Integration of In Situ and Sentinel-2 Data to Assess Soil Quality in Forest Monitoring: The Case Study of the Vesuvius Fires

The climatic conditions in southern Italy favor the occurrence and spread of forest fires, with severe long-lasting consequences on the local flora and fauna. On the one hand, biological and chemical <i>in situ</i> measurements are typically used to accurately investigate the evolution o...

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Main Authors: Lucia Santorufo, Massimiliano Gargiulo, Valeria Memoli, Giulia Maisto, Rossella Barile, Giuseppe Ruello
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Fire
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/3/99
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author Lucia Santorufo
Massimiliano Gargiulo
Valeria Memoli
Giulia Maisto
Rossella Barile
Giuseppe Ruello
author_facet Lucia Santorufo
Massimiliano Gargiulo
Valeria Memoli
Giulia Maisto
Rossella Barile
Giuseppe Ruello
author_sort Lucia Santorufo
collection DOAJ
description The climatic conditions in southern Italy favor the occurrence and spread of forest fires, with severe long-lasting consequences on the local flora and fauna. On the one hand, biological and chemical <i>in situ</i> measurements are typically used to accurately investigate the evolution of the land affected by fires, with limited spatial coverage. On the other hand, Remote Sensing (RS) is a mature technology to complement the <i>in situ</i> campaigns on large regions with adequate revisit time. In this paper, we evaluate the capability of Sentinel-2 data to spatially and temporally extend post-fire <i>in situ</i> analysis on a fire-affected area. In particular, we estimate the soil quality index from Sentinel-2 data and achieve a remarkable coefficient of determination (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>2</mn></msup><mo>=</mo><mn>0.79</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) and low relative error (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>e</mi><mi>r</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><mn>0.06</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>), highlighting the robustness of the proposed approach. Furthermore, the soil water content and the total iron (Fe) concentrations emerged as pertinent indicators detectable through Near-Infrared and Short-Wave Infrared Sentinel-2 bands. The obtained results prompted an investigation into the post-fire evolution of soil properties, thanks to RS data, in a large area covered by diverse vegetation types. The obtained results encourage a deeper synergic use of <i>in situ</i> and remotely observed data, enabling a comprehensive understanding of soil quality dynamics in fire-affected regions.
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spelling doaj-art-b302fc20727a4c4f828736d63ecd8ddd2025-08-20T03:43:22ZengMDPI AGFire2571-62552025-02-01839910.3390/fire8030099Integration of In Situ and Sentinel-2 Data to Assess Soil Quality in Forest Monitoring: The Case Study of the Vesuvius FiresLucia Santorufo0Massimiliano Gargiulo1Valeria Memoli2Giulia Maisto3Rossella Barile4Giuseppe Ruello5Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, NA, ItalyEarth Observation Systems and Application (AOTD), Italian Aerospace Research Centre (CIRA), 81043 Capua, CE, ItalyDepartment of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, NA, ItalyDepartment of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, NA, ItalyVesuvius National Park, Via Palazzo del Principe c/o Castello Mediceo, 80044 Ottaviano, NA, ItalyDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (DIETI), University Federico II, 80125 Naples, NA, ItalyThe climatic conditions in southern Italy favor the occurrence and spread of forest fires, with severe long-lasting consequences on the local flora and fauna. On the one hand, biological and chemical <i>in situ</i> measurements are typically used to accurately investigate the evolution of the land affected by fires, with limited spatial coverage. On the other hand, Remote Sensing (RS) is a mature technology to complement the <i>in situ</i> campaigns on large regions with adequate revisit time. In this paper, we evaluate the capability of Sentinel-2 data to spatially and temporally extend post-fire <i>in situ</i> analysis on a fire-affected area. In particular, we estimate the soil quality index from Sentinel-2 data and achieve a remarkable coefficient of determination (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>2</mn></msup><mo>=</mo><mn>0.79</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>) and low relative error (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>e</mi><mi>r</mi></msub><mo>=</mo><mn>0.06</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>), highlighting the robustness of the proposed approach. Furthermore, the soil water content and the total iron (Fe) concentrations emerged as pertinent indicators detectable through Near-Infrared and Short-Wave Infrared Sentinel-2 bands. The obtained results prompted an investigation into the post-fire evolution of soil properties, thanks to RS data, in a large area covered by diverse vegetation types. The obtained results encourage a deeper synergic use of <i>in situ</i> and remotely observed data, enabling a comprehensive understanding of soil quality dynamics in fire-affected regions.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/3/99soil quality indexremote sensingSentinel-2fires monitoringminimum datasetsoil chemical analyses
spellingShingle Lucia Santorufo
Massimiliano Gargiulo
Valeria Memoli
Giulia Maisto
Rossella Barile
Giuseppe Ruello
Integration of In Situ and Sentinel-2 Data to Assess Soil Quality in Forest Monitoring: The Case Study of the Vesuvius Fires
Fire
soil quality index
remote sensing
Sentinel-2
fires monitoring
minimum dataset
soil chemical analyses
title Integration of In Situ and Sentinel-2 Data to Assess Soil Quality in Forest Monitoring: The Case Study of the Vesuvius Fires
title_full Integration of In Situ and Sentinel-2 Data to Assess Soil Quality in Forest Monitoring: The Case Study of the Vesuvius Fires
title_fullStr Integration of In Situ and Sentinel-2 Data to Assess Soil Quality in Forest Monitoring: The Case Study of the Vesuvius Fires
title_full_unstemmed Integration of In Situ and Sentinel-2 Data to Assess Soil Quality in Forest Monitoring: The Case Study of the Vesuvius Fires
title_short Integration of In Situ and Sentinel-2 Data to Assess Soil Quality in Forest Monitoring: The Case Study of the Vesuvius Fires
title_sort integration of in situ and sentinel 2 data to assess soil quality in forest monitoring the case study of the vesuvius fires
topic soil quality index
remote sensing
Sentinel-2
fires monitoring
minimum dataset
soil chemical analyses
url https://www.mdpi.com/2571-6255/8/3/99
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