Evaluating the Sensitivity of Spectral Indices for Detecting Waste Dumping Sites Using Satellite Imagery
Abdullah Harun Incekara, Dursun Zafer Seker

Tokat Gaziosmanpasa University, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Department of Geomatics Engineering, 60150 Turkiye


Istanbul Technical University, Civil Engineering Faculty, Department of Geomatics Engineering, 34469 Turkiye

Abstract

Waste management is a crucial issue for sustainability. Regular and unregulated waste storage sites need to be monitored for their environmental impacts and mapped for risk assessment. The primary requirement for these processes is the identification of waste storage areas, such as open dump sites. Remote sensing techniques using satellite imagery offer an effective means for such identification. In this study, Normalized Differerence Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Differerence Water Index (NDWI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), and Dump Detection Index (DDI) were applied to Sentinel imagery to detect various dumping sites (both regular and unregulated) across Turkiye. The sensitivity of these indices for detection was examined based on the similarities and differences in reflectance of landfills with different land use and land cover classes. In the application conducted for landfills with known locations, the Dump Detection Index emerged as the more useful index, while other indices were found to be insufficient for initial detection. Indices other than DDI were found to help make potential inferences.

Keywords: Remote sensing, Spectral indices, Waste dumping, Dump Detection Index (DDI)

Topic: Topic B: Applications of Remote Sensing