Mapping Opencast Iron Mine and Mine Solid Waste Based on a New Spectral Index From Medium Spatial Resolution Satellite Data

Abstract

Opencast iron mine and mine solid waste (OIM-MSW) are closely associated with a wide range of environmental issues, such as destroying soil structure, affecting air quality, and damaging biodiversity. Therefore, accurately grasping the distribution of OIM-MSW is of great significance to monitoring and managing environmental conditions. In order to reduce the impact of background features on the identification of OIM-MSW, we constructed an index based on medium spatial resolution satellite data, and proposed a semi-automatic method to determine the threshold value of the index. Experimental results indicated that: (1) The proposed index (OIM-MSWI) can effectively identify the OIM-MSW of which the OA (overall accuracy) and K (kappa coefficient) value are 0.98 and 0.75, respectively. (2) The index owns satisfying performance in identifying OIM-MSW in different months, and its recognition ability in plant growing season is better than that in the non-plant growing season. (3) Both Landsat 8 images and Sentinel 2 images have the potential to identify OIM-MSW via the proposed index, but the recognition accuracy of Landsat 8 images (OA=0.98, K=0.75) is slightly better than Sentinel 2 images (OA=0.96, K=0.64). (4) OIM-MSWI is effective in different climatic conditions, with OA and K of 0.98, 0.75 and 0.97, 0.63 in the cases of semi-arid and humid zones, respectively. In conclusion, OIM-MSWI is a simple and effective index for identifying OIM-MSW, and can provide support for OIM-MSW monitoring and management.Index Terms-medium spatial resolution satellite data, opencast iron mine and mine solid waste, spectral index, spectral simulation.

The effects of changing laboratory illumination zenith angle on spectral feature parameters and mineral classification

“…Longhi et al, 2001;Guha et al, 2012a) and has become aware of the advantage of using time series data (e.g. Dlamini and Xulu, 2019;Jiang et al, 2020;Gao et al, 2021), where illumination conditions may vary between scenes.…”

Mapping and Change Assessment of Captive Limestone Mining Areas Using Landsat-5/8 Images

“…Monitoring opencast limestone mines and their solid waste is crucial to mitigate environmental impacts such as air pollution, water contamination, soil degradation, health, and the safety of surrounding communities. Moreover, monitoring is indispensable for the sustainability of limestone at the local level [4]. Conventional ground-based mine mapping methods are dependent on labor, time-consuming, and capital-intensive.…”

“…On the other hand, the remote sensing (RS) based mapping of limestone mines, mine transformation monitoring, and mining area environmental impact assessment is cost-effective, regular revisiting time frame, and time-saving, and it covers a broad area as well [6]. Geographical information system (GIS) is a versatile digital system for capturing, storing, visualizing, and analyzing spatial data related to geographical features [4]. The integration of RS and GIS conducts detailed mapping of limestone mining areas for decision-making, future planning, and development, which is critical for meeting the demands and wellness of the ever-growing population [7].…”

“…Unlike PB and OB, an index-based classification selects satellite spectral bands for the land use/cover classification based on the land surface feature's unique spectral characteristics, making it a fast and effective mapping method. Therefore, the index-based method has better potential in mapping limestone mining areas on a large scale [4].…”