Home – Home – Jornals – Chemistry for Sustainable Development 2025 number 2

The dependence of vegetation indices NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index) on the content of pigments in plants was studied at three sites with environmental disturbance: at the territory of diesel fuel spill, in the region of natural oil occurrence, and at a post-fire site. The studies have shown that the stability of plant species against pollution with petroleum products increases in the sequence: sedge < cereals < field horsetail < willow < moss. Determination of interrelation between remotely measured optical characteristics of the vegetation cover and the concentrations of pigments revealed a direct dependence of NDVI and EVI values on the concentrations of pigments in field horsetail and cereals, and inverse dependence for willow, moss, and sedge. In the region of natural oil occurrence under the conditions of pollution with oil, a substantial decrease in total chlorophyll content is observed for wild strawberry, artemisia, and thyme in comparison with the reference conditions. A decreased content of chlorophylls and carotenoids was detected at the post-fire site in padus, and an increased pigment content in dwarf elder, which provides evidence of the higher stability of dwarf elder to the action of high temperatures. The vegetation indices at the post-fire site are substantially lower than at the background (intact) site.