Quantitative Assessment of Landscape Load Caused by Mining Activity

Abstract

In Hungary, not only the aftermath of the extraction in the past nearly 150 years, but also the economic changes taking place in the past two decades have had significant environmental consequences manifested, above all, in the landscape. It is, however, not sufficient to investigate the landscape components separately; it is necessary to explore connections within the landscape. Accordingly, the chief aim of this presentation has been, on the one hand, to work out the method of landscape load index, based on a quantitative database of mining claims and deposits of mining waste, which has revealed their impacts on the landscape as well. On the other hand, we have also aimed at developing the method of the mining load index of certain geographical landscape units. By calculating and analysing the indices, we have intended to build a quantitative database suitable for investigating the impacts of mining activities on the landscape. On the basis of the indices, the impacts and consequences could be ranked, and it was also possible to compare the impacts of different mining claims and waste deposits in three different landscape categories. With the main result of our examination, this will make it possible to investigate concrete problems and landscape conflicts caused by the landscape use of mining or its aftermath in different landscape units with a high load index.

Assessing the visual impacts of surface mining: a systematic review

“…[57] Impacts of coal mining subsidence on the surface landscape in Longkou city; Shandong Province of China [58] Landscape analysis as a tool for surface mining design [10] Landscape changes due to quarrying activities as a project parameter for urban planning [9] Landscape metrics for assessment of landscape destruction and rehabilitation [59] Landscape pattern changes at a county scale: A case study in Fengqiu; Henan Province; China from 1990 to 2013 [60] Mapping the cumulative impacts of long-term mining disturbance and progressive rehabilitation on ecosystem services [61] Multitemporal aerial image analysis for the monitoring of the processes in the landscape affected by deep coal mining [62] Quantitative Assessment of Landscape Load Caused by Mining Activity [63] Setting rehabilitation priorities for abandoned mines of similar characteristics according to their visual impact: The case of Milos Island; Greece [64] Spatial distribution of the impact of surface mining on the landscape ecological health of semi-arid grasslands [65] The dynamics of landscape pattern changes in mining areas: The case study of the Adamów-Kozmin Lignite Basin [8] The mining landscape of the Ostrava-Karviná coalfield: Processes of landscape change from the 1830s to the beginning of the 21st century [66] Time-varying elevation change at the Centralia coal mine in Centralia; Washington (USA); constrained with InSAR; ASTER; and optical imagery [67] Visibility of surface mining and impact perception [68] Visual impact evaluation of mines and quarries: the updated Lvi method [69] Visual impact from quarrying activities: A case study for planning the residential development of surrounding areas [70] Visual impact of quarrying in the Polish Carpathians [7] In order to conduct the analysis, eighteen variables were defined during the reading of the articles included in the final set. The variables are described in Table 2.…”

“…Further, temporal changes for six different land cover classes, including mining, were analyzed. Csüllög et al [63] assessed the landscape impacts of mining using a landscape load index as a proxy. The analysis was carried out in a GIS environment using a database of mining claims and deposits of mining waste.…”

The Influence of Tourist Infrastructure on the Mountain Landscape. Towards a Tourist Landscape. Case Study of the Silesian Beskid

“…In the context of research performed on a geographical scale concerning the influence of diverse elements on landscape, it is worth mentioning the landscape load index developed for mines (Csüllög, et al, 2017). This research shows the impact of mining activity on the landscape within adopted landscape units.…”