Ecological diagnostics of urban areas based on the materials of remote sensing of the earth

Abstract

The anthropogenic load of modern cities causes the need for environmental diagnostics of factors that have a negative impact on the quality of the environment. Traditional methods of ecological research of urbanized territories entail significant time costs, which, despite the high accuracy, significantly reduces their effectiveness. Environmental data obtained during remote sensing of the Earth have become a good alternative to traditional methods. An archive of multi-channel satellite images obtained from Landsat-7 and Landsat-8 satellites has been created for environmental diagnostics of cities in Central Russia (Voronezh, Lipetsk and Belgorod). The archive is divided into three periods (2001, 2016 and 2020). Obtaining and analyzing environmental data from satellite images within the studied cities, as well as suburban areas, is carried out in the Scanex Image Processor software package. The ratio of zones with different anthropogenic loads estimated by determining the NDVI value within the studied territories. According to the results of the NDVI analysis, a comprehensive GIS zoning of cities in Central Russia carried out. The results obtained during the research allowed us to evaluate a number of environmental quality parameters, as well as their dynamics over a twenty-year period.