Scholarly record
ANTHROPOGENIC IMPRINTS ON THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND WATER RESOURCES IN THE CHEPINSKA AND CHEPELARSKA RIVER BASINS (WESTERN RHODOPES, BULGARIA)
Abstract
Anthropogenic imprints, including hydromorphological pressure and illegal land use through unauthorised dumping and wastewater discharge, are various forms of human activity that often have lasting impacts on the natural environment. Despite this, integrating them into ecological assessments and water and natural resource management remains underexplored at the river basin scale. This study aims to investigate and analyse illegal dumping and pressures on freshwater resources in the Chepinska and Chepelarska River basins, Bulgaria. The work utilises Earth observation Sentinel-2 data to analyse satellite imagery-based spectral vegetation and water indices (NDVI, DVI, EVI, SAVI) and water spectral indices (NDWI, ReNDWI, MNDWI, AWEIsh, SWI, SWM) which can be used in land use and land cover mapping over large areas, such as river basins. The results provide a reference for selection of spectral indices from Sentinel-2 images for land-use mapping and an appropriate binary processing method. Additionally, illegal land-use practices and illegal dumping sites were mapped and analysed based on several factors: elevation, slope gradient, land use/cover, hydrogeological formations, distance from settlements and roads, and classified by type. Finally, the water supply, probability of exceedance and pressure from water abstraction in the Chepinska and Chepelarska River basins were analysed. The experimentally exceeded probability of water use by year, month, and volume was calculated by applying the imitation model SIMYL. The results provide a scientific basis to support water and natural resource management in the pilot studies and serve as a reference for other regions with similar ecological and hydromorphological conditions and pressure.
Publication details
References11
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