Utilization of multi-sensor remote sensing technologies for open pit mine monitoring

• Multi-sensor remote sensing technologies for mining-related challenges. • DInSAR and GNSS for 3-D ground displacement field estimation. • UAV and satellite photogrammetry for DEM computation. • Ground displacement measures with improved spatial and temporal resolution. • Volume estimation of extracted material in mining operations. Nowadays, Earth Observation (EO) sensors with different technical characteristics installed on various platforms can provide data for multiple applications. Integrating, combining and processing data for various mining-related applications is required to assist decision-making and process adaptation procedures. Moreover, jointly using different data sets or products created from various sources allows for increasing precision and overcoming inherent measurement uncertainties, thereby enhancing the reliability of the results. Our research shows the potential of an integrated multi-sensor/multi-wavelength SAR data monitoring system that implements an innovative model-aided Phase Unwrapping (PhU) approach for generating ground displacement maps and time series in critical open pit mining areas. This allows us to mitigate the risk associated with rock falls and instabilities that can lead to severe damage to workers and neighbourhoods. Furthermore, the study also points out that jointly using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and spaceborne optical data is valuable to remotely estimate stockpile volume changes with enhanced accuracy and precision, supporting the mining companies’ management.