm yr(-1).
Assessing active faulting by hydrogeological modeling and superconducting gravimetry: A case study for Hsinchu Fault, Taiwan
(2014-09-01)
Lien, Tzuyi
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Cheng, Ching-Chung
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Hwang, Cheinway
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Crossley, David
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土木工程學系
We develop a new hydrology and gravimetry-based method to assess whether or not a local fault may be active. We take advantage of an existing superconducting gravimeter (SG) station and a comprehensive groundwater network in Hsinchu to apply the method to the Hsinchu Fault (HF) across the Hsinchu Science Park, whose industrial output accounts for 10% of Taiwan\'s gross domestic product. The HF is suspected to pose seismic hazards to the park, but its existence and structure are not clear. The a priori geometry of the HF is translated into boundary conditions imposed in the hydrodynamic model. By varying the fault\'s location, depth, and including a secondary wrench fault, we construct five hydrodynamic models to estimate groundwater variations, which are evaluated by comparing groundwater levels and SG observations. The results reveal that the HF contains a low hydraulic conductivity core and significantly impacts groundwater flows in the aquifers. Imposing the fault boundary conditions leads to about 63-77% reduction in the differences between modeled and observed values (both water level and gravity). The test with fault depth shows that the HF\'s most recent slip occurred in the beginning of Holocene, supplying a necessary (but not sufficient) condition that the HF is currently active. A portable SG can act as a virtual borehole well for model assessment at critical locations of a suspected active fault.
Fusion of Time-Lapse Gravity Survey and Hydraulic Tomography for Estimating Spatially Varying Hydraulic Conductivity and Specific Yield Fields
(2017-10-01)
Tsai, Jui-Pin
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Yeh, Tian-Chyi Jim
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Cheng, Ching-Chung
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Zha, Yuanyuan
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Chang, Liang-Cheng
Hydraulic conductivity (K) and specific yield (S-y) are important aquifer parameters, pertinent to groundwater resources management and protection. These parameters are commonly estimated through a traditional cross-well pumping test. Employing the traditional approach to obtain detailed spatial distributions of the parameters over a large area is generally formidable. For this reason, this study proposes a stochastic method that integrates hydraulic head and time-lapse gravity based on hydraulic tomography (HT) to efficiently derive the spatial distribution of K and Sy over a large area. This method is demonstrated using several synthetic experiments. Results of these experiments show that the K and Sy fields estimated by joint inversion of the gravity and head data set from sequential injection tests in unconfined aquifers are superior to those from the HT based on head data alone. We attribute this advantage to the mass constraint imposed on HT by gravity measurements. Besides, we find that gravity measurement can detect the change of aquifer's groundwater storage at kilometer scale, as such they can extend HT's effectiveness over greater volumes of the aquifer. Furthermore, we find that the accuracy of the estimated fields is improved as the number of the gravity stations is increased. The gravity station's location, however, has minor effects on the estimates if its effective gravity integration radius covers the well field.
New gravimetric-only and hybrid geoid models of Taiwan for height modernisation, cross-island datum connection and airborne LiDAR mapping
(2020-08-12)
Hwang, Cheinway
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Hsu, Hung-Jui
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Featherstone, W. E.
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Cheng, Ching-Chung
;
Yang, Ming
This paper combines gravity data collected from airborne, shipborne and terrestrial surveys and those derived from satellite altimetry to determine a high-resolution gravimetric and hybrid geoid model (on a 30" x 30 '' grid) in and around Taiwan. Some 6000 new land gravity values at a 0.03-mGal precision make a notable contribution to the geoid modeling. Shipborne gravity data in waters 20 km offshore Taiwan were collected to improve the coastal geoid precision. In a circular area of 50 km around each of the five major tide gauges in Taiwan, gravity data were measured to improve vertical datum connections between Taiwan and its four offshore islands. Height anomalies were computed first and then converted to geoid heights. At > 2000 benchmarks, we obtained measured geoid heights to assess the gravimetric-only geoid and to create a hybrid geoid. Our assessments and formal errors from least-squares collocation indicate few cm of standard deviations for both geoid models, but the gravimetric geoid has mean differences of up to 20 cm with the measured geoidal heights. The hybrid geoid is used in RTK-VBS orthometric heighting, achieving a 5-cm precision. The gravimetric geoid is used to determine the relative differences in the ocean's mean dynamic topography (MDT) between Taiwan and the four offshore islands, which are also compared with those from oceanic and altimetric methods for estimating MDT. Differences in MDT help to identify 41.7 cm and 54.1 cm offsets in the current vertical datums of Penghu and Lanyu islands. In a low-lying, flood-prone region of southern Taiwan, the hybrid geoid improves LiDAR mapping of sub-zero elevation zones by 20 cm, corresponding to 70 years of sea level rise at an assumed rate of 0.286 cm/yr.
Quantifying sediment mass redistribution from joint time-lapse gravimetry and photogrammetry surveys
(2020-06-22)
Mouyen, Maxime
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Steer, Philippe
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Chang, Kuo-Jen
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Le Moigne, Nicolas
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Hwang, Cheinway
The accurate quantification of sediment mass redistribution is central to the study of surface processes, yet it remains a challenging task. Here we test a new combination of terrestrial gravity and drone photogrammetry methods to quantify sediment mass redistribution over a 1 km(2) area. Gravity and photogrammetry are complementary methods. Indeed, gravity changes are sensitive to mass changes and to their location. Thus, by using photogrammetry data to constrain this location, the sediment mass can be properly estimated from the gravity data. We carried out three joint gravimetry-photogrammetry surveys, once a year in 2015, 2016 and 2017, over a 1 km(2) area in southern Taiwan, featuring both a wide meander of the Laonong River and a slow landslide. We first removed the gravity changes from non-sediment effects, such as tides, groundwater, surface displacements and air pressure variations. Then, we inverted the density of the sediment with an attempt to distinguish the density of the landslide from the density of the river sediments. We eventually estimate an average loss of 3.7 +/- 0.4 x 10(9) kg of sediment from 2015 to 2017 mostly due to the slow landslide. Although the gravity devices used in this study are expensive and need week-long surveys, new instrumentation currently being developed will enable dense and continuous measurements at lower cost, making the method that has been developed and tested in this study well-suited for the estimation of erosion, sediment transfer and deposition in landscapes.
Results from parallel observations of superconducting and absolute gravimeters and GPS at the Hsinchu station of Global Geodynamics Project, Taiwan
(2009-07-21)
Hwang, Cheinway
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Kao, Ricky
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Cheng, Ching-Chung
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Huang, Jiu-Fu
;
Lee, Chiung-Wu
The Hsinchu (HS) superconducting gravimeter (SG, serial T48) station is a newly established site in the Global Geodynamics Project (GGP). Simultaneous observations of T48, three FG5 absolute gravimeters, and GPS at four stations are studied. GPS shows few mm a(-1) of horizontal and vertical motions around HS. The calibration factor and drifting rate of T48 are -75.96 +/- 0.07 mu Gal V(-1) and 0.2 +/- 0.7 mu Gal a(-1) (1 mu Gal = 10(-8) m s(-2)). Both the SG and absolute gravity records contain trends of about 2-3 mu Gal a(-1). The ocean tide gravity effects (OTGEs) were estimated from NAO. 99b, FES2004, and CSR4.0, and their amplitudes agree with the SG observations at the submicroGal level, but their phases differ from the observations up to 10 degrees. The Newtonian effect of ocean tide contributes 20% to the total OTGE at HS, and it is larger at islands in the Taiwan Strait. The inelastic body tide model of Dehant et al. (1999) is more consistent with the SG observations than the elastic model. Modeled gravity-atmosphere admittances based on an exponential distribution of air mass explain well the observed admittances. The average gravity-atmosphere admittance during typhoons is 30% larger than that in a nontyphoon time. A list of coseismic gravity changes from T48 caused by earthquakes over 2006-2007 is given for potential studies of fault parameters. The modeled effects of atmospheric pressure, groundwater, soil moisture, and polar motion explain the FG5 observed gravity trend to 1.1 mu Gal a(-1). Seasonally, the groundwater-induced gravity change contributes the most to the SG residual gravity, but its phase leads the latter by 63 days.