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| | | | | | | | Article Images |  |
Space radar to improve miners’ safety
19 June 2008
| Potash mining trimmer machine
Credits: Saskatchewan Mining Association - www.saskmining.ca | |  |  | |
| | | | | The PRIS 1 radar tested in potash mine in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Potash Roof Inspection System (PRIS) to spot hidden cracks and weaknesses in underground mine drifts, thus reducing the risk of accidents, is based directly on the advanced ground penetration GINGER radar, originally developed by RST in 1994 for ESA planetary missions.
Credits: RST Raumfahrt Systemtechnik GmbH | | | | |
| | | | Ground penetration radars and GINGER
| The image shows the GINGER ground penetration radar (GPR) mounted on a rover mockup during tests at the planetary test site GEROMS of CNES. The GPR is one of the innovative space technologies that are used in the EU Handheld Operational Demining System (HOPE) project. HOPE uses three different types of detector: the GPR, a microwave radiometer and the classic metal detector, with the aim of detecting any kind of anti-personnel mine in any kind of terrain.
Credits: ESA | | | | |
| | | | Spotting weaknesses in mine roofs
| View of a typical potash mine in Saskatchewan, Canada, from the airplane (March 2006)
Credits: RST Raumfahrt Systemtechnik GmbH | | | | |
| | | | | In the radargram it can be seen that all three fractures are clearly identified and the distinction between clay layers and cracks is possible. The fractures at 30 cm and 83 cm are not connected to a clay layer, while the third separation at 130 cm runs parallel to such a layer.
Credits: RST | | | | |
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| | Related links ESA Technology Transfer ProgrammeRST Raumfahrt SystemtechnikSpace technology transfer to mining, oil and gas sectorCanadian Saskatchewan Mining Association
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