URBAN GREENING FOR LEAD SOILS POLLUTION CONTROL IN A RUSSIAN INDUSTRIAL CITY: THE USE ISOTOPE SIGNATURES ANALYSIS AND REMOTE SENSING

Abstract

This study aims to understand the assessment using NDVI analysis and lead isotopic ratio for helping informed decision-making process in the urban soil pollution aspects for Chelyabinsk, Russia. We used new combination of two modern approaches to study of industrial city urban greening such as (1) Pb-isotope approach for identification of pollution sources; (2) remote sensing-based analysis of urban landscape and urban forest using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We observed spatial variations in the NDVI calculated from Landsat satellite-observed data. The study was conducted in Chelyabinsk urban areas with different anthropogenic pressures. We used several new criteria for assessing the degree of geochemical transformation and pollution of the urban environment, and for identification of Pb pollution sources. Our results reveal that the polluted sites had a lower NDVI than the intact sites. We have identified typical mistakes in the urban areas greening and proposed modern strategies for increasing green cover in Chelyabinsk.