ASSESSMENT OF THE DYNAMICS OF THE AREA AND CONDITION OF FORESTS IN OIL PRODUCTION AREAS BASED ON SATELLITE IMAGES USING THE EXAMPLE OF THE SAMOTLORSKOE FIELD

V. I. Kravtsova, M. V. Zimin, E. R. Chalova

 

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography

Leninskie Gory 1 bldg. 12, Moscow, 119234, Russian Federation

E-mail: valentinamsu@yandex.ru

Received: 02.06.2025

Revised: 08.11.2025

Accepted: 04.12.2025

 

Oil field development in forested areas has a significant impact on forests. Field development involves clearing the area for oil production sites, creating facilities for primary oil processing, and pipelines for its transportation. Oil production development at an already developed field is associated with oil losses during accidents at production sites and oil pipelines and vegetation degradation at oil spill sites. Both aspects — forest area reduction and vegetation degradation in oil production areas — determine the relevance of their research using space images. The work is based on the example of a site at the Samotlor field in Western Siberia. The research material is modern space images from the WorldView-3 satellite in 2019 and 2022, and a 1980 general topographic map. Research methods include determining forest areas using the 1980 map and 2019 images; interpreting oil spills using space images. obtaining spectral radiance graphs for areas with different types of degraded vegetation within spills and for similar types of vegetation outside spills, in natural conditions, using images obtained in the year of the spill and three years later. As a result, 3-fold reduction in the forest area of the study area since 1980 was revealed. The spectral radiance curves of degraded vegetation obtained from WorldView-3 images, compared to natural vegetation, are characterized by a decrease in the NIR1 maximum of up to 60% for shrub vegetation and up to 80% for forest vegetation. A repeat survey three years later showed a decrease in these differences, recording partial natural restoration of vegetation.

Кeywords: anthropogenic impact, oil spills, forest degradation, self-healing, satellite images

REFERENCES

Abrosimov A. V., Belenov A. V., Bragin E. A., Sovmestnyj proekt kompanii «Sovzond» i NAC RP im. V. I. Shpil’mana – novoe slovo v kosmicheskom kontrole nedropol’zovanija i prirodopol’zovanija (A joint project of the Sovzond company and the Shpilman NAC for RP is a new word in space control of subsurface use and environmental management), Geomatika, 2009, No 4, pp. 64–80.

Achard V., Fabre S., Alakian A., Dubucq D., Deliot P., Direct or indirect on shore hydrocarbon detection methods applied to hyperspectral data in tropical area, Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications IX. SPIE, 2018, Vol. 10790, pp. 172–181, DOI: 10.1117/12.2325097

Arellano P., Tansey K., Balzter H., Boyd D. S., Detecting the effects of hydrocarbon pollution in the Amazon forest using hyperspectral satellite images, Environmental Pollution, 2015, Vol. 205, pp. 225–239, DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2015.05.041

Astapov A. P., Braduchan Ju. V., Borovskij V. V., Voronin A. S. et al. Gosudarstvennaja geologicheskaja karta Rossijskoj Federacii. Masshtab 1:1000 000 (tret’e pokolenie), Serija Zapadno-Sibirskaja, List R-43-Surgut, Ob’jasnitel’naja zapiska, (State geological map of the Russian Federation at a scale 1:1000,000 (third generation), West Siberian series, Sheet R-43-Surgut. Explanatory note, Sankt-Peterburg, Kartfabrika VSEGEI, 2012, 342 pp.

Chizhov B. E., Les i neft’ Hanty-Mansijskogo avtonomnogo okruga (Timber and oil of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug), Tjumen’: Izd-vo Mandriki, 1998, 144 p.

Cloutis E. A., Spectral reflectance properties of hydrocarbons: remote-sensing implications, Science, 1989,  No. 245, pp. 165–168, DOI: 10.1126/science.245.4914.165

Horig B., Kuhn F., Oschutz F., Lehmann F., HyMap hyperspectral remote sensing to detect hydrocarbons, International journal of remote sensing, 2001, Vol. 22, pp. 1413–1422, DOI: 10.1080/01431160120909

Kazanceva M. N., Vlijanie neftjanogo zagrjaznenija na taezhnye fitocenozy Srednego Priob’ja (Influence of oil pollution on taiga phytocenoses of the Middle Ob region), Avtoref. diss. kand. biol. nauk: 03.00.16, Ekaterinburg, 1994, 26 p.

Kosmicheskie metody geojekologii (Space methods of geoecology), Moscow, Izd-vo Mosk. un-ta, 1998, 104 p.

Kravcova V. I., Zimin M. V., Issledovanie jevoljucii uchastkov neftjanyh razlivov po kosmicheskim snimkam vysokogo razreshenija na primere Samotlorskogo mestorozhdenija (Investigation of the evolution of oil spill sites based on high-resolution satellite images using the example of the Samotlor field), Aktual’nye problemy nefti i gaza, 2023, Vol. 1, No 40, 2023, pp. 45–66.

Kühn F., Oppermann K., Hörig B., Hydrocarbon Index – an algorithm for hyperspectral detection of hydrocarbons, International Journal of Remote Sensing, 2004, Vol. 25, pp. 2467–2473, DOI: 10.1080/01431160310001642287

Lassalle G., Elger A., Credoz A., Hedacq R., Bertoni G., Dubucq D., Fabre S., Toward quantifying oil contamination in vegetated areas using very high spatial and spectral resolution imagery, Remote Sensing, 2019, Vol. 11, No 19, p. 2241, DOI: 10.3390/rs11192241

Moskalenko N. G., Antropogennaja dinamika rastitel’nosti tundr i taezhnyh zon (Anthropogenic dynamics of vegetation of tundra and taiga zones). In: Antropogennye izmenenija jekosistem Zapadno-Sibirskoj gazonosnoj provincii (Anthropogenic changes in ecosystems of the West Siberian gas-bearing province), Tyumen: In-t kriosfery Zemli, 2006, pp. 61–96.

Moskovchenko D. V., Neftegazodobycha i okruzhajushhaja sreda. Jekologo-geohimicheskij analiz Tjumenskoj oblasti (Oil and gas production and the environment. Ecological and geochemical analysis of the Tyumen region), Novosibirsk, Nauka, Sibpredprijatie RAN, 1998, 112 p.

Nacional’nyj atlas Rossii (National Atlas of Russia), Vol. 2, Priroda. Jekologija (Nature. Ecology), Moscow, 2007, p. 331.

Ovechkina E. S., Kratkij analiz raspredelenija rastitel’nosti Nizhnevartovskogo rajona (A brief analysis of the distribution of profits in the Nizhnevartovsk District), Aktual’nye voprosy nauki i praktiki XXI v. (Current issues of science and practice in the 21st century), Proceedings of the 3rd International Scientific and Practical Conference, Nizhnevartovsk, November 27-30, 2016. Nizhnevartovsk: Nauka i praktika, 2016, pp. 110–117.

Ozigis M. S., Kaduk J. D., Jarvis C. H., Mapping terrestrial oil spill impact using machine learning random forest and Landsat 8 OLI imagery: a case site within the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2019, Vol. 26, No 4, pp. 3621–3635, DOI: 10.1007/s11356-018-3824-y

Pizhankov I. N., Har’kina M. A., Pizhankova E. I., Tehnogennaja transformacija jekologo-geologicheskih uslovij pri razrabotke neftjanyh mestorozhdenij i transportirovke nefteproduktov (na primere uchastka Neftejuganskogo rajona, Zapadnaja Sibir’) (Technogenic transformation of ecological and geological conditions during the development of oil fields and transportation of petroleum products (on the example of the site of the Nefteyugansk region, Western Siberia)), Tehnosfera (Technosphere), Proceedings of the 1st All-Russian Scientific Conference with International Participation «Technosphere» (September 17-18, 2024), FGBOU VO «KubGTU», Krasnodar, Izdatel’skij Dom – Jug, 2024, pp. 134–137.

Podkoshnikova S. V., Sushchenya V. A., Izmeneniye rastitel’nosti bolota Samotlora pod vliyaniyem inzhenernykh sooruzheniy (Changes in the vegetation of Samotlor swamps under the influence of engineering structures), Izvestia AN SSSR. Seriya geograficheskaya, 1981, No 4, pp. 47–56.

Skarjatin V. D., Tihomirova O. M., Ispol’zovanie i obrabotka dannyh distancionnogo zondirovanija pri izuchenii nefte- i gazonosnyh rajonov Zapadnoj Sibiri (The use and processing of remote sensing data in the study of oil and gas-bearing regions of Western Siberia), In: Ajerokosmicheskij monitoring ob”ektov neftegazovogo kompleksa (Aerospace monitoring of oil and gas facilities), Moscow, Nauchnyj mir, 2012, pp. 435–441.

Soromotin A. V., Vozdejstvie dobychi nefti na taezhnye jekosistemy Zapadnoj Sibiri (The impact of oil production on the taiga ecosystems of Western Siberia), Tjumen’: TGU, 2010, 320 p.

Zubajdullin A. A., Samovosstanovlenie narushennyh fitocenozov na neftezagrjaznennyh uchastkah suhodolov i verhovyh bolot (Self-healing of disturbed phytocenoses in oil-polluted areas of dry lands and upland marshes), Nauka i obrazovanie HMAO – XXI veku (Science and education of Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug – XXI century), Collection of abstracts of District Conference of Young Scientists and Specialists. Surgut, SurSU, 2000, pp. 23–26.