Remote sensing technology applied in investigation and evaluation of coal resources in Hetian,Xinjiang

Guided by the tectonic controlling coal theory and the method of coal accumulation analysis,making full use of the TM satellite image and its information extraction and taking the advantages of the image's macro-interpretation,such as accuracy,and high efficiency,in combination with field verification investigations,the authors and work staff of the project have found two coal-bearing basins by the following working approaches as "explore the boundaries,determine the depositional sags,searching for directions of strike and dip",carried out regionally overall exploration,made key breakthroughs and analyzed the properties and the cause of formations and types of the basins,as well as the significance of coal control and the distributions of thick coal seams.As a result,three target coal-bearing zones were determined within the coal-bearing basins,which have been subsequently verified by geophysical exploration and drilling exploration,and a great mount of coal reserves have been gained.The survey shows that the use of remote sensing technology will undoubtedly get twice the result with half the effort for coal prospecting in remote areas of China.