Abstract
A method and system for determining the location of miners (2) trapped in an underground mine (4) that includes recording a reference seismic signature for each of a plurality of underground base stations (10) in the mine (4) in advance of an emergency. The reference seismic signatures are created by generating first a seismic signal with a high signal-to-noise ratio at each base station (10), monitoring the signal with a permanent array of surface seismic sensors (6), and recording each unique signature on a central computer. In the event of an emergency, trapped miners (2) can generate a second seismic signal at any of the underground base stations (10) which can be easily identified with the central computer by using the pre-recorded reference seismic signature to overcome a weak signal-to-noise ratio.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Patent number | WO2009089243 |
| IPC | G01V 1/ 22 A I |
| Priority date | 01/7/08 |
| State | Published - Jul 16 2009 |