Use of Drone LIDAR Scanning for Volume Estimation of Stockpiles Accumulated in Post-Flotation Sedimentation Ponds – A Case Study of Bukowno (Southern Poland)

This study evaluates the use of drone - mounted LiDAR scanning to estimate the volume of post - flotation tailings accumulated in sedimentation ponds located in Bukowno, southern Poland. The survey was conducted using a DJI Matrice 350 RTK UAV equipped with th e Zenmuse L2 LiDAR sensor, supported by high - accuracy GNSS measurements using the Topcon HiPer XR receiver. The main goal was to generate a high - resolution 3D model of the tailings storage area and assess the geometric accuracy of horizontal and vertical g eodetic coordinates using control points and statistical validation. Post - processing of LiDAR data was performed using DJI Terra, followed by spatial and statistical analyses in QGIS and RStudio. Statistical evaluation included descriptiv e statistics, Tuke y’s outlier detection, and the Shapiro – Wilk test to verify the normality of error distributions. The horizontal accuracy was assessed using 10 control points, while the vertical accuracy relied on 46 measured control points. The analysis confirme d the high accuracy of the generated model, with average absolute elevation error not exceeding 1.7 cm and horizontal deviations ranging from 1.7 cm (Δx) to 3.6 cm (Δy). The volume of deposited tailings above the reference elevation of 320.00 m a.s.l. was calcul ated to be 37.49 million m³ over an area of 137.9 hectares. The Eastern pond was further divided into operational subsections to supp ort functional assessment and monitoring strategies .