Tracking Deformation Processes at the Legnica Glogow Copper District (Poland) by Satellite InSAR—I: Room and Pillar Mine District

Benedetta Antonielli, Alessandra Sciortino, Stefano Scancella, Francesca Bozzano and Paolo Mazzanti
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Benedetta Antonielli: Department of Earth Sciences & CERI Research Center on Geological Risks, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Alessandra Sciortino: Department of Civil, Construction-Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEAA), University of L’Aquila, Via Giovanni Gronchi, 18, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Stefano Scancella: NHAZCA S.r.l., Via Vittorio Bachelet, 12, 00185 Rome, Italy
Francesca Bozzano: Department of Earth Sciences & CERI Research Center on Geological Risks, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Paolo Mazzanti: Department of Earth Sciences & CERI Research Center on Geological Risks, Sapienza University of Rome, P. le A. Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: Mining exploitation leads to slow or rapid ground subsidence resulting from deformation until the collapse of underground post-mining voids following excavation activities. Satellite SAR interferometry capabilities for the evaluation of ground movements allows the monitoring of intensive surface mine subsidence and can provide new knowledge about the risks in the mining industry. This work integrates both conventional and advanced Differential SAR Interferometry (DInSAR) to study the ground subsidence in the Legnica Glogow Copper District (LGCD, Poland) by processing about 400 Sentinel-1 images from October 2014 to April 2019. Even without field data and information on past and ongoing excavation activities, the DInSAR approach allowed us to identify 30 troughs of subsidence, ranging from 500 m to 2.5 km in diameter, which in some cases, took place several times during the analyzed time span. The cumulative subsidence in 4 years and 7 months exceeds 70 cm in several zones of the LGCD. The sub-centimetric precision achieved by advanced analysis (A-DInSAR), allowed us to monitor the real extent of the mining influence area on the surface, with deformation velocities of up to 50 mm/year. The ground deformation detected at LGCD can be due to both mining-induced tremors and roof subsidence above the underground excavation rooms. As deformations do not occur concurrently with tremors, this can be related to excavation activities or to degradation of abandoned mines.

Keywords: mining-induced subsidence; InSAR; room and pillar mines; Legnica Glogow Copper District; remote sensing monitoring (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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