A PC-Based Information System for the Management and Modelling of Subsurface Coal Fires in Mining Areas (Coalman)

In coal mining areas subsurface coal fires waste the coal reserves, make mining difficult or impossible, endanger human lives and the exhaust gases damage the environment. Their location, development and size largely depend on the geological setting, which also determines the possible prevention and fighting methods. Information technology combined with environmental modelling can help the fight against the existing coal fires and support the prevention of fires in the: 0Detection and mapping of coal fires.1Definition of areas at coal fire risk.2Setting priorities in coal fire fighting.3Definition of optimal fighting and prevention methods.COALMAN is a coal-fire monitoring and management software, which was programmed using Visual Basic for the user interface and the database management procedures and using IL WIS (the Integrated Land and Water Information System, developed at ITC in The Netherlands: http://www.itc.nl/ILWIS for the GIS and remote sensing functions. It comprises of the following main modules: 0A database.1Standard database management functions.2GIS and image processing functions.3Special procedures and models.4Quantification of the parameters of coal fires from satellite images.5Mapping of coal fire risk and hazard.5Monitoring the development of coal fires and the results of fire fighting measures.The primary users of COALMAN will be the fire fighting and prevention team of the Ningxia Province, in China. The development is carried out as a part of a project financed by the Dutch and the Chinese governments.