Recent studies at a large surface coal mine in southern Montana confirm that remote sensing is both feasible and effective for gathering land-use and environmental data (spatial, dynamic, and seasonal) for large-scale surface mines in the northern Great Plains. The Western Energy Co.'s Rosebud mine near Colstrip, Mont., was selected as a test site because it typifies surface operations in the Powder River Basin of Montana and Wyoming and elsewhere in the northern Great Plains. Several basic interpretive and analytical remote-sensing techniques were used to identify and delineate various categories of surface-mining operations and concurrent stages of reclamation that characterize most, if not all, such mining operations. Color infrared and black-and-white aerial photographs and a black-and-white band 5 Landsat image were used to identify (1) high wall and bench areas, (2) ungraded spoils, (3) graded and recontoured areas, (4) revegetated recontoured areas, (5) natural and impounded surface water, and (6) miscellaneous areas. Over the lifespan of an extensive surface mine, cultural and natural processes and cumulative environmental effects can be monitored by capitalizing on the close correlation between enhanced satellite imagery, infrared and (or) black-and-white aerial photography, standard large-scale topographic maps (such as U.S. Geological Survey 7½-minute quadrangle maps), and results of onsite inspection of mining and reclamation by Federal or State agencies.
