Analysis of the Cork Forest of Ben Slimane (Morocco) Using Multi Temporal Images

Abstract

The Istituto Agronomico per l'Oltremare (Italy) holds yearly the professional Course ``Geomatics and natural resources evaluation{''}. During each edition, one-month fieldwork is scheduled. During the 21(st) edition, the fieldwork was set in the Ben Slimane province, approximately 40 kin south-east of Rabat. Inside this area, the Ben Slimane cork oak forest, covering a surface around 12,000 ha, represents a focal point of interest both under the economic and environmental point of view. The main goal of this study is to find out a methodology to distinguish the main vegetation typologies inside this forest, throughout the multitemporal ndvi interpretation of satellite imagery and data collected during the fieldwork. In order to carry out this process, both aerial photographs and satellite images have been analysed. Since one important goal was to detect the changes of vegetation cover throughout different years and seasons, three Landsat7 ETM+ (January, April and August 2000) and one Landsat5 (1985) have been acquired. Ndvi procedure, integrated and validated by field survey, has allowed distinguishing the vegetation cover of the Ben Slimane cork oak forest into three main classes according mostly on the presence and composition of the shrub layer.