Monitoring the vegetation stress coming from anthropogenic activities by modeling phenology using Sentinel-2 data

Abstract

The study aimed at verifying the existence of stress induced on the functionality of natural ecosystems by particularly impacting anthropogenic activities. In detail, a methodology has been developed to evaluate any alterations in the phenology of plant species in areas surrounding sites defined by Italian legislation as “potentially polluted”. Specifically, the study areas located in Basilicata (southern Italy) were intended for municipal solid waste management activities and, at some stage of their management, Potential Toxic Elements (PTEs) concentrations were recorded above the thresholds permitted by the current legislation. The phenological trends of the vegetation were analyzed at gradually increasing distances from the centroid of the sites and then compared with points of the same type of vegetation, very distant from the sites, in areas that were not reasonably impacted by any contamination. The reconstruction of the phenological trends was carried out using Sentinel-2 images approximately on a monthly basis from which the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was evaluated. Finally, the trends between areas adjacent the sites and unpolluted ones were statistically analyzed using dissimilarity indices which led to the conclusion of the non-existence of effects induced by PTEs on the functionality of the vegetation.