Identification and Characterization of Reclaimed and Underclaimed Mine Features Using Lidar and Temporal Remote Sensing Methods within the Coastal Plain Uranium Mining Region of Texas

We developed a spatiotemporal mapping approach utilizing multiple techniques for distinguishing and mapping known reclaimed mine sites from “unreclaimed” mine sites in a historic uranium mining district along the South Texas Coastal Plains. Lidar laser scanning penetrates the vegetation canopy to expose anthropogenic modifications to the landscape. The Lidar analysis (bare earth elevation surface, slope, topographic contours, topographic textures, and overland-flow hydrography) revealed mine features. Visual interpretation of Landsat imagery and time-series analysis augmented the Lidar analysis revealing the temporal life cycle of mining. The combination of bare earth texture with time-lapse and time-series analyses revealed areas of disturbance for reclaimed mines. The spatiotemporal mapping approach proved to be most useful in identifying and characterizing the known mine pit and pile features, reclamation status, and areas of disturbance due to mining. Two mine waste volume estimation methods resulted in a 21% difference indicating that although the approach helps to map mine features and areas of mining disturbance for the purposes of mine land inventory, additional information is needed to improve the estimation of buried mine waste at reclaimed mine sites.