Characterization and change monitoring of semi-natural vegetation communities in Sardinia

A key indicator for monitoring degradation and desertification processes in the Mediterranean Basin is the condition of semi-natural vegetation types and agricultural land uses over time. Better characterisation and estimates of floristic composition, cover and structure are required for larger areas, e.g for comparing existing vegetation maps, model derived potential vegetation and actual vegetation, for identifying rates of vegetation change and finally environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs). We have taken into consideration a study area, which is deeply studied and mapped to verify correspondence, utility and possibility of integration of different remotely sensed data and analysis methodologies, such as: Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA), photointerpretation of air-photographs and enhanced satellite imagery, Spectral Angle Mapper (applied to digitised colour air-photographs).