Mapping Small-Scale Mining Sites in Wassa Amenfi East Area of Ghana

F. F. Howard, C. B Boye, Issaka Yakubu, J. S. Y. Kuma

Abstract


Environmental degradation brought on by legal and illegal small-scale mining activities has become a major issue in Ghana. The ecosystems and communities that are close to mining sites are seriously threatened. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with cameras are used to gather photographs of small-scale mining areas as part of a solution that is put out to help monitor and solve this issue. A UAV fitted with photogrammetry sensors for mapping an inaccessible mining location in the Wassa Amenfi East area of Ghana was adopted for the data collection. DJI Phantom 4 Pro v2 drone was used to collect high-resolution images; Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers were used to establish Ground Control Points (GCP); and SimActive Correlator 3D software was employed in the processing of images of the area. Based on the GCPs, accuracy assessment and statistical analysis were carried out. An average Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 0.008 m and 0.034 m were obtained for the horizontal and vertical positions, respectively. The findings demonstrate that the combination of unmanned aerial vehicles and photogrammetry offers a risk-free, more effective, and reasonably priced method for mapping inaccessible abandoned or active mine sites, enabling the generation of accurate surface models for landform reclamation and management.


Keywords


Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Real-Time Kinematic GNSS, Landform Reclamation, Mine Sites

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References


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