Monitoring of Surface Temperature on Parco delle Biancane (Italian Geothermal Area) Using Optical Satellite Data, UAV and Field Campaigns

• Published in: Remote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 12; no. 12; p. 2018
• Main Authors: Silvestri, Malvina, Marotta, Enrica, Buongiorno, Maria Fabrizia, Avvisati, Gala, Belviso, Pasquale, Bellucci Sessa, Eliana, Caputo, Teresa, Longo, Vittorio, De Leo, Vito, Teggi, Sergio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-06-2020
• Subjects: Aerial surveys; Anomalies; Cameras; Data acquisition; Energy; Fault lines; Geology; Geothermal power; geothermal site; Image acquisition; Landsat; Landsat 8; Landsat satellites; Measuring instruments; Pixels; Remote sensing; Satellite imagery; Sensors; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; Surface temperature; surface temperature estimation; Temperature; Thermal measurement; UAV; Unmanned aerial vehicles; United States > US; Italy
• ISSN: 2072-4292; 2072-4292
• DOI: 10.3390/rs12122018

The purpose of this study is to analyze the surface temperature and the distribution of thermal signatures on Tuscany’s geothermal districts using data obtained through three separate surveys via satellite and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The analysis considers the highest available spatial resolution ranging from hundreds of meters per pixel of the satellite thermal images and the tenths/hundreds of centimeters per pixel of the thermal images acquired by the UAV. The surface temperature maps obtained by satellite data acquired at suitable spatial resolution and the thermal measurements obtained by the thermal camera installed on the UAV were orthorectified and geocoded. This allowed, for example, following the evolution of thermal anomalies, which may represent a modification of the current state of the geothermal field and a possible hazard for both the population and industrial assets. Here, we show the results obtained in three field campaigns during which the simultaneous acquisition of Landsat 8 satellite and UAV (FlyBit octocopter, IDS, Rome, Italy) thermal data were analyzed. By removing the atmosphere contribution from Landsat 8 data, we have produced three surface temperature maps that are compared with the ground field measurements and the surface temperature maps elaborated by FLIR VUE PRO-R on the UAV.