Checking vegetation changes with remote sensing: The case of the Trieste province (North-East of Italy)

The main objective of this study is to monitor the main vegetation changes in the Trieste province (North-East of Italy) between 2000 and 2017. We applied remote sensing methods to nine different images acquired during the observed period. To each satellite scene, we applied a vegetation index (EVI - Enhanced Vegetation Index) suitable to the physical characteristics of the studied landscape and to the sensors that acquired the images. The EVI values of each scene have been classified using class intervals and connected to four different land cover classes. Later, change detection analysis was also applied to the thematic map time series. The final result was numerical evidence of the changes in each class (sq. km) during the observed period and a thematic map showing the territorial distribution of the main changes between the first and the last image (2000 and 2017). We observed a widespread, almost scattered increase in the highest class of vegetation (wood) in the considered period.