Thermal Digital Terrain Model of a Coal Spoil Tip – A Way of Improving Monitoring and Early Diagnostics of Potential Spontaneous Combustion Areas

Spoil tips are anthropomorphic terrain structures built out of leftover materials from underground or open pit mining. Usually the term spoil tips refers to those build out of unusable particles from coal exploration. As such they consist mostly of slate and various types of sandstone or mudstone. But also include some amount of coal and, what is more important, coal dust. Fires of spoil tips are dangerous to the environment and humans. They can cause degradation of air, and water qualities. Sometimes degradation to the environment can be irreversible. The presented survey was done in two stages. the first included creating a general terrain model. This was done with the use of long range laser scanner. The second step was a more detailed analysis of spatial and temperature conditions. Two measuring seasons ware performed. The first included a survey made with a short range laser scanner and a hand-held inferred camera. The obtained point cloud was supplemented with temperature value with the use of software and hardware provided by the authors. The visualization of 3D discreet thermal model was done in Bentley MicrioStation. The second included a usage of Z+F IMAGER 5010 laser scanner equipped with T-Cam Rev 1.0 thermal camera insole. A new and unique device that connects laser scanner with infrared camera. This season also provide a point cloud with attached temperature value of measured points. This article provides the description of those two methods including a comparison of their effectiveness and costs. It also describes the heat conditions occurring on spoil tip of Lubelski Węgiel „Bogdanka” S.A coal mine surveyed in December 2015.