Remote sensing and GIS tools for the evaluation of land use effects on coastal waters

A correct urban and land-use planning can be supported by several innovative tools and methodologies. In this paper the potential of remote sensing and GIS technologies have been emphasized. The proposed methodology has been applied to the River Pescara Valley, considered as the appropriate coverage to define environmental features that influence the industrial areas. For this research MIVIS hyperspectral (at a 1500 and 3000 m elevation) images have been used. The obtained images have been georeferenced. From the processing and classification of these images some information layer have been obtained: thematic maps of land-use (industrial areas identification), vegetation conditions, thermal pollution, quality parameters (temperature, organic matter, chlorophyll, sediments) for river and sea waters. Thematic maps obtained from remote sensing have been inserted in a GIS, that means a system to insert, store, integrate, extract, retrieve, manipulate and analyze georeferenced data layers in order to produce interpretable information. Then the data base has been integrated with further information inserted as continuous layers; thematic layers; vector layers; punctual data; attributes. Some specific operators have been applied that allowed to integrate the information contents and therefore to obtain final thematic maps (environmental quality maps, vulnerability and risk maps, visualization of models related to accidental events). The innovative technologies proposed facilitate and optimize the duties required from actual regulations, as for a recent Italian regulation aimed to the verification and research of compatibility of major hazard industrial plants with land-use and environment. Therefore it is useful to develop methodologies supporting industry and Competent Authorities.