Satellite-Based Mapping of Gold-Mining-Related Land-Cover Changes in the Magadan Region, Northeast Russia
Gold mining generates major environmental impacts like landscape degradation, accumulation of waste rock dumps, and water contamination by suspended solids. Russia ranks third in the world in gold production, but the impact of gold mining has not been previously estimated for its vast northeastern p...
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MDPI AG
2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143564 https://doaj.org/article/946ffd478a0046ebb6f1949c8e9ecc1a |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:946ffd478a0046ebb6f1949c8e9ecc1a 2023-08-20T04:07:48+02:00 Satellite-Based Mapping of Gold-Mining-Related Land-Cover Changes in the Magadan Region, Northeast Russia Andrey Shikhov Polina Ilyushina Olga Makarieva Anastasiia Zemlianskova Maria Mozgina 2023-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143564 https://doaj.org/article/946ffd478a0046ebb6f1949c8e9ecc1a EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/14/3564 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs15143564 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/946ffd478a0046ebb6f1949c8e9ecc1a Remote Sensing, Vol 15, Iss 3564, p 3564 (2023) gold mining land degradation Landsat and Sentinel-2 images NDVI landforms classification Google Earth Engine Science Q article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143564 2023-07-30T00:34:47Z Gold mining generates major environmental impacts like landscape degradation, accumulation of waste rock dumps, and water contamination by suspended solids. Russia ranks third in the world in gold production, but the impact of gold mining has not been previously estimated for its vast northeastern part. This study provides a detailed overview of land-cover changes associated with gold mining in the Magadan region (northeast Russia) in the 21st century, where alluvial gold production has increased by a third in the last 20 years. A long-term series of Landsat and Sentinel-2 images obtained in July and August are used to compile two datasets of mining-impacted areas with totally removed vegetation for 2000–2002 and 2022. We calculated the NDVI difference and then discriminated mining-related vegetation losses from other bare areas, using additional data like the classification of landforms based on the digital surface model and the data on mining allotments. The total area of gold-mining sites was estimated as 41,206 ha in 2000–2002 and 72,602 ha in 2022, with an increase of 26,031 ha over the past 4–6 years. Moreover, this is a lower-boundary estimate, without taking into account man-made reservoirs and historical mines recovered by vegetation. The spatial distribution of mining sites has not changed significantly over the past two decades and has a maximum in the western part of the region. We found that the floodplains of the Berelekh and Debin Rivers (large tributaries of the Kolyma River) are most heavily impacted by gold mining with a removed vegetation canopy occupying 16.0% and 11.2% of their area. Along with the land degradation assessment, we found that 19,900 ha of historical gold-mining sites in the Berelekh River basin are recovered by vegetation, which is comparable in size to the areas impacted by mining over the past 20 years. Article in Journal/Newspaper kolyma river Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Debin ENVELOPE(150.753,150.753,62.263,62.263) Kolyma ENVELOPE(161.000,161.000,69.500,69.500) Magadan ENVELOPE(150.803,150.803,59.564,59.564) Remote Sensing 15 14 3564 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
gold mining land degradation Landsat and Sentinel-2 images NDVI landforms classification Google Earth Engine Science Q |
spellingShingle |
gold mining land degradation Landsat and Sentinel-2 images NDVI landforms classification Google Earth Engine Science Q Andrey Shikhov Polina Ilyushina Olga Makarieva Anastasiia Zemlianskova Maria Mozgina Satellite-Based Mapping of Gold-Mining-Related Land-Cover Changes in the Magadan Region, Northeast Russia |
topic_facet |
gold mining land degradation Landsat and Sentinel-2 images NDVI landforms classification Google Earth Engine Science Q |
description |
Gold mining generates major environmental impacts like landscape degradation, accumulation of waste rock dumps, and water contamination by suspended solids. Russia ranks third in the world in gold production, but the impact of gold mining has not been previously estimated for its vast northeastern part. This study provides a detailed overview of land-cover changes associated with gold mining in the Magadan region (northeast Russia) in the 21st century, where alluvial gold production has increased by a third in the last 20 years. A long-term series of Landsat and Sentinel-2 images obtained in July and August are used to compile two datasets of mining-impacted areas with totally removed vegetation for 2000–2002 and 2022. We calculated the NDVI difference and then discriminated mining-related vegetation losses from other bare areas, using additional data like the classification of landforms based on the digital surface model and the data on mining allotments. The total area of gold-mining sites was estimated as 41,206 ha in 2000–2002 and 72,602 ha in 2022, with an increase of 26,031 ha over the past 4–6 years. Moreover, this is a lower-boundary estimate, without taking into account man-made reservoirs and historical mines recovered by vegetation. The spatial distribution of mining sites has not changed significantly over the past two decades and has a maximum in the western part of the region. We found that the floodplains of the Berelekh and Debin Rivers (large tributaries of the Kolyma River) are most heavily impacted by gold mining with a removed vegetation canopy occupying 16.0% and 11.2% of their area. Along with the land degradation assessment, we found that 19,900 ha of historical gold-mining sites in the Berelekh River basin are recovered by vegetation, which is comparable in size to the areas impacted by mining over the past 20 years. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andrey Shikhov Polina Ilyushina Olga Makarieva Anastasiia Zemlianskova Maria Mozgina |
author_facet |
Andrey Shikhov Polina Ilyushina Olga Makarieva Anastasiia Zemlianskova Maria Mozgina |
author_sort |
Andrey Shikhov |
title |
Satellite-Based Mapping of Gold-Mining-Related Land-Cover Changes in the Magadan Region, Northeast Russia |
title_short |
Satellite-Based Mapping of Gold-Mining-Related Land-Cover Changes in the Magadan Region, Northeast Russia |
title_full |
Satellite-Based Mapping of Gold-Mining-Related Land-Cover Changes in the Magadan Region, Northeast Russia |
title_fullStr |
Satellite-Based Mapping of Gold-Mining-Related Land-Cover Changes in the Magadan Region, Northeast Russia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Satellite-Based Mapping of Gold-Mining-Related Land-Cover Changes in the Magadan Region, Northeast Russia |
title_sort |
satellite-based mapping of gold-mining-related land-cover changes in the magadan region, northeast russia |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143564 https://doaj.org/article/946ffd478a0046ebb6f1949c8e9ecc1a |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(150.753,150.753,62.263,62.263) ENVELOPE(161.000,161.000,69.500,69.500) ENVELOPE(150.803,150.803,59.564,59.564) |
geographic |
Debin Kolyma Magadan |
geographic_facet |
Debin Kolyma Magadan |
genre |
kolyma river |
genre_facet |
kolyma river |
op_source |
Remote Sensing, Vol 15, Iss 3564, p 3564 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/14/3564 https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292 doi:10.3390/rs15143564 2072-4292 https://doaj.org/article/946ffd478a0046ebb6f1949c8e9ecc1a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143564 |
container_title |
Remote Sensing |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
14 |
container_start_page |
3564 |
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1774719692366151680 |