66 / 2023-03-31 16:12:56

Effect of Dust on Line of Sight during Slope Monitoring

Dust, Environment, Monitoring, Refractive Index, Total Station

This research is carried out to observe the cause of dust occurrence in slope faces in an open pit, its effect during slope monitoring and device a method for dust elimination or reduction in open pit mine. Slope stability monitoring is a technique used to measure and track changes in the stability of the slope over time. It is used to identify and mitigate potential hazards, such as landslides and other geological hazards. The geological disaster caused by slope engineering has always been one of the most concerned issues in the mining industry. To effectively tackle this problem there is a need to provide a monitoring system that is free of disturbance, these disturbances mainly come from the environment (i.e., dust, fog, etc.). This research is focused on the effect of dust in slope stability monitoring and provision of method(s) to be used in the mitigation of its effect during monitoring. The readings taking from the total station shows that the horizontal angles for Station A is 354 51 57 without dust and 354 51 56 with dust, Station B is 317 56 37 without dust and 317 56 37 with dust, Station C is 358 19 10 without dust and 358 19 10 with dust and Station D is 282 36 27 without dust and 282 36 28 with dust. The refractive index of air is constant for all the Stations which is 1.0003 while the refractive index of the dust varies for all the Stations with an average refractive index of 1.0253. The results from the total station readings and the refractive indexes shows that there is an inference due to the dust on the slope face and the level or degree of the inference or error will depend on the quantity of dust present in the line of sight and distance of the stations to the target object. Sprinkler tankers which are specialized vehicles with a large tank and powerful water jet that can spray over large areas can be engaged to mitigate against dust. It is necessary to identify the areas of coverage for the sprinkler tankers and make adequate preparation to properly mitigate the dust in the mine environment. The tankers will also need a traffic network to optimize the efficiency of work distribution in the mine environment.