Work

Monitoring and interactive mapping of illegal environmental activities on the example of Slovakia

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Human activities profoundly impact the landscape, often leading to categorical shifts in land use known as land use/land cover changes (LU/LCC).These changes involve transitions from one type of landscape to another, such as converting meadows into housing developments.Because these alterations can significantly influence the state of the landscape, it's crucial to understand where and to what extent they occur.Legal LU/LCC interventions are typically planned and documented in various official records, including land registries, agricultural plans, forestry documents, and water management plans.However, despite these efforts, the landscape is increasingly vulnerable to unauthorized human encroachment.Such an attack poses challenges for competent authorities to detect, and address caused activities, particularly in remote areas with limited communication accessibility.Various methods are currently employed for monitoring (which involve the planned, systematic, and continuous collection of representative characteristics about landscape objects) LU/LCC changes.Among these methods, those utilizing remote sensing data, including optical and radar imagery, environmental databases, and field survey data are particularly progressive.This approach proves suitable for identifying LU/LCCs, including changes resulting from the three most common illegal human activities: the devastation of protected grasslands, removal of non-forest woody vegetation, and enlargement of closed and rehabilitated dump sites by illegal operation.

Source: Abstracts of the ICA

DOI: 10.5194/ica-abs-7-38-2024