Method and system for detecting saturated or non-irrigated areas in leach heaps, in order to assist with the management and control of irrigation in leach heaps

摘要

The invention relates to a method and system for detecting saturated areas or non-irrigated areas in leach heaps, in order to assist with the management and control of irrigation in leach heaps, including: a) positioning a highly stable and controllable unmanned aerial platform having an infrared thermal camera mounted thereon, at a predetermined height above one of the ends of the leach heap by means of a remote-control system, or by means of an autonomous positioning system; b) overflying said heap using flyovers at a predetermined height above said heap; c) acquiring/capturing thermal images of the heap, and sending said images wirelessly to a computer; d) thermographically reconstructing in a computer said thermal images captured, reconstructing the entire heap and generating a thermographic map of same; e) classifying the thermographic map, based on three classes associated with the irrigation conditions: saturated area, correctly irrigated area and dry area; f) determining the irrigation areas in accordance with the classification made, where black (0) is the saturated area, grey (127) is the correctly irrigated area and white (255) indicates the dry area; and optionally g) controlling the irrigation, whether manually or automatically, by taking the corresponding control action; and a system for implementing said method.