Remote monitoring of the influx of military activities on forest landscapes of the Kharkiv region

Abstract

Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine has significant consequences for forestry - 2.9 million hectares of forests have different levels of damage. Taking into account the territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, which were occupied until 2022, about 1 million hectares of forests are currently under occupation or are affected by active hostilities. Purpose. To record and visually analyze the manifestation of military actions within the forest landscapes of the Kharkiv region caused by a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Methods. Remote sensing methods, using Sentinel 2 L2A satellite images and Google Earth Pro software. Information on the dynamics of the occupation boundaries, including the forest landscapes of the Kharkiv region, was collected using QGIS software in the format of a vector layer. Results. The forest landscapes that were under occupation in 2022 at the maximum occupation of the territory of Kharkiv region covered 1177,082 km2. In the process of gradual liberation of the territory, the area of forests directly affected by hostilities decreased. The forest landscapes that were under occupation for different time periods (3, 4, 7, 8 months and more than 1 year) were identified. Since part of the region is still occupied, the last time category has no time limit. Based on the materials of the remote sensing of land cover, the authors identified the areas of destroyed forest as a result of logging and fires. Areas where fortifications were built and destroyed not only stands, but also the soil cover and made changes to the relief were identified. At the same time, forest landscapes were affected even without being occupied as a result of shelling, bombing and remote mining. The affected forest landscapes are part of the region's forestry enterprises, nature reserve fund objects, water protection and recreational areas. Conclusions. Monitoring the area of forest landscapes by means of remote sensing made it possible to identify the foci of the most affected areas, to periodize and establish the main components of the impact of military operations on forest landscapes: forest fires caused by explosions; damage to vegetation and soil due to bombing; felling of trees and destruction of soil cover for the construction of fortifications. The disadvantages of remote sensing include.