Osiadanie powierzchni terenu pod wpływem eksploatacji węgla kamiennego na przykładzie rejonu miasta Knurowa

Abstract

Subsidence of the terrain surface due to hard coal underground exploitation, exemplified by the area of Knurów town.S u m m a r y. The strong terrain surface changes in Knurów town, Upper Silesian Coal Basin, are caused by underground exploitation of hard coal. Based on Digital Terrain Models (DEM), constructed from archival and modern topographic maps, the 18 metres of lowering due to subsidence and 25 m of relative uplift have been recorded. The relative uplift was observed at recent mine-waste storages and was identified as the effect of waste dumping. The map of surface changes was compared with geological maps and maps of underground mining to explain the spatial distribution of subsidence. The presented analysis shows the effectiveness of the applied GIS approach to evaluate the anthropogenic impact on the terrain surface. SAR interferometry plays a very important role as an independent tool, which allows to effectively map the recent ground movements.