Use of remote sensing and GIS in the agri environmental measures' chain:: Results from two pilot studies in Italy and England

Managing, controlling and monitoring the adoption, the implementation and the achievements of the Agri-Environmental Programmes and their compliance with EC Rural Development Regulations is a very geomatics oriented exercise with a substantial spatial/geographic GIS and image component. Two pilot projects were undertaken, one in Italy and one in England to evaluate the control of Agri-Environmental Measures (AEMs) using Remote Sensing and GIS methodology. This paper concentrates primarily on the Italian project but will include comparative issues between the two. In Italy, a test site was defined on the western side of Lago di Garda, in Northern Italy. A strategy was applied for the selection of measures based on the Regional implementation of the EC Regulation 2078/92 (e.g. input reduction, arable reversion to grassland, farmland conservation). A GIS was set up requiring particular efforts regarding the acquisition, quality checks, georeferencing and harmonisation of the several information layers. Different Computer Assisted Photo Interpretation (CAPI) methods (e.g. small-scale landscape features: hedgerows, tree rows; arable farming practices: crop rotation...) were applied in relation to the specific AEMs to be controlled. Hints to the feasibility of controlling selected AEMs, limiting factors of CAPI methods and their impact on the identification/control of the measure are discussed.