As a geological engineer, you are assigned to identify a site using remote sensi

Question

As a geological engineer, you are assigned to identify a site using remote sensing for the development of a landfill in Nome, Alaska.

Clearly describe the steps, the method and the constraints that you would use to identify potential sites for the landfill. Please be specific about the various elements (e.g., sensor, resolution, etc.) that you would utilize in aid of the investigation and justify those clearly. Define clearly the steps in image processing/enhancement that may be utilized in your site identification. Any tools you may use should also be justified.

Briefly discuss how your analysis could be extended to a global context and how it would impact or would be impacted in global, economic, environmental, and societal context. You may provide several specific examples to justify your answer.

Explanation / Answer

Landfill sites receive 92 % of the total annual solid waste. Landfill siting is an extremely difficult task because site selection depends on different factors and regulations. Landfill siting is an extremely difficult task because site selection depends on different factors and regulations. To identify appropriate landfill sites, 19 input map layers, including proximity to urban areas, proximity to wells and water table depth, geology and topography, proximity to touristic and archaeological sites, distance from the road network, distance from drainage networks, land slope, and so on, were used in constraint mapping.  A final map was created identifying potential sites suitable for the location of a landfill. The selection of the final landfill site, requires field research.  In addition, a combination of design, construction, operations management, monitoring, remediation, and post-closure management measures need to be considered to deal with the range of potential environmental impacts for a given site.

A land?ll must be situated and designed so as to meet the necessary conditions for preventing pollution of the soil, groundwater or surface water. Similarly, a land?ll site should be kept as far away as possible from population density, for reducing pollution impact on public health. On the other hand, the land?ll site should be placed as close as possible to existing roads for saving road development, transportation, and collection costs. Furthermore, difficult or steep terrains are not appropriate for hosting land?lls.

distance from urban areas, roads network, touristic & archaeological sites, wells, drainage network, water table, Geology, and land slope map were used to identify potential sites for the landfills.

1. Distance from urban areas: The land?ll site should not be placed near a residential or an urban area, to avoid adversely affecting land value and future development and to protect the general public from possible environmental hazards released from land?ll sites. In the same time, it should not be located too far to avoid extra transportation costs and environmental pollution.

2. Distance from archeological sites: A land?ll site should not be placed on a site close to historic/cultural/scenic sites. A buffer zone of 500 m from such sites should be used.

3. Proximity to wells: A land?ll must not be located near wells, wetlands, nor should it be on shallow

4. Proximity to water table: The study area’s soils are made of sandy substrate, with no low permeability clay or silt layers to protect groundwater. The groundwater table is relatively shallow being 5-15m BGL (below ground level).

5. Land slope: The slope for constructing a land?ll is about 5– 15% because too steep of a slope would make it dif?cult to construct and maintain and too ?at of a slope would affect the runoff drainage.

6. Proximity to drainage networks: A land?ll must not be located near drainage channels, wells, wetlands or coastlines. A land?ll must not be located within 100 m of drainage channels.

7. Distance from roads network: Aesthetic considerations would be for good planning, and based on land?lls shall not be located within 1000 m of any major highways and city streets. On the other hand, the land?ll site should not be placed too far away from existed road networks, to avoid the expensive cost of constructing connecting roads.

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