Spatial and temporal variation of vegetation cover in the main mining area of Qibaoshan Town, China: Potential impacts from mining damage, solid waste discharge and land reclamation

Abstract

The increasing frequency of mining activities in the world has led to many environmental pollution problems, such as mine wastewater discharge, mine solid waste dumps, and mine dust dispersion. These problems have negative implications for the environment and the public health of people living nearby the mining areas. Despite this, there are few methods to determine the state of mine pollution on a regional scale. Therefore, we applied remote sensing technologies to assess the mine pollution situation, especially the mine solid waste pollution, of a mining area, taking Qibaoshan Town, Liuyang City, Hunan Province, China, as an example. In our research, we have calculated the vegetation cover change of the Qibaoshan Town over the years (2000–2020), charted the vegetation coverage grade maps, and analysed the tendency of vegetation cover changes, to infer the mine pollution situation, the progress of pollution treatment and the efforts made by the local government and the mines on mine pollution disposal and the land reclamation. Additionally, mining damage can bring about geological hazards such as surface subsidence leading to vegetation destruction, while mining solid waste pollution and discharge can occupy a large amount of land and thus lead to vegetation reduction. As a result, this method of calculating FVC changes in a mining area is particularly suitable for assessing the extent of mining damage, the status of solid waste pollution and discharge, and the progress of land reclamation. In the abstract, we claim that this short communication article serves as a guide to start a conversation, and encourages experts and scholars to engage in this area of research.