Experience in monitoring land surface displacement of the undermined areas during coal mine abandonment using the Earth remote sensing data

The paper describes the experience of monitoring the land surface of the undermined area in zones of urban development using satellite radar survey data. The results of interferometric processing of data and assessment of the vertical displacements of the land surface are shown, which witness the process of rock displacement after partial flooding of the main conveyor slope of the mine. A range of social infrastructure buildings has been identified, which require additional measures to reinforce their foundations and monitor the condition of the structures. Application of remote sensing data for assessment of vertical displacements of the land surface in the undermined territories helps to get an insight into the changes over a large area in dynamic terms. Despite the aggregated nature of the calculation results, the obtained data is an indicator of the real physical processes at the surface of the rock mass. Taking into account that mine abandonment with full or partial flooding activates displacement of the rock mass, while the locations of urban facilities leads to increasing risks of their destruction, it is necessary to conduct mandatory monitoring of the land surface displacement and deformations within the framework of a dedicated seismogeodynamic test site. In this respect, the use of the radar monitoring data allows not only to significantly simplify the process of data acquisition, but also provides a wide coverage of territories within a significant time period.