Vegetation Changes in Alberta Oil Sands, Canada, Based on Remotely Sensed Data from 1995 to 2020

Authors

  • Jixin He

    College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
  • Debo Chen

    College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
  • Ye Zhan

    Aviation University Air Force, Changchun, Jilin, China
  • Chao Liu

    College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
  • Ruichen Liu

    College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v4i2.4687
Received: 20 March 2022 | Revised: 2 June 2022 | Accepted: 8 June 2022 | Published Online: 16 June 2022

Abstract

There are rich oil and gas resources in Alberta oil sand mining area in Canada. In the 1960s, the Canadian government decided to increase the mining intensity. However, the exploitation will bring many adverse effects. In recent years, more people pay attention to the environmental protection and ecological restoration of mining areas, such as issues related to changes in vegetated lands. Thus, the authors used the Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-8 OLI remote sensing images as the basic data sources, and obtained the land cover classification maps from 1995 to 2020 by ENVI. Based on the NDVI, NDMI and RVI, three images in each period are processed and output to explore the long-term impact of exploitation. The results show that from 1995 to 2020, the proportion of vegetation around mining areas decreased sharply, the scale of construction land in the mining area increased, and the vegetated land was changed to land types such as tailings ponds, oil sand mines and other land types. In addition, three vegetation indexes decreased from 1995 to 2020. Although the exploitation of oil sand mining areas brings great economic benefits, the environmental protection (especially vegetation) in oil sand mining areas should be paid more attention.

Keywords:

Alberta; Oil sands; Vegetation changes; Remote sensing; Landsat

References

[1] Salehi, E., Save, S., Almquist, G., et al., 2016. Fueling Alberta Oil Sands Fleets with Natural Gas [Internet]. Available from: https://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/magazine/2016/january-2016/special-report-lng-ngl-and-alternative-feedstocks/fueling-alberta-oil-sands-fleets-with-natural-gas

[2] Zheng, Q.Q. Landscape distribution and biomass estimation of caragana intermedia plantation in Yanchi Desert steppe based on remote sensing technology. Ningxia University. (In Chinese)

[3] Crerar, E.E., Arnott, R.W.C., 2007. Facies distribution and stratigraphic architecture of the lower cretaceous McMurray Formation, Lewis Property, northeastern Alberta. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology. 55(2), 99-124.

[4] Feng, Zh.F., Wang, Zh.X., Yue, J., et al., 2016. Research on the sensitive band selection of discrimination of non-timber product tree species surrounding Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang based on hyperion lmage. Forest Engineering. 32(2), 7. (In Chinese)

[5] Natcher, D., Brunet, N., Bogdan, A.M., et al., 2020. Seeking indigenous consensus on the impacts of oil sands development in Alberta, Canada. The Extractive Industries and Society. 7(4).

[6] Han, K.X., 2020. Study on surface temperature change of oil sand mining area in Alberta Province, Canada, 1990-2019. Jilin University. (In Chinese)

[7] Fernie, K.J., Marteinson, S.C., Chen, D., et al., 2018. Elevated exposure, uptake and accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by nestling tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) through multiple exposure routes in active mining-related areas of the Athabasca oil sands region. Science of the Total Environment. 624, 250-261.

[8] Ma, F., Zhang, G.Y., Wang, H.J., et al., 2015. Potential, distribution and exploration trend of global heavy oil and oil sand resources. Journal of Jilin University (Earth Science Edition). (In Chinese)

[9] Walker, A., Waterfield, A., Roberts, S., 2010. Two dimensional ultrasound in clinical practice; a postal survey of consultant pediatric anesthetists in the United Kingdom—A reply. Pediatric Anesthesia. 17(10), 1006-1007.

[10] Willis, C.E., Louis, V.L.S., Kirk, J.L., et al., 2019. Tailings ponds of the Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Alberta, Canada, are likely not significant sources of total mercury and methylmercury to nearby ground and surface waters. Science of the Total Environment. 647, 1604-1610.

[11] Han, Zh.Q., 2011. The actuality and perspective study on the development and utilization of oilsands in Junggar basin, Xinjiang province. Nanjing Agricultural University. (In Chinese)

[12] Shan, X.L., Yang, L., Wang, P.J., 2006. Calculation of ordovician erosion thichness in eastern tarimu basin. Xinjiang Geology. 24(4), 3. (In Chinese)

[13] Verbeke, A., Osiyevskyy, O., Backman, C.A., 2017. Strategic responses to imposed innovation projects: The case of carbon capture and storage in the Alberta oil sands industry. Long Range Planning. 50(5), 684-698.

[14] Li, M.Y., 2014. The organic geochemical characteristics and reservoir forming pattern of palaeogene and neogene oil sands in Western Qaidam Basin. Chang' an University. (In Chinese)

[15] Tao, G.L., Tenger, Cao, T.T., et al., 2016. Resource evaluation method for open-pit mining oil sands in the Western Canada Basin, Canada. Bulletin of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry. (1), 5. (In Chinese)

[16] Zhang, X., Zhang, J.Q., Jin, W., et al., 2009. Improved method for retrieving remote sensing reflectance of ground targets from a spectral image. Acta Photonica Sinica. 038(005), 1221-1225. (In Chinese)

[17] Donovan, S.D., MacLean, D.A., Zhang, Y., et al., 2021. Evaluating annual spruce budworm defoliation using change detection of vegetation indices calculated from satellite hyperspectral imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment. 253, 112204.

[18] Latifovic, R., Pouliot, D., Olthof, I., 2017. Circa 2010 land cover of Canada: Local optimization methodology and product development. Remote Sensing. 9(11), 1098.

[19] Guo, Y.Ch., 2019. The influence of urban spatial morphology on thermal environment in Zhengzhou. Henan Agricultural University. (In Chinese)

[20] Li, B., Wang, H.M., Qin, M.Zh., et al., 2017. Comparative study on the correlations between NDVI, NDMI and LST. Progress in Geography. 36(05), 585-596. (In Chinese)

[21] Yang, L., Guan, Q., Lin, J., et al., 2021. Evolution of NDVI secular trends and responses to climate change: A perspective from nonlinearity and nonstationarity characteristics. Remote Sensing of Environment. 254, 112247.

[22] Nejad, M.F., Zoratipour, A., 2019. Assessment of LST and NDMI indices using MODIS and Landsat images in Karun riparian forest. Journal of Forest Science. 65(1), 27-32.

[23] Gao, Sh.F. Remote sensing alteration ex traction in Dexing porphyry copper deposits area of Jiangxi Province. Chang' an University. (In Chinese)

Downloads

How to Cite

He, J., Chen, D., Zhan, Y., Liu, C., & Liu, R. (2022). Vegetation Changes in Alberta Oil Sands, Canada, Based on Remotely Sensed Data from 1995 to 2020. Journal of Environmental & Earth Sciences, 4(2), 17–32. https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v4i2.4687

Issue

Vol. 4 , Iss. 2 (October 2022)

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2022 Author(s)

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC