Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) pictures of different wavelengths (MSS 4,5,6,7) were used in the study of two strip mine areas in southeastern Ohio. The first area was near Piedmont Lake and the second area was near New Lexington. Prints were examined under a binocular microscope and the gray tone was correlated with the actual ground conditions at several sites. For the New Lexington area, color infrared pictures taken at an elevation of 18,000 feet were also used for correlation with the ERTS-1 imagery. The results indicate that MSS 5 and 7 are most useful in defining the stripped land and show that the hydrological and soil characteristics are remarkably different than the surrounding lands

Ahmad, M. U.

Antalovich, J. W.

Kantner, D. A.

English

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MAPPING OF SPOIL BANKS USING ERTS-1 PICTURES 
Professor Moid U. Ahmad and David A. Kantner, Geology Department, Ohio 
University, Athens, Ohio 
Associates, lnc., Mentor, Ohio 
45701; John W. Antalovich, President, Kucera and 
Abstract  
NASA's Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) i s  sending good 
q u a l i t y  p ic tures .  
used i n  t h e  study of two s t r i p  mine areas i n  Southeastern Ohio. 
area is near  Piedmont Lake and t h e  second area is near  New Lexington. 
t h i s  s tudy 9.5 inch p r i n t s  were examined under a binocular  microscope and t h e  
gray tone is cor re la ted  with t h e  a c t u a l  ground condi t ions a t  s e v e r a l  sites. 
For t h e  New Lexington area, co lor  i n f r a r e d  p i c t u r e s  taken a t  an e leva t ion  of 
18,000 f e e t  were a l s o  used f o r  c o r r e l a t i o n  with t h e  ERTS-1 imagery. 
results i n d i c a t e  t h a t  MSS 5 and 7 are most u s e f u l  i n  def ining t h e  s t r i p p e d  
land and show t h a t  t h e  hydrological  and so51 c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s  are remarkably 
d i f f e r e n t  than t h e  surrounding lands. 
Four p i c t u r e s  of d i f f e r e n t  wave lengths  (MSS 4,5,6,7) are 
The f i r s t  
I n  
.The 
Method of Inves t iga t ion  
W e  have received two good sets of images of Southeastern Ohio. The 
rest of t h e  images were spoi led  due t o  t h e  cfoud cover. 
w e  examined 9.5 inch p r i n t s  under a 10-25 power binocular  microscope with under 
and over l i g h t i n g  c a p a b i l i t i e s .  
In  t h i s  i n v e s t i g a t i o n  
We were i n t e r e s t e d  i n  t h e  reclaimed s t r i p  mine areas, unreclaimed s t r i p  
mined areas, and undisturbed land. 
(1) near  Priedmont Lake and (2) near  New Lexington. The loca t ion  of these  
areas is shown on Fig. 1. 
We se lec ted  two areas f o r  d e t a i l e d  work - 
S t r i p  mined areas near  Piedmont Lake were i d e n t i f i e d  on t h e  ERTS-1 
p i c t u r e s  and t h e  gray tone described. 
tone were used, t h e  objec t ive  numerical gray scale which is included on each 
ERTS-1 p i c t u r e  and a subjec t ive  verba l  descr ipt ion.  It w a s  found t h a t  t h e  
verba l  descr ip t ion  seemed b e t t e r  f o r  making -comparisons between p i c t u r e s  
because of incons is tenc ies  i n  gray scales between p i c t u r e s  and the  narrow 
range of usable tone on some of the  gray scales. The s t r i p  mine areas were 
a l s o  located on topographic maps and t h e  ground conditions were checked by 
v i s i t i n g  each site. 
Two methods of describing t h e  gray 
The graytone d a t a  obtained f o r  each s i te  f o r  each MSS band is n o t  included 
because of lack of space. 
defined fea tures .  
t h e  areas near Piedmont Lake and Table 1 (end of paper) descr ibes  t h e  condi t ion 
of each site. 
We found MSS5 (Red) a i d  MSS7 ( Inf ra red)  showed w e l l  
Figures 2 and 3 are t h e  enlargements of ERTS-1 p i c t u r e s  f o r  
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W e  followed a s imilar  procedure f o r  New Lexington area but  a l s o  used 
color in f ra red  p ic tures  (Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Aero Film 8443)  supplied 
by the Manager of Wayne National Forest. 
each si te f o r  each MSS band is not included. 
largements of ERTS-1 p ic tures  and Fig. 6 and 7 are the  copies of color  
infrared.  Table 1 describes the ground condition of each site. 
The gray tone data  obtained f o r  
Figures 4 and 5 are the  en- 
No.1 - LAKE PIEDMONT 
NO. 2 -NEW LESINGTON 
STUDY AREA 
STUDY AREA 
Discussion of Data 
Highways 
Certain highways w e r e  valuable reference fea tures  which were used to  
loca te  areas on the ERTS-1 pictures .  
Red (MSSS) pictures.  
darker background. 
l i g h t  gray l ines .  
gray l i nes  against  a l i g h t e r  background. 
depicted best .  
Highways are bes t  dist inguished on the 
They show up f a i r l y  w e l l  on the  Green (bfSS4) pic tures  as 
They are represented as l i g h t  gray l i nes  against  a 
They barely show up on the  Infrared p ic tures  as vague medium 
Major four lane concrete highways are 
Minor highways only show occasionally. 
1576 
Water Bodies 
Bodies of water were a l s o  used as reference f e a t u r e s  because they are 
prominent v i s i b l e  fea tures .  
and are represented by a d i s t i n c t  black shade. 
areas represent ing bodies of water ( lakes  and r i v e r s )  show up l a r g e r  o r  
wider than they a c t u a l l y  are. This may be due t o  water s a t u r a t e d  a reas  
adjacent  t o  these  bodies. 
ident i fy ing  lakes  because t h e  l a k e  areas appear t o  blend i n  with t h e  vege ta t ive  
tone on the  p i c t u r e  and are hard t o  d i s t i n g u i s h  from the  p i c t u r e  background. 
The Ohio River channel, however, is b e t t e r  dis t inguished from its f loodpla in  on 
these two p i c t u r e s  (especit i l ly Red) than on the  Inf ra red  p ic tures .  
They are most v i s i b l e  on t h e  I n f r a r e d  p i c t u r e s  
It appears t h a t  t h e  black 
The Red and espec ia l ly  Green p i c t u r e s  are poor f o r  
Coal Concentrations 
Coal p i l e s  and s p i l l s  are b e s t  shown on t h e  Inf ra red  p i c t u r e s  a s  black 
areas. 
up so w e l l  on t h e  ERT-1 p i c t u r e s  when o t h e r  se t t lements  t h e i r  s i z e  do not. 
This is why t h e  town of Holloway and t h e  Hanna processing p l a n t  show 
Natural  Vegetation 
The general  background tones on the  ERTS-1 p i c t u r e s  represent  the  
n a t u r a l  vegetat ion of t h e  area,  a combination of mainly hardwood forests and 
grassy areas where the  trees have been removed. 
Inf ra red  p i c t u r e s  is la l i g h t  gray. 
of t h e  general  topography of t h e  land sur face  are more r e a d i l y  v i s i b l e .  
Red and Green p i c t u r e s  have a mottled backgroutxi which seems t o  show the 
d i f fe rences  i n  vegetat ion,  although i t  was not s tud ied  i n  d e t a i l .  
tones i n  t h e  mottled background may represent  t h e  trees covering most of t h e  
r idges and the  l i g h t e r  shades represent  the  more grassy va l ley  bottoms. 
might ttirn out t o  be a crude method t o  determine the  topographic p a t t e r n  of 
r idges and val leys .  
The background tone of the  
The vegetat ion doesn' t  show w e l l  and d e t a i l s  
The 
The darker 
This 
Unreclaimed S t r i p  Mined Lands 
The unreclaimed areas show up as the  darker grays t o  black on t h e  
Inf ra red  p i c t u r e s  (e.g., s i te 5 ,  Fig. 2) agains t  a l i g h t  gray background. 
They show up as white to l i g h t  gray on the  Red p i c t u r e s  (e.g,, site 5 ,  Fig. 3) 
a g a i n s t  a mottled l i g h t  gray t o  dark and black background. They show up on 
t h e  Green p i c t u r e s  as l i g h t  gray aga ins t  a mottled l i g h t e r  gray background. 
So f a t ,  s p e c i f i c  l a r g e r  s t r i p  mines have been observed on t h e  ERTS-1 p i c t u r e s  
and located by using t h e i r  r e l a t i o n s h i p  t o  o t h e r  i d e n t i f i a b l e  f e a t u r e s  on t h e  
p i c t u r e s  and comparing t h e  shape of t h e  areas with mapped s t r i p  mines and 
t h e  general  topography. 
Stripped lands show up w e l l  on a l l  t h e  MSS bands. Undoubtedly, t h e  
reason is t h a t  they are more o r  less bar ren  of vegetat ion and composed of 
rock and s o i l  material with d i f f e r e n t  hydrologic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s  which cause 
a marked d i f fe rence  i n  t h e  r e f l e c t a n c e  as compared t o  vegetated land. It is 
poss ib le  t h a t  t h e  s t r i p p e d  lands may b e  confused with similar barren areas 
such as plowed f i e l d s ,  but  t h i s  has not y e t  been invest igated.  
do seem t o  have a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c  i r r e g u l a r  shape and are o f t e n  l a r g e  enough t o  
b e  seen e a s i l y  on t h i s  scale of p i c t u r e  which may a i d  i n  t h e i r  i d e n t i f i c a t i o n .  
Very small s t r i p  mines have n o t  y e t  been inves t iga ted  s u f f i c i e n t l y  t o  determine 
t h e i r  v i s i b i l i t y  on ERTS-1 p ic tures .  
S t r i p  mines 
1577 
Reclaimed Lands 
In the  Piedmont Lake area, the reclamation was f a i r l y  recent (less than 
f i v e  yeare), graded f i r s t  t o  iome semblance of the  o r ig ina l  contour and planted 
I. From the  small amount of data  we have been able  t o  co l l ec t  a t  
present,  i t  appears t ha t  under these conditions the  reclaimed land may show 
up as s l i g h t l y  darker than the  unreclaimed s t r ipped areas on the  Green and Red 
p ic tures  (e.g., sites 16 and 5, Fig, 3) and a l i t t le l i g h t e r  thant the  unreclaimed 
areas on the  Infrared p ic tures  (e.g., sites 16 and 5, Fig, 2). 
The sited studied i n  the  New Lexington area are older ,  and were str ipped 
and reclaimed 20-30 years ago. The spo i l  was not graded at a l l  and the  land 
was planted with trees which have grown re l a t ive ly  la rge  and dense by t h i s  time, 
The study e i t e a  were f a i r l y  well defined on the Infrared p ic ture  (Fig. 4) but  
were poorly defined on the  Red (Fig. 5) and Green pictures .  On the  Infrared, 
the reclaimed areas appear t o  be s l i g h t l y  darker than the  na tura l  f o r e s t  areas 
(e,g,, sites 5b and 7, Fig. 4). More work is needed here  t o  f i n d  out i f  d i s t i nc t ion  
between older  tree reclaimed areas and natural  wooded areas is possible  from the 
ERTS-1 picturee.  
Reclaimed lands seem t o  be the most d i f f i c u l t  areas t o  dis t inguish,  Not 
enough work has been done ye t  t o  show whether t h i s  is inherent or j u e t  lack of 
data. 
of defining reclaimed areas on the bas i s  of the tone t h a t  represents them on the 
four ERTS-1 bands. One problem lies i n  the var ie ty  of conditions tha t  can exist  
f o r  such land, For example, t he  type of vegetat ive cover, the percentage of 
coverage, and the  time since s t r ipp ing  and/or reclamation e f f o r t s  might a l l  a f f ec t  
the tone recorded on the picturee,  I 
Research should continue i n  the d i rec t ion  of finding some consis tant  method 
There is a need f o r  continued research t o  determine i f  there  is a 
measurable and consis t an t  change v i s i b l e  on ERTS-1 p ic tures  i n  reclaimed land 
from the s t r ipped condition t o  grading, planting, and the establishment and 
growth of vegetation t o  a point  i n  time when conditions may blend back in to  
the  na tura l  vegetat ive background, a t  leaet as f a r  a6 the  ERTS-1 imagery i s  
concerned . 
Conclusion8 
(1) Large scale unreclaimed s t r ipped land can be eas i ly  distinguished 
on a l l  the  MSS bands, 
(2) 
(3) 
It may be possible  t o  dis t inguish reclaimed land from the  na tura l  
vegetat ive background and unreclaimed land but more intensiva! research 
is required,  
The str ipped land appears t o  have d i f f e ren t  s o i l  and hydrological 
cha rac t e r i s t i c s  than the surrounding land. 
Acknowledgement s 
We are g ra t e fu l  t o  Mr, W.D. Carter, Assistant Program Manager of the  EROS 
Program, U.S, Geological Survey f o r  supplying us wlth the ERTS-1 p ic tures  f o r  
t h i s  Study. 
We are a l s o  g ra t e fu l  t o  Dean Norman S, Cohn, Director of Research a t  Ohio 
University f o r  a grant  t o  conduct f i e l d  invest igat ion,  and Mr. Rene Elisar of 
Wayne National Forest who provided us with color  Infrared p ic tures  f o r  the New 
Lexington area. 
1578 
F i g .  2 - LAKE PIEDMONT STUDY AREA -- 
Close up of Aug .  21, 1 9 7 2  Infrared ERTS-1 (MSS7) ( P h o t o  ID .  
N o ,  E-1029-15361-5N000)  showing sites studied 
Scale 1 cm. - 1 . 7 7  mile 
F i g ,  3 - LAKE PIEDMONT STUDY AREA 
Close UP of Aug.  21, 1972 B e d  ERTS-1 (MSS5) 
( P h o t o  I D ,  No, E-1029-15361-5N000)  s h o w i n g  sites studied 
Scale 1 c m  -k 1 . 7 7  m i l e  
SEE TABLE NO. 1 FOR S I T E  DESCRIPTIONS 
1579 
F i g .  4 - LEXINGTON STUDY AREA I- 
42lose up of O c t .  15, 1972 Infrared ERTS-1 (MSS7) s h o w i n g  
sites studied 
Scale lcm- .61 m i l e  
Photo ID. NO. E - 1 0 8 4 - 1 5 4 5 - 5 N 0 0 0  
Fig. 5 - E LEXINGTON STUDY AREA 
C l o s e  up of O c t .  15,  1972 R e d  ERTS-1 (MSS5) 
showing sites studied 
Scale l c m . = . 6 1  m i l e  
Photo I D .  NO. E - 1 0 8 4 - 1 5 4 5 - 5 N 0 0 0  
SEE TABLE NO. 3 FOR S I T E  DESCRIPTIONS 
1580 
Fig, 6 - NEW LEXINGTON STUDY AREA 
I__)- 
Color Infrared photo mosaic (courtesy Wayne National Forest) 
showing sites studied 
Big. 7 - NEW LEXINGTON STUDY AREA CLOSE UP -
;lose up of color infrared photo (courtesy Wayne National 
Forest Service) showing sites studied 
May 11, 1972, Altitude 18,000 feet ,  Copy Scale lcmr= . l 7  m i l e  
SEE TABLE NO, 1 FOR SITE DESCRIPTION 
1581 
TABLE 1 - SITE DESCRIPTIONS 
SITE DESCRIPTION (Unstudied sites omitted) 
LAKE PIEDMONT STUDY AREA 
Stripped area reclaimed i n  1968 according t o  Ohio Law. 
g ra s s  and brush growing on i t  and some small trees. 
Grass reclaimed area, w e l l  graded. 
Stripped va l l ey  which has been graded and newly grassed and what 
appears t o  b e  s l i g h t l y  res t r ipped near the  highwall. 
Stripped va l l ey  which had been graded but not  y e t  grassed. 
Large va l l ey  which has had massive s t r ipp ing  on both s ides .  
highwalls and s p o i l  banks. 
No reclamation. 
Location of t he  town of Holloway. 
s p i l l s  along an e igh t  t rack wide r a i l road  switch yard. 
R t .  70 - A four  lane concrete highway. 
Lake Piedmont Reservoir. 
Location of Hanna's coal  processing plant .  
and s p i l l s .  
A narrow s t r ipped  bench. 
A predominently grass  reclaimed area. Graded, some sca t t e red  trees, 
vegetat ion generally sparse  and patchy, 
New s t r i p p i n g  of site no. 5 found on the O c t .  15 p i c tu re  which i s  
general ly  obscured by clouds. 
Area now has 
Coverage somewhat sparse  
Fa i r ly  good coverage. 
Large 
En t i r e  val ley p r a c t i c a l l y  devastated. 
Shows up because of coal  p i l e s  and 
An area of coal  p i l e s  
Not shown on the s i t e  locat ion picture .  
NEW LEXINGTON STUDY AREA 
Black sha le  and coal  s l a g  p i l e s .  
Black sha le  and coal  s l a g  p i l e s .  
Small ponds. 
N o r m a l  farm g ras s  pas tu re  land. 
Black sha le  and coal  s l a g  p i l e s  i n  moist stream bottom areas. 
According t o  a resident ,  t h i s  area w a s  s t r i pped  some t i m e  
i n  t h e  1940's. It w a s  s t r ipped by the  area method and reclaimed 
soon a f t e r  s t r i p p i n g  by the normal trees used at  t h a t  t i m e .  The 
trees are now l a rge  (up t o  8" - 10"). 
According t o  a r e s iden t ,  t h i s  area was s t r ipped  some t i m e  i n  t he  
1940's. It w a s  s t r i pped  by the  area method and reclaimed soon a f t e r  
s t r i p p i n g  by the  normal trees used a t  t h a t  t i m e .  The trees are now 
l a r g e  (up t o  8" - 10"). 
Normal fo re s t ed  land. 
Normal dense fo re s t ed  area. 
A p r a c t i c a l l y  barren spot  i n  a s t r i p  mine mined by the area method. 
Barren s t r i p  mine mined by the  contour method. 
Some normal hardwoods. 
Some normal hardwoods. Fa i r ly  densely grown. 
Not dense, with grassy areas. 
1582 


Mapping of soil banks using ERTS-1 pictures

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