MINPACT - Information service from hyperspectral techniques for Environmental Impact Assessment of Mining and Industrial Activities

Context and objectives

Monitoring of the environmental impact of mines and heavy industries is important to assess potential risks for the human health and the biodiversity. The problem is especially serious in Eastern European countries.
Available methods for mapping and monitoring mining or industrial pollution plumes are not fully satisfactory and are generally expensive.
Users (industry and government) require methods that deliver cheaper, more accurate and spatially-/temporallycomprehensive measurement and mapping of mine and industrial environments compared with the existing field-based point-sampling methods.
Remote sensing techniques (aerial and/or satellite) offer the possibility to get an overview of large areas at a relatively low cost. Hyperspectral RS in particular is a promising technique for pollution monitoring. The techniques will facilitate the exact delineation of the contaminated area and through environmental interpretation the forecasting of the pollution dissemination processes.
The objectives of the project are:

to understand and characterise the pollution mechanisms on the test sites. The research will focus on vegetation stress, deposit of polluted dust and soil contamination;

to evalute the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing for mine pollution monitoring;

the prototyping of a portfolio of information products and services based on remote sensing techniques (aerial and spaceborne), with an emphasis on hyperspectral VNIR-SWIR wavelengths, for the environmental assessment and monitoring of mine and industrial activities. The information service should address the assessment and monitoring of the environmental impact of mining or industrial activities, be they active, abandoned or undergoing rehabilitation.