Use of Archival Aerial Photos and Images Acquired Using UAV to Reconstruct the Changes of Annual Load of the Suburban Landfill: Case Study of Promnik, Poland

The aim of this study is to evaluate the rate of the changes of the annual volume of the municipal waste deposited in the landfill in Promnik, Poland in the period 2003–2020, and to assess the applicability of archival aerial photos for this kind of survey. The landfill analyzed in this article is the main recipient of garbage from the city of Kielce, with a population of 200,000. That assessment is crucial for municipal waste management planning, bio-gases management, expected use time and reclamation of landfill area. Important issues to consider are how the new legal regulations, in effect from 2012, affected the amount of the municipal waste and the rate of landfill growth. Measurement of the volume changes was conducted using a photogrammetric method on the archival aerial photos from 2003 to 2015 and aerial photos acquired using an unmanned air vehicle in 2020. Reference material was digital elevation model (DEM) of this area, derived from aerial laser scanning performed in 2014. Chamber works on the images were conducted using PCI Orthoengine and Agisoft Metashape software. DEMs of the landfill area were generated, and the volume changes of the dump canopy have been determined between 2003, 2014, 2015 and 2020. Height changes were measured along cross-sections and in probe of 150 random points. A significant decrease in the annual load of the municipal waste after 2014 has been found, from over 70,000 m3 to 50,000 m3, which proves the effectiveness of the regulations introduced in 2012. Bio-gas productivity potential of the bio-active municipal waste layer was also assessed.