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Remote monitoring of land degradation in the mining context: an updated review focusing on potentials and challenges

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Abstract

Land degradation is a global challenge with profound impacts on both people’s livelihoods and the environment. Mining activities present significant environmental challenges, necessitating effective monitoring and management strategies for land impacted by post-mining activities. Remote sensing has emerged as a crucial tool for monitoring land degradation and its spatial patterns in mining regions. However, there are several challenges that impede the successful application of earth observation data in these contexts. This paper comprehensively examines the importance of earth observation data in understanding trends and occurrences of land degradation in mining and post-mining areas. Firstly, it provides background information on the extent, causes, forms, and dynamics of land degradation in these regions. Subsequently, an overview of available earth observation data is presented, encompassing remote sensing variables, parameters, characteristics, and associated challenges in using them for monitoring land degradation in mining areas. Lastly, the paper discusses the primary obstacles to the promotion and utilization of these data for environmental monitoring in mining activities.

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(Adopted from Buenemann et al. 2011)

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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No funding was obtained for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Mine Surveying and Geodesy, Freiberg University of Technology, Fuchsmühlenweg 9, 09599, Freiberg, Germany

    Moncef Bouaziz & Joerg Benndorf

Authors
  1. Moncef Bouaziz
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  2. Joerg Benndorf
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Contributions

M.B. performed the study and wrote the main content of the manuscript. J.B. improved the content and reviewed the main manuscript text and figures.

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Correspondence to Moncef Bouaziz.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Responsible Editor: Riheb Hadji.

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Bouaziz, M., Benndorf, J. Remote monitoring of land degradation in the mining context: an updated review focusing on potentials and challenges. Euro-Mediterr J Environ Integr (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-024-00479-2

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