Assessment of the state of urban ecosystems on the basis of remote sensing data

Abstract

The results of the soil-ecological monitoring of the Novovladykino (Moscow) key site are presented. The monitoring included the interpretation of aerospace information collected in 2000 and 2010, terrestrial route observations, and mapping of the key site. The data obtained confirm the possibility to use the remote sensing information in the investigation of urban ecosystems and to recognize the arboreal vegetation, shrubs, and lawn grass in images. The approximate identification of the tree species; the assessment of the state of the green belts and the natural, anthropogenic, and technogenic soils and their complexes; the identification of the overcompacted, mechanically destroyed, and sealed soils under the waterproof and permeable surface horizons are also possible. The determination of the species composition of the trees in small groups, the poor state of the individual trees and small groves, and the causes of the changes in the state of the green belts and polluted areas turned out to be impossible. Additional field and laboratory investigations were performed in order to verify and refine information obtained from the satellite images.