BGS data supports new tool to track geological changes in abandoned coal mines

BGS is part of a multi-disciplinary team led by the University of Nottingham to develop a remote monitoring tool designed to help authorities manage public safety and environmental issues in recently abandoned coal mines.

The tool uses satellite radar imagery to capture millimeter-scale measurements of changes in terrain height. These measurements, when integrated with geological process models, can be used to monitor and forecast groundwater levels and changes in geological conditions deep below the earth’s surface in former mining areas. Ultimately this can help forecast where surface discharge of mine water may occur.

The study uses an advanced InSAR technique, called Intermittent Small Baseline Subset (ISBAS), developed by the University of Nottingham and Terra Motion Ltd and uses geological data provided by the BGS.

The method has been implemented over Nottinghamshire coalfields and the findings published in a paper ‘Modelling groundwater rebound in recently abandoned coalfields using DInSAR’ in the journal Remote Sensing of the Environment.

The team hopes to integrate results into an existing screening tool developed by the Environment Agency and Coal Authority to help local planning authorities, developers and consultants design sustainable drainage systems in coalfield areas, with potential to be scaled to coalfields across the UK.

The research was led by University of Nottingham PhD, David Gee and funded by the GeoEnergy Research Centre and Terra Motion Limited. ENVISAT and Sentinel-1 SAR data were provided by the European Space Agency with geological data by BGS and hydrogeological data by the Coal Authority.

Luke Bateson and Alessandro Novellino from the BGS Earth Observation and Geodesy capability have supported the geological interpretation and modelling of the InSAR results.

Read the full story on the University of Nottingham website

You can read more about the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique from BGS Remote Sensing Geologist, Alessandro Novellino in ‘Mapping Ground Deformation from Space’, on the British Geological Survey blog.  

Luke Bateson

Principal remote sensing geologist

BGS Keyworth

Find out more

Dr Alessandro Novellino

Remote sensing geoscientist

BGS Keyworth

Find out more