Detecting invasive woody increment in agricultural areas with Earth Observation technology

Abstract

In the continental climate regions of the EU, one of the largest environmental and conversational problems is caused by the spread of invasive plant species, especially in agriculturally abandoned regions. Several species of the rapidly spreading and to the native vegetation supplanter plant can be a cause of ecologic and health risk. Some species change the physical structure and chemical composition of the soil, affect the microclimate, thereby contributing to climate change processes. Summing up, invasive species affect agricultural landscapes significantly. The common feature of the belonging species is that they spread rapidly and develop a significant amount of biomass in a short time. In the course of our research we worked out a remote sensing and GIS method, which localize efficiently the infected areas, and we utilized this method in the Northern Transdanubia, to extract the information of woody increment in agricultural regions