Eco-climatic classification of Tuscany through NOAA-AVHRR data

Abstract

Eco-climatic classifications have proved to be of great utility for the planning and management of various agricultural and forestry activities. Since the usual methods are often expensive and not easy to apply, remote sensing data processing has recently been proposed to identify ecologically homogeneous land units. NOAA AVHRR data in particular have been demonstrated to be suitable for this purpose thanks to their spatial resolution and frequent acquisition. While most works in this field have dealt only with NDVI imagery, it has been suggested that thermal and ancillary data could also bring significant information. These considerations have been kept in mind during the present study, which concerns the eco-climatic classification of a complex Italian Region by the use of NOAA NDVI and thermal images from two years in addition to ancillary data. A complete methodology was developed for the processing of this integrated data set with particular reference to the identification of the suitable numbers of main and sub-classes. The final output was compared to existing climatic and land use information about the region. The substantial agreement between these sources testifies to the eco-climatic value of the product obtained.