Abstract
Abstract. Now spanning five simultaneous open-pit operations with exploration carried out through open pit benching, Carajás complex encompasses the world´s largest iron reserves. Open pit mining operations in the area can lead to slope instabilities with risks to personnel, equipment and production due to intense excavations in rock products of low geomechanical quality, blasting practices and heavy precipitation. Thus, an effective prediction and management of surface deformations should be a key concern for the mining operations. The ground displacement monitoring techniques in Carajás include surface measurement techniques at discrete points (total station/reflective prisms) and over area using SSR (Slope Stability Radar, a ground based radar). On the other hand, DInSAR techniques are receiving relevance in the mining industry for reasons such a synoptic and continuous coverage without the need for ground instrumentation and a point-to-point good accuracy of measuring displacements (millimeter to centimeter scale) over a dense grid. Using a stack of 33 StripMap TerraSAR-X images acquired over Carajás covering the time span from March 2012 to April 2013, a monitoring approach is discussed based on the complementary use of information provided by DInSAR (DInSAR Time-Series and Persistent Scatterer Interferometry) and surface measuring techniques (total station/prisms, ground-based radar).
Highlights
The Amazon region is rich in mineral deposits of primary origin, which were concentrated to economic grades by weathering processes with a loss of silica and a residual/supergene enrichment of Fe (Vasconcelos et al, 1994)
We discuss aspects of the complementary usage of space-based Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) techniques (DInSAR Time-Series, Persistent Scatterer Interferometry) based on TerraSAR-X data with geotechnical field measuring techniques, which proved to be fundamental for mapping ground displacements within and around the large open pit iron mining complex of Carajás
The ground-based radar SSR (Slope Stability Radar, GroundProbe Company) uses a phase measurement taken on bench walls, to the interferometry technique, to infer small changes in range associated with pre-cursor movements to mine slope failures
Summary
The Amazon region is rich in mineral deposits of primary origin, which were concentrated to economic grades by weathering processes with a loss of silica and a residual/supergene enrichment of Fe (Vasconcelos et al, 1994). A classification scheme of the available monitoring systems for open pit mines was recently presented (Vaziri et al, 2010) In this scheme, ground movement measurement techniques were divided into surface measurements at discrete points with specific instruments (total stations/reflecting prisms, extensometers, etc.), and surface measurements over areas based on scanning techniques, such as ground based radar, LASER and image-based techniques. We discuss aspects of the complementary usage of space-based DInSAR techniques (DInSAR Time-Series, Persistent Scatterer Interferometry) based on TerraSAR-X data with geotechnical field measuring techniques (total station/reflecting prisms, ground based radar), which proved to be fundamental for mapping ground displacements within and around the large open pit iron mining complex of Carajás
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