Characterization of Native Vegetation Cover in the Serrano Chaco District based on Field Data and Spectral Signatures

The characteristics of the vegetation cover of the Serrano Chaco District in the Province of San Luis have been described by various authors on different aspects. However, the spectral signatures of the woody plants that make up this landscape have not been developed and analyzed. This study is based on the hypothesis that reflectance is associated with the biophysical characteristics of plants, which in turn respond to the environmental conditions of their occurrence areas. In this context, field data collection was conducted using a spectroradiometer with the primary objective of generating spectral reflectance data for the native vegetation. Individuals of the following species were selected: Molle, Espinillo, Tala, Chañar, Algarrobo, Quebracho, and Romerillo. The results configure typical signatures of healthy vegetation with variations in the percentage of reflectance in the SWIR channels (1570 – 1650 nm) that would be related to the moisture conditions characteristic of the occurrence sites of the species. Additionally, a land cover map of the study area was created with Landsat 8 images. The results obtained from the map estimate a predominance of vegetation cover of the scrub, grassland, and tree types. Future work aims to incorporate the data from the field spectroradiometer generated in this study into the methodology for validating metrics obtained from remote sensing information. It should be noted that the original information contained in this study contributes to advancing knowledge in a region with limited information in the field of geosciences.