USING MODIS IMAGERY FOR RISK ASSESSMENT IN THE CROSS - BORDER AREA ROMANIA-REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

An increase of natural hazard events can be observed, in the last few years, at a global scale. Its impact is more often assessed from a socio-economical point of view and less from an environmental perspective. This paper is focused on the evaluation of the natural hazard events impact on inhabited areas and natural sites, using remote sensing techniques. Study area is extended on two countries: Romania (EU-Country) and Republic of Moldova (EEP-country), and is represented by the entire historical region of Moldavia. Two sample areas from different countries were chosen in order to compare the results of governmental measures taken by each country, in similar natural conditions. The proposed methodology involved the use of satellite imagery, and its processing with MOD13Q1 product, derived from MODIS radio spectrometer, for the drought event of 2007. MOD13Q1 is the catalog name for NDVI vegetation index. The results reveal that the impact in the territory is different in these two countries. In Romania, due to a lack of irrigation infrastructure, the drought effects were more intense than in the Republic of Moldova.