Remote Sensing of Environmental Change in the Antirio Deltaic Fan Region, Western Greece

In the westernmost region of the rapidly widening Corinth rift, Greece, extensive development of roads, bridges and other human infrastructure has caused continuous environmental change over the past twenty years. River networks, the land surface and the coastal environment, have been altered, especially in the areas corresponding to deltaic fans. In this paper we use earth observation systems that have captured these environmental changes, particularly medium (Landsat TM and ETM+) and high (Quickbird) resolution satellite images, to identify environmental changes between the periods 1992, 2000, 2002, and 2005. Six pseudo-color multi-temporal images in different spectral areas were created in order to detect changes to the terrestrial and coastal environment caused mainly by direct or indirect human impact. This methodology provided new data for quantifying significant alterations in the environment on different scales. In many cases this revealed their sequence during the time of observation.