VEGETATION DEVELOPMENT ANALYSIS USING RADAR SENTINEL-1 IMAGERY IN GRASBERG RECALAMATION AREA PT FREEPORT INDONESIA

• Main Author: Nugraha, Rizki
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/50713
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Grasberg in PT Freeport Indonesia is an open pit mining area that has extreme weather, consisting of two zones, the alpine zone (> 4000mdpl) and the sub alpine zone (2,400-4000mdpl). There are reclamation sites that have vegetation age diveristy in this area. To monitor vegetation conditions in real time, satellite-based remote sensing techniques are commonly used. However, for an extreme climate conditions such as in Grasberg, cloud cover often makes the use of conventional satellite imagery less effective for monitoring vegetation development. One of this solution is the use of radar images that have a microwaves longer than light waves and are able to penetrate clouds cover. Sentinel 1 satellite imagery is a radar image product that has recorded Indonesia's territory since 2015 and has the potential to be used in monitoring the development of reclaimed vegetation in the Grasberg area. This study aims to develop a Radar Vegetation Index model based on Sentinel 1 image data to describe vegetation conditions, analyze the development of vegetation from reclamation sites in Grasberg in 2015-2019, analyze the dynamics of landscapes in Grasberg in 2015-2019. The Radar Vegetation Index Model was built using multiple linear regression methods. The analysis showed that the growth rate of vegetation at young sites (9 years) in the five-year duration was higher than in the older sites (20 years), the growth rate at the reference site which have natural and undisturbed vegetation tended to be low. Next, the model is used to see the dynamics change of the landscape that occurs in the Grasberg area and the results show that in the 2015-2019 period there has been an increase in vegetated land cover by 20,62 ha, a reduction in open area land cover by 20,82 ha and an increase in water cover by 0,20 ha.