Tool to Generate Deforestation and Illegal Mining Alerts with Remote Sensing

Abstract

The Colombian environmental policies in the 2022–2026 Development Plan align with international guidelines such as the Escazú Agreement, the Rio Declaration, and the Sustainable Development Goals. In concordance with these ongoing efforts, a specialized tool has been developed to effectively identify potential cases of deforestation and illegal mining linked to forest cover loss and the presence of mercury-contaminated water bodies using planet imagery. The workflow used the ArcGIS Pro Task module, with geo-processes integrated into the Python library, arcpy, and fundamental concepts of object-based image analysis (OBIA) and pixel-based analysis. A methodology known as tip and cue was also implemented to detect illegal mining zones. The tool provides efficient means to study environmental crimes and prevent ecosystem damages.

Keywords

• remote sensing
• illegal mining
• deforestation
• ArcGIS Pro tool
• planet