The localization of urban heat island in the Katowice conurbation (Poland) using the combination of land surface temperature, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and Normalized Difference Built-up Index

The localization of Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) as a potential heat risk for the urban population was evaluated. The paper aimed to propose an approach to quantify and localize (SUHI) based on Landsat series TM, ETM+, OLI satellite imageries from the period 1996-2018 and recognize the Atmospheric Urban Heat Island (AUHI) effects from long term temperature measurements. Using the theoretical relation between the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the LST (Land Surface Temperature), SUHIintensity and SUHIrisk maps were created from the combination of LST, NDVI, NDBI using threshold values to localize urban heat island in the Katowice conurbation. Negative values of SUHI intensity characterize areas where there is no vegetation, highly built-up areas, and areas with high surface temperatures. The urban grow – revealed from SUHI – and global climate change are acting together to strengthen the global AUHI effect in the region as the temperature measurements were indicated

Application of organic environmental markers in the assessment of recent and fossil organic matter input in coal wastes and river sediments : a case study from the Upper Silesia Coal Basin (Poland)

Various types of coal waste material (fresh, self-heated, soil-covered) and river sediments polluted by coal dust were studied. Characteristic geochemical features of recent vegetation input in river sediments were identified, e.g. the dominance of n-alkanols and n-alkanoic acids over n-alkanes. In the river sediments, several coal-related compounds were also found, e.g. n-alkylbenzenes, acetophenone and methylated phenols. The occurrence of sterols, stanols, vanillin, and methylbenzoic, benzeneacetic, oxalic, succinic and levulinic acids in coal waste samples (with the exception of fresh coal wastes) may indicate primitive soil-forming processes related to vegetation and moss cover. These compounds were also commonly identified in river sediments. Their distribution, characteristic of extant (as opposed to fossil) organic matter, was confirmed by several applied geochemical ratios, such as the EOP index (even-over-odd predominance) of fatty acids, (Σn-alkanoic acid + Σlong chain n-alkanes)/Σshort chain n-alkanes or (Σn-alkanoic acids + Σn-alkanols)/Σn-alkanes and various CPI (carbon preference indexes of n-alkanes)

The Estimation of Lava Flow Temperatures Using Landsat Night-Time Images: Case Studies from Eruptions of Mt. Etna and Stromboli (Sicily, Italy), Kīlauea (Hawaii Island), and Eyjafjallajökull and Holuhraun (Iceland)

Using satellite-based remote sensing to investigate volcanic eruptions is a common approach for preliminary research, chiefly because a great amount of freely available data can be effectively accessed. Here, Landsat 4-5TM, 7ETM+, and 8OLI night-time satellite images are used to estimate lava flow temperatures and radiation heat fluxes from selected volcanic eruptions worldwide. After retrieving the spectral radiance, the pixel values were transformed into temperatures using the calculated calibration constants. Results showed that the TIR and SWIR bands were saturated and unable to detect temperatures over the active lava flows. However, temperatures were effectively detected over the active lava flows in the range ~500–1060 ◦C applying the NIR-, red-, green- or blue-band. Application of the panchromatic band with 15 m resolution also revealed details of lava flow morphology. The calculated radiant heat flux for the lava flows accords with increasing cooling either with slope or with distance from the vent

Self-heating coal waste fire monitoring and related environmental problems : case studies from Poland and Ukraine

The self-heating of coal waste dumps is considered as a serious environmental issue, wherever active or inactive coal mining has been present. This issue is introduced from two active coal mining regions from Poland (Upper Silesian Coal Basin) and Ukraine (Donetsk Coal Basin) based on mineralogy, organic petrography and geochemistry, and remote sensing techniques. Thermally affected coal wastes reveal changes recorded by organic and mineral matter. Irregular cracks and fissures appear within and at the edges of organic matter particles, which are oxidised, devolatilised and plasticised. Mineral phases underwent oxidation, dehydration, structure rebuilding and recrystallisation. Highest temperatures generated during the fire cause melting and paralava formation. During selfheating, some chalcophile elements like Hg (mostly present as HgS), Pb, Zn can be enriched and released, or different organic pollutants like phenols (originated from vitrinite particles), different PAHs with alkyl substitutes, chlorinated PAHs, or sulphur heterocycles are formed. The introduced remote sensing techniques helped to localise and monitor hot spots with different temperature ranges. Applying SWIR bands of Landsat hot spots from extremely burning dumps in Ukraine were successfully localised, however, only night-time scenes with SWIR can be used. The sun’s disturbing effects should be considered as an influential factor for both thermal imaging camera or satellite images. Thermal cameras can reveal the most detailed signs of low to high temperature anomalies with different cracks and line shapes

Self-Heating Coal Waste Fire Monitoring and Related Environmental Problems: Case Studies from Poland and Ukraine

The self-heating of coal waste dumps is considered as a serious environmental issue, wherever active or inactive coal mining has been present. This issue is introduced from two active coal mining regions from Poland (Upper Silesian Coal Basin) and Ukraine (Donetsk Coal Basin) based on mineralogy, organic petrography and geochemistry, and remote sensing techniques. Thermally affected coal wastes reveal changes recorded by organic and mineral matter. Irregular cracks and fissures appear within and at the edges of organic matter particles, which are oxidised, devolatilised and plasticised. Mineral phases underwent oxidation, dehydration, structure rebuilding and recrystallisation. Highest temperatures generated during the fire cause melting and paralava formation. During self-heating, some chalcophile elements like Hg (mostly present as HgS), Pb, Zn can be enriched and released, or different organic pollutants like phenols (originated from vitrinite particles), different PAHs with alkyl substitutes, chlorinated PAHs, or sulphur heterocycles are formed. The introduced remote sensing techniques helped to localise and monitor hot spots with different temperature ranges. Applying SWIR bands of Landsat hot spots from extremely burning dumps in Ukraine were successfully localised, however, only night-time scenes with SWIR can be used. The sun’s disturbing effects should be considered as an influential factor for both thermal imaging camera or satellite images. Thermal cameras can reveal the most detailed signs of low to high temperature anomalies with different cracks and line shapes

Selected ions and major and trace elements as contaminants in coalwaste dump water from the Lower and Upper Silesian Coal Basins (Poland)

Many temporary and permanent reservoirs of water occur on or near coal-waste dumps in the Lower- and Upper Silesian Coal Basins (Poland). Little or nothing is known of the degree to which their water chemistry might reflect (i) reservoir type, i.e., whether permanent or temporary, (ii) level of coal-waste thermal activity, i.e., whether inactive or self-heating or burnt-out or (iii) region, i.e., whether the dumps are in Upper- or Lower Silesia. To provide some answers, concentrations of selected ions (NH4 ?, HCO3 -, F-, Cl-, Br-, NO2-, NO3 -, PO43-,SO4 2-) were determined by ion chromatography and of nineteen elements (Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, P, Pb, S, Si, Sr, Zn) by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The data allow a number of the following observations. When permanent reservoirs are considered, there is a clear relationship between concentrations of ions and major and trace elements and dump thermal activity. The highest concentrations occur where the thermal activity is high as inorganic components are transformed into more water-soluble forms. As dump thermal activity shows a regional pattern, it follows also that elemental and ion concentrations in the dump waters show significant regional differences. In temporary reservoirs, concentrations of ions and major and trace elements are much lower and any correlations between components less significant than in the permanent reservoirs; these reservoirs exist for too short a time for any balance between coal wasteand water components to be established

Using radar interferometry and SBAS technique to detect surface subsidence relating to coal mining in Upper Silesia from 1993-2000 and 2003-2010

In the presented research ERS1-2 and Envisat ASAR archive data were used for the periods 1993 – 2000 and 2003 – 2010. The radar images were acquired over Upper Silesia in southern Poland. DinSAR (Differential InSAR) and SBAS (Small Baseline Subset) methods were applied for the detection of the most subsided areas. The DinSAR images were layer stacked for an image using 26 interferometry pairs of ERS1-2 SAR and 16 pairs from Envisat ASAR images in an ascending-descending orbit combination. The stacking of these images showed the most subsided parts of these cities even under low coherent areas, but the results are less precise. In the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, intensive underground coal exploitation has resulted in several surface deformations under Bytom (~8-17 km2), Piekary Śląskie (~9-15 km2), Ruda Śląska (~32-42 km2) and Katowice (~20-23 km2) with 25-40 cm of subsidence (in general) in the studied time periods. The SBAS technique has also shown that coal mining caused subsidence in the cities of Bytom, Katowice, and Piekary Śląskie of 5-7 cm/yr. The presented SBAS method did not work for low coherent areas, e.g. dense forested areas. DInSAR data also pointed to several decreasingly less active mining areas, which relate to the mine closures in Bytom and Ruda Śląska, which is also verified by the time series analysis

Patterns of Recent Changes in Channel Morphology and Flows in the Upper and Middle Odra River

Our research introduces the river regulation effects on three sections of the upper and middle Odra River (south-western Poland), with differently channelized parts. In the upper and lower reaches, the river was straightened, narrowed, and trained with groins, whereas in the middle section, it was also impounded by numerous barrages. The discharge duration (DD) and water stage duration (WSD) curves for water-gauge stations from these river sections were analyzed to recognize changes in river flows and channel morphology since the mid-20th century. This analysis is supplemented by an examination of repeated surveys of the gauge cross sections of the river, annual precipitation totals in its catchment, and their relationship to the variation of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. Our findings provide new hydrological insights for the region. The three river sections exhibited different patterns of the adjustment of the channel morphology to the river channelization: upper section was typified by channel incision, middle section by channel stability, and lower section by channel incision in its upper part and vertical stability of the channel bed in the lower part. Barrages in the middle section stabilized water stages in a wide range of hydrological conditions. Annual precipitation totals and river run-off did not change systematically over the study period. The variation in precipitation totals was inversely related to annual values of the NAO index. The study confirms the usefulness of DD/WSD curves to analyze changes in river run-off and the vertical position of the channel bed

Anthropogenic influences on the morphodynamics of the upper Odra channel

The aim of the studies presented in this article was a multifaceted approach to the problem of the processes of river adjustments to new conditions created by channel regulation. The Upper Odra channel has been significantly shortened by meander cut offs and locally by channelization. The influence of those changes on channel morphodynamics and the pattern of bedload transport were calculated. Pre-regulation channel geometry was reconstructed and the channel stability and bedload transport were characterized and compared with the present state. Also the flow duration curves (FDC) for the characteristic water stages and for the average discharges were plotted and analyzed to assess vertical channel bed movement. By comparing the behavior of natural channel sectors (both, present and fossil) to channelized and sectors shortened by cut offs it was possible to understand the intensity of changes depending on a way of channel regulation. The range of post regulation changes in bedload transport and channel stability was also calculated for the functioning, unregulated sector of the Odra channel. Flow duration curves reflect steady channel incision while the protected river banks prevent the channel from lateral movement. In order to achieve lateral stability, which is unnatural for meandering rivers, the Odra channel is totally remodelled and the new geometry and flow conditions created. The morphological response to the training works was channel incision and accelerated bedload transport

Application of satellite images analysis to assess the variability of the surface thermal heat island distribution in urban areas

One of the elements of the urban plans for adapting to climate change is to identify the range the urban heat island (UHI). To a relatively rare ground station network air temperature, one of the possible methods to identify this phenomenon in cities is the analysis of satellite images, and in particular the thermal images surface cities in conjunction with the land-use structure. In the publication is presented the application of indirect methods of determining surface characteristics of heat island in the cities of Upper Silesia Agglomeration on the basis of the analysis of the thermal images from the satellite Landsat for the period 1986-2016. It presents ways to interpret these images depending on the needs of determination the areas sensitive to the impact of the (UHI) and define the areas where adaptation actions to the climate change should be undertaken