Geosciences Applications

In order to manage effectively the coal fire menace, it is essential to know the exact location and extent of the fire affected areas. Coal fire mapping carried out in the past conducting an airborne campaign in 1989 and using Landsat-5 TM data over Jharia coalfield, Jharkhand , Raniganj coalfield, West Bengal in 2001. Further coal fire of the Jharia Coalfield was mapped for 2003 and 2006, using ETM+ and ASTER data, respectively. This type of activity was further carried out in 2012 and 2017 to update the status of coal fire in the Jharia coal field. In addition to this, land subsidence detection in the Jharia coalfield was carried out using differential Interferometry. A similar study is being undertaken for Oil India Limited in Assam to detect subsidence due to hydrocarbon extraction.