www.environment.gov.

au/ssd

Development of a novel method for continuous monitoring of vegetation regrowth on a rehabilitated minesite using a simple LED spectroradiometer. Andrew Esparon
Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist Spatial Sciences and Data Integration

Supervising Scientist - working to protect the environment from the impacts of uranium mining

Overview

Background of the issues to be addressed.

Description of the importance of these issues

Research activities
Laboratory testing to assess spectral characteristics of plants and soils Development and testing of the LED continuous monitoring device Deployment devices in the field (On the Trial Landform and on an analogue site).

Outline of the timing for various stages of research

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

Approximately 60 countries have embarked on the road to nuclear power (2010). These nuclear power reactors consume about 68,000 tonnes of uranium per year

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

The mining methods used in Australia to extract uranium are

Open cut Underground In-situ leach

Open cut mining method is the most environmentally visible

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

Four active mineral leases within the Alligator Rivers Region (ARR)
Ranger Jabiluka Koongarra Nabarlek

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

Jabiluka: care &
maintenance

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

Jabiluka: care &
maintenance

Nabarlek:

Operational 1979-1989, Decommissioned 1995

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

Jabiluka: care &
maintenance

Nabarlek:

Operational 1979-1989, Decommissioned 1995

Ranger mine:
Discovered 1969, Operation 1981, Prod. ~ 5000 t/a, mining ceases ~2014

Supervising Scientist Division

Overview of the issues to be addressed.

Jabiluka: care &
maintenance

Nabarlek:

Operational 1979-1989, Decommissioned 1995

Ranger mine:
Discovered 1969, Operation 1981, Prod. ~ 5000 t/a, mining ceases ~2014

Koongarra:
undeveloped mineral lease
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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

Ranger Uranium Mine is currently the only operational mine.

10.3 km2 cleared of vegetation (Oct 2011) 265 meters maximum pit depth

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

Currently there are no good examples in the wet-dry tropics of successful reclamation of hard rock mines. Development of the Trial Landform at Ranger in 2008/2009 covering approximately 200 m x 400 m (8 ha). Waste rock and a waste rock mixed with finer material called laterite were used to construct the Landform.

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

The re-vegetation process is an important aspect in the development of the final rehabilitated landform Different planting methods of various species of plants and the implementation of different planting methods is being explored It is important to continuously monitor plant growth to determine the vegetation response to changing environmental conditions throughout the year

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

A traditional method of remote monitoring of plant status is monitoring of plant indicators such as the commonly used Normalized Difference Vegetation index (NDVI)

where NIR and Red are reflectance in near infrared and red bands respectively.

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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

It is well known that photodiodes coupled with optical band-pass filters can be used to measure the intensity of radiation in the wavelength band of the band-pass filter

A LED can be used as a spectrally selective filter that replaces both the photodiode and the filter.
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Overview of the issues to be addressed.

Advantages of a simple LED spectroradiometer

Low cost High stability Power efficient Small/light

Allows continuous monitoring of NDVI and other vegetation indices for a variety of plant species in the field.
These measurements will allow investigation of diurnal and annual variations in vegetation structure and metabolism variables.
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Description of the importance of these issues

The general public is wary of Uranium mining because of the impact on the environment and the associated radioactivity In Australia, the experience of rehabilitating uranium mines is questionable

Rum Jungle Radium Hill Mary Kathleen South Alligator group of mines

All still present environmental and radiological management problems

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Description of the importance of these issues

Public concern increases when such a facility is to be decommissioned Clear rehabilitation strategies need to be in place for public reassurance and legislative obligations.

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Description of the importance of these issues

The method of re-vegetation of the TLF will form the model for the rehabilitation of the entire Ranger mining area. The success of this model will also assist in final closure criteria of legacy first generation uranium mines.

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Research activities

The work program of this research proposal will include the following activities:
Laboratory testing to assess spectral characteristics of plants and soils Development and testing of the LED continuous monitoring device Deployment of a number devices in the field. On the Trial Landform and on an analogue site.

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Laboratory testing

Laboratory testing to assess spectral characteristics of plants and soils Use ASD spectrometer to measure spectra of various plant species and waste rock material from the TLF to define the spectral bands of interests that will require monitoring Quantify the spectral response measured as a function of
Moisture content response due to changes in relative humidity Viewing geometry (distance between the spectrometer and the sample, field of view, lighting and viewing angle).

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Laboratory testing

Laboratory testing to assess spectral characteristics of plants and soils

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Development of the LED device

Spectrally characterise LEDs using a tuneable light source and a picoammeter to measure current

LEDs will be selected with peak emission wavelengths near the centre of the spectral bands of interest (Red(675nm) and NIR (800nm) for NDVI)
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Development of the LED device

The next step is to interface the LEDs to a microcontroller (Texas instruments MSP430 series)
Records the signal from the LED when it is exposed light Performs both analogue and digital operations on a single chip with minimal peripheral circuitry Three operational amplifiers can be linked together programmatically on the chip to form a trans-impedance circuit to amplify the small current generated by the LED The amplified signal is then converted to a number using the ADC. The digital architecture performs the task of data logging the recorded measurements including date and time (SD card/GPRS modem). Ultra-low powered (Active Mode: 300 A at 1 MHz, 2.2 V)

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Development of the LED device

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Development of the LED device

Microcontroller programmed in C/C++

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Development of the LED device

One of the main parameters being measured is NDVI and this can be measured by selecting two LEDs that are sensitive to the near infrared and red bands.

Put simply the reflectance is calculated as:

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Development of the LED device

Initial testing of the performance of the LED spectroradiometer will be conducted at SSD prior to deploying in the field. A weatherproof camera will be deployed that will take a photo every time a reading is taken by the LED monitoring device.

A weather station will also be set up to assist in the assessment of measurements by providing valuable information about environmental conditions when the measurements are taken
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Deployment in the field

Deployment of a number devices in the field.

Trial Landform Georgetown analogue site

Need to address following issues

Mounting and setup of the devices Maintenance and repair Access to analogue site

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Work Plan
Milestone Quantify the spectral response of the target measurement as a function of moisture content and viewing geometry. Develop method to calculate the fraction of vegetation green cover and NDVI using LEDs as sensors. Start 6th Feb 2012 Expected completion 31st Apr 2012

Spectrally characterise LEDs and construct eight MCU/LED devices. This 7th May 2012 includes the construction of the housing, fabrication of all electronic components, and programming of the MCU. Deploy eight monitoring devices outside the SSD office. 19th Sep 2012 Download data from the LED devices outside the SSD office and make an assessment of data collected and device performance. Submit journal article detailing the construction of the LED device and methods of measurement. Deploy monitoring devices on the TLF (regular field trips will be conducted 1st Feb 2013 to download data and check the setup). Compile and analyze data collected from the LED devices in the field. Submit project thesis Submit second journal article describing the results measured in the field. 16th Feb 2013

31st Aug 2012

30th Nov 2012

16th Dec 2012

31st Aug 2013 14th Sep 2013 31st Oct 2013 16th Dec 2013

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Acknowledgements

Project Supervisor
Stefan Maier (Charles Darwin University)

Associate Supervisors
Ping Lu (Energy Resources of Australia Ltd) Lindsay Hutley (Charles Darwin University)

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Questions?

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