EXTRACTING REAL WORLD MODEL VALUES FROM EO DATA, AIMING TO ASSIST DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS IN THE RESTORATION OF OPEN-CAST NICKEL MINES

Several satellite-borne remote sensing instruments allow the collection of environmental and mine-related data for use in the planning and undertaking of mine restoration work on a frequent and cost-effective basis. The advantage of Earth Observation (EO) data is that the data are acquired digitally; they can be quickly and easily processed and utilized in various information formats. EO products include thematic, infrastructure, and mine-workings maps, as well as three-dimensional (3D) presentations of the mine site at various points in time and from various perspectives for visualization purposes. Suitable extracted values of land cover themes and elevation information from diachronic EO data, are fed to a decision support system (DSS) for open mining areas which reflects and simulates the major decision steps of a mining expert (engineer, manager) during the formulation of a restoration plan. The software supports the mining expert to structure the various restoration alternatives and to explore both environmental and economic effects of the different measures. The LARCO ferro-nickel mining area in Evia (central Greece) has been chosen as test site.