Mapping the yearly extent of surface coal mining in Central Appalachia using Landsat and Google Earth Engine.

ABSTRACT: Surface mining for coal has taken place in the Central Appalachian region of the United States for well over a century, with a notable increase since the 1970s. Researchers have quantified the ecosystem and health impacts stemming from mining, relying in part on a geospatial dataset defining surface mining's extent at a decadal interval. This dataset, however, does not deliver the temporal resolution necessary to support research that could establish causal links between mining activity and environmental or public health and safety outcomes, nor has it been updated since 2005. Here we use Google Earth Engine and Landsat imagery to map the yearly extent of surface coal mining in Central Appalachia from 1985 through 2015, making our processing models and output data publicly available. We fi

SUBMITTER: Pericak AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6059389 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature