Analysis of Post-Mining Vegetation Development Using Remote Sensing and Spatial Regression Approach: A Case Study of Former Babina Mine (Western Poland)

Abstract

The vegetation of the post-mining areas is subject to constant and significant changes. Reclamation works, carried out after the cessation of mineral extraction, contribute to the intensive development of new plant species. However, secondary deformations, occurring even many years after the end of exploitation, may cause the degradation of the vegetation cover. It is, therefore, an important issue to identify changes in flora conditions and to determine whether and to what extent past mining has a negative impact on the plant cover state. The objectives of this research have been as follows: (1) analysis of the flora condition in the post-mining area in the 1989–2019 period, (2) identification of sites with significant changes in vegetation state, and (3) modeling of the relationship between the identified changes in vegetation and former mining activities. The research was carried out in the area of the former opencast and underground lignite mine “Friendship of Nations—Babina Shaft,” which is located in the present-day Geopark (Western Poland), using Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI derived vegetation indices (NDVI, NDII, MTVI2) and GIS-based spatial regression. The results indicate a general improvement in flora condition, especially in the vicinity of post-mining waste heaps and former opencast excavations, with the exception of the northwestern part of the former mining field where the values of all of the analyzed vegetation indices have decreased. Also, four zones of statistically significant changes in the flora condition were identified. Finally, the developed GWR models demonstrate that former mining activities had a significant influence on changes in the plant cover state of the analyzed region.

Integrated Spatiotemporal Analysis of Vegetation Condition in a Complex Post-Mining Area: Lignite Mine Case Study

“…Our study is probably the first one aimed at analysis of vegetation cover condition thought to be in the rehabilitated phase in this area. The long-term analysis of recoverying vegetation in this post-mining area based on the mid-spatial resolution of the Landsat imagery was the subject of another publication [85].…”

Mining Geomatics

“…This will make it possible to search for those articles whose content presents the results of analyses of mining spatial data acquired by various measurement methods, processed by means of information systems and presented on the web. It would certainly be very helpful if articles on topics such as the development of a mining dataset [108], the use of a geoportal to present mining data [109], methods for assessing the impact of mining using GIS and remote sensing technologies [110] and the use of remote sensing in post-mining areas [111] could be included in one listing when searching using the keyword "mining geomatics". The use of this term in a keyword system is bound to isolate a fairly coherent category of articles on the same topic.…”

Imaging Spectroscopy for the Mining Life Cycle: A Guide for Drone Applications

“…Spaceborne HSI has also been used to provide classification maps of land cover around mining sites, aimed at understanding the effect of mining activities on landscape and geo-environments at regional scale [207]. During land reclamation and remediation, the technology could be used to monitor/evaluate reclamation and ecological restoration [46,169,[208][209][210]. It also could be used for monitoring landscape structure, vegetation change, and soil pollution during mining activities and closure [211].…”