Abstract: The surface cracks induced by coal mining constitute one of the most intuitive manifestations of ground collapse and also the main factor causing the environmental deterioration in the coal mine. Thus accurately grasping the distribution law of surface cracks is the basis for the treatment of ground subsidence in the coal mine. In this paper, satellite remote sensing and unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing technology were used to investigate the distribution of surface cracks of the 011805 working face which was selected as the research area. Research shows that in the aerial images of UAVs, the overall vision of ground cracks is clear, which can fully reflect the development characteristics including the shape, length, and location of ground cracks with a width greater than 5cm. and the interpretation results of the ground cracks are closest to reality. UAV remote sensing not only improves the accuracy and reliability of the surface crack investigation in the coal mining area but also provides abundant basic data for the study of the surface cracks.