The basic principles on the use of satellite images of different resolution to assess the state of natural soil and plant communities with severe human impacts, primarily atmospheric. Researchers give now various signs of change of qualitative and quantitative structure of vegetation under technogenic loading. However all of them have essential shortcomings that demands continuation of researches in the field for the purpose of increase of reliability of allocation of zones of a breaking of plant communities in an operative mode.
The basic principles on the use of satellite images of different resolution to asses s the state of natural soil and plant communities with severe human impacts, primarily atmospheric. The main features include load manmade the atmospheric accumulation of pollutants in the snowpack, changes in the state of soil and reduction of the projective cover of trees and shrubs as compared with background areas with negative long-term dynamics.
The main research objective was monitoring and assessment of terricolous and plant cover condition in forest ecosystems influenced by industrial pollution by the Severonickel Industrial Plant, which impact zone covers 1.4 thousand sq. km. During an expedition to the Murmansk Region samples of upper soil layers and plants were taken in areas directly affected by atmospheric impact from OAO Severonickel both at various distances from the plant and in background territories. This will help to determine the overall degree of soil contamination at various distances from the plant as well as distribution of heavy metals accumulated in various soil layers and a complex estimation of adverse impact on soil cover and various plant species.
The paper presents result of monitoring toxic technogenic massifs of the OJSC «Mikhaolovskiy GOK» Company and the LLC «Severonickel» Company. Their technogenic influence on various environmental components is assessed. New reliable environmentally-safe and economically efficient ways of technogenic massif reclamation are suggested based on formation of protective screens made of polymer materials sintered with the massif rocks. An optimal screen formation technology is selected as the result of research carried out in test areas.
The study presented in this article was conducted in the area of Monchegorsk and was aimed at determining the mechanisms and assessing the degree of environmental disturbance and pollution in the process of production activities of the Severonickel Plant. The results of the study of the degree of transformation and the probability of migration of polluting components from waste at the open solid waste storage site due to hypergenic processes are presented. The high acid potential of solid waste is proved, which at relatively small volumes of infiltration water causes significant damage to surface waters due to the global problem. Damaged waters are the only source of drinking water supply in the area of Monchegorsk. The paper also proposes a system of monitoring and assessment of the state of soil and vegetation cover in forest ecosystems impacted by the Severonickel Plant.
Severonickel Combine is one of the largest enterprises in the Kola Peninsula, processing Cu-Ni raw materials to produce non-ferrous metals and precious metal concentrates as end products. The industrial activities of the Severonickel Combine have a noticeable negative impact on the vast territory of the Murmansk Region, and the area characterized by a very high level of soil pollution occupies 1400 km 2 . During the expedition to the Murmansk Region in summer 2005, control samples were collected from the upper soil horizons in the areas exposed to the direct atmospheric impact of JSC Severonickel, at various distances from the Combine and in the background areas. This will make it possible to determine the overall degree of soil contamination at different distances from the enterprise, as well as the distribution of accumulated heavy metals in different horizons. Sample areas of vegetation in the form of phytomass of woody, shrub-grass and moss-lichen circles were sampled. The conducted studies will allow to give a comprehensive assessment of the negative impact on soil cover and different types of vegetation.
In the course of practical research in the zone of influence of the metallurgical industry enterprise "Boksitogorsk alumina" in Boksitogorsk the sizes of the real zone of negative influence of the enterprise were obtained. They practically on a row exceed those obtained by theoretical calculations according to the OND-86 methodology, universally applied for calculation of atmospheric air pollution in the Russian Federation. Many residential, agricultural and forestry lands are located in the zone of negative impact of the enterprise. This substantiates the necessity to conduct engineering and environmental studies in the impact zones of large enterprises of the mineral and raw materials complex.
