EGU22-8296, updated on 28 Mar 2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8296
EGU General Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Satellite imagery band ratio for mapping the open pit mines: A preliminary study 

Anita Punia1, Rishikesh Bharti1, and Pawan Kumar Joshi2
Anita Punia et al.
  • 1Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati 781039, India
  • 2School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067 India

Indices are designed to differentiate land use and land cover classes to avoid misinterpretation of landscape features. The resemblances of spectral reflectance of mines with urban built-up and barren land cause difficulties in identification of objects. Open pit mines of Rampura-Agucha for Zn and Pb were selected for this study. The freely available data of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) was selected from the year of 2001 and 2003. It is observed that b1-b5/b1+b5 equation of ASTER imagery significantly differentiate Zn-Pb mine from urban settlement and other features. The reflected range (µm) for b1 and b5 is 0.52-0.60 (Visible and Near-Infrared) and 2.145-2.185 (Shortwave Infrared) respectively. The pixel values indicate higher reflectance of open pit suggesting feasibility of equation for differentiating it from barren and built-up area. The mine is rich in sphalerite followed by galena, pyrite and pyrrhotite in different proportions of abundance. Spectral reflectance depends on type of minerals hence need further studies to develop the index according to specific minerals and mines. In the mining regions, the role of temperature, moisture content, vegetation covers and high concentration of pollutants in variation of spectral reflectance are highly important. The developed index would be beneficial for tracing the extent of overburden dumps, tailings and mines at faster rate.

How to cite: Punia, A., Bharti, R., and Joshi, P. K.: Satellite imagery band ratio for mapping the open pit mines: A preliminary study , EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-8296, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-8296, 2022.