Identification and monitoring of coal dust pollution in Wucaiwan mining area, Xinjiang (China) using Landsat derived enhanced coal dust index.

Coal dust is the main pollutant in coal mining areas. Such pollutants easily diffuse and are difficult to monitor, which increases the cost of environmental pollution control. Remote sensing technology can be used to dynamically monitor mining areas at a low cost, and thus, this is a common means of mining area management.