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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 30, NO. 2, 1069, doi:10.1029/2002GL015514, 2003

Multiresolution spatial characterization of land degradation phenomena in southern Italy from 1985 to 1999 using NOAA-AVHRR NDVI data

M. Lanfredi

Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, INFM, Unita' di Napoli, Italy
Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale, IMAAA-CNR, Potenza, Italy


R. Lasaponara

Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale, IMAAA-CNR, Potenza, Italy


T. Simoniello

Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Fisica dell'Ambiente, Università della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy


V. Cuomo

Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, INFM, Unita' di Napoli, Italy
Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale, IMAAA-CNR, Potenza, Italy
Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Fisica dell'Ambiente, Università della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy


M. Macchiato

Istituto Nazionale per la Fisica della Materia, INFM, Unita' di Napoli, Italy
Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, Università “Federico II” di Napoli, Italy


Abstract

NOAA-AVHRR images (1985–1999) at full spatial resolution (1.1 km2) were exploited for studying land degradation phenomena in Southern Italy. We analyzed the spatial map of the correlation coefficient between NDVI and time by using wavelet transform. Multiscale aggregations of negative trends were searched for detecting spatially diffused phenomena of decrease in vegetation activity. The analysis mainly selects an extended area in a region considered vulnerable to desertification. Our results indicate that multiresolution AVHRR/NDVI analysis can be very useful for monitoring the complex spatio-temporal dynamics of vegetation activity in landscapes characterized by heterogeneity scales similar to those of Southern Italy.

Published 25 January 2003.

Index Terms: 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing; 1809 Hydrology: Desertification; 1694 Global Change: Instruments and techniques.

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Citation: Lanfredi, M., R. Lasaponara, T. Simoniello, V. Cuomo, and M. Macchiato (2003), Multiresolution spatial characterization of land degradation phenomena in southern Italy from 1985 to 1999 using NOAA-AVHRR NDVI data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30(2), 1069, doi:10.1029/2002GL015514.