Spectral reflectance analysis of abandoned agricultural lands in the Central Russian forest-steppe using Sentinel-2 satellite data

The article considers the spectral response of post-agrogenic landscapes in the forest-steppe zone based on Sentinel-2 data. The study was carried out on the territory of the Central Chernozem region. The type of forest that forms on abandoned agricultural land has a statistically significant effect on the spectral response in most Sentinel-2 bands. The reflectance of abandoned lands with deciduous and coniferous species is statistically significantly different in most bands. The reflec-tance of abandoned lands with mixed forests does not differ statistically significantly from other types of post-agrogenic landscapes. The reflectance of abandoned lands is inversely related to their forest cover in most Sentinel-2 bands. The strongest correlation with forest cover is typical for red (Band 4) and SWIR (Band 11, 12) ranges for all post-agrogenic landscape types. In the same bands, there are statistically significant differences between most of forest cover gradations of post-agrogenic landscapes. The established patterns make it possible to use the reflectance in the red (Band 4) and SWIR MSI bands (11, 12) to assess the forest cover of post-agrogenic landscapes.