METHODOLOGIES FOR REMOTE SENSING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY IN THE ARCTIC AND SUB-ARCTIC

摘要

The principal industrially-generated environmental impacts in the terrestrial Arctic and sub-Arctic region arise from smelting of non-ferrous metals from sulphide ores, mining, and the production and transport of oil. In this paper, we briefly outline the scale and distribution of these phenomena and their adverse environmental consequences, and the basis on which remote sensing, especially from space, can monitor them. Essentially, remote sensing provides a set of tools for studying various aspects of landscape condition and change, which can give direct or indirect indication of the extent of environmental impact. We discuss the extent to which the main industrial processes can give rise to detectable changes in landscape characteristics, and present a review of current remote sensing methodologies for monitoring the latter. In all of these cases reasonably robust techniques have been established. One area of potential concern, in which spaceborne remote sensing has little useful role to play, is the monitoring of radioactive contamination.