Characterizing Time-Series Roving Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining Activities in Indonesia Using Sentinel-1 Data

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Masahiko Nagai¹  Masayuki Sakakibara²  Satomi Kimijima² 

[1] Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, Ube 755-8611, Japan;Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan;

关键词: alluvial mining;    artisanal and small-scale gold mining;    Indonesia;    landcover change;    remote sensing;    synthetic aperture radar;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph19106266

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The rapid growth of roving mining camps has negatively influenced their surrounding environment. Although artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a major source of gold production, the mining activities and their activeness are not well revealed owing to their informal, illegal, and unregulated characteristics. This study characterizes the transformations of roving camp-type ASGM (R-C-ASGM) activities in Central of Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, from 2015 to 2021 using remotely sensed data, such as the time-series Sentinel-1 dataset. The results show that the growth of active R-C-ASGM sites was identified at the center of the Galangan mining region with expansions to the northwest part along the Kalanaman River, especially in 2021. Hence, these approaches identify the transformations of roving mining activities and their active or nonactive status even in tropical regions experiencing frequent heavy traffic rainstorms. They provide significant information on the socioenvironmental risks possibly caused at local and regional levels. Our results also inform the design of timely interventions suited to local conditions for strengthening environmental governance.

【 授权许可】

Unknown