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oa A Comprehensive Methodological Approach to Assessing War-Induced Soil Disturbances in the Kharkiv Region, Ukraine
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 17th International Conference Monitoring of Geological Processes and Ecological Condition of the Environment, Nov 2023, Volume 2023, p.1 - 5
Abstract
War in Ukraine has already led to devastating soil cover damages, unprecedented in Europe since World War II. Warfare caused physical disturbances and chemical contamination, and led to demise of soil biota and vegetation. The development of a comprehensive methodology for assessing of war-induced soil cover damage is a complex task which has already been properly discussed in the literature. However, there is no applicable comprehensive methodology for soil assessment during or immediately after the war. This paper aimed to present a new methodological approach applied in the affected areas of Kharkiv region. The proposed methodology comprises the following steps: geospatial analysis, field studies, data synthesis and processing, economic assessment and recommendations. The methodology combines various methods, namely remote sensing analysis, cartographic, soil science, geochemical, ecological, geomorphological, economic etc. The results of the analysis are presented in this paper on the example of the Oskilska hromada, which was the most affected by military operations. Within the Oskilska hromada, 187 170 craters (up to 48 m in diameter) have been identified, therefore 27% of agricultural land is at risk to be contaminated by explosives and ammunition fragments.