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Bureau of Mines Information Circular/1987 
 
 Remote Sensing of Mine Waste 
 
 By C. M. K. Boldt and B. J. Scheibner 
 
 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
 
Information Circular 9152 
 
 U 
 
 Remote Sensing of Mine Waste 
 
 By C. M. K. Boldt and B. J. Scheibner 
 
 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
 Donald Paul Hodel, Secretary 
 
 BUREAU OF MINES 
 
 David S. Brown, Acting Director 
 
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: 
 
 
 Boldt, C. M. K. (Christine M. K.) 
 
 Remote sensing of mine waste. 
 
 
 (Information circular ; 9152) 
 
 
 Bibliography: p. 39. 
 
 
 Supt. of Docs, no.: I 28.27: 9152. 
 
 
 1. Spoil banks- Remote sensing. 1. Scheibner, Barbec J. 
 circular (United States. Bureau of Mines) ; 9152. 
 
 II. Title. III. Series: Information 
 
 TN295.U4 [TN292] 622 s 
 
 [622] 86-600407 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 p age 
 
 Abstract 1 
 
 Introduction 2 
 
 Aerial monitoring 2 
 
 Study 1 2 
 
 Description of work 2 
 
 Equipment and instrumentation 5 
 
 Results 5 
 
 Recommendations 9 
 
 Study 2 9 
 
 Description of work 10 
 
 Results 14 
 
 Recommendations 18 
 
 Remote data transmission 19 
 
 Phase 1. — In situ instrumentation with remote data collection by telephone... 19 
 
 Description of work 19 
 
 Equipment and instrumentation 20 
 
 Results 27 
 
 Phase 2. — In situ instrumentation with satellite transmission of data 29 
 
 Description of work 29 
 
 Equipment and instrumentation 29 
 
 Results 32 
 
 Recommendations — phases 1 and 2 32 
 
 Satellite imagery 33 
 
 Description of work 33 
 
 Equipment and procedures 35 
 
 Results 36 
 
 Recommendations 37 
 
 Summary and conclusions 37 
 
 References 39 
 
 Bibliography 39 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1 . Matrix of monitoring methods 3 
 
 2. Convergent aerial flight scheme 6 
 
 3. Typical exposure layout 7 
 
 4. Ground target detail 7 
 
 5. Orthophoto site map with contours 11 
 
 6. Orthophoto with 100-f t grid 12 
 
 7. Isometric displacement mesh 13 
 
 8. Enlarged view of displacement vector plot 13 
 
 9. Qualitative features distinguishable on an aerial photo 17 
 
 10. Typical surface profile comparing 100-f t grid to favorable point readings. 19 
 
 11. Lower Big Branch impoundment site plan 20 
 
 12. Block diagram of remote instrumentation system 21 
 
 13. Site instrumentation location 23 
 
 14. Cross-section instrumentation location 24 
 
 15. In-place inclinometer installation 25 
 
 16. Piezometer installation 26 
 
 17. Tiltmeter installation 27 
 
 18. Electrical cable junction box 27 
 
ii 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS— Cont inued 
 
 Page 
 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 23. 
 24. 
 25. 
 26. 
 
 1. 
 2. 
 3. 
 4. 
 5. 
 6. 
 7. 
 
 Water levels for piezometer 8-7 
 
 Monitoring costs as a function of number of readings 
 
 Data collection platform, solar panels, Yagi antenna 
 
 System data flow 
 
 Overall Landsat system 
 
 Fort Green, FL, study area: derived from aerial photography , 
 
 Fort Green, FL, study area: automated change detection 
 
 Fort Green, FL, study area: manually interpreted 
 
 TABLES 
 
 Comparison of possible inspection programs , 
 
 Initial costs of monitoring , 
 
 Inspection costs per site 
 
 List of sensors and locations , 
 
 Cost analysis of manual and remote monitoring systems , 
 
 Cost comparison of satellite and telephone data transmission 
 
 Classification accuracy of methods used to study five waste areas , 
 
 28 
 29 
 30 
 31 
 34 
 35 
 36 
 36 
 
 8 
 9 
 15 
 22 
 28 
 33 
 37 
 
 UNIT 
 
 OF MEASURE ABBREVIATIONS 
 
 USED 
 
 IN THIS 
 
 REPORT 
 
 A-h 
 
 ampere hour 
 
 
 in 
 
 inch 
 
 bps 
 
 bits per second 
 
 
 m 
 
 meter 
 
 ft 
 
 foot 
 
 
 St 
 
 short ton 
 
 h 
 
 hour 
 
 
 V 
 
 volt 
 
 ha 
 
 hectare 
 
 
 yr 
 
 year 
 
REMOTE SENSING OF MINE WASTE 
 
 By C. M. K. Boldt 1 and B. J. Scheibner 2 
 
 ABSTRACT 
 
 This report summarizes five separate Bureau of Mines contract studies 
 on the use of aerial photogrammetry , satellite transmission of in situ 
 instrumentation information, and satellite imagery to monitor and update 
 mine waste embankment data. The equipment used, methods applied, re- 
 sults, recommendations, and cost analyses are presented along with a 
 bibliography of related investigations. 
 
 ' Civil engineer. 
 
 o 
 
 ''Geologist. 
 
 Spokane Research Center, Bureau of Mines, Spokane, WA. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Remote sensing can encompass a broad 
 spectrum of techniques including (1) pho- 
 togrammetry, which uses aerial pho- 
 tography to obtain cadastral surveys, 
 
 (2) electro-optical systems, which trans- 
 form electromagnetic radiation into elec- 
 trical signals to produce images, and 
 
 (3) imaging and nonimaging sensors, which 
 measure an object's radiation (1_).3 Re- 
 mote sensing, as it relates to mine waste 
 embankment monitoring, is the gathering 
 of information without direct human con- 
 tact. This report concerns itself with 
 aerial phot ogramme try and the use of sat- 
 ellites either as a communications trans- 
 mitter of in situ instrumentation data or 
 for imagery. The studies discussed in 
 this report (2, ^, _6-_8) were completed 
 under contract with the Bureau of Mines, 
 Spokane Research Center, Spokane, WA. 
 
 Existing inspection techniques used by 
 Mine Safety and Health Administration 
 (MSHA) personnel consist of individual 
 on-site visits. Typically, only a lim- 
 ited number of sites per day can be in- 
 spected owing to travel time requirements 
 and the size or ruggedness of the ter- 
 rain. Aerial photogrammetry allows in- 
 spection of a number of sites and pro- 
 vides documented, sequential evidence 
 over time of an embankment 's surface 
 changes, such as erosion, volume changes, 
 and drainage maintenance; however, it may 
 not always detect sites of minor ground 
 
 movement. Satellite monitoring allows 
 the embankment conditions data to be read 
 on demand at even the most remote sites, 
 but image detection resolution is lim- 
 ited. Even with such limitations, remote 
 sensing offers many advantages; there- 
 fore, remote sensing studies were ini- 
 tiated by the Bureau to determine their 
 value for improving inspection techniques 
 and monitoring effectiveness. 
 
 This summary of remote sensing investi- 
 gations is divided into three major sec- 
 tions: Aerial Monitoring, Remote Data 
 Transmission, and Satellite Imagery. In 
 the "Aerial Monitoring" section, study 1 
 describes the use and results of aerial 
 photogrammetry on an actively moving 
 landslide in Oregon and on two coal ref- 
 use sites in West Virginia; study 2 used 
 a different technique to monitor 15 coal 
 waste sites in West Virginia and Ken- 
 tucky. Under "Remote Data Transmission, " 
 phases 1 and 2 describe the use and re- 
 sults of various in-place instruments, 
 such as inclinometers and piezometers, 
 and the effectiveness with which their 
 data can be transmitted from a remote 
 site to a collection center anywhere in 
 the country via satellite. The "Satel- 
 lite Imagery" section assesses the effec- 
 tiveness of using Landsat photos of mine 
 waste locations to update and upgrade ex- 
 isting mine waste inventory data. 
 
 AERIAL MONITORING 
 
 STUDY 1 
 
 Since 1974, the Bureau of Mines has 
 been interested in using remote sensing 
 techniques to improve coal waste site 
 monitoring capabilities (8). In 1974, 
 the Bureau awarded a contract to CH2M 
 Hill to look at the feasibility of devel- 
 oping a fast, reliable, and effective 
 method of measuring the stability of 
 coal waste embankments by remote means. 
 Various techniques were categorized and 
 
 fer to items in the list of references at 
 the end of this report. 
 
 tabulated according to their ability to 
 meet these requirements (fig. 1). Aerial 
 photogrammetry was determined to be the 
 most promising technique for monitoring 
 coal waste embankments. 
 
 Description of Work 
 
 After the aerial photogrammetric method 
 had been chosen, the technique was ap- 
 plied to actual field conditions. To be 
 able to obtain on-site measurements as 
 well as the aerial photographs, it was 
 necessary to have a site that was ac- 
 cessible without disturbing production. 
 Consequently, an active landslide near 
 
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Roseburg, OR, was selected as the primary 
 site. Two stable coal refuse sites were 
 selected for later evaluation. 
 
 The landslide was monitored with 22 
 targets situated on the actively moving 
 surface and 13 targets acting as control 
 points off the active area. All targets 
 and control points were surveyed to 
 first-order accuracy, and the coordinate 
 system was determined with a least- 
 squares computation. The site was moni- 
 tored once a month from February to May 
 1976 by comparing aerially derived co- 
 ordinates for each target to actual sec- 
 ond-order (±0.02 ft) ground surveys. Us- 
 ing a higher order accuracy, 20% of the 
 aerial system's coordinates were within 
 ±0.05 ft of the coordinates determined by 
 ground surveys, 80% of the total read- 
 ings were within ±0.10 ft, and 99% of the 
 readings were within ±0.25 ft. 
 
 Data from the Roseburg landslide indi- 
 cated that aerial monitoring could work, 
 on active, steep terrain; therefore, two 
 coal refuse embankments in West Virginia 
 were selected as the next evaluation 
 sites. 
 
 The Wharton refuse embankment is 500 ft 
 high with a 1, 500-f t crest length and 
 covers approximately 50 acres. It was 
 built between 1956 and 1976 with aerial- 
 tram-deposited material and contained an 
 upstream pond. Thirty-six targets were 
 installed and ground-surveyed on the em- 
 bankment and at seven control points. 
 During monitoring, 20 targets were de- 
 stroyed by mine activity. Ground surveys 
 were conducted at the beginning and end 
 of the monitoring period. 
 
 The Stirrat refuse embankment is 490 ft 
 high with a 1, 700-f t crest length and 
 covers approximately 40 acres. It forms 
 an impoundment with 250 ft of freeboard 
 and was constructed via aerial tram be- 
 tween 1945 and 1970. Since 1970, mixed 
 coal waste and fine slurry have been hy- 
 draulically discharged behind the dam. 
 Thirteen targets were installed on the 
 embankment and at four control points. 
 Stirrat was used as a regular inspection 
 prototype. Ground surveys of targets 
 were conducted only at the beginning and 
 end of the monitoring period to determine 
 if any had moved during the 6-mofith 
 
 period of monitoring, July through De- 
 cember 1976. 
 
 Equipment and Instrumentation 
 
 The aerial monitoring technique incor- 
 porated the least-squares computation for 
 calculating ground coordinates of targets 
 on an embankment from measured coordi- 
 nates of their images on three overlap- 
 ping aerial photographs. The flight of 
 the fixed-wing, low-altitude aircraft 
 used vertical and, for more accuracy, 
 convergent photographs (fig. 2), as op- 
 posed to the more conventional, vertical 
 only, 60% overlap photographs. 
 
 Typical flight lines were developed to 
 optimize mapping accuracy of coal refuse 
 sites (fig. 3). Ground targets 11 in. in 
 diameter, painted nonref lecting white and 
 with an anchor pipe, afforded high visi- 
 bility (fig. 4). However, these targets 
 would be unsuitable in winter snows. 
 
 Other equipment used during the study 
 included — 
 
 1. Wild RC-8, 4 6-in focal length map- 
 ping camera with a 9- by 9-in format 
 size. 
 
 2. Monocomparator which measured X 
 and Y image coordinates to the nearest 
 1 x 10~ 6 m. 
 
 3. Optical stereoscope to gather qual- 
 itative information from the aerial pho- 
 tographs; for example, cracks, bulges, 
 slumps, erosion, and seeps. 
 
 4. Fixed-wing aircraft. 
 
 5. Minicomputer to reduce data points 
 to coordinates. 
 
 6. Kodak Double-X Aerographic 2405 
 (estar base) black and white (B4W) film. 
 
 7. Kodak Aerochrome Infrared 2443 (es- 
 tar base) color infrared (CIR) film. 
 
 Results 
 
 The data and results of this aerial 
 monitoring effort are described in more 
 detail in the full report (8) ; however, 
 the significant factors that must be con- 
 deference to specific products does 
 not 'imply endorsement by the Bureau of 
 Mines. 
 
Left convergent Right convergent 
 
 photo Vertical photo photo 
 
 FIGURE 2.— Covergent aerial flight scheme. 
 
 sidered when using aerial monitoring 
 of waste embankments are summarized as 
 follows: 
 
 1. Depending on the area to be moni- 
 tored, the camera, and the flying height, 
 the average scale of the aerial photo- 
 graphs upon which all photogrammetric 
 measurements were based was 1:4500 to 
 1:5400. The maximum area encompassed by 
 a flying height of 2,700 ft above the 
 mean terrain would be 4,000 by 4,000 ft. 
 
 2. The accuracy of producing topo- 
 graphic contours from aerial measurements 
 was 1:500 to 1:2000 of the flying height. 
 
 3. B+W film needs no special storage 
 consideration and is conducive to repro- 
 duction. However, because of the eye's 
 limited response to varying tones of 
 gray, it is difficult to differentiate 
 variations in, for example, vegetation 
 and moisture. 
 
 4. CIR film is sensitive to tempera- 
 ture variations and humidity and must be 
 kept in a refrigerator or freezer with 
 adequate thawing out time prior to use 
 to avoid moisture condensation during 
 exposure. The color resolution also de- 
 teriorates in poor weather, and the 
 longer shutter speeds needed for low-sun- 
 angle shots in the fall and winter cause 
 blurred targets under magnification. 
 
 5. Neither B+W nor CIR film proved 
 clearly superior to the other for ei- 
 ther quantitative or qualitative 
 interpretation. 
 
 6. The theoretical accuracy of 
 1:35,000 for convergent photogrammetry 
 was not achieved. 
 
 7. The photogrammetric method of moni- 
 toring produces a permanent, visual, and, 
 most importantly, objective record of the 
 site. 
 
Left 
 
 convergent 
 
 exposure 
 
 Right 
 
 convergent 
 
 exposure 
 
 Typical """ 
 flight line 
 
 Vertical 
 exposure 
 
 Typical 
 
 perimeter of 
 
 embankment 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 ► Direction of flight lines 
 
 • Aerial photograph taken at 
 this location 
 
 FIGURE 3.— Typical exposure layout. 
 
 Flat washer 
 
 Multiple-set expansion anchor 
 
 3/4-in bolt by 1-1/2 in long 
 
 11-in-diam aluminum disk, 
 painted flat white 
 
 1-in galvanized pipe by 3 ft long 
 (additional lengths added by couplings) 
 
 FIGURE 4.— Ground target detail. 
 
8. The cost of aerial monitoring 
 ranged from 40% of conventional ground 
 surveys on the Oregon landslide to 15% on 
 the two coal refuse sites. 
 
 9. Aerial monitoring costs were 175% 
 to 300% more than costs of the current 
 Mine Safety and Health Administration 
 (MSHA) routine (table 1). 
 
 10. Total costs for aerially monitor- 
 ing a coal waste site would vary greatly 
 depending on the number of sites to be 
 monitored, the number of flights, the 
 area to be covered, the target installa- 
 tion, and the ground survey (table 2). 
 
 TABLE 1. - Comparison of possible inspection programs (based on 1975-76 costs) 
 
 Program 
 
 Staff capability, 
 embankments per month 
 (3-member staff) 
 
 Average cost 
 per embankment 
 
 
 60- 90 
 
 3- 5 
 
 90-130 
 
 70-100 
 
 $150-$200 
 
 
 2,000-3,500 
 
 
 350- 500 
 
 D Combination, current methods and rapid 
 
 230- 330 
 
 ^ased on data from MESA District 4 (now MSHA), 
 2 Using 1 film type. 
 
 Program A remarks: 
 
 Program B remarks: 
 
 1. Inspections are qualitative only. 
 
 2. Written descriptions of conditions 
 
 are recorded on standard forms. 
 
 3. Possible unsafe conditions may be 
 
 overlooked or misinterpreted be- 
 cause of lack of physical measure- 
 ments or lack of experience of the 
 inspector. 
 
 4. Economical. 
 
 1. Capable of detecting and monitoring 
 
 movement. 
 
 2. Capable of mapping and determining 
 
 quantities. 
 
 3. Provides written record. 
 
 4. Time consuming. 
 
 5. Labor intensive. 
 
 6. Costly. 
 
 Program C remarks: 
 
 1. Capable of detecting and monitoring 
 
 movement. 
 
 2. Capable of mapping and determining 
 
 quantities. 
 
 3. Provides permanent, visual record. 
 
 4. Provides qualitative data. 
 
 5. Economical in comparison with con- 
 
 ventional ground survey. 
 
 6. Enables experienced people to view 
 
 (via photos) many embankments per 
 month. 
 
 Program D remarks: 
 
 1. Capable of monitoring more embank- 
 
 ments than current inspection 
 methods. 
 
 2. Provides qualitative information 
 
 on all embankments and quantita- 
 tive information on selected 
 embankments. 
 
 3. Inspections would allow for better 
 
 allocation of field inspection re- 
 sources for suspect embankments. 
 
 4. Method would be more economical 
 
 than rapid monitoring alone. 
 
 HH 
 
TABLE 2. - Initial costs of monitoring 
 (based on 1975-76 costs) 
 
 Rapid monitoring system: 
 
 Airplane $55, 000 
 
 Aerial mapping camera 75,000 
 
 Monocomparator 30, 000 
 
 Total cost 160,000 
 
 Conventional ground survey: 
 Theodolites (2), at $5,000 
 
 each 10, 000 
 
 Engineer's level 1,500 
 
 Electronic distance-measuring 
 
 equipment 8, 000 
 
 Miscellaneous equipment. 3, 500 
 
 Total cost 23,000 
 
 Certain disadvantages of the aerial 
 monitoring technique became evident as 
 the project proceeded: 
 
 1. To achieve the accuracy desired, 
 convergent photography was used. 
 
 2. This type of photography required 
 four flybys per site (three for conver- 
 gent and one for stereo), and the accu- 
 racy was dependent on the capability of 
 the aircraft to tilt at a specified angle 
 twice over each site. 
 
 3. Movement on the embankment, indi- 
 cating instability, could only be de- 
 tected at the target itself. 
 
 4. The targets, especially those 
 placed on the embankment, were highly 
 susceptible to damage and to surface 
 movement due to construction activity, 
 vandalism, or looseness of the embankment 
 material. 
 
 5. Aerial monitoring is also highly 
 dependent on weather. 
 
 6. Haze, cloud cover, snow, low sun 
 angles, and other problems decrease accu- 
 racy and hamper or preclude the ability 
 to take photos. 
 
 Recommendations 
 
 As described in the full report (8^), 
 the following procedures and conditions 
 
 are recommended in order to obtain opti- 
 mum results: 
 
 1. More reliable results can be 
 achieved if the camera is fixed on a ro- 
 tating mount within the aircraft than by 
 attempting to tilt the aircraft to obtain 
 convergent angles. 
 
 2. Ground targets should be a minimum 
 of 1:2000 of the flying height above the 
 mean elevation of the embankment to opti- 
 mize monocomparator results. 
 
 3. An accounting system to replace 
 lost or damaged targets must be included 
 in a monitoring scheme of this type. 
 
 4. Control points should be surveyed 
 after the flight lines are determined so 
 that they can be located as near the four 
 corners of the photos as possible. 
 
 5. To obtain the best target read- 
 ings, the aircraft should fly directly 
 toward the face of the slope; that is, 
 the flight lines should be perpendicular 
 to the crest of the embankment. 
 
 6. To obtain the best results for 
 stereophotography, the flight lines 
 should be parallel to the crest of the 
 embankment. 
 
 STUDY 2 
 
 Study 2 of the Bureau's aerial photo- 
 grammetric investigations began in 1979, 
 monitoring 15 coal waste sites once a 
 month for 10 months through seasonal 
 changes (6^). This contract investigation 
 was performed by Chicago Aerial Survey. 
 The method for taking photos and the 
 technique for obtaining elevations of the 
 targeted site were different from those 
 of the first aerial study. Specifically, 
 this contract was intended to determine 
 the best procedure, the level of accu- 
 racy, and the costs of using aerial pho- 
 togrammetry to monitor coal refuse dispo- 
 sal sites in comparison with current MSHA 
 inspection practices. 
 
10 
 
 Description of Work 
 
 In this study, large-scale, low-alti- 
 tude, aerial photos were analyzed for 
 vertical elevations through an analyti- 
 cal stereoplotter. In this technique, a 
 stereoplotter operator benchmarks known 
 elevation coordinates on control targets 
 surrounding the coal refuse site and thus 
 can determine the elevation of any other 
 point on successive orthophotos. This 
 technique is not dependent upon targets 
 being placed on the investigation site, 
 as was the case in the first study. In- 
 stead, control targets off the sites in 
 question were ground-surveyed at the be- 
 ginning of the monitoring period for ref- 
 erence X and Y coordinates and eleva- 
 tions. Use of such reference points out 
 of the movement area was a distinct ad- 
 vantage because they were not affected by 
 any movement on the target area or by 
 other disturbances such as construction 
 activity. 
 
 Fifteen coal waste sites in West Vir- 
 ginia and Kentucky were monitored once a 
 month for 10 months using B+W aerial pho- 
 tography and four separate times using 
 CIR. Four field inspections of the 
 sites, using procedures similar to MSHA's 
 inspection procedures, were made. The 
 inspections familiarized the observers 
 with the sites, enabling them to compare 
 the results of the stereo and photogram- 
 metric observations with ground observa- 
 tions. The ground inspections were con- 
 ducted on a seasonal basis, as was the 
 CIR photography. This format allowed a 
 determination of the effects of seasonal 
 changes and the correlation of aerial to 
 ground observations. 
 
 Low-altitude flights were conducted 
 over each site to obtain the aerial pho- 
 tos. Because the refuse piles varied in 
 size, various scales of photography were 
 implemented to encompass each site with 
 the surrounding ground control targets in 
 a single stereoscopic model. The scales 
 ranged from 1:5400 (1 in = 450 ft) to 
 1:9000 (1 in = 750 ft), using flight al- 
 titudes of 2, 700 to 4, 500 ft above the 
 average terrain elevation. This scaling 
 restriction limits the dimensions of the 
 site to be monitored to 1,620 by 3,150 ft 
 
 at 1:5400 and to 2,700 by 5,250 ft at 
 1:9000. (The ground control targets out- 
 side the refuse pile area must be in- 
 cluded in the dimensions. ) 
 
 From the aerial photographs, orthopho- 
 tographs were produced. These are aerial 
 photos of fixed scale in which all dis- 
 tortions and displacements have been cor- 
 rected (camera tilt, terrain-relief dis- 
 placement, etc. ). The orthophotograph is 
 then a scaled picture map on which one 
 can directly measure distances and, when 
 overlaid with contour information, pro- 
 duce elevation readings at any point. 
 Figure 5 shows an orthophoto flight map 
 with topographic contours overlaid. The 
 contours were generated from compilations 
 of the stereoscopic models. 
 
 X, Y, and Z coordinates were read off 
 the aerial photos using an analytical 
 stereoplotter. For this project, a grid 
 system of 100-ft squares was optically 
 overlain on the orthophoto, and coordi- 
 nates were taken only on the cross grids 
 for monthly comparison of movement (fig. 
 6). 
 
 Various configurations for displaying 
 the produced data were attempted. One 
 option consisted of computer listings of 
 each grid point with values greater than 
 5 ft highlighted. Another method graphi- 
 cally displayed the displacement mesh 
 isometrically, displaying vertical move- 
 ment (fig. 7). The displacement mesh 
 tended to exaggerate small amounts of 
 movement. Also, it was very difficult 
 to orient the isometric mesh with any of 
 the photographic products (orthophotos, 
 contact prints, etc. ) to indicate at a 
 glance where the movement was occurring 
 on the embankment itself. 
 
 Another technique involved suppressing 
 the line printer information and produc- 
 ing a computer-drawn plot consisting of 
 circular symbols which represented ver- 
 tical movement. The type of symbol dis- 
 played represented positive (upward) or 
 negative (downward) movement. The diame- 
 ter of the circles was proportional to 
 the magnitude of the movement and was or- 
 thogonal at the same scale as the ortho- 
 photo. The movement values were printed 
 next to the circles (fig. 8). 
 
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14 
 
 Results 
 
 A more detailed discussion of the in- 
 vestigation, as well as complete data and 
 results, may be found in the full report 
 (_6). However, the following observations 
 were considered significant factors to 
 this type of monitoring: 
 
 1. Sites of greater dimensions than 
 that described would require either 
 higher altitude photography or additional 
 models. Higher altitude photography 
 would lose resolution of ground features, 
 decreasing the accuracy of the system. 
 
 2. Aerotriangulation, necessary to 
 combine the coordinate systems of sepa- 
 rate models into one model, introduces 
 deviations in horizontal positions, which 
 are extremely difficult to maintain or 
 reconstruct in precisely the same way 
 month after month. 
 
 3. Useful aerial photography was dif- 
 ficult to acquire on a monthly basis, 
 since the area (eastern Kentucky and 
 southwestern West Virginia) has below- 
 average weather conditions for year-round 
 flying, and acceptable sun angles (30° 
 or higher above the horizon) are at 
 best available for 5 h daily (9:30 a.m. 
 to 2:30 p.m.) in June, dropping to 2 h 
 (11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) in December. 
 
 4. Because of the great differences in 
 high and low elevations on the piles and 
 because of the normally steep slope on 
 the downhill side, low sun angle causes 
 unusually long and very black shadows. 
 Crevassed or eroded areas filled with 
 deep, black shadows make precision ele- 
 vation readings nearly impossible to ac- 
 quire in any stereoplotter. 
 
 5. Sites situated on the northern 
 slopes of hillsides or mountains are to- 
 tally in shadow during the winter months. 
 This reduces photo definition by lowering 
 image contrast. 
 
 6. Snowfall immediately prior to an 
 aerial survey made it necessary to expose 
 and paint some of the control targets 
 black and white. 
 
 7. Forward overlap of 90% in the pho- 
 tography ensured the least amount of fly- 
 ing by helping to maintain complete 
 stereo coverage. 
 
 8. A flight altitude of 1,800 ft 
 above the mean terrain will produce opti- 
 mal photography at an average scale of 
 1 in = 300 ft and expected spot elevation 
 readings as precise as ±0.15 ft, using a 
 stereoplotter with a C-factor rating of 
 3, 000 or greater. 
 
 9. Vegetation can be a serious prob- 
 lem. By the end of the summer, identifi- 
 cation of field control points was ex- 
 tremely difficult, and even impossible at 
 some of the sites, because the vegetation 
 had overgrown the targets. Also affected 
 were photo identification features used 
 as control points, such as bases of util- 
 ity poles. The memory function of the 
 stereoplotter allowed the operator to 
 eliminate sending supplemental field 
 crews to the sites. Auxiliary control 
 points were derived from the stereo model 
 using points visible despite the vegeta- 
 tion. These points were then used to 
 control successive stereo setups in the 
 following months. 
 
 10. Erosion is easily seen on aerial 
 photos, and its severity is also general- 
 ly apparent. However, flattened vegeta- 
 tion can give an erroneous impression of 
 serious erosion. 
 
 11. Tension cracks are generally not 
 apparent in the photos. Cracks are some- 
 times visible when enhanced by erosion, 
 deposits left from condensation of vola- 
 tiles, or scarps. Scarps having more 
 than 3 in of vertical displacement are 
 visible on barren piles. The slumps as- 
 sociated with scarps are generally visi- 
 ble on the photos whether or not vegeta- 
 tion is present. 
 
 12. Using enlargements, seepage can be 
 seen on barren piles as darker areas on 
 the refuse. On vegetated piles, seepage 
 is sometimes hidden by the vegetation. 
 In other instances, seepage may be in- 
 dicated by the vegetation having been 
 washed away or by abundant growth. 
 
 13. Aerial photography is an excel- 
 lent method for monitoring diversion 
 ditch systems and water impoundments be- 
 cause an entire system can be viewed 
 simultaneously. 
 
 14. Actual lift heights cannot be de- 
 termined from photos alone. This can 
 cause problems because MSHA requires that 
 
15 
 
 refuse piles be constructed in compacted 
 layers that do not exceed 2 ft in thick- 
 ness, unless otherwise approved. 
 
 15. Equipment tracks observed in the 
 photos on spread refuse can indicate that 
 some compaction has taken place, although 
 the actual degree of compaction cannot be 
 determined. 
 
 16. Stereophoto analysis can be used 
 to detect changes in slope; however, the 
 angle of the slope is not obtainable from 
 the photos alone. 
 
 17. CIR photography can, at times, 
 provide more information than B+W prints. 
 Iron staining appears as a greenish hue 
 in well-exposed CIR photographs. The CIR 
 also has better resolution under high 
 magnification. Seasonal variation in 
 conditions, particularly vegetation and 
 s-now, affect visibility of features, 
 sometimes hiding them but sometimes high- 
 lighting them. 
 
 18. Photogrammetry (fig. 9) can be 
 used to answer many of the questions 
 
 on the MSHA report form. The photogram- 
 metric system used in study 2 is best for 
 locating surface movements involving 
 large areas because a 100-ft grid can 
 easily miss movement occurring in areas 
 between intersection points. 
 
 19. Orthophotos with contours can be 
 used to determine slope, initially from 
 the contours and later by adding changes 
 in elevation from the computer plots. 
 
 20. Deposition is visible on the 
 orthophotos. 
 
 21. Air photo analysis and photogram- 
 metry do not completely answer all of the 
 questions on the MSHA inspection form. 
 
 The advantages and disadvantages of us- 
 ing aerial photointerpretation in moni- 
 toring coal waste sites are listed on the 
 next page. Table 3 tabulates cost esti- 
 mates for aerial monitoring of coal waste 
 sites as compared with MSHA inspection 
 techniques. 
 
 TABLE 3. - Inspection costs per site (based on 1980 costs) 
 
 1 site 
 
 Labor Direct Total 
 
 2 sites 
 
 Labor Direct Total 
 
 10+ sites 
 
 Labor Direct Total 
 
 PHOTOGRAMMETRIC METHOD 
 
 Ground control targeting 
 
 1,600 
 
 400 
 
 2,000 
 
 1,600 
 
 400 
 
 2,000 
 
 1,600 
 
 400 
 
 2,000 
 
 Photographic flights using 
 
 Color infrared film in ad- 
 dition to black and white 
 (assumes a dual-camera 
 aircraft or interchange- 
 Photo lab 
 
 25 
 80 
 
 
 17 
 
 80 
 
 20 
 40 
 
 46 
 
 
 140 
 
 10 
 23 
 
 120 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 220 
 
 10 
 40 
 
 200 
 
 45 
 40 
 
 46 
 
 25 
 60 
 
 
 16 
 
 80 
 
 20 
 40 
 
 46 
 
 
 110 
 
 8 
 22 
 
 120 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 170 
 
 8 
 38 
 
 200 
 
 45 
 40 
 
 46 
 
 25 
 50 
 
 
 15 
 
 80 
 
 20 
 40 
 
 46 
 
 
 100 
 
 8 
 22 
 
 120 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 150 
 
 8 
 37 
 
 Photogrammetry contours 
 Data processing (including 
 
 200 
 45 
 
 
 45 
 
 Aerial photo interpretation 
 
 46 
 
 Total, recurring costs 
 
 308 
 
 318 
 
 626 
 
 287 
 
 285 
 
 572 
 
 276 
 
 275 
 
 551 
 
 GROUND INSPECTION METHOD 
 
 MSHA site inspection. 
 
 450 
 
 20 
 
 470 450 
 
 20 
 
 470 450 
 
 20 
 
 450 
 
 
 x Survey costs represent a 1-time expense of $2,000 per site, which will not in- 
 crease or change as monitoring time is extended. 
 
 2 Average maintenance costs per monitoring flight (variable). Locations with light 
 or no snow require little or no target maintenance during winter months. Heavy brush 
 must be cut during summer or autumn months. 
 
16 
 
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Aerial Photointerpretation 
 in Monitoring Coal Waste Sites 
 
 Advantages 
 
 Rapid return of interpretable data. 
 
 Results are "time-frozen" - the aerial 
 film preserves a record of the site at 
 the time of flying. The film can be re- 
 set in a stereoplotter at any time to 
 verify derived data relative to monitor- 
 ing. This becomes more of an advantage 
 over a period of time, when not only data 
 from consecutive monitoring periods can 
 be compared, but also data from monitor- 
 ings months or years apart. New types of 
 data may also be determined from earlier 
 photography. 
 
 Aerial monitoring reduces field time. 
 
 Aerial monitoring provides the inspector, 
 through typical stereoplotting instru- 
 ments, the opportunity to measure any or 
 every visible point on the embankment 
 surface. 
 
 Aerial monitoring offers reliable rela- 
 tive measurements economically. 
 
 Minimal ground survey is required for 
 cpntrol of the photography. 
 
 Accuracies of ground readings can be a 
 function of the photogrammetric equip- 
 ment, typically ranging from 1:2000 to 
 1:4000, or the aircraft altitude. 
 
 Disadvantages 
 
 Sufficient targets of photoidentif iable 
 control points are required for use in 
 controlling the stereo model setup; how- 
 ever, inaccessibility of many sites and 
 activity on and around the sites make the 
 targets vulnerable to disappearance and 
 destruction. 
 
 Accuracy of elevation readings was dis- 
 appointing. Accuracy problems are en- 
 countered due to lack or loss of control 
 points, terrain slope, vegetation growth, 
 shadows, atmospheric conditions, enforce- 
 ment of readings at specific locations, 
 or any combination of these. 
 
 The 100-ft grid readings are not suffi- 
 cient to define true surface characteris- 
 tics of the pile. Predefined grid inter- 
 section points present only comparison 
 readings at these points. High and low 
 surface points (peaks and valleys) are 
 not well defined. 
 
 The selection of stereo instruments is 
 restricted to those with a large range 
 of elevation-measuring capability because 
 of the great differences in pile eleva- 
 tion. Instruments should be equipped 
 with 3-axis digital readout to facili- 
 tate numerical model setup and stereo 
 observation. 
 
 The cost is greater than for on-site vis- 
 its; see table 3. 
 
 ■■I 
 
17 
 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 ,-* 
 
 £ 
 
 LL 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 a. 
 « 
 a 
 
 (0 
 
 c 
 
 CO 
 
 c 
 o 
 
 .a 
 
 a 
 
 II) 
 
 t5 
 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 o 
 
 I 
 
 an 
 lil 
 
 oc 
 
 3 
 O 
 
 O 
 © 
 
 Ik. 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
18 
 
 Recommendations 
 
 Based on the results from study 2 of 
 the aerial monitoring investigation, the 
 following recommendations are made: 
 
 1. Monthly aerial analysis is not jus- 
 tified; the minimal amounts of surface 
 movement or change detectable from month 
 to month suggest it is necessary to re- 
 view surface conditions periodically, 
 but semiannual aerial inspections seem 
 to provide sufficient sampling of most 
 stable sites. Inactive sites would gen- 
 erally require less frequent aerial 
 monitoring. 
 
 2. Flights should occur at the lowest 
 possible, nonhazardous altitude in order 
 to take photographs that include one in- 
 dividual site in a single flight line. 
 
 3. Atmospheric conditions such as haze 
 and cloud cover should be closely watched 
 because they can greatly influence the 
 photo resolution. 
 
 4. All targets should be placed or 
 made visible before each flight. 
 
 5. Wherever possible, the surrounding 
 embankment should be saturated with con- 
 trol targets to ensure adequate reference 
 point survival through the monitoring 
 period. 
 
 6. Trigonometric levels are sufficient 
 for determination of target elevations. 
 Because only a relative datum is impor- 
 tant, spot elevations from U.S. Geolog- 
 ical Survey (USGS) quadrangle maps may be 
 used to provide a vertical datum. These 
 should be as near to the corners of the 
 stereo model as possible. 
 
 7. Targets should be referenced by 
 sketch and description to three physical 
 objects to aid in accurate repositioning 
 should panels be moved or destroyed. 
 
 8. Once horizontal and vertical con- 
 trols are determined for model setup (or- 
 thophoto, stereophoto analysis), field 
 personnel are not required for aerial 
 procedures except for maintenance of the 
 targets. 
 
 9. Targets should be durable and se- 
 curely anchored and may be of any shape 
 easily recognizable in the aerial 
 photographs. 
 
 10. Consistent reconstruction of the 
 original stereo model setup is the most 
 critical operation in the photogrammetric 
 procedures. It is essential that control 
 points be sufficient in number and clear- 
 ly visible at all times. 
 
 11. Targets that were not survey- 
 coordinated during field operations 
 should be used as auxiliary control 
 points. 
 
 12. It is possible to use premarked 
 auxiliary control points. These are 
 points created by drilling tiny holes in 
 the photo emulsion using a point marking 
 and transfer device. These points can be 
 transferred accurately from one month's 
 flying to the next, as long as the images 
 are compatible. 
 
 13. Profiles should be determined 
 transversely and perpendicularly to the 
 crest of the embankments. Elevation 
 points for these profiles should be taken 
 at a maximum distance of 25 ft, using the 
 "most favorable location for reading" 
 technique. A minimum of three parallel 
 transverse profiles should be determined 
 for each embankment. Large embankments 
 should have five of these profiles. In- 
 formation derived from the profiles in- 
 cludes determination of slope of the em- 
 bankment face, determination of actual 
 buildup on active piles, verification of 
 trends noticed in examination of the ba- 
 sic profiles, and slippage at the crest 
 and buildup at the base of piles. 
 
 Both studies 1 and 2 were based on ele- 
 vations determined at specific locations 
 on the surface of an embankment. Because 
 of the unreliability of elevation read- 
 ings, enforcing point-reading locations 
 does not appear to be effective. 
 
 A more effective system of surface 
 definition would allow point selection 
 by visual means, using a "most favorable 
 location for reading" technique. That 
 is, a stereoplotter operator reads points 
 that he or she can see well to ensure 
 precision and reliability of point read- 
 ings. The operator would also be able 
 to read an indefinite number of points, 
 reading high and low spots and other 
 points on the surface not farther apart 
 than 25 ft. Figure 10 compares the 
 
 ^m^^m 
 
19 
 
 fixed-grid method with the "most favor- 
 able location" technique. Details of 
 
 this system may be 
 report (6). 
 
 found in the study 2 
 
 REMOTE DATA TRANSMISSION 
 
 PHASE 1. - IN SITU INSTRUMENTATION WITH 
 REMOTE DATA COLLECTION BY TELEPHONE 
 
 In phase 1, a contract was awarded to 
 Shannon & Wilson, Inc. (4_) , to develop 
 and demonstrate an instrumentation system 
 that could be wired to a remote data col- 
 lection station for the purpose of cen- 
 trally monitoring the stability and seep- 
 age of one or more coal waste impound- 
 ments. Costs of system installation and 
 long-term monitoring were also deter- 
 mined. Specifically, the instrumentation 
 system was designed to remotely monitor 
 horizontal and vertical deformation, 
 pore-water pressure changes, pond-water 
 levels, seepage through the embank- 
 ment, and environmental factors such as 
 rainfall, temperature, and barometric 
 pressure. 
 
 Description of Work. 
 
 Factors considered in site selection 
 were — 
 
 1. Location in a populated area with 
 high precipitation rates. 
 
 2. Some certainty of measuring parame- 
 ter changes such as deformation, water 
 pressure, and fluid levels. 
 
 3. Height of structure in the range of 
 100 to 200 ft. 
 
 4. Cooperation of mine owner and per- 
 mission to use the waste impoundment. 
 
 5. Electrical power and telephone 
 available close to site. 
 
 These particular factors were selected 
 on the basis of the project requirements, 
 the cost estimates made in the proposal, 
 
 KEY 
 
 Recorded profile 
 
 True surface 
 
 << <$ Shadow area 
 
 v Recorded point 
 
 Profile by study technique 
 
 ^r 
 
 Maximum 25' spacing 
 
 ^Y^^\r%r^\r^" 
 
 Profile by recommended technique 
 
 FIGURE 10.— Typical surface prof»« r<- sparing 100ft grid to favorable point readings. 
 
 . 
 
20 
 
 and the ability to best demonstrate the 
 full capabilities of a remote monitoring 
 system. 
 
 The site selected was the Lower Big 
 Branch Impoundment at Montcoal, WV, oper- 
 ated by ARMCO Material Resources. It is 
 a cross-valley coarse refuse embankment 
 impounding about 5 acres of fine coal 
 refuse slurry pumped 1 mile from the No. 
 7 Mine preparation plant (fig. 11). Its 
 height was about 190 ft (1,120-ft eleva- 
 tion) and will eventually be raised to 
 1,175-ft elevation. The Lower Big Branch 
 Creek has been relocated to the south 
 side of the impoundment and flows into 
 March Fork Creek, which occupies the val- 
 ley directly below the embankment. The 
 topography of the area is relatively 
 steep with heavily wooded hillsides. The 
 
 local geology is composed of interbedded 
 layers of sandstone, shale, and coal. 
 
 Equipment and Instrumentation 
 
 Available instrumentation was evalu- 
 ated and selected for its capability of 
 monitoring various parameters, its suit- 
 ability to long-term measurements, and 
 whether or not it was an electrical sen- 
 sor amenable to automatic remote monitor- 
 ing. A complete remote instrumentation 
 system for monitoring the stability of a 
 waste embankment was designed (fig. 12). 
 Final instrumentation installed in the 
 embankment included 7 vibrating wire pi- 
 ezometers, 2 resistance piezometers, 3 
 biaxial tiltmeters (2 sensors each), 3 
 multiple-position borehole extensometers 
 
 ' — p — p— p— P __ 
 
 Scale, ft 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 v///) Coarse coal refuse embankment area 
 
 # New Shannon and Wilson boring 
 
 O Existing borehole and piezometer 
 
 — t— Telephone line 
 
 — c— Trenched cable 
 
 — p— Electrical power line 
 
 FIGURE 11.— Lower Big Branch impoundment site plan. 
 
 HM 
 
Parameter - 
 
 Sensors 
 
 Sig 
 
 nal conditioning J 
 and power 
 
 Data acquisition 
 and control device 
 
 Communication link 
 
 Off-site central 
 
 station data 
 
 monitoring and 
 
 analysis facilities 
 
 (in Seattle) 
 
 21 
 
 Piezometer 
 
 Piezometer 
 pond level 
 
 Deformation tilt 
 
 Rainfall seepegc 
 extensometer 
 
 Air temperature 
 
 V ibr at ing- 
 wire gaugos 
 
 Resistance 
 strain gaiyt 
 
 itch box 
 
 Inclinometers, 
 accelerometerv 
 and tilt meters 
 
 External signal 
 conditioner 
 
 Potentiometers 
 
 Sensor power 
 supply 
 
 Thermocouple 
 
 Precision 
 supply voltage 
 
 A n a I o g-t o- 
 digital converter 
 
 Analog acquisition 
 
 A ^- D c nversion 
 
 Linearization and conversion 
 to engineering units 
 
 Digital acquisition 
 
 Data output 
 I I 
 
 Input g a *. j < 
 parameters 
 
 schedule alarm demand I 
 
 On-site pr 
 
 -^VOV^TV 
 
 Telephone lint 
 
 Central station 
 modem. 
 
 1 ■ ■ 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Terminal 
 
 
 
 Computer 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 , 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Printed output 
 
 
 Plotted output 
 
 
 Off-line storage 
 
 FIGURE 12.— Block diagram of remote instrumentation system. 
 
 (1 with 4 sensors, 2 with 2 sensors 
 each), 1 uniaxial in-place inclinometer 
 with 8 sensors, 1 fluid-level-monitor- 
 ing device to measure seepage at the 
 weir, 1 barometer, 1 rain monitor, and 2 
 thermocouples, for a total of 21 instru- 
 ments and 37 sensors (table 4, figures 
 13-14). These instruments (figs. 15-17) 
 were connected via two junction boxes 
 (fig. 18) and buried cable to the auto- 
 matic data acquisition system (DAS) 
 located in a trailer at the test site. 
 The DAS consisted of power conditioning 
 equipment, a signal conditioning unit, 
 
 and an Acurex Autodata 9 data logger con- 
 nected to the telephone. Data were re- 
 corded automatically at the site on paper 
 tape and on request at the contractor's 
 office via the telephone. The pond level 
 sensor initially installed in the up- 
 stream impoundment was destroyed early in 
 the program when it was covered with 
 coarse refuse as the embankment was being 
 raised. Other instruments and data ac- 
 quisition systems are discussed and com- 
 pared in the report (4^» 
 
 The goals of the field monitoring weie 
 to collect -sufficient data to determine 
 
22 
 
 TABLE 4. - List of sensors and locations 
 
 Sensor, manufacturer, 
 and model number 
 
 Sensor 
 No. 
 
 Seri 
 No. 
 
 al 
 
 Borehole 
 location 
 
 Elevation, 
 ft 
 
 Depth, 
 ft 
 
 Extensometer , multiple-position 
 borehole, Slope Indicator, model 
 51891. 
 
 Fluid-level-monitoring device, 
 Leupold & Stevens, model A-71. 
 
 Inclinometer, uniaxial in place, 
 Slope Indicator, model P/N50432. 
 
 Piezometer, electrical resistance, 
 Slope Indicator, model P/N 56442. 
 
 Piezometer, vibrating wire, Irad 
 Gage Co., model PW-100. 
 
 Pressure transducer, Setra, model 
 250. 
 
 Rain monitor, Leupold & Stevens, 
 model A-71. 
 
 Thermocouple, Pyrometric Service, 
 model type "T" thermocouple. 
 
 Tiltmeter, biaxial, Slope Indica- 
 tor, model P/N50327-1. 
 
 Tiltmeter, biaxial, Terra Technol- 
 ogy, model 85-2032. 
 
 MPBX-l(l) 
 MPBX-1(2) 
 MPBX-1(3) 
 MPBX-1(4) 
 MPBX-2(1) 
 MPBX-2(2) 
 MPBX-3(1) 
 MPBX-3(2) 
 
 Weir 
 
 II-l 
 II-2 
 II-3 
 II-4 
 II-5 
 II-6 
 II-7 
 II-8 
 
 RP-1 
 RP-2 
 
 Pond level 
 sensor 
 
 VWP-1 
 VWP-2 
 VWP-3 
 VWP-4 
 VWP-5 
 VWP-6 
 VWP-7 
 
 Barometer 
 
 NA 
 
 TC-1 
 TC-2 
 
 TM-3(A) 
 TM-3(B) 
 
 TM-l(A) 
 TM-l(B) 
 TM-2(A) 
 TM-2(B) 
 
 L.P. 
 L.P. 
 L.P. 
 L.P. 
 L.P. 
 L.P. 
 L.P. 
 L.P. 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 98172 
 
 021 
 020 
 022 
 019 
 017 
 016 
 018 
 015 
 
 41107 
 41109 
 
 41108 
 
 14-2 
 14-7 
 14-6 
 14-9 
 14-3 
 14-8 
 14-1 
 
 24174 
 
 91871 
 
 NA 
 NA 
 
 NA 
 
 NA 
 
 101 
 101 
 102 
 102 
 
 B-9 
 
 B-9 
 
 B-9 
 
 B-9 
 
 B-15 
 
 B-15 
 
 B-6 
 
 B-6 
 
 C 1 ) 
 
 B-5 
 B-5 
 B-5 
 B-5 
 B-5 
 B-5 
 B-5 
 B-5 
 
 B-l 
 B-7 
 
 C 1 ) 
 
 B-4 
 
 B-l 
 
 B-3 
 
 B-7 
 
 B-12 
 
 B-13 
 
 B-14 
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 ( 2 ) 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 B-8 
 B-8 
 
 B-ll 
 B-ll 
 B-10 
 
 B-10 
 
 978.8 
 1,010.5 
 1,044.9 
 1,098.5 
 
 942.9 
 1,042.6 
 
 946.7 
 1,043.7 
 
 NAp 
 
 985.1 
 993.1 
 1,001.1 
 1,009.1 
 1,017.1 
 1,025.1 
 1,033.1 
 1,041.1 
 
 942.7 
 1,013.8 
 
 1,105 
 
 1,015.2 
 943.8 
 1,002.7 
 1,015.0 
 942.8 
 930.5 
 920.0 
 
 1,085 
 
 NAp 
 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 
 1,118.8 
 1,118.8 
 
 1,118.0 
 1,118.0 
 1,119.3 
 1,119.3 
 
 140.7 
 109.0 
 
 74.6 
 
 21.0 
 176.3 
 
 76.6 
 171.5 
 
 74.5 
 
 NAp 
 
 134.2 
 
 126.2 
 
 112.2 
 
 110.2 
 
 102.2 
 
 94.2 
 
 86.2 
 
 78.2 
 
 176.9 
 105.2 
 
 NAp 
 
 104.6 
 175.7 
 117.0 
 104.0 
 139.0 
 125.7 
 73.2 
 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 
 NAp 
 
 NAp 
 
 2.0 
 2.0 
 
 2.0 
 2.0 
 2.0 
 2.0 
 
 NA Not available. NAp Not applicable. ^ee figure 11. 2 At instrument trailer. 
 
23 
 
 Overflow decant 
 area 
 
 1 , 1 3 6 - f t - e le v a t i o n bench 
 
 B-6 (MPBX-3) 
 
 B-7 (VWP-4 and RP-2) 
 
 nr u '*»"P^-»«»"uni <j /■ |,j.,j. r 
 
 %l B-1 (VWP-2 and RP-D^B-3 (VWP-3) J 
 ""*T/ __ // DCp CJS-1v* 
 
 CJS_2 v B . 15 (M PB7-irziiii^^- BX v ) '' 
 
 B-8 (TM-3) 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 O Cable junction station (CJS) 
 
 ® Borehole with instruments 
 
 MPBX Mutiple-position borehole extensometer 
 
 VWP V ibrat ing-wire piezometer 
 
 RP Resistance piezometer 
 
 TM Tiltme ter 
 
 Tl Traversing probe inclinometer 
 
 II In-place inclinometer 
 
 ~~ Buried cable 
 
 □ Data collection platform (DCP) 
 
 20 
 I 
 
 40 
 
 _l_ 
 
 6 
 
 _l 
 
 Scale, ft 
 
 FIGURE 13.— Site instrumentation location. 
 
24 
 
 1,20 0,- 
 
 > 
 o 
 n 
 a 
 
 VWP-2 and RP-1 
 VWP-4 and RP-2 
 MPBX-3 
 TM-3 
 Bench elevation 1,120 ft 
 
 1,10 - 
 
 _ 1,000- 
 
 < 
 > 
 Ul 
 
 HI 
 
 900 
 
 1 
 
 200 
 
 30 4 
 
 DISTANCE, ft 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 iln-place inclinometer with sensor 
 locations (II) 
 
 ! Inclinometer casing for traversing 
 probe (Tl) 
 
 ■i Multiple-position borehole extensometer 
 ^ with anchor locations (MPBX) 
 
 i Vibrating wire piezometer or 
 resistance piezometer (VWP or RP) 
 
 B Tiltmeter (TM) 
 
 FIGURE 14.— Cross-section instrumentation location. Derived in part from 1978 D'Appolonia report entitled "Modifica- 
 tion to Existing Coal Refuse Disposal Facility, Lower Big Branch, Montcoal Raleigh Co., WV." (3) 
 
 o o ° 
 o o 
 
 s\ r 
 
 Coarse 
 coal refuse 
 
 
 
 .•-•.. 
 
 Fine coal 
 refuse 
 
 
 Mixed coarse 
 
 m 
 
 and 
 
 > 
 
 fine refuse 
 
 Approximate 
 top of rock 
 
25 
 
 Steel lid 
 
 77Hfl~~ 
 
 Corrugated metal 
 pipe cover 
 
 Portland cement and +-■. 
 
 lime grout backfill 
 
 Minimum 6-in boring 
 
 Four grooves 
 equally spaced 
 
 Section A-A' 
 
 Grout valve 
 
 FIGURE 15.— In place inclinometer installation. 
 
26 
 
 77m 
 
 \ 
 
 Backfilled cable trench 
 
 1-to 2-ft-thick 
 bentonite seal 
 
 Sand or pea 
 gravel backfill 
 
 Corrugated metal 
 pipe cover 
 
 Site material backfill or grout 
 
 Water-filled open standpipe 
 
 Minimum 4-in-diam borehole 
 
 S Tf 
 
 2-in PVC casing slotted 
 
 over lowermost 3 ft 
 and wrapped with filter fabric 
 
 Electrical piezometer 
 sensor 
 
 -.'■f 
 
 Bottom cap 
 FIGURE 16.— Piezometer installation. 
 
 MMM 
 
27 
 
 FIGURE 17.— Tiltmeter installation. 
 
 Data were to be collected at 1- or 2-day 
 Intervals. However, owing to various 
 problems with the data logger, data had 
 to be collected manually by calling the 
 site to activate the instruments and take 
 readings. Other problems included downed 
 telephone lines, loss of the source of 
 power from a nearby mine (a generator was 
 substituted for a short time), damaged or 
 nonfunctioing equipment, and site con- 
 struction and maintenance activity. 
 
 The data were processed by a DEC PDP 
 11/34 minicomputer and plotted with pro- 
 grams written specifically for this par- 
 ticular sensor configuration. 
 
 Results 
 
 Complete data and results of this study 
 are described in more detail in the con- 
 tract report (4). Significant factors 
 noted were — 
 
 FIGURE 18.— Electrical cable junction box. 
 
 the applicability and reliability of the 
 system, to provide typical embankment 
 data and some site-specific data, and to 
 provide precursory data in case of an in- 
 stability developing in the embankment. 
 
 1. Despite numerous disruptions in the 
 monitoring process which made it dif- 
 ficult to obtain long-term continuous 
 data (fig. 19), several events could be 
 observed: 
 
 A. Consolidation appeared to be 
 occurring as the embankment was raised 
 from the 1, 120-f t elevation to the 1,175- 
 ft elevation and as the pond extended 
 several hundred feet upstream. 
 
 B. A 1. 1-in deflection occurred 
 at an elevation of 1, 043 ft in the fine 
 refuse in the embankment, probably owing 
 to the additional fill added to the 
 embankment. 
 
 C. Pore-water pressures within the 
 embankment remained relatively constant 
 throughout the test. The piezometer lev- 
 els ranged from 15 ft above bedrock in 
 the old portion of the embankment to 
 about the fine-coarse coal interface at 
 1, 035-f t elevation. 
 
 2. An approximate cost analysis for 
 the system indicates that an automatic 
 system is justified if the impoundment is 
 monitored three times a week for 8 yr 
 (table 5, figure 20). A manual system 
 
28 
 
 Ground surface 
 elevation 1,119 ft 
 
 T^SV 1.0 
 
 6 5 
 
 Mixed coarse 
 and fine refuse 
 
 1,035 ft * 1,035 
 
 Fine refuse 
 
 1,055 
 
 CO 1.045 
 
 n 
 
 £ 1,025 
 
 Tip elevation * — 
 1,014 ft TTiitf ^ 
 
 O 
 
 r 1.015 
 
 > 
 
 LU 
 
 _l 1,005- 
 
 LU 
 
 995 - 
 
 985 
 
 l i i i i — i — i — i — i — i — r 
 
 KEY 
 o Water level indicator 
 
 (manual ) 
 o Vibrating- wire piezometer \i .c 
 
 VWP-4 
 A Resistance piezometer RP-2 
 
 J I I 
 
 JJASONDJFMAMJ JASONDJFMAMJ 
 1979 1980 1981 
 
 TIME 
 
 FIGURE 19.— Water levels for piezometer B-7. 
 
 TABLE 5. - Cost analysis of manual and remote monitoring systems 
 (1982 costs) (4) 
 
 Cost item 
 
 Manual 
 
 1 
 
 Automatic 
 
 System design < 
 
 Capital (equipment, instruments, cable, etc.). 
 
 Installation labor 
 
 Subtotal installation costs , 
 
 Maintenance costs 
 
 Monitoring labor, per set 2 , 
 
 Data processing labor, per set 2 
 
 Data processing labor (1st year only)^ , 
 
 Data interpretation 
 
 $10,000 
 62,000 
 60,000 
 
 per year. 
 
 .per year. 
 
 132,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 116 
 
 58 
 
 NAp 
 
 10,000 
 
 $20,000 
 85,000 
 73,000 
 
 178,000 
 
 20,000 
 
 15 
 
 NAp 
 
 5,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 NAp Not applicable. 
 
 ^Manual costs calculated from automated system costs. 
 
 2 Based on labor rate of $29/h. 
 
 ^No data processing labor costs after initial year of operation. 
 
 NOTE. — All costs based on 37-sensor system. 
 
29 
 
 would be economical for less frequent 
 monitoring. A large number of instru- 
 ments were used for this project to 
 determine possible installation prob- 
 lems and the long-term reliability of the 
 various instruments on the market. Costs 
 in a real situation would be lower be- 
 cause only three to six instruments would 
 be required. 
 
 PHASE 2. - IN SITU INSTRUMENTATION 
 WITH SATELLITE TRANSMISSION OF DATA 
 
 In phase 2, a contract was awarded to 
 Energy, Inc. (_7_), to demonstrate a self- 
 contained satellite communication link 
 and data collection platform (DCP) that 
 remotely monitored the stability and 
 seepage instrumentation located on the 
 coal waste embankment at the Armco No. 7 
 coal mine, Montcoal, WV. The costs, 
 ease, and accuracy of data transmission, 
 
 ir 
 
 < 
 
 LU 
 
 >- 
 
 cc 
 w 
 a. 
 
 v> 
 (3 
 
 z 
 
 Q 
 
 < 
 HI 
 
 cc 
 li. 
 
 o 
 
 V) 
 
 I- 
 w 
 w 
 
 cc 
 
 LLI 
 
 CO 
 
 z 
 
 400 
 
 300 - 
 
 200 
 
 100 200 300 400 500 
 
 TOTAL COST, 1 3 dollars 
 
 600 
 
 FIGURE 20.— Monitoring costs as a function of number of 
 readings. Costs based on 37-sensor system with a total life of 
 8yr. 
 
 and maintenance and instrumentation prob- 
 lems of phases 1 and 2 were compared. 
 
 Description of Work 
 
 Because the instrumentation from phase 
 1 was already in place on the embankment, 
 only the data collection and transmission 
 system had to be selected and installed 
 on-site, together with the instrument in- 
 terface circuitry. The GOES East satel- 
 lite was selected to relay data from the 
 test site DCP to the user's terminal via 
 the Command and Data Acquisition Station 
 (CDA) and the Data Collection System-Data 
 Processing System (DCS-DPS). The data 
 were then reduced and plotted for study. 
 
 Equipment and Instrumentation 
 
 A Sutron 8004B DCP was selected because 
 of its low power consumption, 16 analog 
 or digital parameter inputs, and avail- 
 ability. Additional equipment included a 
 12-V storage battery, two Solarex 4200EG 
 solar panels, and a six-element Yagi an- 
 tenna. The DCP, solar panels, and anten- 
 na were mounted on a support pole with 
 the solar panels aligned for optimum 
 solar illumination supply (fig. 21) and 
 the antenna aligned with the GOES East 
 satellite. 
 
 The previously installed instrumenta- 
 tion continued to monitor the coal waste 
 embankment and its environmental charac- 
 teristics. However, technical difficul- 
 ties limited the final setup to 10 in- 
 struments of 3 types — the weir, the rain 
 gauge, and 3 multiposition borehole 
 extensometers (1-4, 2-2, 3-2) — plus a 
 thermocouple. A vibrating wire piezome- 
 ter had also been planned, but the inter- 
 face was continually nonfunctioning owing 
 to line transient damage. 
 
 To make this a completely self-con- 
 tained communication system, the data had 
 to be transmitted via satellite to a re- 
 ceiving station. For this purpose the 
 GOES East satellite was selected. It is 
 
30 
 
 FIGURE 21.— Data collection platform, solar panels, Yagi antenna. 
 
31 
 
 operated without charge by the National 
 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration- 
 National Earth Satellite Service (NOAA- 
 NESS) (_5) for the acquisition of envi- 
 ronmental data, provided that the data 
 can be disseminated to other interested 
 parties. The system data flow consisted 
 of four major subsystems: (1) sensor 
 data collection, (2) data transmission 
 from the DCP to GOES, (3) data retrieval 
 from GOES and storage by NOAA-NESS, and 
 (4) dissemination and processing of re- 
 trieved data. 
 
 The DCP received and stored data from 
 the various analog sensor data lines on a 
 preprogrammed collection interval. Data 
 transmission to the GOES satellite oc- 
 curred on a specific NOAA-NESS allocated 
 
 channel frequency in a self-timed trans- 
 mission mode at 4-h intervals. The GOES 
 satellite in turn transmitted to the CDA 
 station ground equipment, which decoded 
 the data and checked for errors. The 
 data were then transmitted via condi- 
 tioned leased lines to the DCS-DPS, which 
 acted as a central data distribution fa- 
 cility by storing the data in user queues 
 and providing the user with interfacing 
 for data requests. The user acquired the 
 data from the DCS-DPS via a standard 
 telephone link (fig. 22). 
 
 Data from the DCS-DPS were reproduced 
 as hard copy and manually reduced, until 
 the programming for the automated data 
 dissemination could be completed for the 
 Chromatics GG1999 computer. Completion 
 
 Data transmission from DCP 
 
 GOES (East) 
 
 
 ^y 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 User site 
 
 300-bps 
 
 MODEM 
 
 and data 
 
 processing 
 
 equipment 
 
 
 1 
 
 CDA 
 and 
 
 DCS- 
 DPS 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 @ Retrieval and @ Dissemination 
 storage of data and processing of 
 by NOAA-NESS retrieved data 
 
 (T) Data collection from sensors 
 
 FIGURE 22.— System data flow. 
 
32 
 
 of this task allowed for data storage on 
 8-in floppy disks from which graphs could 
 be plotted in engineering units. 
 
 Results 
 
 Complete data and results of this study 
 are described in more detail in the con- 
 tract report (]_)• Although data collec- 
 tion systems consisting of the DCP satel- 
 lite and ground station receivers have 
 been widely used to successfully monitor 
 environmental conditions (rain, wind, and 
 temperature) for flood control and on 
 buoys at sea, their use for monitoring 
 embankment instrumentation had never pre- 
 viously been documented. Major findings 
 included — 
 
 1. The reliability of the system was 
 very high. The DCP required no preven- 
 tive maintenance, and trips to the site 
 in the event of a failure were rare. 
 Data transmission had an error rate of 
 0.31%, mostly due to a duplicate channel 
 frequency time slot assignment. Other- 
 wise, the error rate would have been 
 0.0635%. 
 
 2. Though the initial cost of the sys- 
 tem is high (table 6), it is still lower 
 than that of the phase 1 system; also, 
 the system is easier to operate and main- 
 tain, and it requires neither power lines 
 or' telephone lines into the site nor a 
 building to house the DAS. Therefore, 
 solar-powered data collection is a reli- 
 able and cost-effective method to monitor 
 sensors at a remote waste embankment 
 site. 
 
 3. Great care must be taken in select- 
 ing the site sensors and placing them in 
 the embankment. This appears to be the 
 limiting factor in the use of this sys- 
 tem, and the major reason for downtime 
 and the limited amount of data collected. 
 The tiltmeters, inclinometer, and piezom- 
 eters were difficult to maintain over a 
 long-term period, in part because these 
 were electrical instruments working in a 
 
 harsh environment and in part because the 
 impoundment was in a continual state of 
 construction and maintenance. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS—PHASES 1 AND 2 
 
 As a result of the data compiled in 
 phases 1 and 2, there are five recommen- 
 dations with regard to the overall system 
 and its geotechnical instrumentation: 
 
 1. The system should be flexible 
 enough to accept a number of different 
 sensor types. 
 
 2. Further development in geophysical 
 instruments is needed, specifically in 
 inclinometers, tiltmeters, extensometers, 
 and piezometers, to make them more reli- 
 able, cheaper, and easier to install and 
 maintain. 
 
 3. A standard remote monitoring system 
 applicable to coal and metal and nonmetal 
 waste impoundments and embankments should 
 be developed. 
 
 4. Satellite data transmission should 
 be investigated if more than 10 sites are 
 to be instrumented. 
 
 5. This method of remote data collec- 
 tion could be used by MSHA, mining com- 
 panies, or public utilities to centrally 
 monitor the stability of one or more im- 
 poundments. It would be most effective 
 either in populated areas with high over- 
 all precipitation rates or local periods 
 of sudden extreme precipitation rates 
 (hazardous situations), or In remote 
 areas where travel to and from a site is 
 difficult. The system could act as an 
 early warning device by monitoring pres- 
 sure changes and movements within an em- 
 bankment caused by rising water levels. 
 It would provide more frequent readout of 
 coal waste impoundment stability and en- 
 vironmental factors and would also aid in 
 inspection and control of other dispo- 
 sal sites such as metal and nonmetal 
 waste embankments or even city reservoir 
 impoundments. 
 
 ^^■■■^^^^■■i 
 
33 
 
 TABLE 6. - Cost comparison of satellite and telephone data 
 transmission (1984 costs) (7) 
 
 Cost item 
 
 Unit cost 
 
 Number 
 of units 
 
 Total cost 
 
 Satellite system: 
 
 Data collection platform 
 
 DCP hand terminal 
 
 Environmental enclosure 
 
 Yagi antenna 
 
 Antenna cable 
 
 Solar panels 
 
 Power supply cable 
 
 Batteries (100 A'h) 
 
 Wattmeter and load coil 
 
 Interface for biaxial sensors 
 
 Total for satellite system 
 
 Telephone system: 
 
 Autodata 9 
 
 Signal conditioner 
 
 kC power conditioner and filtering with temper- 
 ature sensor and delay 
 
 AC power conditioner 
 
 Anixter-pruzan metro tele PL1-2-2 I/F device... 
 
 Autodialer 
 
 Te lephone modem 
 
 Power line installation and lease 3 
 
 Telephone line installation and monthly mainte- 
 nance cos t 1 * 
 
 Trailer installation and monthly rental cost... 
 Total for telephone system 2 
 
 20- 
 
 $3,725 
 630 
 220 
 195 
 
 55 
 299 
 
 28 
 
 130 
 
 250 
 
 3,000 
 
 NAp 
 
 14,591 
 4,320 
 
 1,985 
 439 
 123 
 167 
 570 
 NA 
 
 100 
 100 
 NAp_ 
 
 NAp 
 
 $3,725 
 630 
 220 
 195 
 
 55 
 598 
 
 28 
 
 260 
 
 250 
 
 3,000 
 
 8,961 
 
 NA 
 
 112 
 112 
 
 NAp 
 
 14,591 
 4,320 
 
 1,985 
 439 
 123 
 167 
 570 
 NA 
 
 240- 1,200 
 1,200 
 
 23,635-24,595 
 
 NA Not available. NAp Not applicable 
 
 112 months. 
 
 2 Plus costs of power line installation and lease. 
 
 3 In the case of this project this system was already in place; the 
 was not included. 
 
 ^Costs can vary according to length of telephone lines and weather, 
 feet maintenance needs. 
 
 refore the cost 
 which can af- 
 
 SATELLITE IMAGERY 
 
 A contract was awarded to Science Sys- 
 tems and Applications, Inc. (2), to eval- 
 uate the potential for using digital 
 Landsat satellite data (fig* 23) for de- 
 tecting active metal, nonmetal, and coal 
 waste and tailings disposal sites to up- 
 date acreage and land use information 
 previously collected for mine waste em- 
 bankment inventories (2). 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF WORK 
 
 Four mine waste disposal sites were se- 
 lected: a Florida phosphate strip mine, 
 an Arizona open pit copper mine, an Idaho 
 underground silver mine, and a West Vir- 
 ginia underground coal mine. The crite- 
 ria for choosing these mine sites were — 
 
34 
 
 Command's tracking 
 
 Earth-based DCS 
 sensing platforms 
 
 telemetry, tracking data, 
 payload video data 
 
 NASA Landsat 
 project otlice 
 
 Remote ground 
 receiving sites 
 
 Goldstone (USB) 
 
 NTTF (USB) 
 
 Alaska (USB and VHF) 
 
 Backup USB stations 
 
 Backup VHF stations 
 
 Orbit 
 
 Commands 
 
 DCS, TLM, 
 TRK G 
 
 determination 
 ■* 1 Command! 
 
 N A SC O M 
 
 DCS , TLM 
 
 Ground data handling system 
 
 Operations 
 control 
 center 
 
 Image 
 
 processing 
 
 facility 
 
 Payload video tapes mailed from Alaska 
 
 and Goldstone or direct from NTTF 
 
 EROS 
 data center 
 
 DCS 
 
 EDC 
 
 EROS 
 
 G SFC 
 MS S 
 
 NASA 
 
 KEY 
 
 Data collection system 
 EROS Data Center 
 Earth Resources Observation 
 Systems 
 
 Goddard Space Flight Center 
 Multispectral scanner 
 National Aeronautics and 
 Space Administration 
 NASCOM NASA communications network 
 NTTF Network Test and Training 
 
 Facility 
 
 Return beam vidicon 
 Telemetry 
 Tracking 
 Upper sideband 
 Very high frequency 
 
 FIGURE 23.— Overall Landsat system. Source Landsat Data Users Handbook. (9) 
 
 1. An active surface or underground 
 coal, metal, or nonmetal mining operation 
 producing more than 500 st ore per day. 
 
 2. A diverse set of climatic condi- 
 tions (wet, dry, moderate) because these 
 could have different effects on the de- 
 tectability of mine waste areas. 
 
 3. Topography because of its effect 
 on the size and type of disposal sites 
 available to mining operations in differ- 
 ent parts of the country. 
 
 4. The ability to visit a selected 
 site. 
 
 5. Ease of obtaining aerial photogra- 
 phy and accompanying Landsat data; these 
 can be affected by cloud cover, sun 
 
 angle, season, currency of the informa- 
 tion, and how closely the dates could be 
 matched for the two types of data. 
 
 6. Availability of updated topographic 
 maps. 
 
 7. Availability of road maps. 
 
 8. Availability of USGS orthophoto- 
 quadrangle maps. 
 
 Based on the site selection data, the 
 chosen sites ranged from a valley fill in 
 West Virginia to a flat diked embankment 
 in Florida to a terraced embankment in 
 Arizona. Other mine waste sites were 
 also located nearby for signature exten- 
 sion testing. This technique was used to 
 
 MBMBM 
 
 MM 
 
35 
 
 check that the procedures used to study 
 one site could be extended to other mine 
 sites in the same locality. 
 
 Selection of aerial photography and 
 Landsat data was based on the image qual- 
 ity of the data, the time of year, the 
 time of day, and the degree of cloud cov- 
 er. Most important was the need for re- 
 cent coverage (after Feb. 1, 1979) be- 
 cause of site changes at active mine 
 locations. Also necessary was the avail- 
 ability of at least same-year coverage by 
 both aerial photography and Landsat, pre- 
 ferably as close together chronologically 
 as possible. 
 
 EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES 
 
 Digital data from the Landsat satellite 
 multispectral scanner (MSS) and the Gen- 
 eral Electric Co.'s IMALE-100 system in 
 GE's Digital Image Analysis Laboratory 
 (DIAL) in Lanham, MD, were used to deter- 
 mine the capability of various image- 
 processing techniques to monitor the 
 waste sites. These techniques and clas- 
 sification methods improve the visual 
 appearance of the image and accentuate 
 selected features. For this study, 
 piecewise linear contrast stretching, 
 edge and color enhancement, and normal- 
 ized and simple ratio techniques were 
 used. Means and standard deviation were 
 obtained for the land-use categories 
 (waste, water, active, inactive, re- 
 claimed) by using the raw data, enhanced 
 by two-dimensional axis rotation, Hada- 
 mard transformation (HT), and principal- 
 component analysis. Change detection 
 techniques were used in the Florida phos- 
 phate region to determine their useful- 
 ness for noting changes occurring at the 
 site during a specified time. 
 
 Each test site had four or five land- 
 use categories, depending on the nature 
 of the tailings and the site itself. 
 Data analyses then consisted of comparing 
 the various land-use categories with four 
 classification methods using means and 
 standard deviation, pixel count and area 
 estimates, a classification matrix (pixel 
 count), and classification accuracy. 
 
 The Florida phosphate mine waste test 
 site was 40 miles east of Tampa, FL, in 
 an area of extensive mining. Landsat 
 
 scenes for February and December 1979 and 
 aerial photos for January and December 
 1979 were used to study an area of 7,607 
 ha (fig. 24). 
 
 The change detection studies used image 
 differencing to note changes at the site 
 (figs. 25-26). The greatest number of 
 changes were noted in the active waste 
 disposal areas in the expansion of dry 
 waste areas and changes in the water 
 areas. 
 
 Table 7 shows the classification accu- 
 racies of the methods used in studying 
 the Florida phosphate mining site. From 
 this table and from details given in ref- 
 erence 2, it is evident that the HT meth- 
 od can classify all the land-use catego- 
 ries, but its accuracy was poor for the 
 "active mining" category (51%) and only 
 fair for the "waste" category (63%). Ex- 
 cept for the "waste" category, the raw 
 data method classified all categories 
 with better than 50% accuracy. The prin- 
 cipal component analysis method was more 
 accurate for land-use categories other 
 than "waste" and "reclaimed." 
 
 Scale, miles 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 A Active P Processing plant 
 
 BG Bare ground R Reclaimed 
 H Waste water V Vegetation 
 / Inactive W Waste 
 
 FIGURE 24.— Fort Green, FL, study area: derived from aerial 
 photography. 
 
36 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 2 
 
 l l 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 Scale, miles 
 
 
 
 LEGEND 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 Changed areas 
 
 □ 
 
 Unchanged 
 
 areas 
 
 FIGURE 25.— Fort Green, FL, study area: automated change 
 detection. 
 
 Two tailings areas were studied at cop- 
 per mines in Arizona: one at Hayden and 
 one at Miami. A Landsat scene for July 
 19,79 and aerial photos for April 1979 and 
 February 1980 were used to study areas of 
 500 ha at Hayden and 2,000 ha at Miami. 
 The classification accuracy tables (table 
 7) for each site showed that the overall 
 accuracies for all classification methods 
 were not very good. For the Hayden site, 
 simple and normalized ratio methods 
 worked best, while for the Miami site the 
 raw data and HT methods were the best. 
 
 The waste embankments from two Coeur 
 d'Alene silver mines in Idaho were also 
 used for this study. Data from these em- 
 bankments were combined since one of the 
 embankments was too small for individual 
 analysis. Landsat scenes for June 1979 
 and aerial photos for July 1980 and 
 August 1977 created inconsistencies due 
 to the large time interval between the 
 dates. The most accurate method for this 
 study area (table 7) was two-dimensional 
 axis rotation; tailings and water were 
 
 Scale, miles 
 
 LEGEND 
 H Changed areas 
 
 Unchanged areas 
 
 FIGURE 26.— Fort Green, FL, study area: manually inter- 
 preted. 
 
 the most inconsistently classified cate- 
 gories owing to their spectral reflec- 
 tance complexity. 
 
 A West Virginia coal mine having a 9.7- 
 ha, valley-fill waste embankment with a 
 water impoundment was selected for the 
 coal waste test site. Landsat scenes for 
 July 1980 and aerial photos for April 
 1980 were used for the study. The raw 
 data method (table 7) was the most accu- 
 rate classification method for this site. 
 
 RESULTS 
 
 Complete data and results of this study 
 are described in more detail in the con- 
 tract report (2) . The most significant 
 factors were — 
 
 1. No single automated digital image 
 processing technique would work consis- 
 tently and accurately at each site. The 
 wide range of waste materials at a site, 
 the use of processed wastes for construc- 
 tion of roads and fill, color variations 
 
 
37 
 
 TABLE 7. - Classification accuracy of methods used to study 
 five waste areas, percent (2) 
 
 Land-use category 
 
 Raw 
 data 
 
 Sample 
 ratio 
 
 Normalized 
 ratio 
 
 2-D 
 rotation 
 
 Hadamard 
 transform 
 
 Princi 
 nent 
 
 pal compo- 
 analysis 
 
 FLORIDA PHOSPHATE MINING AND WASTE AREA 
 
 Waste 
 
 Water 
 
 Active mining 
 
 Inactive mining... 
 Reclaimed 
 
 21.0 
 86.0 
 55.9 
 68.8 
 86.9 
 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 NAp 
 
 50.1 
 94.8 
 44.4 
 63.2 
 
 
 62.7 
 75.9 
 51.0 
 81.1 
 60.0 
 
 49.1 
 91.2 
 66.1 
 85.3 
 
 
 
 COPPER MINING AND WASTE AREA, MIAMI -CLAYPOOL, AZ 
 
 Light tailings. 
 Dark tailings.. 
 Waste rock...... 
 
 Water 
 
 67.9 
 43.3 
 26.7 
 75.8 
 
 41.3 
 79.0 
 12.2 
 56.2 
 
 40.6 
 43.5 
 49.5 
 71.1 
 
 66.8 
 52.2 
 14.8 
 66.3 
 
 67.3 
 23.3 
 45.1 
 69.5 
 
 71.7 
 
 6.4 
 
 22.4 
 
 67.7 
 
 COPPER MINING AND WASTE AREA, HAYDEN, AZ 
 
 Dark tailings. 
 Water 
 
 55.6 
 
 68.1 
 
 64.5 
 
 66.6 
 
 60.0 
 
 52.8 
 
 72.9 
 
 98.6 
 
 100.0 
 
 74.3 
 
 75.7 
 
 70.0 
 
 
 IDAHO SILVER 
 
 MINING AND WASTE AREA 
 
 
 
 25.0 
 77.1 
 100.0 
 70.1 
 90.3 
 
 81.6 
 51.4 
 78.3 
 61.2 
 80.8 
 
 66.3 
 62.9 
 73.9 
 67.2 
 83.9 
 
 85.2 
 100.0 
 84.8 
 80.6 
 95.1 
 
 11.7 
 74.3 
 76.1 
 59.7 
 79.2 
 
 74.5 
 
 Slae 
 
 97. 1 
 
 
 78.3 
 61. 2 
 
 
 89.1 
 
 
 WEST VIRGINIA COAL MINING WASTE AREA 
 
 
 
 89.5 
 88.9 
 
 80.7 
 66.7 
 
 84.2 
 55.6 
 
 89.5 
 66.7 
 
 75.4 
 55.6 
 
 56. 1 
 
 
 55.6 
 
 NAp Not applicable. 
 
 in the ponds and embankments due to the 
 mining of different ores as well as vary- 
 ing moisture content, and reflectance 
 variance in the ponds themselves due to 
 silting or depth all contribute to creat- 
 ing a complex and dynamic environment. 
 The subtle differences that result make 
 it difficult to extend a signature from 
 one mine site to another. 
 
 2. It is not possible with current 
 state-of-the-art digital processing tech- 
 niques to inventory mine waste embank- 
 ments on a national basis using satellite 
 imagery. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 Based on the results from this satel- 
 lite imagery study, the following recom- 
 mendations are made: 
 
 1. Use of digital data from the ther- 
 matic mapper in Landsat 4 could be more 
 useful because the mapper has a higher 
 resolution. 
 
 2. Manual interpretation of enlarged 
 Landsat images used in conjunction with 
 auxiliary information might be a use- 
 ful supplement to updating mine waste 
 inventories. 
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 
 
 This report summarizes five contracted 
 projects dealing with remote sensing of 
 coal waste embankments. Three different 
 forms of remote sensing were studied: 
 aerial monitoring, remote data transmis- 
 sion from in situ instrumentation, and 
 satellite imagery. Aerial monitoring 
 
 study 1 investigated the use of aerial 
 photography and phot ogramme try on an 
 actively moving landslide and on two 
 coal embankments. Survey targets were 
 installed on the moving face, and subse- 
 quent photoreconnaissance measured the 
 targets' movements. Aerial monitoring 
 
38 
 
 study 2 investigated the use of survey 
 targets installed off the embankment 
 faces of 15 coal waste sites in West Vir- 
 ginia and Kentucky. Placing the targets 
 off the active areas of the embankments 
 required more complex equipment and data 
 analyses but protected the targets from 
 incidental movement and destruction. 
 Phase 1 of in situ instrumentation inves- 
 tigated the use of internally emplaced 
 instruments to monitor embankment con- 
 ditions and transmitted the data by 
 telephone to another geographic region. 
 Phase 2 used the same internally instru- 
 mented embankment but transmitted data 
 through a satellite link to a receiving 
 station which then could be accessed by 
 telephone. Satellite imagery used digi- 
 tal Landsat satellite data to evaluate 
 active coal, metal, and nonmetal waste 
 sites to update mine waste embankment 
 inventories. 
 
 In aerial monitoring study 1 it was 
 found that the costs of such a monitoring 
 technique were up to three times those of 
 existing conventional inspections. How- 
 ever, the benefits of having objective 
 documentation, such as aerial photographs 
 or photogrammetric maps, produced over a 
 period of time could not be estimated. 
 Because the targets were located within 
 the area under study, they proved suscep- 
 tible to incidental movement, damage, or 
 loss. 
 
 Aerial monitoring study 2 differed from 
 study 1 in the placement of the targets 
 and the mode of calculating movement. 
 The targets were placed outside the area 
 of interest, and computer-aided stereo- 
 plotters were used to measure move- 
 ment on the embankment. This protected 
 targets from damage and loss due to inci- 
 dental movement or construction activ- 
 ity. The disadvantage of placing the 
 target off the active area proved to be 
 decreased visibility due to snow and 
 growing vegetation. The cost of this 
 technique was estimated to be 17% to 
 30% higher than existing inspection 
 costs. 
 
 In in situ instrumentation, phase 1 
 featured remote data collection by 
 
 telephone. This project suffered numer- 
 ous disruptions caused by local power 
 failures and downed telephone lines. 
 Cost estimates for such a technique, in- 
 cluding internal instrumentation in the 
 embankment consisting of 37 sensors, 
 ranged from $144,174 for a manually read 
 system to $213,015 for an automatic 
 system. 
 
 Phase 2 used the same internal instru- 
 ments and embankment as phase 1, but the 
 data were relayed via satellite to a re- 
 ceiving station which was then accessed 
 by the user via telephone. The solar- 
 powered data collection platform, the 
 satellite antenna, and the use of the 
 satellite to relay data proved very 
 reliable. Costs to install a satellite 
 system equalled $8, 961, compared to 
 $24, 595 for a telephone system. These 
 estimates did not include costs for the 
 system design and the embankment instru- 
 ments or their installation, and access 
 to the satellite was free. 
 
 Mine waste location by satellite imag- 
 ery was an ineffective means to update 
 mine waste inventory data. At the time 
 of the study, satellite sensors were not 
 sufficiently sensitive to detect color 
 changes due to differing mineral composi- 
 tions at the various waste locations. 
 
 The remote sensing techniques studied 
 could be used to supplement existing mon- 
 itoring efforts and to provide visual, 
 historical documentation. Aerial photog- 
 raphy can be used to characterize the 
 overall conditions at the embankment sur- 
 face (seeps, slumps, fire, drainage ef- 
 fectiveness, etc. ). Use of aerial pho- 
 togrammetry can quantitatively document 
 surface movement over time. This could 
 be especially useful in determining em- 
 bankment creep or swelling, or in esti- 
 mating volume. Internal embankment con- 
 ditions can be closely monitored using 
 in situ instrumentation (extensometer, 
 piezometer, inclinometer, thermocouple, 
 etc. ) in conjunction with the GOES satel- 
 lite. It would then be possible to 
 initiate internal embankment readings 
 and to transmit instrument data whenever 
 needed. 
 
REFERENCES 
 
 39 
 
 1. American Society of Photogrammetry 
 (Falls Church, VA). Manual of Remote 
 Sensing. V. 1-2, 1975, 2144 pp. 
 
 2. Anuta, M. A., and 0. P. Bahethi. 
 Mine Waste Location by Satellite Imagery 
 (contract J0208030, Science Systems and 
 Applications, Inc. ). BuMines OFR 134-83, 
 1982, 100 pp.; NTIS PB 83-238519. 
 
 3. Campbell, P. M. , and R. G. Almes. 
 Modification to Existing Coal Refuse Dis- 
 posal Facility, Lower Big Branch, Mont- 
 coal, Raleigh Co., WV. D'Appolonia Con- 
 sulting Engineers, 1978, 23 pp. 
 
 4. Green, G. E., and D. A. Roberts. 
 Remote Monitoring of a Coal Waste Im- 
 poundment in West Virginia (contract 
 H0282041, Shannon & Wilson, Inc. ). Bu- 
 Mines OFR 79-83, 1982, 175 pp.; NTIS PB 
 83-196584. 
 
 5. MacCallum, D. H. , and M. J. Nestle- 
 bush. The Geostationary Operational 
 
 Environmental Satellite Data Collection 
 System. NOAA Tech. Memo. NESDIS, 1983, 
 49 pp. 
 
 6. Meisher, R. A., and R. L. Hoffman. 
 Improving Surface Coal Refuse Disposal 
 Site Inspections (contract J0188027, Chi- 
 cago Aerial Survey). BuMines OFR 54-81, 
 1980, 297 pp.; NTIS PB 81-215402. 
 
 7. Prokoski, F. J. , J. T. Byrne, and 
 D. J. Bryant. Satellite Monitoring for a 
 Coal Waste Embankment (contract H0212017, 
 Energy, Inc. ). BuMines OFR 102-85, 1984, 
 100 pp. 
 
 8. Roth, L. H. , J. A. Cesare, and 
 G. S. Allison. Rapid Monitoring of Coal 
 Refuse Embankments (contract H0262009, 
 CH2M Hill). BuMines OFR 11-78, 1977, 113 
 pp. ; NTIS PB 277 975/AS. 
 
 9. U.S. Geological Survey. Source 
 Landsat Data Users Handbook. Revised 
 edition, 1979. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Ahmad, M. V. , D. A. Kanter, and J. W. 
 Antalovich. Mapping of Spoil Banks Using 
 ERTS-A Pictures. Paper in Remote Sensing 
 of Earth Resources, ed. by F. Shahrokhi 
 (Proc. 2d Conf. on Earth Resources Obser- 
 vation and Information Analysis Systems, 
 Tullahoma, TN, Mar. 26-28, 1973). Univ. 
 TN Space Inst., v. 2, 1973, pp. 1073- 
 1093. 
 
 Alexander, S. S., J. Dien, and D. P. 
 Gold. The Use of ERTS-1 MSS Data for 
 Mapping Strip Mines and Acid Mine Drain- 
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