Determination of soil and ground sealing in functional zones of Volgograd based on remote sensing data

The paper presents the results of interpretation of sealed soils and ground for the territory of Volgograd and its various functional zones. Determination of the sealed portion was performed by means of automated method using ENVI 4.7 software by means of QuickBird space image classification using the “maximum likelihood” method. The study objects were the territories of all districts of Volgograd, as well as residential and recreational functional zones. It was found that the sealed surfaces occupy about 169.4 km2 (20.5% of the total area of the city). However, the city districts and functional zones differ significantly in proportion of sealed areas. The most sealed surfaces were those of Tractorozavodsky (24.2%), Voroshilovsky (33.0%), Dzerzhinsky (37.4%), Centralny (45.2%), Krasnooktyabrsky (39.4%) and Krasnoarmeisky (26.6%) districts of Volgograd. Soil cover of the Sovetsky (13.5%) and Kirovsky (12.9%) districts is least sealed. Sealing of functional zones also varies widely. Thus, the highest values of sealing (up to 63%) characterize the multi-, low- and medium-rise constructions zones. A wide range of values (from 26 to 51%) corresponds to the areas of individual residential development, as well as collective gardens and dachas (from 9.6 to 39.5%). In the recreational zone average sealing is at 27.6% level. Thus, the identified share of sealed surfaces on the territory of Volgograd and its functional zones will allow solving effectively the problems of territorial planning in the further implementation of works on gardening and landscaping of urban areas.