DRONE IMAGING OF AN ACTIVE SAND AND GRAVEL QUARRY IN DESOTO COUNTY, MS

The ~3.2 Ma Pliocene Mississippi River floodplain sediment, known as the Upland Complex, is the primary source of sand and gravel for western Kentucky, western Tennessee, western Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas. Local aggregate sources are essential for low construction costs and reduced safety hazards as a consequence of transportation. The purpose of this project is to utilize drone technology to map an open pit quarry in Desoto County, Mississippi and use 3D mapping software to construct a 3D model of the deposit and assess the value of this technology to the sand and gravel business. Because the mining occurs so rapidly and the mine environment is dangerous, due to possible quarry wall collapse and water in the bottom of the pit, we believe that geologic data exposed in the quarry walls would be best acquired via remote sensing techniques acquired with a drone. Drone color imagery flights using a Phantom 4 Pro drone were conducted every three weeks and included a mapping flight at 200 vertical feet to track mining progress of the pit and horizontal mapping flights of the exterior high walls and newly exposed interior high walls at an approximate distance of 30 feet. The images captured were processed in 3DSurvey software to create 3D surface maps of the open pit and walls and Adobe Photoshop to create high-resolution photo mosaics for sedimentary deposit analysis. With a true 3D rendition of the deposit we can better understand its internal stratigraphy and spatial geometry and may be able to extrapolate that geology beyond the footprint of the quarry. Further research may reveal the benefits of using drone technology to aid the mining industry by integrating multiple quarry sites to better understand the Upland Complex throughout the Mississippi embayment.