Abstract
The ecological restoration of mining areas is very important, and repeated field surveys are inefficient in large-scale vegetation monitoring. The coal mining industry is currently facing the challenge of the lack of appropriate methods for monitoring restoration processes. This study used an open pit coal mine in Dongsheng District, Inner Mongolia, China as an example, and used the 2011–2018 Landsat TM/ETM+ and OLI images to monitor and evaluate vegetation restoration activity of the coal mine. The average value of the monthly maximum value of vegetation index in the growing season was selected as the basic indicator for studying vegetation and bare soil changes. The growth root normalized differential vegetation index (GRNDVI) and GRNDVI anomaly method indicated that the constructed land type change factor was used to study the growth of mine vegetation and change of the range of bare land in the entire mining region. We found that westward mining activities started from 2012, and vegetation was restored in the eastern original mining region from 2013. The restoration vegetation areas from 2015 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2018 were larger than those in the other restoration years. Moreover, areas of expanded bare land from 2011 to 2012, and from 2017 to 2018 were larger than those in the other expansion years. The restoration vegetation growth changes were compared with those of the natural vegetation growth. Results showed that the restoration vegetation growth trend was considerably similar with that of the natural vegetation. Inter-annual restoration effects were analyzed by constructing the effect of the area-average factor and using vegetation growth data. Accordingly, the restoration vegetation effects were best in 2014 and 2016. Comprehensive restoration effect was analyzed using the weighted evaluation method to obtain the overall restoration effects of the coal mine. Results showed that the comprehensive restoration effect is inclined to the inferior growth state. This study conducted a preliminary evaluation of mine restoration vegetation, thereby providing a promising way for the future monitoring and evaluation of such processes.
Highlights
This article is an open access articleCoal is an important natural resource of China, and the coal mining industry is an indispensable back-up force for the country’s economic development, thereby playing an important role in social development in China [1]
growth root normalized differential vegetation index (GRNDVI) of growing season images from Landsat dataset to obtain the dynamic changes of the inter-annual vegetation growth and the spatial and temporal changes in land types
Previous studies of vegetation have used extensive vegetation coverage and Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), even though vegetation coverage and NDVI are susceptible to soil background
Summary
This article is an open access articleCoal is an important natural resource of China, and the coal mining industry is an indispensable back-up force for the country’s economic development, thereby playing an important role in social development in China [1]. This article is an open access article. Open pit mine is considered as a degradation of the environment through pit, spoil tip, and water plate damage [2,3]. Mining can further endanger the health of people and animals [4]. The recovery distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons. 2021, 13, 1350 and management of mines are crucial and have attracted lots of attentions from Chinese government [5]. The most common methods for such restoration involves chemical and phytoremediation measures [6], while there exist various methods of mine management, including slag reuse, reclamation, greening and mine geoparks.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
