Ground-to-Space Monitoring of Anthropogenic Impacts on the Coastal Zone of the Crimean Peninsula

Abstract

Purpose. The aim of the work is to develop, construct and test the experimental model for the ground-to-space monitoring of anthropogenic impacts on the Crimean coast using satellite and surface data. The system is intended to obtain significant parameters of marine environment required for revealing the anthropogenic impact sources, developing feasible recommendations on sustainable nature management and decreasing the anthropogenic load on marine ecosystems. Methods and Results. The paper represents description of the monitoring structure and the equipment focused on the ground segment of the system applied in the Marine Hydrophysical Institute of RAS, as well as the example of its implementation in monitoring the Crimean coastal water areas. Discussed is the concept of the ground-to-space monitoring of anthropogenic impacts on the coastal water areas which constitutes a foundation of the proposed system. The ground sub-satellite segment of the monitoring system intended for collecting, processing and storing the information obtained from the contact sensors is described. Special attention is paid to the workstation permitting to perform operational analysis of the obtained data. The experience of successful application of the monitoring system is represented. Arrangement of the field studies is described. Main results obtained from testing the monitoring system are briefly reviewed. Comprehensive analysis of sub-satellite data and multi-spectral satellite images is shown by the example of detecting the emergency break at the main wastewater line in Sevastopol. Conclusions. The system of ground-to-space monitoring of the anthropogenic impacts on the Crimea coastal zone was developed, implemented and tested. The system functioning in 2015–2016 demonstrated its high efficiency in operational and complex analysis of direct and satellite data, especially in revealing emergency situations related to wastewater discharges to the sea.

Keywords

• remote sensing of earth
• ground-to-space monitoring
• coastal water areas
• anthropogenic impact
• subsurface processes
• in situ measurements
• geo-information systems