Trend Definition of Soil Consumption in the Period 1994–2014 - Municipalities of Potenza, Matera and Melfi

Abstract

Soil consumption often shows a temporal trend that seems to be disconnected from the real territory needs. In this study the phenomenon is analyzed in some areas of the Basilicata Region (South of Italy) that, on average, are characterized by a low increase in economic activities and a negative demographic trend. The implemented procedure aims to detect the land consumption within some of the most representative municipalities of the Basilicata region, in this case Potenza, Pignola, Melfi and Matera, in order to meet the ISPRA (The Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, ISPRA - Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale) guidelines, which provide for zeroing of land consumption by 2050. Also the Basilicata Region is affected by this phenomenon and it is fundamental to analyze the trend of variations and relate it to the economic activities and the demographic trend on the municipal territory, as each of these parameters can help to evaluate the state of art and improve the tools available to the planner with a view to current and future territory management. The analysis is performed by using Landsat images, that allow to access a historical database of over 30 years, thanks to which it was possible to obtain maps of land consumption for the years 1994, 2004 and 2014, using a supervised classification algorithm (SVM). The next step is to implement data obtained with other statistical information, available through ISTAT (National Italian Statistical Institute) censuses and other accredited sources.