Seasonal variations ofwaterstatus andSPOTNDVI inMediterranean woodyplants

Facing theproblemoffirerisks, itisuseful totest accurate tools toprevent this flail. Remotesensing andvegetation indices aresuitable toestimate fire risks. Theaimofthestudy was to followtheevolution ofwaterstatusofvarious Mediterranean vegetalcommunities and of Normalised Difference ofVegetation Index(NDVI)calculated fromSPOT images. Thewaterstatus wasstudied using thewatercontent and thewaterpotential. Annualvariations ofthewaterstatus and NDVI showboththeinfluence oftheseasonandthetypeof vegetation community. Attheendofthesummer,thehierarchy ofvegetal communities foundforNDVI andwaterstatus are similar. Atthisperiod, sites composed witharborescent species havehigher watercontent, waterpotential, andNDVIthansites composed witharbustive species. Fortheother seasons orfora precise site, thereisnocorrelation between NDVI andwater status.