IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/mgrsod/v25y2021i4p205-212n1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Remote sensing techniques for tracking changes caused by illegal gold mining in Madre de Dios, Peru

Author

Listed:
  • Adamek Katarzyna
  • Lupa Michał

    (Department of Geoinformatics and Applied Computer Science, Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, Kraków, Poland)

  • Zawadzki Mateusz

    (Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Department of Cartography and Geomatics, The Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin, Poland)

Abstract

Illegal extraction of gold has grown to be a problem in many countries, causing the degradation of the environment. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate changes in tree cover and surface pollution. The development of a mine site has been observed and analysed with images acquired from Landsat and the Sentinel missions. The results of the study showed changes in the state of the environment, strongly suggesting the possibility of ongoing pyrite weathering processes and the transportation of clay materials down watercourses, which can cause not only the further deterioration of the environment but also slow down the natural regeneration of the forest. In addition, research has found disturbing changes in vegetation, showing a loss of tree cover in the Amazon Rainforest as high as 17%. The validity of using remote sensing methods to observe the development of individual mining sites and their characteristics was confirmed.

Suggested Citation

  • Adamek Katarzyna & Lupa Michał & Zawadzki Mateusz, 2021. "Remote sensing techniques for tracking changes caused by illegal gold mining in Madre de Dios, Peru," Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development, Sciendo, vol. 25(4), pages 205-212, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:mgrsod:v:25:y:2021:i:4:p:205-212:n:1
    DOI: 10.2478/mgrsd-2020-0028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/mgrsd-2020-0028
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/mgrsd-2020-0028?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:mgrsod:v:25:y:2021:i:4:p:205-212:n:1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.