The potential of the integrated use of A-DInSAR data and 3D groundwater flow and geomechanical models to capture and assess aquifer dynamics is performed. The approach has been applied to investigate the response during and after pumping of a portion of the Madrid aquifer. The short time delay (about one month) between the groundwater pumping and the system response (land displacements) are likely due to a minor role played by the clayey layers.

Human-induced changes in semi-arid regions could be responsible for modifications in ephemeral streams. Our results confirm that in-channel gravel mining and aquifer overexploitation over the last 50 years in the study area have changed the natural stability of the Nogalte stream and its geomorphic parameters. A comparison between flood events of the past and a recent one recorded in 2012 reveals changes and a new flooding pattern with a transition from an alluvial to a confined fluvial pattern.

We use InSAR time series to infer the temporal evolution of the piezometric level in 19 wells of the Tertiary detritic aquifer of Madrid (TDAM) in the period 1997-2010. Our results suggest that an average elastic storage coefficient Ske of all wells can be used to estimate piezometric level variations in all the points where ground deformation has been measured by InSAR, thus allowing production of piezometric level maps for the different extraction/recovery cycles in the TDAM.

Multi-sensor advanced DInSAR analyses have been performed, in order to evaluate the land subsidence evolution in a 20-year period, in the Alto Guadalentín Basin where the highest rate of man-induced subsidence (>10 cm/yr-) of Europe had been detected. The control mechanisms have been examined comparing the advanced DInSAR data with conditioning and triggering factors (i.e. isobaths of Plio-Quaternary deposits, soft soil thickness and piezometric level).

The implementation of FEM models permits to effectively analyse the cause-effect mechanism of a phenomenon.In the present work, in spite of the limited geotechnical and hydrogeological data available, the model has allowed to qualitatively and “quantitatively” reproduce the subsidence that affects Murcia city. The achieved results have been compared with the displacements estimated through A-DInSAR techniques and measured by the extensometers.This allows a better management of the exploitations.