Using Remote Sensing Data and Geographic Information Systems for Assessment of Land Impact Caused by Common Minerals Extraction in the Vitebsk Region

Abstract

The developed methodology for use the satellite data and GIS technologies made it possible to assess the distribution of the mined out areas within the Vitebsk region, and to calculate the specific density of quarries and peatlands on territory. The combined use of density and areal characteristics of mine workings allowed creating the most objective cartographic model of the existing quarry load in the region under study. Its analysis showed that areas with high quarry load in geological and geomorphological terms are mainly related to large peat massifs within gently undulating moraine and water-glacial plains and lowlands of the Poozerskiy age of the Late Pleistocene. Territories with an average quarry load are also confined to large peatlands, with a few exceptions, where the shallow Upper Devonian dolomites and limestones, developed by OJSC Dolomite, occur. Low quarry load is observed throughout the entire territory of the Vitebsk region, typically for areas of small-area peat mining, as well as for sand, clay and sand-gravel quarries, which are relatively small, and are located within various genetic types of relief.