On the basis of the analysis to the water invasion accidents at Jiao Zuo mining area, the paper indicates that the immediate water source to the coal mine is L₈ karst water and the unimmediate water source is the Ordoviccian karst underground water. So it is the key to verify the water invasion accidents lies in detection the recharge path and intake position of L₈ karst water. Because the anomalies of surface thermal radiation is relation to the karst water (L₈) movement, the airborne infrared data is a better method to detect the thermal anomalies, the cool anomalies and the study karst water movement further. Through interpretation of thermal infrared image of Yanma coal mine, two positions of water intake were discovered and have been confirmed.