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Sustainable land management is one of the key actions for the achievement of objectives set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In particular, land represents a fundamental resource to address issues of climate change, biodiversity preservation, maintaining ecosystem services, and at the same time ensuring shared prosperity and well-being. Therefore, it is necessary to activate strategies to monitor changes in land use and land cover in order to evaluate strategies for proper management. To do this, the new open source geospatial analysis tools and the increasing availability of remote sensed open data can allow the activation of methodologies for monitoring changes in land use and land cover in order to provide data usable in other research areas or, for example, to implement a decision support system for environmental sustainability. In this study, a GIS approach based on open remote sensing data has been used to perform a spatial analysis of land cover changes within the Basilicata region (Southern Italy) that is spatially expeditious yet accurate. The results showed a very evident land transformation with important repercussions on the environmental components. The ease of use of techniques makes this methodology replicable in other territory and can be used as a preliminary approach to sustainable development model.

Geosites, a precious and nonrenewable geosphere resource, constitute a wealth from educational, scientific, naturalistic and cultural points of view, capable of expressing an economic potential proportional to their tourist appeal (Bentivenga 2015). This study is part of an important methodological framework: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005), an international project that defines and quantifies ecosystem services (ES) and assesses changes and their consequences on human well-being. The methodology, which is progressively becoming as a cognitive support aimed at the environmental sizing of territorial policies, is considered particularly effective in assessing the impacts of choices associated with different land use scenarios as well as to protection and/or valorization policies. Adequate tool development for sustainable governance passes through a planning activity based on the integration of ecological, economic and sociopolitical elements within an interdisciplinary framework, to which the ecosystem analysis is able to provide important evaluation elements (Cowell and Lennon Environ Plann C Politics Space 32:263-282, 2014). According to MEA (2005), ES are grouped into four categories: supply, regulatory, support and cultural services. Starting from that, this work contributes to build an interpretative model for the evaluation of a relevant part of the fourth class: the territorial tourist attractiveness of the Basilicata region considering location and spatial distribution of the 113 regional geosites surveyed by ISPRA. Two different GIS-based methodologies have been applied to the context of the Basilicata region: the first based on linear geographical regression and the second through the use of InVEST, an open source suite. Comparing the results is useful to improve regional tourist attractiveness connected with territorial distribution of natural resources.

The analysis of 4 year In-SAR Interferometry images and a detailed geomorphological survey have been carried out to detect a large Deep-Seated Gravitational Slopes (DSGSD) affecting the urban area of the Episcopia village, in Southern Italy. The DSGSD largely develops within phyllites of the Liguride Units and, in the upper slope, within Pleistocene sand and conglomerate deposits of the Sant'Arcangelo Basin. Field survey has shown trenches at the top and an evident bulge at the base of the DSGSD, corresponding to the Talweg of the Sinni River. Geological and geomorphological field surveys allowed us to hypothesize a listric geometry of the DSGSD subsurface plane reaching about 700 m of depth. Furthermore, the multi-temporal In-SAR Interferometry analysis collected from November 2014 to May 2017 revealed that a ground deformation of +/- 30 mm was occurred, and the process is still active in the whole area.

European Commission in 2009 assessed that in the period 2015–2030 about 11% of agricultural land in the EU are under high potential risk of abandonment due to factors, which has strong and known environmental and socio-economic consequences. The diverse impacts of abandonment need to be addressed via a broader set of policy instruments to alleviate the negative effects or even - reverse the trends in the early stages of the process. The clear identification of abandoned agricultural land is fundamental for a correct mapping for the future management and monitoring of the territories. In this context, this study proposes an innovative method for the detection and mapping of abandoned arable land through the use of remote sensing techniques and geo-statistical analysis. The combined use of Sentinel 2 images and the Landsat constellation, the use of NDVI index and change detection analysis made it possible to identify the change in agricultural use and/or abandonment of land in the eastern part of the Basilicata region in the period 1990–2020. (Italy). All process has been developed integrating Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS), using open-source software.

Italy is a geologically complex and relatively young territory that is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters (i.e., earthquakes, flooding, landslides). In particular, landslide activity is considered one of the most relevant processes shaping the Italian peninsula, often closely affecting urban and industrial areas and infrastructures. Landslide activity in southern Italy strongly influenced the development of urban areas by controlling the shape and the areal extend of the urban settlements. In this paper, we propose a multidisciplinary approach capable of assessing the correlation between landslides and the spatial distribution of urban fabric. To this aim, we consider as case studies, the two municipalities of Pisticci and Corleto Perticara, in the Basilicata region in southern Italy, that strongly differ for the geological contexts and landslide types. The evolution in time of the landslide activity and the shape variations of the two considered settlement systems is described in terms of shape index from 1950 to 2006. Starting from the description of the two study areas, from both the geological and the urban point of view, the shape index will be calculated. Eventually, the results obtained will be compared with the perimeters of the urban centers defined by the respective urban planning regulations.

Up to nowadays, satellite data have become increasingly available, thus offering a low cost or even free of charge unique tool, with a great potential for quantitative assessment of urban expansion and urban sprawl, as well as for monitoring of land use changes and soil consumption. This growing observational capacity has also highlighted the need for research efforts aimed at exploring the potential offered by data processing methods and algorithms, in order to exploit as much as possible this invaluable space-based data source. The work herein presented concerns an application study on the process of urban sprawl conducted with the use of satellite ASTER data. The selected test site is highly significant, being it a coastal zone (with the presence of sand and rocks) characterized by a fragmented ecosystem and small towns, with an increasing rate of urbanization and soil consumption. In order to produce synthetic maps of urban areas, ASTER images were classified using two automatic classifiers, Maximum Likelihood (MLC) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs) applied by changing setting parameters, with the aim to compare their respective performances in terms of robustness, speed and accuracy. All process steps have been developed integrating Geographical Information System and Remote Sensing, and adopting free and open source software. Results pointed out that the SVM classifier with RBF kernel was generally the best choice (with accuracy higher than 90%) among all the configurations compared, and the use of multiple bands globally improves classification. One of the critical elements found in this case study is given by the presence of sand and sand mixed with rocks. The use of different configurations for the SVMs, i.e. different kernels and values of the setting parameters, allowed us to calibrate the classifier also to cope with a specific need, as in our case, to achieve a reliable discrimination of sand from urban area. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Landscape preservation in Italy is a major issue in national cultural heritage conservation policies. Urban settlements growth is among the most threatening factors for the correct landscape preservation. Such phenomenon may result in corrupting the correct landscape-system functioning, particularly when the development occurs without precise planning prescriptions. Land-use/cover evolution dynamic is a subject widely and thoroughly investigated, especially concerning consumption of natural and other lands due to anthropogenic activities. This paper focuses on a region in southern Italy, where soil consumption is known to represent a urging matter of concern. However, although the negative impacts of soil consumption are well known, to our knowledge there are no case studies presenting a precise quantitative assessment of the intensity of such phenomenon for the region of interest. Furthermore, this study aims at forecasting the development of urban settlements through the application of the cellular automata model SLEUTH; the case study concerns the Municipality of Altamura (Apulia region, Italy). Results highlight how current landscape preservation instruments alone cannot ensure a reduction in soil consumption phenomenon and how urban areas expansion is incompatible with a correct landscape conservation in the study area.

The investigations conducted previously on the Nasca puquios, with particular reference to those systematically performed by Schreiber and Lancho Rojas (1995), Schreiber and Lancho Rojas (Los puquios de Nasca: un sistema de galerias filtrantes. Editorial Los Pinos, Lima, 1998), Schreiber and Lancho Rojas (Aguas en el Desierto. Los puquios de Nasca. Fondo Editorial, Lima, Peru, 2006), have had the merit of placing the theme of Nasca water management in the center of debate on the ancient Nasca world. Water has become the crossroads of all the other research lines focused on the influence of environment and climate on the Nasca culture, as well as on the geoglyphs, ceremonial architecture, and settlements. In this cultural framework, some studies based on multitemporal, multiscale, and multisensor analyses have been performed in the Rio Grande de Nasca drainage in order to investigate the interaction between the puquios and environmental conditions, as well as to improve knowledge of the local environmental settings. Herein we present and discuss the investigations, based on the integration of remote sensing, GIS -based analyses, and geophysical prospecting, in the framework of the ITACA mission of the Italian CNR. Outputs from satellite-based investigations, along with all the information already available from previous studies, were the input data used in the statistical spatial analyses and geophysical prospecting. The main findings provided information useful to: (i) improve the current knowledge on the puquios at both intra-site and inter-site levels and their relationship with environmental and human settings, (ii) identify unknown puquios, (iii) and support planning for subsequent archaeological excavations. As a whole, the investigations based on the adopted integrated approach provided new insights into this hyper-arid area which has been the homeland for numerous civilizations, despite the extreme physical environment that presents serious obstacles to human occupation.

The aim of this work is to use spatial analysis to study relationships between environmental parameters and archaeological sites in the Santa Cruz province (Patagonia, Argentina) and to develop an analysis protocol that could reveal including and excluding factors, useful for the research and the discovery of new archaeological sites on the territory. Consequently, a model that considers interactions between sites and some parameters such as the elevation, the slope, the aspect, the landforms, the land use and the distances from water was constructed. Moreover a final sensibility map was produced, that wants to help the archaeologist to know, in every point in the space, how many and which are parameters that could increase the probability to find new archaeological sites and that are survey priorities on the study region. Fil: Danese, M.. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Italia Fil: Cassiodoro, Gisela Eva. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina Fil: Guichon, Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina Fil: Goñi, Rafael. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; Argentina Fil: Masini, Nicola. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Italia Fil: Nolé, Gabriele. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Italia Fil: Lasaponara, Rosa. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; Italia

The negative impacts of land take on natural components and economic resources affect planning choices and territorial policies. The importance of land take monitoring, in Italy, has been only recently considered, but despite this awareness, in the great part of the country, effective monitoring and containment measures have not been started, yet. This research proposes a methodology to map and monitor land use changes. To this end, a time series from 1985–2010, based on the multi-temporal Landsat data Thematic Mapper (TM), has been analyzed in the Vulture Alto-Bradano area, a mountain zone of the Basilicata region (Southern Italy). Results confirm a double potentiality of using these data: on the one hand, the use of multi-temporal Landsat data allows going very back in time, producing accurate datasets that provide a phenomenon trend over time; on the other hand, these data can be considered a first experience of open data in the field of spatial information. The proposed methodology provides agencies, local authorities and practitioners with a valuable tool to implement monitoring actions. This represents the first step to pursue territorial governance methods based on sustainability, limiting the land take.

Landuse/cover evolution dynamic is a subject widely and thoroughly investigated, especially concerning consumption of natural and other lands, due to anthropogenic activities. This paper focuses on a region in southern Italy, where soil consumption is known to represent a urging matter of concern. However, although negative impacts of soil consumption are well known, to our knowledge there are no case studies presenting a precise quantitative measurement of the intensity of such phenomenon for the region of interest. This study aims at forecasting the development of urban settlements through the application of the cellular automata model SLEUTH; the first region to be investigated has been the Municipality of Altamura (Apulia region, Italy). This area has been used as a pilot case study to explore many difficulties and advantages in applying such a methodology to the whole southern Italian region. The final goal was to frame and populate an atlas of soil consumption in southern Italy, which intends to offer useful support to sustainable planning and policies.

Satellite time series offer great potential for a quantitative assessment of urban expansion, urban sprawl and for monitoring of land use changes and soil consumption. This study deals with the spatial characterization of expansion of urban areas by using spatial autocorrelation techniques applied to multi-date Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite images. The investigation focused on several very small towns close to Bari. Urban areas were extracted from NASA Landsat images acquired in 1976, 1999 and 2009, respectively. To cope with the fact that small changes have to be captured and extracted from TM multi-temporal data sets, we adopted the use of spectral indices to emphasize occurring changes, and spatial autocorrelation techniques to reveal spatial patterns. Urban areas were analyzed using both global and local autocorrelation indexes. This approach enables the characterization of pattern features of urban area expansion and it improves land use change estimation. The obtained results showed a significant urban expansion coupled with an increase of irregularity degree of border modifications from 1976 to 2009.