Land Cover and Vegetation Coverage Changes in the Mining Area—A Case Study from Slovakia

Dealing with landscape changes in space and time is an important activity in terms of the process of future development of the selected area. In particular, it is necessary to focus on territories that are exposed to the effects of extraction activities. The main objective of the paper was the mapping of spatio-temporal changes in the landscape in connection with the extraction of minerals due to mining activities on the landscape using satellite images and data from the Corine land cover (CLC) database in the environment of geographic information systems. The selected study area is specific to the presence of four mineral deposits (three of which are under active mining). The Rohožník-Konopiská deposit was abandoned and the area was subsequently reclaimed. The study used Corine land cover (CLC) data and Landsat 5, 7, 8 satellite images for selected years in the period 1990–2021. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was calculated for vegetation cover analysis, which was further combined with the forest spatial division units (FSDU) layer. Areas in the immediate vicinity of the open-pit mine were selected for detailed analysis of vegetation changes. Using the FSDU data, an average NDVI index value was calculated using the Zonal statistics function for each plot. The results showed that over the selected period there have been changes indicating an improvement in the landscape condition by reclamation operations at two deposits, Rohožník-Konopiská (inactive) and Sološnica-Hrabník (active). The analyzed CLC data detected the change at the Rohožník-Konopiská deposit, but the active deposit Sološnica-Hrabník was not detected in these data. The loss of vegetation on the other two deposits is mainly due to pre-mining preparatory work, which causes the removal of soil and vegetation layers

Changes in the Country and Their Impact on Topographic Data of Agricultural Land—A Case Study of Slovakia

Due to natural phenomena as well as human activities, changes are occurring in land use. Techniques and environment GIS have made it possible to process large amounts of data from various sources. In Slovakia, mapping of topography and elevation is being carried out as part of the elaboration of land readjustment projects. This is also a starting point for updating estimated pedologic-ecological units (EPEUs). Therefore, it is necessary to make efforts to harmonize the real state of the country with the data stored in the EPEU database, which are the basis for spatial analyses in the country and the creation of price maps. The EPEU system was built in the 1970s; however, only after 1990, due to changes in ownership and user conditions of the land, did it begin to seriously address the issue of updating data. This study examines selected sources of altimetry data, especially airborne laser scanning (ALS), and their potential role in processing purpose maps and harmonizing boundary curves and slope and exposure characteristics at a stable 5-position EPEU local code. Based on the obtained results, the use of ALS data and the Digital Terrain Model (DTM) derived from them may lead to the streamlining of some processes in terms of planning and decision-making regarding land use, even outside the context of the ongoing land reforms in the Slovak Republic

Proposal of a New Approach for Protected Deposit Area Registration in Public Administration Information Systems—A Case Study from Slovakia

Perception of the meaning and wider context in recording important information about objects that represent strategically valuable data is the basis for increasing their value and binding in order to strengthen their credibility. In recent years, emphasis has been placed on digitization and electronic data collection and their interpretation, which ensures the promotion of real-world objects. The protection of mineral wealth and the creation of protected deposit areas (PDAs) is often limited to an analogue form of documentation ensuring the raw material potential of that country. The often inefficient and insufficient way of managing data in public information systems (ISs) and their subsequent use in the customary procedural stages of other decision-making procedures of state authorities leads to the loss of relevant information in connection with such protected areas. This paper on specific studies emphasizes the need to use and follow procedures in strengthening the Slovak national concept based on data and technical compatibility supporting the exchange of information, which will support the expansion of the IS environment with data in connection with the protection of mineral wealth in the form of PDAs. As a result of the existing legislation and historical background, it is necessary to comprehensively evaluate the contexts that fundamentally enter into the content of data in the ISs of individual institutions recording fundamental information about objects in connection with the protection of deposit areas. The methods used and the analysis of input data on PDAs from the relevant information systems pointed to insufficient and incomplete records and presentation of data regarding PDAs. In this document, a solution is proposed which, as a result, consolidates the disparate way of registering PDAs and presents an organizationally more profitable way of exchanging data. It was found that only modern ISs and their filling with data, respecting the rules and principles of standardization, prioritizing the content of established, and validly reflecting data, are a high-quality basis for an interoperable environment containing the necessary information, for example, in the establishment of three-dimensional records