Assessment of the dynamics of the state of the soil cover structure of the Belarusian Polesie geosystems based on remote sensing data

The study is devoted to issues of the soil cover structure state dynamics in the Belarusian Polesie geo- systems. The identification of key sites and test validation polygons within them is based on optical remote sensing data (Landsat 5 MSS/TM, Landsat 7 ETM+, and Landsat 8/9 OLI TIRS) with a spatial resolution of 30 m from 1998 to 2024, the normalized vegetation index NDVI calculated on this basis, land information system data, and the soil-ecological and natural-amelioration zoning of the Belarus territory.

The research results showed that optical wavelength data, as well as their derivatives in the form of vegetation indices, can serve as a basis not only for identifying test polygons but also for assessing the state of the soil cover structure in the spatiotemporal aspect using statistical methods. The identified extremes of the NDVI are explained by both the soils productive capacity of the Belarusian Polesie region and the heterogeneity of the soil cover structure, resulting in heterogeneity in land use patterns, orographic features in unreclaimed areas, and the impact of large-scale hydrotechnical reclamation. The geosystems dynamics as an overall state and the land use sctructure within them are identified by the group of soil mesocombinations groups (alternation of larger groups of elementary soil areas expressed on the mesorelief), as well as their conjunctions.

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