Integrating geographical data with surveys conducted with UAVs for planning areas of high environmental value.

The setting up of a general framework for the environmental and landscape planning of a protected area requires a basic detailed survey of this area and its vegetation, accompanied by a constant monitoring of the latter, so that a specific maintenance plan can be implemented accordingly. With reference to an area of high environmental, landscape and archaeological value, such as the 'Pulo di Molfetta' (Municipality of Molfetta – Southern Italy), some georeferenced floristic surveys have been carried out, with relative mapping and monitoring of vegetation growth. In this way, it has been possible to draw up some specific management measures for the vegetation, as well as to plan suitable interventions of ecological engineering, aimed at determining the most appropriate conditions for the recovery, use and sustainable management of this area, even for tourism purposes. These activities have been conducted through the construction of a basic model implemented in a Geographical Information System (GIS), structured on the basis of some Free and Open-Source geographic data, integrated with a geo-localized 3D survey of the geomorphology, architectural structures and the floravegetation habitat. The metric analyses have been conducted with commercial instruments, such as UAVs systems, GNSS and photogrammetric processing software. The obtained results have allowed the inclusion of the geo-localized 3D model in a GIS base for the knowledge of the flora-vegetation habitat, thanks to which it would be possible to provide support for the decision-making from local politicians and landscape planners.