Land-parcel land-use history as a key to site selection for documenting soil contamination risk: A case study from Australian Suburbia |
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| Authors: | Yu Jie Ursula Pietrzak Jim Peterson |
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| Institution: | School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering , Wuhan University , Wuhan , China |
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| Abstract: | In that orcharding in early-to-mid twentieth century southeastern Australia involved use of certain heavy metal and As compounds in regular pest-control spray procedures, some interest attaches to the possibility that these landparcels are underlain by’ soils with above-background Cu, Pb and As levels. Interpretation of Land-cover changes allowed land parcels previously occupied by orchards to be identified in the 1950s through time-series air-photos. A comparison of soil analysis results referring to soil samples from control sites, and from land parcels formerly occupied by orchardists, shows that contamination (above-background) levels of cations in the pesticides can be found in the top 6 cm of former orchard soils. It is clear that digital spatial data handling and culturally-informed air photo interpretation has a place in soil contamination studies, land-use planning (with particular reference to re-development) and in administration of public health. |
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| Keywords: | aerial photography digital orthophoto image soil contamination soil analysis land-use planning public health |
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