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.