Revealing Long-Term Displacement and Evolution of Open-Pit Coal Mines Using SBAS-InSAR and DS-InSAR

Coal mines play an important role in the global energy supply. Monitoring the displacement of open-pit mines is crucial to preventing geological disasters, such as landslides and surface displacement, caused by high-intensity mining activities. In recent years, multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Rada...

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Main Authors: Zechao Bai, Fuquan Zhao, Jiqing Wang, Jun Li, Yanping Wang, Yang Li, Yun Lin, Wenjie Shen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/11/1821
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author Zechao Bai
Fuquan Zhao
Jiqing Wang
Jun Li
Yanping Wang
Yang Li
Yun Lin
Wenjie Shen
author_facet Zechao Bai
Fuquan Zhao
Jiqing Wang
Jun Li
Yanping Wang
Yang Li
Yun Lin
Wenjie Shen
author_sort Zechao Bai
collection DOAJ
description Coal mines play an important role in the global energy supply. Monitoring the displacement of open-pit mines is crucial to preventing geological disasters, such as landslides and surface displacement, caused by high-intensity mining activities. In recent years, multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) technology has advanced and become widely used for monitoring the displacement of open-pit mines. However, the scattering characteristics of surfaces in open-pit mining areas are unstable, resulting in few coherence points with uneven distribution. Small BAseline Subset InSAR (SABS-InSAR) technology struggles to extract high-density points and fails to capture the overall displacement trend of the monitoring area. To address these challenges, this study focused on the Shengli West No. 2 open-pit coal mine in eastern Inner Mongolia, China, using 201 Sentinel-1 images collected from 20 May 2017 to 13 April 2024. We applied both SBAS-InSAR and distributed scatterer InSAR (DS-InSAR) methods to investigate the surface displacement and long-term behavior of the open-pit coal mine over the past seven years. The relationship between this displacement and mining activities was analyzed. The results indicate significant land subsidence was observed in reclaimed areas, with rates exceeding 281.2 mm/y. The compaction process of waste materials was the main contributor to land subsidence. Land uplift or horizontal displacement was observed over the areas near the active working parts of the mines. Compared to SBAS-InSAR, DS-InSAR was shown to more effectively capture the spatiotemporal distribution of surface displacement in open-pit coal mines, offering more intuitive, comprehensive, and high-precision monitoring of open-pit coal mines.
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spelling doaj-art-7cc97586cc3d4e2a9c535e1454e3ba702025-08-20T03:11:22ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-05-011711182110.3390/rs17111821Revealing Long-Term Displacement and Evolution of Open-Pit Coal Mines Using SBAS-InSAR and DS-InSARZechao Bai0Fuquan Zhao1Jiqing Wang2Jun Li3Yanping Wang4Yang Li5Yun Lin6Wenjie Shen7Radar Monitoring Technology Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, North China University of Technology, Beijing 100144, ChinaPingzhuang Coal Mendong Mining Comiltd, Chifeng 026000, ChinaRadar Monitoring Technology Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, North China University of Technology, Beijing 100144, ChinaHeilongjiang Geological Sciences Institute, Harbin 150036, ChinaRadar Monitoring Technology Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, North China University of Technology, Beijing 100144, ChinaRadar Monitoring Technology Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, North China University of Technology, Beijing 100144, ChinaRadar Monitoring Technology Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, North China University of Technology, Beijing 100144, ChinaRadar Monitoring Technology Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, North China University of Technology, Beijing 100144, ChinaCoal mines play an important role in the global energy supply. Monitoring the displacement of open-pit mines is crucial to preventing geological disasters, such as landslides and surface displacement, caused by high-intensity mining activities. In recent years, multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) technology has advanced and become widely used for monitoring the displacement of open-pit mines. However, the scattering characteristics of surfaces in open-pit mining areas are unstable, resulting in few coherence points with uneven distribution. Small BAseline Subset InSAR (SABS-InSAR) technology struggles to extract high-density points and fails to capture the overall displacement trend of the monitoring area. To address these challenges, this study focused on the Shengli West No. 2 open-pit coal mine in eastern Inner Mongolia, China, using 201 Sentinel-1 images collected from 20 May 2017 to 13 April 2024. We applied both SBAS-InSAR and distributed scatterer InSAR (DS-InSAR) methods to investigate the surface displacement and long-term behavior of the open-pit coal mine over the past seven years. The relationship between this displacement and mining activities was analyzed. The results indicate significant land subsidence was observed in reclaimed areas, with rates exceeding 281.2 mm/y. The compaction process of waste materials was the main contributor to land subsidence. Land uplift or horizontal displacement was observed over the areas near the active working parts of the mines. Compared to SBAS-InSAR, DS-InSAR was shown to more effectively capture the spatiotemporal distribution of surface displacement in open-pit coal mines, offering more intuitive, comprehensive, and high-precision monitoring of open-pit coal mines.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/11/1821DS-InSARSBAS-InSARSentinel-1time series displacementopen-pit coal mines
spellingShingle Zechao Bai
Fuquan Zhao
Jiqing Wang
Jun Li
Yanping Wang
Yang Li
Yun Lin
Wenjie Shen
Revealing Long-Term Displacement and Evolution of Open-Pit Coal Mines Using SBAS-InSAR and DS-InSAR
Remote Sensing
DS-InSAR
SBAS-InSAR
Sentinel-1
time series displacement
open-pit coal mines
title Revealing Long-Term Displacement and Evolution of Open-Pit Coal Mines Using SBAS-InSAR and DS-InSAR
title_full Revealing Long-Term Displacement and Evolution of Open-Pit Coal Mines Using SBAS-InSAR and DS-InSAR
title_fullStr Revealing Long-Term Displacement and Evolution of Open-Pit Coal Mines Using SBAS-InSAR and DS-InSAR
title_full_unstemmed Revealing Long-Term Displacement and Evolution of Open-Pit Coal Mines Using SBAS-InSAR and DS-InSAR
title_short Revealing Long-Term Displacement and Evolution of Open-Pit Coal Mines Using SBAS-InSAR and DS-InSAR
title_sort revealing long term displacement and evolution of open pit coal mines using sbas insar and ds insar
topic DS-InSAR
SBAS-InSAR
Sentinel-1
time series displacement
open-pit coal mines
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/11/1821
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