Identification of the disturbed range of coal mining activities: A new land surface phenology perspective

Abstract

Coal mining activities not only damage the ecosystems located inside mining areas, but also affect the buffer areas located within a certain radius of the mining activities. Effectively identifying the range disturbed by mining activities is beneficial for guiding ecological restoration and ecological assessments in mining areas. However, methods for quantitatively identifying the range of disturbances associated with coal mining activities are still lacking. In this study, the phenological disturbance range index (PDRI) based on remote sensing observed vegetation phenology was proposed. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series data were collected, and land surface phenology parameters were estimated in the Pinshuo mining area on the Loess Plateau. The proportion of the phenology-climate coupling relationship destroyed by human activities was then calculated. The range of mining activity disturbances was then determined by mutually validating the function-fitting and trajectory-segmentation algorithms. The results show that the proposed PDRI can effectively identify the extent of disturbances resulting from mining activities. Clear differences among the PDRIs reflecting mining activity disturbances, urbanization disturbances and natural states were found. Taking the Pingshuo mine as an example, the range of disturbances was approximately 11 ∼ 12 km, and shaft mining was found to have a greater impact than open pit mining. The PDRI proposed herein solves the initial problem from a climate-response perspective and can be used as a standardized scheme to detect the extent of disturbances resulting from coal mining activities. This study can also provide a reference for policy formulation and ecological compensation range.

Keywords

• Coal mining activities
• Disturbed range
• Land surface phenology
• Phenological disturbance range index
• Semiarid area