Remote Sensing of the Mine Environment

A guide for students and professionals, this introductory course book covers the basic principles of remote sensing and its applications in mine environment monitoring. Building from a reader’s basic knowledge of mine monitoring, it teaches how to implement remote sensing techniques and how to interpret the acquired data for different purposes.
Following a general introduction to remote sensing principles and image analysis, mine subsidence monitoring, slope stability monitoring, reclamation planning and implementation, and post-closure mine and land use analysis are explained and illustrated. With the help of case studies, the techniques and tools presented are demonstrated.
With an increasing importance of sustainable mining, this accurate text is intended for the education of university students in mining, civil, geological and environmental engineering. Researchers and professionals in these disciplines may find it beneficial as well to guide their professional monitoring investigations.

H. Sebnem Düzgün is a professor of Mining Engineering at the Middle East Technical University (METU). She is also affiliated to the interdisciplinary program of Geodetic and Geographic Information Technologies (GGIT) and Applied Mathematics Institute of METU. After obtaining her Ph.D. degree in Mining Engineering Department at METU, Dr Düzgün perforemed research at MIT, Cambridge, USA from 1998 to 1999 and at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute in Oslo from 2004 to 2005. Her research interests are focused on geographic information systems, mine monitoring, sustainable mining engineering and mine closure
Nuray Demirel is an assistant professor of Mining Engineering at the Middle East Technical University (METU). She holds Ph.D.from the University of Missouri-Rolla, USA and graduated at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. Dr. Demirel has more than ten years of professional experience in research and teaching. Her research interests include include geographic information systems and remote sensing, surface mining, mining machine health and longevity, dragline simulation and modeling, virtual prototyping, kinematics and dynamics of excavators.

1 Introduction 1.1 Sustainability in mining 1.2 Environmental impacts of mining 1.3 Environmental impact monitoring in mining 1.4 Mine land monitoring 1.5 Role of remote sensing in mine monitoring 1.6 Scope of the book References

2 Principles of remote sensing 2.1 Definition of remote sensing 2.2 Principles of electromagnetic radiation 2.3 Physical laws of electromagnetic energy 2.4 The electromagnetic spectrum 2.5 The interaction of electromagnetic energy with the atmosphere 2.6 The interaction of electromagnetic energy with the object surfaces on the earth 2.7 Role of spectral reflectance curves in remote sensing 2.8 Remote sensing systems References

3 Remote sensing image analysis techniques 3.1 Characteristics of remotely sensed data 3.2 Pre-processing of image data 3.2.1 Level I-geometric and radiometric correction 3.2.2 Level II-image enhancement 3.2.3 Level III-image transformation 3.3 Interpretation of image data 3.3.1 Visual image interpretation 3.3.2 Image interpretation based on digital image analysis 3.4 Software for processing of remotely sensed data References

4 Remote sensing in subsidence monitoring 4.1 An overview 4.2 Mechanism of mine subsidence 4.3 Main causes of subsidence 4.4 Mine subsidence damage 4.5 Mine subsidence monitoring techniques4.5.1 Indirect monitoring techniques 4.5.2 Direct monitoring techniques 4.6 Mine subsidence monitoring using remote sensing 4.6.1 Optical remote sensing in mine subsidence monitoring 4.6.2 Microwave remote sensing in mine subsidence monitoring 4.7 Case study: mine subsidence monitoring using aerial photographs References

5 Remote sensing in slope stability monitoring 5.1 An overview 5.2 Problems with slope instability 5.3 Measurement, instrumentation, and monitoring systems 5.4 A case study: assessing and monitoring unstable slopes using remote sensing 5.4.1 Study area 5.4.2 Data acquisition 5.4.3 Data processing 5.4.4 Detection of unstable slopes Reference

6 Remote sensing in mine reclamation 6.1 Definition of mine reclamation 6.2 Need for mine reclamation 6.3 Mine reclamation planning 6.3.1 Reclamation planning in pre-mining stage 6.3.2 Baseline study 6.4 Mine reclamation operations 6.4.1 Soil and subsoil removal and replacement 6.4.2 Soil and subsoil storage and protection 6.4.3 Overburden removal and dumping 6.4.4 Revegetation of dump sites 6.5 Reclamation control and monitoring 6.6 A case study I – mine environment monitoring by change detection using band algebra 6.6.1 Study area 6.6.2 Data 6.6.3 Mine environment monitoring methodology using change detection by band algebra 6.7 A case study II – mine environment monitoring by change detection using image classification 6.7.1 Data 6.7.2 Methodology of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) mapping for mine environment monitoring References

Appendix, Subject Index