Open-Cast Mining Deformations Monitoring using Sentinel-1 SAR data (SBAS technique)

Land surface deformation created by mining activities can have negative impacts on the environment. Measuring them can be a tool for managing the environmental impacts of mining. Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry is a remote sensing method for measuring deformations. The main aim of this research is to investigate the deformation phenomenon on a region scale and extend our understanding of it to all mining deformation areas across the country. This paper used Small Baseline Subset Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar technology to obtain deformations information in the Sangan mine based on mining activities. We used 48 scenes of Single Look Complex(SLC) data acquired by the Sentinel-1A, C-band of the European Space Agency descending orbit paths from 2014 to 2020. The Time Series of SBAS results show that the deformation velocity rate is about –20 to –35 mm/yr, and the displacement is attributed to approximately –120 mm in the Line of Sight direction. The main deformation zone is situated in the mining area on the main alluvial fan. This study presented the relationship between deformations and mining activity's effects on the ground. Mining activities were accompanied by ground deformation in the mining area: the ground deformation is exacerbated by the increasing mining quantity, and as a result will cause erosion, flood, and other geomorphologic phenomena in the area. We compared the results of the SBAS technique with leveling data for validating the data of SBAS. Their comparison shows approximately suitable agreement with the results of SBAS.