Ovcharenko A. Indicative landscape monitoring of protected areas (case study of Slobozhanskyi National Nature Park

The purpose of the study is to determine the indicative landscape objects of the national nature park (NNP) for the conditions of the Left Bank Forest-Steppe, built on the complex application of key ground observations and indications on space images, the selection of optimal methods of their processing for compiling a database of the landscape structure of facies in the study area for landscape monitoring. In order to achieve the purpose there were established the following tasks: 1.Compilation and approval of a set of experimental studies in a systematic combination of ground surveys and modern geoinformation technologies for the processing of remote sensing data in relation to the landscape conditions of the Left Bank Forest-Steppe. 2.Determination of indicative objects, monitoring of their dynamics and self-organization in the conditions of regional climate trend and anthropogenic pressure. 3.Creation of a map-hypothesis of the study area and revision of selected contours in the area based on a complex of studies. 4.Comparative analysis of suitability of Landsat-8, Sentinel-2 and PlanetScope space images for indicative analysis. 5.Scientific synthesis: mapping, comprehensive assessment and determination of ways to optimize the structure and the state of the area based on landscape monitoring data. 6.Establishment of limitations on the use of the approach, system of methods and actual material of remote scanning and GIS technologies. The natural object of the study is the area of Slobozhanskyi NNP which is typical for the Left Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. The scientific object is the landscape structure of the area at the facies level. The subject of the study is indicative landscape objects at the facies level which can be used to monitor negative trends in the landscape structure and the state of the most vulnerable locations. The scientific novelty of the obtained results is as follows. First-ever: ₋ the concept of indicative landscape monstoring at the facies level has been developed and the algorithm for its implementation by ground-space surveying has been proposed; ₋ the concept has been worked out and the methodology for determination and identification of indicative landscape objects has been defined through the comprehensive analysis of space geodata of different physical nature (spectral ranges of visible and infrared wavelengths and different resolutions) in combination with precise landscape surveying of key objects (using GPS and smartphone applications NextGis, ArcPad, ArcGis for Windows Mobile); ₋ indicative objects and methods of their identification on the area have been studied through special processing of data by supervised and unsupervised recognition software; ₋ the selection has been justified and the methods of processing Landsat-8, Sentinel-2, PlanetScope space images have been studied in detail: a comparative selection of ranges and resolutions, indicative in their properties and research opportunities for different areas, complex differentiated use of the mentioned materials; ₋ the improved methodology for designing a landscape map-hypothesis has been applied (remotely, with automatic recognition using an overlay analysis based on the relief, the presence of wetland locations and the state of plant communities). Improved: -The technique of landscape mapping (facies level) and compilation of a database of different time surveys to trace changes during the studied period. Received further development: ₋ methodical principles of landscape studies of protected areas using space geodata directly in field landscape surveying. Factual material: space surveys of the area by Landsat-8, Sentinel-2 and PlanetScope satellites, the medium-scale landscape map, geological, soil and geobotanical maps from the project of Slobozhanskyi NNP; materials of large-scale field landscape surveys of the area of the NNP performed by the postgraduate and student research unit (with the participation of the author). Applied methods: field landscape surveying (route and square in certain key areas); automatic classification of landscape allotments by supervised and unsupervised methods; semi-automatic design of a landscape map-hypothesis; visualization of spatial digital geodata and comparative automatic image analysis; vectorization and identification of images in field conditions and by overlay analysis; vectorization of a complex of features and its application for detection and tracking of changes of indicative facies over time. A significant volume of comparative experimental research on the suitability for the established tasks and the possibilities of using data from Sentinel-2, Landsat-8, and PlanetScope space surveys was presented. To address those properties which are not transmitted through electromagnetic waves and therefore are not recorded by scanners, an overlay analysis.