Riflettanza di superfici vulcaniche:la campagna 2003 sul Monte Etna

The results obtained in Mt. Etna spectroradiometric field survey of June 2003 are presented and discussed. The goal of the survey was the analysis of the reflectance properties of the young pyroclastic deposits produced after the effusive activity of 2002-2003 and of the older lava flows. To achieve this goal, a template was created in order to organize the field data collected in a number of selected sites characterised by different surface materials. The results show that reflectance of pyroclastic flows is always very low and constant, besides grain size and composition of the flow. Pahoehoe units show higher reflectance values, even though the spectral characterisation of the older lava flows must take into account weathering products and vegetation coverage

First overview on the 4th Annex I Habitats Report in Italy: methods, criticality, results and future prospects

Like all the other EU/28 countries, in 2019 Italy developed the 4th Italian Report ex-Art. 17 on the conservation status of the Habitats of Annex I to the 92/43/EEC Directive. Institutional referent of the process, on behalf of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection (MATTM), was the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) with the scientific support of the Italian Botanical Society (SBI). A huge working group composed of thematic and territorial experts was formed with the task to collect, analyse, validate the data resulting from Annex I Habitat monitoring in Italy for the period 2013-2018, whose collection is in charge to the regional administrations. Data on 124 types of terrestrial and inland water Habitats present in Italy have been processed in order to assess their overall conservation status in the Biogeographic Regions of occurrence. The carried out activity led to the compilation of 278 assessment sheets. The work included a critical analysis of the data and a broad scientific confrontation aimed at finding methodologically robust solutions to fill the gaps. The work was structured so as to guarantee the traceability of the information and to allow the collection of "gray" literature and scientific articles, phytosociological surveys and unpublished material of the specialists, composing a substantial pool of data useful for starting a long-term process to support the next reporting cycles. Cartographic outcomes, associated databases and additional data used for the assessments will be available online on the ISPRA Portal as soon as the validation process by the European Commission will be completed. A freely accessible online archive of phytosociological surveys representative of the various Annex I Habitats in Italy is being set up within the national "VegItaly" database, managed by the Italian Society of Vegetation Science, by way of a dedicated archive named "HAB_IT". Such a long-term vision, oriented to the storage and enhancement of knowledge, represents an important innovative aspect and a significant progress towards the construction of an effective monitoring system for the conservation of Annex I Habitats in Italy

General features of the Castelporziano test site

The geological, pedological and climatic features of the Castelporziano test site are provided together with the land cover vegetation distribution. They are complemented by some historical information. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd

Mediterranean vegetation analysis by multi-temporal satellite sensor data

A mediterranean vegetated coastal area has been classified on the basis of multi-temporal TM images and accurate field data. The latter was revealed to be particularly important due to the complexity of the area in terms of coverage degree, height structure of living vegetation and the occurrence of under-storey species. The recognition and classification of the different coenosis has taken into account that the spectral characteristics of vegetation depends on the season and on local climatic conditions. A major improvement in the spatial resolution of spectral data has been obtained by merging TM and SPOT-P by a RGB-IHS transformation that allowed an overall accuracy in the classification of 85 per cent to be achieved