FEATURES OF FROST-AFFECTED AREAS FROM DIGITAL METEOSAT IR IMAGES

Abstract

Frost is a natural hazard, which may cause significant damage to agriculture depending also on the phenological stage of the affected crops. In this paper, several features of the frost-affected areas are examined by using digital data of METEOSAT IR images. In particular the areal extent of frost is delineated by using the estimated temperature from the raw satellite data. Moreover, since digital METEOSAT IR images are recorded every thirty (30) minutes, it is possible to monitor the changes in the size of the frost-affected areas as well as the fluctuations in frost intensity and severity. The phenomenon is investigated in several regions in Greece.