Applications of remote sensing to environmental aspects of surface mining operations in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Increasing environmental awareness, especially in densely-populated countries such as Britain, imposes new responsibilities on the mining industry in respect of the environmental impact of surface mining operations, and the restoration of land after mining. Satellite remote sensing, with its capability for repetitive digital multispectral imaging of large areas at low cost, can play an important role in environmental impact assessment prior to mining, monitoring the distribution and change in area of different activities during mining, and the evaluation of restoration success and landscape quality after mining.

Examples are presented of the use of remote sensing in combination with map data and digital elevation models to generate perspective views of the results of alternative mine plans in the china clay workings of the west of England. The digital nature of the imagery allows the impact of numerous possible alternative plans to be evaluated rapidly, even on small computers. The use of remote sensing to detect change during mining operations is demonstrated with examples from sand and gravel workings in the southeast of England, and from the china clay districts of Devon and Cornwall. Automated change detection is possible in some cases, but in others a visual interpretation of specially enhanced satellite imagery by people with local knowledge is a more effective technique. Landscape and land quality assessment after mining is demonstrated with examples from open-cast coal mining operations in Dyfed and Northumberland. Remote sensing is shown to be a cost-effective technique for this type of application, as well as permitting observations that are impossible with conventional techniques. The digital nature of the imagery permits quantitative analysis of features such as field size and shape, and direct comparison with pre-mining morphology, while large-area information at infra-red wavelengths permits quantitative comparison of vegetation vigour. The mining industry is urged to make wider use of these relatively simple and cost-effective techniques.