Slope stability radar

The Slope Stability Radar (SSR) is a new application for the monitoring of slope stability at open-cut mines. It is a system currently in use across the global mining and civil industries.

Slope stability is a critical safety and production issue for open-cut mines around the world. Many fatalities have occurred in mining due to sudden rock and wall collapses. Even when there is no injury, there is a high cost due to lost production and often damaged equipment. A common technique to determine slope stability is to monitor the small precursory movements, which occur prior to collapse. The “Slope Stability Radar” has been developed to remotely scan a rock slope to continuously monitor the spatial deformation of the face. Using differential radar interferometry, the system is used to detect deformation movements of a rough wall with sub-millimeter accuracy, and with high spatial and temporal resolution. The effects of atmospheric variations and spurious signals can be reduced via signal processing means. The advantage of the slope stability radar over other monitoring techniques is that it provides full area coverage without the need for mounted reflectors or equipment on the wall. In addition, the radar waves adequately penetrate through rain, dust and smoke to give reliable measurements, in real-time and twenty-four hours a day.

A time series of interferograms are combined to conveniently display the temporal and spatial movement characteristics of the wall surface. The amount of outward or inward movement of each pixel relative to the radar position is indicated by a colour change. The displacement history of selected regions can be displayed by spatially averaging over an unstable region and compared with a stable region. A polynomial regression fit to the data points can be made to measure the outward acceleration of the rock mass. A graphical user interface has been developed to display and compare the interferograms with co-registered images of the reflection amplitude, reflection range, or photographed scene. It also allows regions to be selected for continuous tracking and an adjustment of the various parameters used in the image reconstruction tools.

Usage

* [http://www.groundprobe.com/docs/NealHarries_JanFeb08Bulletin.pdf The use of Slope Stability Radar (SSR) in managing Slope Instability Hazards]

External links

* [http://www.groundprobe.com/slopestability.html GroundProbe Slope Stability Radar]
* [http://www.rrs.co.za Reutech Radar Systems Pty Ltd]