The perspectives of remote sensing and GIS on military environmental impacts: a systematic review

Abstract

Military operations have long been recognized to cause significant environmental consequences. However, research on the environmental impacts of military operations remains fragmented despite the rise of modern technologies, including remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS). Hence, this study sought to review the literature on using RS and GIS approaches to assess military operations’ environmental impacts. The PRISMA 2009 systematic review process was employed in this research. The eligibility screening of literature involves searching using selected keywords, Boolean operators, and a wild card operator in Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. This study identified a growing trend in the publication from 2000 to 2024, with an average yearly cumulative percentage of 4.17%. The articles are not limited to RS and GIS journals (22.22%), showing a broader interest across an array of publication domains (33.33%). Further, this study indicates a global interest in the field, with 24 countries contributing to the body of knowledge. Methodologically, assessing the military impact through change detection on land use and land cover (LULC) (55.56%) is the dominant approach, with researchers favoring the combined use of RS and GIS software (79%). Optical sensors (79.49%) with moderate spatial resolution (61.90%) are the preferred imagery types. The impact on the terrestrial environment is widespread (36.84%), often involving the entire armed forces (55.26%). Overall, this review offers information into the role of RS and GIS in assessing the environmental impacts of military operations and understanding the complex nature of the military and the environment.