SPACE IMAGERY IN THE STUDY OF INDUSTRIAL IMPACTS ON NORTHERN VEGETATION: DIFFICULTIES AND UNRESOLVED PROBLEMS

Abstract

A comparative analysis is made of materials from four groups of researchers—Russian, British, Norwegian, and Finnish—who have used space imagery to study industrial impacts on northern vegetation in the vicinity of Monchegorsk. The problems encountered by the groups included variable survey weather conditions, the strong influence of seasonal changes, differences in the physiognomy of the vegetation, and the inapplicability of impact indicators used in one region to another.