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Use of remote sensing in reclamation monitoring to reduce risk, cost and unnecessary field work

British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium; University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering

Integration of remote sensing into reclamation monitoring is a popular topic as we continue to see improvements in UAV and satellite technology. The potential benefits are numerous; however, limitations still remain that prevent technology from totally replacing boots-on-the-ground. The benefits of replacing traditional monitoring with technology-enabled versionsinclude cost savings, reducing emissions, preventing the spread of invasive species, and reducing health and safety risks. Some limitations that remain include the inability to identify plant species by spectral analysis, line of sight flight limits for UAVs, and pixel resolution with satellite imagery. While we wait for technology to solve these limitations and for regulators to become more accepting, there are many opportunities for hybrid approaches that test the limitations, realize some of the benefits, and begin to normalize the integration of technology. This paper provides tangible interim results and insights from a reclamation monitoring program for an inter-provincial pipeline that is in its fifth year of operation. Although the case study is not specific to mining, the scale of the project (over 1,000 km of pipeline) is comparable and the methods used are transferable. The monitoring program to be discussed used a pairing of remote sensing by aerial reconnaissance and ground assessment, along with a validation process to demonstrate that reclamation issues requiring mitigation were identifiable in the remote sensing data with less than 5% error. Interim results demonstrate that the program has been effective and has reduced the total field effort on the program by close to 30% compared to traditional methods.

Conference Paper

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0447218

Non UBC

Other

DSpace