Environmental monitoring of endogenous fires based on thermal imaging and 3D mapping from an unmanned aerial vehicle

Abstract

To reduce environmental damage from mining, it is important to minimize the number of endogenous fires caused by spontaneous combustion of hydrocarbons. However, the existing technical solutions have significant limitations and require large investments. The purpose of the study is to develop technology and software for 3D thermal 3D mapping of coal warehouses and coal mining enterprises, which makes it possible to quickly detect potential foci of fire, carry out their prevention, and also minimize the time to extinguish the fires that have arisen. In the work, unmanned aerial vehicles were used as carriers of a photo camera and a thermal imaging camera, as well as software developed with the participation of the authors for processing thermal imaging images and video materials. The survey data were subjected to computer processing and loaded into the geographic information system. The resulting 3D thermal model was used to identify hot spots where fires are possible, as well as for forecasting. Testing of the hardware and software complex in a coal mine showed that the thermal 3D model correctly displays the temperature of coal seams at a considerable depth (over 3 meters). This allows you to quickly identify foci of fire and eliminate them. Research prospects are associated with replicating the results and building 3D thermal models for a larger number of coal enterprises.