Assessment of environmental impact of road construction based on results of remote sensing monitoring

Abstract

Remote sensing detected the impact of road construction on important environmental properties. The digital elevation model was applied to assess the impact of road construction on environmental regimes. The study focused on the total area of the 3-km zone of influence (monitoring zone of probable impact) around the national road H-31 Dnipro-Tsarychanka-Kobeliaky-Reshetylivka from Loboikivka village to the boundary of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The following derivatives of the digital elevation model are considered as geomorpho­logical variables: the topographic wetness index (TWI) and erosion factor (LS). To model the effect of road construction on the moisture regime and dynamics of erosion processes, the TWI and LS indices were calculated for a digital terrain model without a road and with a road with an elevation that corresponds to the planned level. Thus, the road is considered as an anthropogenic landform that changes the direction of water redistribution along the topography and thus affects the potential moisture conditions and erosion risks. The modeling results indicate that the transformation of the water regime will be observed within the entire 3-km monitoring area. Deviations from the normal value can be up to 7 units by module, which is about one third of the landscape-wide range of topographic moisture index values. Almost no impact of construction can be predicted for 80.7% of the territory. For 10.6% of the territory, the increase in moisture regime will be moderate, and for 3.2% of the area the increase will be very significant. In turn, for 4.3% of the area the decrease in humidification will be moderate, and for 1.2% the decrease will be very significant. The greatest impact on the redistribution of moisture conditions is predicted in the immediate vicinity of the road. Changes in the moisture regime can have significant negative consequences for both soil cover and biotic components of ecosystems. Changes in vegetation as a consequence of changes in both moisture and trophic conditions can be considered as possible scenarios for the development of landscape cover dynamics.