Use of Gis and Multitemporal Imaging Spectrometer Data for Mod-elling and Mapping Environmental Changes in Mining Areas

Deep hard coal mining activities lead to land subsidence, resulting in infrastructural influences and hydrological changes. In the case of underground mining, a dislocation zone which transforms in the upward direction into flexure of the strata occurs directly above the mined area. A depression is formed on the surface. The shape of this depression depends on the structure of the deposit, mining parameters and the overlaying geology. Spatial and temporal influences of the environment result from the amount of subsidence, the local ground-water situation and actual land-cover and land-use. An important factor is the intensity of impairment regulated by properties of the local soil and vegetation data. To estimate changes of the dynamic system “subsidence-ground-water-vegetation”, ground-water recharge rate and isobars of the ground-water table were calculated in detail for a small-parcelled area of 110 sqkm using a GIS. Because of the large extent of the area to be monitored, airborne surveys were done in August 1998 and in August 2000, using the HYMAPTM imaging spectrometer to detect affected vegetation stands.