Remote sensing techniques for tracking changes caused by illegal gold mining in Madre de Dios, Peru

• Authors: Katarzyna Adamek , Michał Lupa , Mateusz Zawadzki

Abstracts

EN

Illegal extraction of gold has grown to be a problem in many countries, causing the degradation of the environment. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate changes in tree cover and surface pollution. The development of a mine site has been observed and analysed with images acquired from Landsat and the Sentinel missions. The results of the study showed changes in the state of the environment, strongly suggesting the possibility of ongoing pyrite weathering processes and the transportation of clay materials down watercourses, which can cause not only the further deterioration of the environment but also slow down the natural regeneration of the forest. In addition, research has found disturbing changes in vegetation, showing a loss of tree cover in the Amazon Rainforest as high as 17%. The validity of using remote sensing methods to observe the development of individual mining sites and their characteristics was confirmed.

Keywords

EN

environmental monitoring; geospatial analysis; South America; remote sensing; Peru

• Publisher: Wydział Geografii i Studiów Regionalnych Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
• Journal: Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 4

Dates

published

2021

Contributors

author

Katarzyna Adamek

• Department of Geoinformatics and Applied Computer Science, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000000325959296

author

Michał Lupa

• Department of Geoinformatics and Applied Computer Science, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000000325959296

author

Mateusz Zawadzki

• Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Department of Cartography and Geomatics, The Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000000221262822

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Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/mgrsd-2020-0028

Biblioteka Nauki

1955015