SPACE RADAR TECHNOLOGY FOR MINE DRIFT SAFETY

摘要

About 10 years ago, on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA), the company RST started a development of a new Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) technology, which is particularly matched for planetary missions. This new technology called Stepped Frequency Radar (SFR) promised high performance with a minimum required resources. The radar GINGER (Guidance and Into the Ground Exploration Radar) was the first radar developed for planetary missions, which works with the Stepped Frequency Principle. Based on the GINGER technology, the Ground Penetration Radar CRIS (Crack Identification System) was developed for the identification of cracks in a hardrock environment and the succeeding radar PRIS (Potash Roof Inspection System) was developed for the special application in potash mines in Canada. Potash mines in Saskatchewan (Canada) are located at depths of about 1 km, where high overburden pressures are predominant. During the mining of potash along stratigraphic horizons, separations can be formed along these stratigraphic boundaries in the roofs. These separations pose a serious safety concern. The radar PRIS is able to distinguish between separations and clay seams so that corresponding safety arrangements can be made. So space technology came down to earth. The successful development line from GINGER space technology to PRIS mining technology will be described in this paper.