Analysis of plasticulture landscapes in Southern Italy through remote sensing and solid modelling techniques

Abstract

The use of plastic covers for protecting cultivation in wide rural areas sets remarkable technical problems connected with the effects that large extensions of agricultural land covered with continuous cladding material may determine on aesthetic pollution of the rural landscape and on negative environmental impacts on water cycle, air and agricultural soil of the agro-ecosystem. In this paper, techniques based on remote sensing have been used for an analysis of the rural land use in terms of application of plastics in protected cultivation, in a study area located in Southern Italy near the coastline of the Jonian Sea, where the utilization of plastics in agriculture is widespread. The analysis has been realized using multitemporal Landsat TM images through Supervised classification, image processing, vectorialization and GIS tools. The results enabled the creation of a routine for the auto-detection of the plastic covers. The variation in the visual perception of the agricultural land was examined through a GIS software and a three-dimensional land modelling with solid extrusion and an overlap of the photographic images reproducing plastic-covered protected crops. The results of these simulations could be used for monitoring the variation of rural land use and supporting sound policies of landscape and environmental planning. Through a multi-variate approach to the analysis of environmental and landscape impacts, the concept of a “threshold” limit for the quantity of plastic-covered agricultural structures was proposed, and possible modification of texture and colour of the cladding material mitigating the aesthetic and environmental impact were evaluated.