A methodology for deformation control with InSAR: Orhaneli open pit mine case study

Slope stability is vital for successful and safe operations in open cast mines. In the conventional techniques, long term monitoring for slopes need the instrumental ground survey that takes very long time and requires extra efforts. By using modern methods such as InSAR (Interferometric synthetic aperture radar), ground deformation may be screened by remote sensing techniques. Illegal mining activities using this kind of techniques have already detected in Zonguldak by some researchers until now. In this study, based on a research project supported by İ.T.Ü. Research Found, a methodology is presented for explaining InSAR preliminary results. Some site investigation is first performed on Orhaneli Open Pit Mine covering the installation of four pyramidal reflectors properly settled on ground in order to centralize specific points on mine sight around. Then satellite images are identified by modern survey tools. Satellites collect information about displacements in every pass (approximately 11 days). Preliminary results here shared, encourage the researchers of current project for predicting deformation levels in slopes fast enough without a failure which may cause fatal accidents and economical losses due to interruptions in mine productions.