The present study offers the results of the spectral characteristics, calculated vegetative indices and biophysical parameters of pine stands of the Northern Steppe of Ukraine region obtained using Sentinel-2 data. For the development of regression models with the prediction of the biomass of pine forests using the obtained spectral characteristics, we used the results of the assessment of the aboveground biomass by the method of field surveys. The results revealed the highest correlation relations between the parameters of the general and trunk biomass with the normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) and transformed vegetation index (TVI) vegetative indices and the fraction of absorbed photosynthetic active radiation (FARAP) and fraction of vegetation cover (FCOVER) biophysical parameters. To generate the models of determining the forest aboveground biomass (AGB), we used both the single- and two-factor models, the most optimum of which were those containing the NDVI predictor separately and in combination with the FCOVER predictor. The predicted values of the total AGB for the mentioned models equalled 32.5 to 236.3 and 39.9 to 253.4 t·ha^–1. We performed mapping of the AGB of pine stands of the Northern Steppe using multi-spectral Sentinel-2 images, particularly the spectral characteristics of their derivatives (vegetative indices, biophysical parameters). This study demonstrated promising results for conducting an AGB-mapping of pine woods in the studied region using free-access resources.

Green spaces in an industrially polluted city are extremely important for the physical activity and mental health of its inhabitants. The study aim was to analyze the urban green space dynamics and the greening degree of different functional zones typical for a big Ukrainian industrial city (Dnipro, Ukraine). This article used the remote sensing methods and geographic information systems (GIS) to assess the percentage of green spaces in the city of Dnipro, its eight districts, parks, ravines, and sanitary protection zones. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was used for mapping the urban green spaces within the ravines, parks, and sanitary protection zones. According to our results, 67% of Dnipro city is greened (NDVI >0.3). On average, there are 219 m2 of green spaces per person, which is 24 and 4 times more than the minimum and optimal values recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), respectively. It was found that the NDVI values were significantly lower in the territories of sanitary protection zones, compared to the other functional zones. The results of NDVI analysis indicate a significant variation of the studied parameter during the vegetative season, with two typical peaks of the green space vegetative activity. The peak of plant vegetative activity occurs in the first decade of June, followed by slight decline for 2–3 weeks, then there is another increase in the activity, reaching the maximum in mid-July. Even in autumn, the photosynthetic activity remains relatively high for most of the urban areas, declining only from mid-October. In addition, a method and algorithm for estimating and standardizing the level of the urban area greening based on the remote sensing methods and zonal statistics tools are proposed.