Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing of Surface and Underground Coal Fires

Abstract

Surface and underground coal fires are burning in numerous countries worldwide. China, India, the USA, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, and many other countries all report uncontrollably burning coal fires. They ignite through spontaneous combustion of coal, or through lightning, forest fires, fires in garbage dumps, or careless human behaviour. Coal fires lead to the loss of the valuable resource and lead to the emission of green-house gasses as well as toxic gasses. These gasses contribute to climate change and also impact human health. Vegetation above the fires deteriorates. Due to the volume loss underground coal fires also trigger land subsidence and surface bedrock collapses. The surface and underground fires can be detected and monitored by means of remote sensing. Data acquired with handheld thermal cameras, airborne sensors, and also spaceborne sensors have been analyzed by numerous authors. However, exact and simultaneously standardized as well as transferable methods for coal fire detection and monitoring are hard to establish, and research gaps still exist This chapter presents a broad overview of past and current coal fire work, as well as the challenges which can be addressed based on thermal data of recent and upcoming sensors.