The use of UAV to document sloping landscapes to produce digital elevation models to examine environmental degradation

This paper focuses on the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) over the study area of Pissouri in Cyprus to document the sloping landscapes of the area. The study area has been affected by overgrazing, which has led to shifts in the vegetation patterns and changing microtopography of the soil. The UAV images were used to generate digital elevation models (DEMs) to examine the changes in microtopography. Next to that orthophotos were used to detect changes in vegetation patterns. The combined data of the digital elevation models and the orthophotos will be used to detect the occurrence of catastrophic shifts and mechanisms for desertification in the study area due to overgrazing. This study is part of the "CASCADE- Catastrophic shifts in dryland" project.