Twenty Years of Remote Sensing Applications Targeting Landscape Analysis and Environmental Issues in Olive Growing: A Review

Abstract

The olive (Olea europaea L.) is an iconic tree linked to the birth of some of the most ancient civilizations and one of the most important cultivated tree species in the Mediterranean basin. Over the last few decades, given the high socio-economic importance of the olive sector, there has been much research involving remote sensing (RS) applications in olive growing, especially in precision agriculture. This review article is part of a review that aims to cover the past, from the 2000s onwards, and the most recent applications of remote sensing (RS) in olive growing to be able to include research and all topics related to the use of RS on olive trees. As far as the use of RS platforms such as satellites, aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in olive growing is concerned, a review of the literature showed the presence of several works devoted to it. A brief introduction on the history of the olive tree and its distribution and cultivation around the world, together with a summary of the leading RS platforms (a good portion of which are satellites) used in olive research, anticipates the discussion of four topics about olive growing that have as their common thread positive (and non-positive) impacts on the environment: preservation of olive landscape and soil erosion, identification of olive groves, olive oil mill wastewater (OOMW) and relative environmental risks, irrigation water management and the use of RS platforms for water stress monitoring. The preservation of olive groves as an element of Mediterranean identity and strategic economic resource in agriculture depends on sustainable environmental management alongside technological advances brought by precision agriculture.