Сhanges in Forest Cover of Ravines-Balks Network in the South of the Central Russian Upland in Recent Decades

Author(s):  E.A. Terekhin, candidate of Sciences, Belgorod National Research University , Belgorod, Russia, terekhin@bsu.edu.ru

Issue:  Volume 42, № 2

Rubric:  Earth sciences

Annotation:  Studying the changes in the vegetation cover of the ravine-balks (small flat-bottom valleys) network is an urgent task for the southern forest-steppe of Russia. This article presents the results of the assessment the forest cover dynamics of the ravine-balks network in the south of the Central Russian Upland. On the basis of multiyear satellite images obtained in the early 1970s and the present time, it was established that the forestation of ravine-balks systems during this period increased from 3.6% to 22.7%. The results were obtained on the basis of a survey of 63 ravines with a total area of 10310.2 ha located in different parts of the region. A statistically significant decreasing in the infrared reflectance (1.55–1.75 μm) was revealed for ravine-balks systems using multi-temporal multispectral Landsat TM images, obtained in the period 1986–2011. The increase in forest cover was established for the vast majority of the analyzed objects.

Keywords:  ravine-balks network, reforestation, long-term changes, remote sensing data, Landsat

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