Analyses of environmental impacts of underground coal mining in an arid region using remote sensing and GIS

Abstract

The influences of coal mining in an arid environment on vegetation coverage, land-use change, desertification, soil and water loss were discussed. A series of available TM/ETM+ images with no cloud cover from July/August in different years (1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005) were used to analyze the change in various land environmental factors over time. The results show that while mining activity initially had a marked adverse impact on the environment, mine rehabilitation measures have also subsequently played a great role in improving vegetation cover and controlling land desertification and loss of water and soil. The effect of coal mining on vegetation cover is dependent upon the soil type and natural indigenous flora. Results of this investigation imply that mining activity has a greater effect on the vegetation of loess areas than at sandy sites. Although local vegetation coverage was improved by planting in the mining area, the total area of land affected by desertification still increased from 26.81% in 1990 when large-scale mine construction was introduced, to 46.79% in 1995. With continuous efforts at rehabilitation, the vegetation cover in the Shendong coal mining area was increasing, and loss of water and soil were effectively controlled since 1995. Subsequently, the total area of extreme desertification decreased to 23.24% in 2000 and further to 18.68% in 2005. The total area affected by severe loss of water and soil also decreased since the early 1990’s (70.61% in 1990, 71.43% in 1995), to 43.64% in 2000 and 34.93% in 2005, respectively.