Mineral liberation analysis (MLA) is a computer-automated technique used to identify and quantify minerals with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) based on backscattered electron (BSE) imaging, energy dispersive X-ray spectra (EDX) and dedicated software platform that automates data processing. The MLA technique was applied to the Cergowa Beds sandstones (Lower Oligocene of the Outer Carpathians), in which two lithofacies were recognised: clean and muddy sandstones. The sandstones were classified as calclithite by point-counting in transmitted light, supported by X-ray diffraction. The applied grain-based X-ray mapping (GXMAP) mode of the MLA detailed the petrographic analysis, detecting inhomogeneous sandstone components that are too complex to be captured using other techniques because of component size or disordered mineral structures. Moreover, the applied automated system provides high-resolution measurements, with representative statistics produced without subjective and tedious manual work. Here, the mineral liberation analysis system is applied to provide a distribution of intergranular spaces that constitute slightly altered primary porosity. However, objects with similar grey scale values in the backscattered electrons (BSE) images cannot be separated, therefore the presented distribution of intergranular spaces may be affected by other constituents of the same mineral composition, here by the calcite replacement of grains. Their separation was performed in the MATLAB based on area and four dimensionless shape factors (circularity, Feret ratio, ellipse factor and fractal dimension) that were determined based on the size and shape characteristics of sandstone components, observed in the transmitted light. The distribution of primary pores, contingent on grain size and shape, can facilitate the recognition of facies and related sedimentary processes. This is shown on the example of a hybrid bed containing clean sandstone, deposited incrementally by high-density turbidity currents, and succeeded by muddy sandstone, deposited by a more cohesive flow. The primary porosity distribution in specific depositional facies gives a possibility to predict lateral changes in parts of rock bodies where geological data are lacking, and some of which may represent excellent reservoirs.

The main goal of this research was to propose a new method of polarimetric SAR data decomposition that will extract additional polarimetric information from the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images compared to other existing decomposition methods. Most of the current decomposition methods are based on scattering, covariance or coherence matrices describing the radar wave-scattering phenomenon represented in a single pixel of an SAR image. A lot of different decomposition methods have been proposed up to now, but the problem is still open since it has no unique solution. In this research, a new polarimetric decomposition method is proposed that is based on polarimetric signature matrices. Such matrices may be used to reveal hidden information about the image target. Since polarimetric signatures (size 18 × 9) are much larger than scattering (size 2 × 2), covariance (size 3 × 3 or 4 × 4) or coherence (size 3 × 3 or 4 × 4) matrices, it was essential to use appropriate computational tools to calculate the results of the proposed decomposition method within an acceptable time frame. In order to estimate the effectiveness of the presented method, the obtained results were compared with the outcomes of another method of decomposition (Arii decomposition). The conducted research showed that the proposed solution, compared with Arii decomposition, does not overestimate the volume-scattering component in built-up areas and clearly separates objects within the mixed-up areas, where both building, vegetation and surfaces occur.

Subsidence, especially in populated areas, is becoming a threat to human life and property. Monitoring and analyzing the effects of subsidence over large areas using in situ measurements is difficult and depends on the size of the subsidence area and its location. It is also time-consuming and costly. A far better solution that has been used in recent years is Differential Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) monitoring. It allows the monitoring of land deformations in large areas with high accuracy and very good spatial and temporal resolution. However, the analysis of SAR images is time-consuming and involves an expert who can easily overlook certain details. Therefore, it is essential, especially in the case of early warning systems, to prepare tools capable of identifying and monitoring subsidence in interferograms. This article presents a study on automated detection and monitoring of subsidence troughs using deep-transfer learning. The area studied is the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (southern Poland). Marked by intensive coal mining, it is particularly prone to subsidence of various types. Additionally, the results of trough detection obtained with the use of convolutional neural networks were compared with the results obtained with the Hough transform and the circlet transform.

This article presents the results of automatic detection of subsidence troughs in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferograms. The detection of subsidence troughs is based on the circlet transform, which is able to detect features with circular shapes. Compared to other methods of detecting circles, the circular transform takes into account the finite data frequency. Moreover, the search shape is not limited to a circle but identified on the basis of a certain width. This is especially important in the case of detection of subsidence troughs whose shapes may not be similar to circles or ellipses but to their fragments. The transformation works directly on the image gradient; it does not require further binary segmentation or edge detection as in the case of other methods, e.g., the Hough transform. The entire processing process can be automated to save time and increase reliability compared to traditional methods. The proposed automatic detection method was tested on a differential interferogram that was generated based on Sentinel-1A SAR images of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin area. The test carried out showed that the proposed method is 20% more effective in detecting troughs that than the method using Hough transform.

In this paper, an automatic algorithm for the detection of subsidence areas in SAR interferograms is proposed. It is based on the analysis of spatial distribution of the interferogram phase, and its coherence and entropy. The developed method was tested for differential interferograms generated on the basis of Sentinel-1 SAR images covering mining areas in South Poland. The obtained results were compared with those achieved using a method based on circular Gabor filters. Performed analysis revealed that the detection rate for the proposed method varied from 34% to 83%. It is an improved method based on Gabor filters that achieved a detection rate from 30% to 53%.

The article presents a new method of automatic detection of subsidence troughs caused by underground coal mining. Land subsidence that results from mining leads to considerable damage to subsurface and surface infrastructure such as walls of buildings, road surfaces, and water relations in built-up areas. Within next 30 years, all coal mines are to be closed as part of the transformation of the mining industry in Poland. However, this is not going to solve the problem of subsidence in those areas. Thus, it is necessary to detect and constantly monitor such hazards. One of the techniques used for that purpose is DInSAR (differential interferometry synthetic aperture radar). It makes it possible to monitor land deformation over large areas with high accuracy and very good spatial and temporal resolution. Subsidence, particularly related to mining, usually manifests itself in interferograms in the form of elliptical interferometric fringes. An important issue here is partial or full automation of the subsidence detection process, as manual analysis is time-consuming and unreliable. Most of the proposed trough detection methods (i.e., Hough transform, circlet transform, circular Gabor filters, template recognition) focus on the shape of the troughs. They fail, however, when the interferometric fringes do not have distinct elliptical shapes or are very noisy. The method presented in this article is based on the analysis of the variability of the phase value in a micro-area of a relatively high entropy. The algorithm was tested for differential interferograms form the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (southern Poland). Due to mining, the studied area is particularly prone to various types of subsidence.

The physical condition of earthen levees changes over time. Levee weakening can be caused by the leaching of fine grains of soil or by animal activity. Weakened areas can potentially cause destabilization or even collapse. Assessment of the physical condition of levees using GPR and geodetic measurements does not always correctly detect areas of increased permeability. Thermal anomalies, caused by existing zones of high permeability, are observed in levees during the transition of flood waves. They are generated by rapid infiltration of water with a different temperature than the temperature inside the levee. Therefore, inner thermal measurements may be used to detect places with higher permeability. This research was realized with 2D numerical modelling. Main aim was test possibility of using temperature sensors in weak zone detection. Test with different theoretical permeabilities proved that it is possible only in specific condition (i.e. thermal contrast). The geometry and geomechanical properties of the studied levee were taken from the ISMOP project (polish acronym: Computer system for monitoring river embankments).

This article presents a method of the stability assessment of the experimental flood embankment used in the ISMOP project. Simultaneous conduction of numerical modeling using Itasca Flac 2D 7.0 software and real performed flood experiments allows for a detailed analysis of the state of flood embankment stability. The aim of the article is a presentation of similarity assessment between numerical models and a real performed flooding experiment using an aggregate moving window and L1-norm. By evaluating these similarity measures, numerical models with greater resemblance to real data from a flood embankment are chosen. On this basis, the embankment stability state is evaluated. In addition, the purpose of this article is also to present the results of the performed tests between those gathered in the database numerical models and a real flooding experiment from a full-size earthen flood embankment with built-in sensors built in Czernichow, Poland.

Levees in Poland are mostly earthen constructions. The stability of earthen levees depends largely on factors such as the construction material, meteorological conditions and natural elements. The influence of initial water saturation of pore space on levee stability is analysed in this paper. Analysis was performed using numerical modelling and water pore pressure results were compared against data obtained from sensors located in a levee. The numerical modelling shows the moderate influence of initial water level on distribution of water pore pressure during high water level.

The aim of this paper is to establish a method for determining mean temperatures inside a soil embankment using the changes of air temperature in the annual cycle as well as an analysis of temperature distribution inside an experimental embankment from August 2015 to September 2016. The analysis was carried out in order to interpret the results of flood experiments performed on the experimental embankment. A reference was obtained for yearly temperature changes in the embankment at various depths. A simplified model of temperature changes depending on depth was made. The model parameters that can be used for modeling temperatures in the embankment during the experiments were estimated.

1 AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, Department of Geoinformatics and Applied Computer Science; al. A. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Krakow, Poland; e-mail: dwornik@geol.agh.edu.pl, franczyk@geol.agh.edu.pl 2 The Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences; ul. Wybickiego 7, 31-261 Krakow, Poland; e-mail: k.krawiec@meeri.eu

Sensitivity analysis applied to the flooding process is discussed in the paper. The analysis was done as part of the ISMOP project devoted to elaborating and designing a complex system for embankment monitoring and threat forecasting. The analysis was performed using selected geotechnical parameters that describe embankment state. It was shown that the sensitivity analysis method is very practical for detecting places where the largest vertical displacement and pore pressure distribution are observed. The sensitivity analysis was carried out for a single flood wave numerical experiment as well as for a double successive flood wave experiment. Comparison of the results allowed us to detect the places where the biggest differences in total relative sensitivity values are observed. Plots of these differences can help to indicate the particular places within the embankment that are the most influenced by successive flood waves and should be especially examined during field experiments as part of the ISMOP project.

The numerical modelling of coupled mechanical, thermal and hydrogeological processes for a soil levee is presented in the paper. The modelling was performed for a real levee that was built in Poland as a part of the ISMOP project. Only four parameters were changed to build different flood waves: the water level, period of water increase, period of water decrease, and period of low water level after the experiment. Results of numerical modelling shows that it is possible and advisable to calculate simultaneously changes of thermal and hydro-mechanical fields. The presented results show that it is also possible to use thermal sensors in place of more expensive pore pressure sensors, with some limitations. The results of stability analysis show that the levee is less stable when the water level decreases, after which factor of safety decreases significantly. For all flooding wave parameters described in the paper, the levee is very stable and factor of safety variations for any particular stage were not very large.

The assessment of flood embankments is a key component of a country’s comprehensive flood protection. Proper and early information on the possible instability of a flood embankment can make it possible to take preventative action. The assessment method proposed by the ISMOP project is based on a strategy of processing huge data sets (Big Data). The detection of flood embankment anomalies can take two analysis paths. The first involves the computation of numerical models and comparing them with real data measured on a flood embankment. This is the path of model-driven analysis. The second solution is data-driven, meaning time series are analysed in order to detect deviations from average values. Flood embankments are assessed based on the results of model-driven and data-driven analyses and information from preprocessing. An alarm is triggered if a critical value is exceeded in one or both paths of analysis. Tests on synthetic data demonstrate the high efficiency of the chosen methods for assessing the state of flood embankments.

An alkali mafic-ultramafic igneous suite of composite intrusions, lenses and associated greenstones are hosted by Neoproterozoic metasedimentary sequences in Chamberlindalen, Southwest Svalbard. This study focuses on the alkali igneous suite of Chamberlindalen with a view to determining the conditions of magma storage. The rocks from Chamberlindalen display cumulate textures, are highly magnesian and are classified as alkaline by the occurrence of kaersutite. They have textures that indicate cocrystallization of primary magmatic minerals such as diopside, kaersutite-ferrokaersutite and biotite-phlogopite in different proportions. The historic magma plumbing system for the alkaline cumulates has been reconstructed by thermobarometry. Diopside and kaersutite crystallization in the alkaline cumulates show a dominant level of magma storage between 30 and 50 km in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle.

Metasomatism is a process leading to changes in the chemical composition of a rock or its portion. It involves introduction or removal of chemical components due to the interaction of the rock with aqueous fluid (Zharikov et al. 2007). Here we present a case study of metasomatic changes in metapelites from northern Spitsbergen. There is a visible metasomatic zonation in the studied samples. The most intense changes are observed close to the contact with fractures, whereas the zones farther away from them are less altered or not affected by fluids at all. Thin sections were prepared from all of the aforementioned zones. The mineral chemistry was obtained using a JEOL SuperProbe 8230 electron microprobe at Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology. Mineral assemblage varies from Grt-Bt-Qtz-Pl in zones that were not affected by fluids to Grt-Chl-Bt-Qtz-Pl in altered portions of the rock. Garnet forms subhedral crystals with abundant quartz inclusions. Its composition is changing from Alm0.56Sps0.11Prp0.05Grs0.28 in the core to Alm0.64Sps0.03Prp0.09Grs0.24 in the rim. It shows bell-shaped Sps profile and opposite Alm trend, indicating one-step progressive garnet growth. Plagioclase composition is characterized by Ab74.16An24.39Or1.44, K-feldspar also occurs along with Fe-chlorite. Point counting technique was used to estimate volume percentage of minerals. For each thin section one thousand points were counted. Plagioclase, quartz and biotite are the main phases, building more than 95% of the rocks. Amount of garnet oscillates around 2% and chlorite varies from 2.38% to 0%. Point counting technique was compared with image analysis, which was performed using the Matlab software. The image analysis revealed that the amount of biotite is changing in different zones from 35.42% to 37.38%, whereas chlorite from 1.54% to 0%, respectively. The redistribution of elements between biotite and chlorite was investigated by volume and mass-balance using Gresens (1967) approach. During chloritization of biotite amount of H2O in the system must have increased by ca. 8% in order to form 2.4% chlorite. Potassium released during this reaction was bonded to secondary K-feldspar, which is apparent on BSE images, and it is closely associated with biotite and chlorite. This study reveals that metasomatic zones significantly differ in mineralogical composition and fluid induced alterations are more pervasive closer to the fractures. It has also been concluded that replacement of biotite by chlorite required aqueous fluids, with inflow and outflow of metallic ions and formation of K-feldspar as a product of biotite breakdown reaction. Further investigations will involve X-ray mapping using the XMap Tools software in order to obtain more in depth information on volume of minerals and their chemistry. Pressure and temperature conditions of metamorphism will be determined using garnet-biotite geothermometry and thermodynamic modelling. Isocon method will be used to track changes in whole rock chemistry due to interaction with fluid (Grant 1986, 2005). Acknowledgements:The study was financed from the statutory research project No 11.11.140.319 and 11.11.140.613, AGH University of Science and Technology.

Stability of geotechnical constructions, such as levees, is one of the most important issue for urban areas. The precise prediction of levees destruction during the flood can not only save human lives and properties, but also protect the natural environment. Water level changes and its influence on the stability of levee was conducted by 2D and 3D numerical modeling. The results of two dimensional numerical modeling shows that it can be regarded as a powerful and sufficient tool to estimate the stability of levees. The optimal size of grid and time step can make this calculation more efficient.

Influence of analyses method on uncertainty associated with halogens determination in Upper Odra River Basin surface water and coalmine water inducted to it. A b s t r a c t. In this paper the total uncertainty and its components (geochemical, sampling and analytical) were assessed with use of the empirical approach. For uncertainty estimation there were used results from analyses of normal and control (duplicate) samples, which were collected within monitoring of Upper Odra River Basin surface water and coalmine water inducted to it. Moreover, the influence of analyses method on the measurement uncertainty was examined. Results of ICP-MS, IC and titration methods were compared. The assessment of total uncertainty and its components was shown on the example of halogens (Cl − , Br − and I − ) results delivered from normal and duplicate samples analyses.