In recent years, Ukraine has been affected by climate change. This has led to frequent extreme weather events (heavy / high rains, floods, droughts, squalls). As a result of droughts, desertification is one of the most dangerous and transient consequences of modern climate change. The research is devoted to the diagnostic assessment of the modern climate of Ukraine. Remote sensing data and instrumental observations of 30 weather stations of Ukraine were used. Temperature increase was registered in the study area by all stations, which significantly affected the level of precipitation. At the moment there is not enough moisture for the Earth’s surface. Precipitation in Ukraine is currently characterized by an uneven distribution. It leads to accelerated processes of soil degradation and it’s fertility loss. The aim of the study was to identify areas prone to desertification using satellite imagery and meteorological observations. Over the past 17 years (2000-2017), the average air temperature in Ukraine has increased by 1.5 ºC. Particularly anomalous warming has been recorded in recent years, starting in 2015. During the XXI century, a slight decrease in precipitation was observed in Ukraine. Both a decrease in precipitation and an increase in temperature may lead to a decrease in soil moisture levels. According to ground meteorological data, the tendency of dryness in Ukraine was confirmed. Lack of water leads to prompt manifestation of this process. Water indexes were used to estimate the moisture content of surface soils. It is possible to assess the susceptibility of the desert area to climate change. Relevant quantitative information on water availability in Ukraine is provided. Two water indices (Normalized Difference Infrared Index NDII and Ratio Drought Index RDI) have been taken estimate the moisture content. It can be estimated from the MODIS MOD13C2 product data obtained from the MODIS satellite sensor and used for regional research. The main conclusion of this study is to determine the changes in natural terrestrial ecosystems in Ukraine. This was shown on the basis of temperature and humidity. Such trends may lead to changes in the biodiversity of the territory and loss of natural soil properties.

The article is devoted to the assessment of the economic losses of Ukraine in 2022 as a result of armed conflict based on the analysis of remote sensing data. Today, under conditions of war in Ukraine, there are growing crises in the economic, social, natural, and other spheres of society. Under these conditions, there is a growing need for objective operational monitoring and assessment of the direction of changes in the economy and social sphere of life of the population. That is why the purpose of the study was chosen to evaluate the possibilities of using the VIIRS thermal imager data installed on the Suomi NPP satellite about the night illumination of the territory to monitor the socio-economic development of Ukrainian regions during military operations. The data from the Suomi NPP satellite for March 2021 (pre-war period) and 2022 (during the period of military aggression) were used for the study. Methodologically, the quantitative indicator chosen is the total light intensity (TLI), namely, the sum of the illuminance values of all pixels on the territory of each of the regions of Ukraine. It was found that the value of the total night illumination of the administrative regions of Ukraine depends on the number of settlements in the region, the development of industry and transport network, as well as the area of the administrative area. In addition, the intensity of illumination of the methodology of J. Vernon Henderson is closely related to an important indicator of economic activity—electricity consumption. The article presents statistical and illustrative results of the analysis of night illumination from the Suomi NPP/VIIRS satellite of the administrative regions of Ukraine for March 2021, and 2022. Analysis of the results showed that the value of the ratio of night light for March 2021, and 2022 vary in a wide range from 0.84 to 21.2. On average, the value of the change in the night light index for March 2021 and 2022 for all regions of Ukraine is 6.04. Such changes in nighttime illumination can be explained both directly by combat operations and by the observance of light camouflage, the introduction of curfew during martial law in Ukraine, as well as the small industrial and economic development of the economy in some regions of Ukraine and the low level of spatial concentration of the population. The novelty of this study is the improvement, based on the use of materials from the SNPP/VIIRS satellite with greater spatial resolution, of the previously developed nighttime illumination methodology and its practical application during active warfare.

Air pollution (especially near industrial enterprises that are located mainly in densely populated regions) is one of the most significant problems of modern ecology. The purpose of this research is to study nitrogen dioxide air pollution over Ukraine, which has a negative impact on human health. As part of the research over the territory of Ukraine, the real planar distribution of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) as well as its local emissions (which make the main contribution to this distribution) were revealed using the materials of the remote sensing of the Earth from the AURA satellite. The results were calculated for the multi-year period of 2005 through 2021 and separately for 2022, which characterized the full-scale war in Ukraine and which made it possible to identify priority polluters; namely, industrial enterprises (thermal power plants, heavy metallurgy enterprises, etc.). For 17 years, the average value of NO2 was 160.78 · 102 molecules/mm2; in 2022, its concentration decreased to 126.93·109 molecules/mm2. The war manifested itself due to the shutdown of industrial enterprises, which were (and remain) priority polluters in Ukraine (particularly in large cities).

A bstract: Five different data fusion techniques (multiple linear regression (MLR), high-pass filtering (HPF), intensity hue saturation (IHS), wavelet transformation (WT) and the hybrid method WT + IHS) have been applied to model the aboveground forest biomass (AGB) in this study. The RapidEye multispectral image and the PALSAR radar image were used in research as sources of remote sensing data. Five models for estimating forest AGB were built and analysed using data from test area in Chernihiv region (Ukrainian Polissya). Correlation and min–max accuracy have been calculated for each model to measure the model performance. Among all the data fusion approaches used in the study, the high-pass filtering method has shown the greatest efficiency.

In March, 2020 World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic phenomenon. Beginning from the March, 12 2020 the quarantine restrictions have been introduced in Ukraine. The measures of global quarantine reducing industrial production and transportation have not led to the reduction in fluctuations of greenhouse gases. This study was dedicated to reveal distributions of CO2 and NO2 gases in the atmosphere for Ukraine. The gases were detected using the remote sensing data. The results show that NO2 emissions have been reduced during the quarantine restrictions accompanied by declining industry and transport activity. It is not significant decrease in CO2 content in the atmosphere, as it depends on both anthropogenic and natural factors.