INVESTIGADORES
PIÑEIRO Gervasio
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
A Functional Classification of Natural and Human-Modified Areas of 'Cabo de Gata', Spain, Based on Landsat TM Data
Autor/es:
PIÑEIRO G.; ALCARAZ, D.; PARUELO, J.M.; OYONARTE, C.; GUERSCHMAN, J. G.; ESCRIBANO, P.; CABELLO, J.
Lugar:
Buenos Aires
Reunión:
Simposio; 29th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment; 2002
Resumen:
Abstract – Cabo de Gata is a recently created (1989) Natural Park in south-eastern Spain, the most arid environment of Europe. The aim of this work is to generate a classification of Cabo de Gata based on functional attributes derived from spectral data and to compare it with structural classes of vegetation and soilscape. We composed 3 synthetic spectral layers with a clear biophysical meaning: the short wave radiation albedo, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the surface temperature. We performed an unsupervised classification using these 3 layers derived from a LANDSAT TM image of July 1999. Even though there was a good correspondence between structural and functional units not a single Vegetation Type (VT) or Soilscape Type (ST) was exclusively associated with a functional class. This shows that the majority of the pixels of the different VT or ST presented a similar and characteristic functioning, but that the correspondence between structure and functioning is not absolute. Functional classifications based on remotely sensed data represent an ideal complement of structural descriptions of the landscape and a promising tool to monitor temporal trends of protected areas in semiarid regions such as Cabo de Gata Natural Park.