Assessment of long-term ecological impact in lower Levisa Watershed: A remote sensing-based approach
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study assesses the long-term ecological impact in the Lower Levisa watershed, Eastern Kentucky, using an entropy-based Remote Sensing Ecological Index (entropy-RSEI) from 1986 to 2022. Eastern Kentucky has a long history of coal mining, especially mountaintop removal mining, which has severely impacted the ecological quality of the region. The reclamation strategy has been employed to tackle the environmental issues caused by these mining activities. Assessing the spatiotemporal evolution of eco-environment quality is crucial for protecting ecological environments and enhancing sustainable development strategies. The entropy weight method was used to integrate greenness (NDVI), wetness (Tasseled cap), dryness (NDBSI), and heat (LST) to develop the entropy-RSEI. The overall ecological quality of the Lower Levisa watershed increased over time. Trend analysis showed improvement in ecological quality in the majority of the study area. 6.79% of the area showed a degradation trend. Future trends are likely to follow the same trend, with improvement still dominant (82.77% of the total area), while 10.01% of the area would reverse to degradation from improvements. The slope was the dominant factor affecting the ecological quality, indicating the higher the slope, the higher the ecological quality. Precipitation had negative impacts, suggesting that higher rainfall would negatively affect eco-environment quality. Other factors such as elevation, temperature, and net primary productivity (NPP) exerted a positive impact in most of the Lower Levisa watershed. These assessments are crucial for effectively assessing ecological environmental quality. In addition, these findings provided the basis for assessing different reclamation strategies for reclamation of mining in this region.
Source: Ecological Informatics
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,770
OpenAlex ID: W4416397178