Assessment of status and trends of olive farming intensity in EU-Mediterranean countries using remote sensing time series and land cover data

For EU-Mediterranean olive groves (Olea europaea), mapped in CORINE, classes of olive farming intensities were derived from the outcome of a multi-temporal remote sensing vegetation dynamics analysis. The management intensity classes were developed in view of a differentiated accounting of olive groves when delineating High Nature Value Farmland areas (HNV) at pan-European level. The remote sensing input data used was the Green Vegetation Fraction (GVF), derived in 10-day intervals from a long-term time series of NOAA AVHRR data. The key physical parameters for the intensity assessment were obtained by parametrization of the observed annual growth cycle. These parameters represent two functional proportions in olive groves, a seasonally changing annual component and a permanent perennial vegetation component, which were interpreted to classify data in three olive farming intensity levels. 27% of the assessed EU-Mediterranean wide olive areas were found to be of very high intensity, 12% were classified as low intensity olive areas and 61% form an intermediate intensity class. Strong intensification was found in Spain, followed by Italy, Greece and Portugal. Most pronounced indications of management changes for the period 1990–2000 were observed for the Spanish provinces Jaen/Cordoba and the Italian province of Bari.