A Remote Sensing Approach to Environmental Monitoring in a Reclaimed Mine Area
Mining for resources extraction may lead to geological and associated environmental changes due to ground movements, collision with mining cavities, and deformation of aquifers. Geological changes may continue in a reclaimed mine area, and the deformed aquifers may entail a breakdown of substrates a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-12-01
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| Series: | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/6/12/401 |
| _version_ | 1818497128601747456 |
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| author | Rajchandar Padmanaban Avit K. Bhowmik Pedro Cabral |
| author_facet | Rajchandar Padmanaban Avit K. Bhowmik Pedro Cabral |
| author_sort | Rajchandar Padmanaban |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mining for resources extraction may lead to geological and associated environmental changes due to ground movements, collision with mining cavities, and deformation of aquifers. Geological changes may continue in a reclaimed mine area, and the deformed aquifers may entail a breakdown of substrates and an increase in ground water tables, which may cause surface area inundation. Consequently, a reclaimed mine area may experience surface area collapse, i.e., subsidence, and degradation of vegetation productivity. Thus, monitoring short-term landscape dynamics in a reclaimed mine area may provide important information on the long-term geological and environmental impacts of mining activities. We studied landscape dynamics in Kirchheller Heide, Germany, which experienced extensive soil movement due to longwall mining without stowing, using Landsat imageries between 2013 and 2016. A Random Forest image classification technique was applied to analyze land-use and landcover dynamics, and the growth of wetland areas was assessed using a Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA). We also analyzed the changes in vegetation productivity using a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We observed a 19.9% growth of wetland area within four years, with 87.2% growth in the coverage of two major waterbodies in the reclaimed mine area. NDVI values indicate that the productivity of 66.5% of vegetation of the Kirchheller Heide was degraded due to changes in ground water tables and surface flooding. Our results inform environmental management and mining reclamation authorities about the subsidence spots and priority mitigation areas from land surface and vegetation degradation in Kirchheller Heide. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T18:41:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-23310a1e29f24351a9e9de7dec1bf23d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2220-9964 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T18:41:30Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-23310a1e29f24351a9e9de7dec1bf23d2022-12-22T01:37:38ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642017-12-0161240110.3390/ijgi6120401ijgi6120401A Remote Sensing Approach to Environmental Monitoring in a Reclaimed Mine AreaRajchandar Padmanaban0Avit K. Bhowmik1Pedro Cabral2NOVA IMS, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Campolide, 1070-312 Lisbon, PortugalStockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Kraftriket 2B, SE-106 91 Stockholm, SwedenNOVA IMS, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campus de Campolide, 1070-312 Lisbon, PortugalMining for resources extraction may lead to geological and associated environmental changes due to ground movements, collision with mining cavities, and deformation of aquifers. Geological changes may continue in a reclaimed mine area, and the deformed aquifers may entail a breakdown of substrates and an increase in ground water tables, which may cause surface area inundation. Consequently, a reclaimed mine area may experience surface area collapse, i.e., subsidence, and degradation of vegetation productivity. Thus, monitoring short-term landscape dynamics in a reclaimed mine area may provide important information on the long-term geological and environmental impacts of mining activities. We studied landscape dynamics in Kirchheller Heide, Germany, which experienced extensive soil movement due to longwall mining without stowing, using Landsat imageries between 2013 and 2016. A Random Forest image classification technique was applied to analyze land-use and landcover dynamics, and the growth of wetland areas was assessed using a Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA). We also analyzed the changes in vegetation productivity using a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We observed a 19.9% growth of wetland area within four years, with 87.2% growth in the coverage of two major waterbodies in the reclaimed mine area. NDVI values indicate that the productivity of 66.5% of vegetation of the Kirchheller Heide was degraded due to changes in ground water tables and surface flooding. Our results inform environmental management and mining reclamation authorities about the subsidence spots and priority mitigation areas from land surface and vegetation degradation in Kirchheller Heide.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/6/12/401miningmine reclamationland cover changevegetation productivityNDVIpost-miningSpectral Mixture AnalysisRandom forest classificationremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Rajchandar Padmanaban Avit K. Bhowmik Pedro Cabral A Remote Sensing Approach to Environmental Monitoring in a Reclaimed Mine Area ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information mining mine reclamation land cover change vegetation productivity NDVI post-mining Spectral Mixture Analysis Random forest classification remote sensing |
| title | A Remote Sensing Approach to Environmental Monitoring in a Reclaimed Mine Area |
| title_full | A Remote Sensing Approach to Environmental Monitoring in a Reclaimed Mine Area |
| title_fullStr | A Remote Sensing Approach to Environmental Monitoring in a Reclaimed Mine Area |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Remote Sensing Approach to Environmental Monitoring in a Reclaimed Mine Area |
| title_short | A Remote Sensing Approach to Environmental Monitoring in a Reclaimed Mine Area |
| title_sort | remote sensing approach to environmental monitoring in a reclaimed mine area |
| topic | mining mine reclamation land cover change vegetation productivity NDVI post-mining Spectral Mixture Analysis Random forest classification remote sensing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/6/12/401 |
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