Identification of Open Cast Mining Areas using CARTOSAT-I: A Case Study of Jharia Coal Fields

Monitoring of changes in topographic databases is one of the main requirements of planners, urban decision-makers and managers. The practice of open cast mining in the coal seams of Jharia coal field has left a legacy of pits and overburden dumps. Thus the need for deriving present date elevation models of better accuracy arises. With high resolution satellites giving stereo images, satellite photogrammetric techniques emerge as a good solution for getting cost effective and high accuracy elevation models. The present study aims at mapping topographical changes induced due to open cast mining activity in Jharia Coal field area using CARTOSAT-I stereo dataset. The elevation models generated using contour information and spot heights from SOI topo maps and CARTOSAT-I stereo images were analysed. The analysis clearly indicated the areas of major topographical changes in the study area, which are also matching with the sites of open cast mining.