Landsat TM imagery and NDVI differencing to detect vegetation change: assessing natural forest expansion in Basilicata, southern Italy
By G. Mancino, A. Nolè, F. Ripullone, A. Ferrara. 2014
142 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Abstract: The NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) differencing method using Landsat Thematic Mapping images was implemented to assess natural expansion of forests in the Basilicata region (southern Italy) for the period 1984 through 2010. Two Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) images (1984-2010) were georeferenced and geographically corrected using the first order polynomial transformation, and the nearest neighbour method for resampling. The images were radiometrically corrected using the dark object subtraction model. The pre-processed Landsat TM images were used to calculate NDVI, and subsequently for NDVI differencing. Finally, a threshold for vegetation change detection was identified by visual analysis of Landsat TM RGB band composition, and ratios and visual comparison of digital aerial orthophotos. The methodology was validated using ground-truth observations over the study area. The applied method showed 91.8% accuracy in detection of natural forest expansion. During the examined period, total regional forest cover increased by 19.7% (70154 ha), consistent with National Forest Inventory data (1984-2005). The observed forest expansion was also examined in relationship with landscape physical characteristics and distribution of vegetation types in the Basilicata region. Surprisingly, considerable forest expansion also occurred on degraded soils in drought-prone Mediterranean areas.
Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Media Technology
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/119f3836bab46772e1397d32061e4f47a3ad9195
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In Ecology
In Global and Planetary Change
In Media Technology
Citations in the corpus
- Fostering natural forest regeneration on former agricultural land through economic and policy interventions (2020, background): “Within the Basilicata region of southern Italy, approximately 70 154 ha of forest regenerated on abandoned agricultural lands and pastures from 1984 to 2010 (Mancino et al 2014).”