Remote Sensing for Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Monitoring in the Central Salt Range, Punjab, Pakistan

Nafees Ali, Xiaodong Fu (), Umar Ashraf (), Jian Chen, Hung Vo Thanh, Aqsa Anees, Muhammad Shahid Riaz, Misbah Fida, Muhammad Afaq Hussain, Sadam Hussain, Wakeel Hussain and Awais Ahmed
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Nafees Ali: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Xiaodong Fu: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Umar Ashraf: Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China
Jian Chen: State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China
Hung Vo Thanh: School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea
Aqsa Anees: Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China
Muhammad Shahid Riaz: Centre for Earthquake Studies, National Centre of Physics, Quaid-I-Azam University Campus, Islamabad 15320, Pakistan
Misbah Fida: School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054, China
Muhammad Afaq Hussain: School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Sadam Hussain: Department of Geological Resources and Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Wakeel Hussain: Department of Geological Resources and Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Awais Ahmed: Department of Mining Engineering, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-26

Abstract: The expansion and exploitation of mining resources are essential for social and economic growth. Remote sensing provides vital tools for surface-mining monitoring operations as well as for reclamation efforts in the central Salt Range of the Indus River Basin, Pakistan. This research demonstrates the applicability of remote sensing techniques to the coal mining monitoring scheme to allow for effective and efficient monitoring and to offset the adverse consequences of coal mining activities. Landsat 8 OLI images from June 2019 and 2020, and a Landsat 7 ETM+ image from June 2002, were used for this study. A three-phase methodology including Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis, land cover mapping, and change detection approaches was adopted. Image classification based on Tasseled Cap Transformation and the brightness temperature At-satellite using the K-means algorithm was implemented in a GIS program to identify seven land cover classes within the study area. The results show some level of surface disturbance to the landscape due to the coal mining reclamation activities that had taken place over the 18-year time period. From 2019 to 2020, about 3.622 km 2 of coal mines or barren land were converted into bare agricultural land. Over the years, it was also observed that reclamation areas exhibited higher values of NDVI than coal mining areas. The mean NDVI for coal mining areas was 0.252 km 2 , and for areas of reclamation, it was 0.292 km 2 in 2020, while in 2019, the value for coal mining sites was 0.133 km 2 , and 0.163 km 2 for reclamation sites. This trend suggests that coal-mining operations can be monitored using satellite data, and the progress of reclamation efforts can be assessed using satellite NDVI data from the target locations. This study is beneficial to agencies responsible for monitoring land cover changes in a coal mine because it provides a cost-effective, efficient, and robust scientific tool for making mine site allocation decisions and for monitoring the progress of reclamation efforts.

Keywords: coal mining; remote sensing; Tasseled Cap Transformation; Landsat data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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