Exploring the Use of Sentinel-2 Data to Monitor Heterogeneous Effects of Contextual Drought and Heatwaves on Mediterranean Forests

Rosa Coluzzi, Simonetta Fascetti, Vito Imbrenda, Santain Settimio Pino Italiano, Francesco Ripullone and Maria Lanfredi
Additional contact information
Rosa Coluzzi: IMAA—CNR (Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis—Italian National Research Council), c.da Santa Loja snc, 85050 Tito Scalo (PZ), Italy
Simonetta Fascetti: School of Agricultural, Forest, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, I-85100 Potenza, Italy
Vito Imbrenda: IMAA—CNR (Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis—Italian National Research Council), c.da Santa Loja snc, 85050 Tito Scalo (PZ), Italy
Santain Settimio Pino Italiano: School of Agricultural, Forest, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, I-85100 Potenza, Italy
Francesco Ripullone: School of Agricultural, Forest, Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Basilicata, Viale dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, I-85100 Potenza, Italy
Maria Lanfredi: IMAA—CNR (Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis—Italian National Research Council), c.da Santa Loja snc, 85050 Tito Scalo (PZ), Italy

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: The use of satellite data to detect forest areas impacted by extreme events, such as droughts, heatwaves, or fires is largely documented, however, the use of these data to identify the heterogeneity of the forests’ response to determine fine scale spatially irregular damage is less explored. This paper evaluates the health status of forests in southern Italy affected by adverse climate conditions during the hot and dry summer of 2017, using Sentinel-2 images (10m) and in situ data. Our analysis shows that the post-event—NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) decrease, observed in five experimental sites, well accounts for the heterogeneity of the local response to the climate event evaluated in situ through the Mannerucci and the Raunkiaer methods. As a result, Sentinel-2 data can be effectively integrated with biological information from field surveys to introduce continuity in the estimation of climate change impacts even in very heterogeneous areas whose details could not be captured by lower resolution observations. This integration appears to be a successful strategy in the study of the relationships between the climate and forests from a dynamical perspective.

Keywords: Sentinel-2; in situ data; NDVI; extreme climatic events; Mediterranean forest vulnerability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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