Monitoring of Open-Pit Mining Areas Using Landsat Series Imagery (1984-2023) and Cloud Processing
Montero, Pau (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Bustos, Edgardo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Padró Garcia, Joan-Cristian (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geografia)
Carabassa, Vicenç (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Date:	2024
Abstract:	While open-pit mining activities represent one of the human-derived most impactful land cover changes, these changes and the linked restoration processes can be challenging to assess. This article presents a reproducible methodology carried out with cloud processing of satellite images (Google Earth Engine (GEE)) to evaluate the evolution of open-pit mining activities and their restoration in a Mediterranean landscape. For this purpose, the calculation of the normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI) was used to obtain a quantitative parameter to monitor vegetation presence in each extractive area. To validate these results, confusion matrices were performed between the classification obtained in the study and the official land cover mapping, using randomly selected mining areas as test points, with an average accuracy of 88%. According to the methodology used, the surface of areas denuded by mining in the period 1984-2023 has fluctuated over time, with a maximum in 2005 coinciding with the peak of the Spanish construction boom, and a subsequent decrease towards the present. From these results, it can be concluded that Landsat-type data processed using GEE provide a quick and useful tool for monitoring the evolution of mining activity, including restoration trends, becoming particularly valuable for public bodies' inspections or decision making.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	GEE ; Open-pit mining ; Mineral extraction evolution ; Integrated restoration ; NDVI
Published in:	Land, Vol. 13, Issue 8 (August 2024) , art. 1301, ISSN 2073-445X

DOI: 10.3390/land13081301

11 p, 4.4 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Grupo de Investigación Métodos y Aplicaciones en Teledetección y Sistemas de Información Geográfica (GRUMETS)
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles