Studying the coal fire dynamics in Jharia coalfield, India using time-series analysis of satellite data

Coal fires in Jharia coal field (JCF) leads to significant loss of coal and pollutes the environment through emission of toxic gases. The present study aims to analyze the coal-fire dynamics in JCF during 1989-2019 through timeseries analysis. The study used thermal band data of Landsat-5 and Landsat-8 along with the radiosonde data for estimating the land surface temperature (LST) using single channel algorithm. The year-wise coal fire maps were overlapped for analysing the trends of coal fire. The results indicated that coverage area of coal fire zones has been continuously increased from 1989 to 2019. The new fire zones established at every five-year interval from 1989 to 2019 were mapped for understating the fire dynamics. The results indicated that the fire propagation was not in any specific direction. That is, new fire zones developed pocket-wise due to multiple factors and not due to continuous burning of in-situ coals. It has been observed that production level in the mines during this period also been increased possibly through more number of mines. Thus, more number of coal blocks exposed to atmosphere, which leads to catches of fire due to spontaneous heating.

Automated summary

The study analyzed the dynamics of coal fires in JCF from 1989 to 2019 and found that the coverage area of fire zones continuously increased. New fire zones developed in a non-specific direction possibly due to multiple factors and the existence of more mines.