ASSESSMENT OF URBAN POLLUTION ON THE BASIS OF REMOTE SENSING AND FIELD STUDIES

Two geographers outline methods for the joint use of surface geochemical and space-based remote sensing surveys in the study of air pollution in urban areas, with emphasis on the situation in Irkutsk Oblast. The focus is on the use of indicators of snowcover pollution in early spring. Remote sensing imagery is used both to identify zones where ground-based geochemical studies are to be performed, and to generate (spectral) data supplementing ground-based geochemical information in the identification of zones of maximum pollution (mapped for particular pollutants). Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1998, No. 2, pp. 11-16.