Geophysical Assessment

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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Category

• Topographic information
• Impact assessment
• Change detection / continuous monitoring
• Land cover / use
• Near surface geology

• Surface deformation
• Precision ortho-images
• Terrain information
• Water quantity & quality

Uses

• Subsidence monitoring – Land motion relating to fault lines or other causes
• Subsidence monitoring – Infrastructure monitoring
• Logistics planning and operations – Facility siting, infrastructure development

Challenges addressed

• Exploration – Geological Mapping
• Development and Operations – Ground Stability/Geotechnical

Geo-information needs

• E-1: Geological mapping of surface expressions
• DO-6: Geotechnical assessment – karst mapping
• DO-19: Underground operations – surface subsidence

Description

An area, where mining takes place, must be structurally competent and must not be susceptible to subsidence or collapse. Therefore, an assessment is needed before any construction takes place. Also, further monitoring during mining activities is of high need, especially to monitor structural stability of buildings.

This product addresses these issues by monitoring the mining area and detecting any changes within the relief. Change detection is usually performed by using radar satellite imagery (Synthetic Aperture Radar, SAR) for analysis. To monitor any changes, images from different points in time are compared to analyse and highlight severe deformations. The detected variations in reflectivity indicate morphological changes, soil moisture variations, vegetation growth and anthropogenic causes.

To assess surface movements, processing radar imagery with interferometric techniques can furthermore be utilized in this matter. With this information it is also possible to conclude on possible damages in infrastructure.

Known restrictions / limitations

Lifecycle stage and demand

Exploration

Environmental Assessment and Permitting

Design, Construction and Operations

Mine Closure and Aftercare

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Exploration:

• Baseline mapping of natural ground movement in the pre-production phase
• Ground movement information for the identification of a structurally sound ground

Design, Construction & Operations:

• Regular monitoring of structural stability
• Ground movement information over infrastructure can be monitored in order to identify potential stability issues

Mine Closure & Aftercare:

• Regular monitoring of structural stability
• Ground movement information over infrastructure

Geographic coverage

EARSC Thematic Domain

Domain

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

Input data sources

Commercial, on demand

Commercial, on demand

Website

Minimum Mapping Unit (MMU)

Variable, depending on source data resolution. A MMU as small as 1 m is possible.

Accuracy / constraints

Thematic accuracy:

Analysis shows movements, variations and changes of the surface.

Spatial accuracy:

Dependent on input pixel resolution.

Accuracy assessment approach & quality control measures

N/A

Frequency / timeliness

Observation frequency:

Every one or more days, depending on satellite.

Timeliness of delivery:

Within five (working) days of sensing.

Availability

Data from all Sentinel satellites are freely available through the open data policy of the operator ESA (Sentinel-1A since 2014, Sentinel-1B since 2016).

Delivery / output format

Data type: Raster formats

File format: GeoTIFF

Other delivery format: Report

USE CASE