GNSS CORS networks for coal mine disaster monitoring

Coal is the world’s most abundant and widely distributed fossil fuel. Although coal deposits are widely dispersed, over 58% of the world’s recoverable reserves are located across; Australia, China, India and the US. The annual yields of Australian and Chinese coal production are ranked No.4 and No.1 in the world respectively.  Safety and efficiency of mine operations is a critical issue for both Australia and China.

Currently, mine surveying/positioning and disaster monitoring are of paramount importance in relation to the safety and efficiency of mine operations. Conventional coal mining surveying/positioning and monitoring techniques are both time-consuming and costly. Hence, monitoring is usually constrained to localized areas, and there is no way to monitor any regional subsidence/deformation induced by underground mining.

In this project, satellite-based positioning technologies are proposed to address key issues related to mine surveying/positioning and disaster monitoring. The project will investigate the cutting-edge Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Continuously Operating Reference Station’s (CORS) network technologies for coal mining and develop a reliable disaster monitoring and warning platform. Novel theories, methods and technologies, such as usability, stability and integrity of the GNSS CORS network for coal mining, regional deformation monitoring, automatic landslide/ subsidence monitoring, bridge structure kinematic deformation monitoring, and smart decision support system for disaster warnings will be investigated.

This is a joint research venture between the RMIT University SPACE Research Centre (Formally SPAN) and the China University of Mining and Technology.