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The processes of land transformation related to soil erosion and land degradation are complex phenomena that require an approach as detailed and multidisciplinary as possible. In some Mediterranean inland areas, these issues seem to be very connected to the dynamics of transformation and abandonment of agricultural areas. In order to carry out this preliminary investigation for the assessment of dynamics and relationships between processes and land cover, an approach based on GIS and remote sensing has been applied. The study started with implementation of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model to calculate soil erosion on a monthly and annual basis. The resulting data were then processed through a Getis-Ord local autocorrelation index in order to produce a persistent erosion map. All datasets created were correlated with the cover classes that need more attention, i.e., arable land and post-cultivation vegetation area. All the techniques and methodologies, have been applied in a rural area of the Basilicata Region (South Italy) using exclusively a Free and Open Source Software (FoSS) GIS approach as it guarantees the possibility to perform a series of complex analyses in a simple and effective way so that they can be implemented in environmental monitoring actions and plans.

Italy is a geologically complex and relatively young territory that is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters (i.e., earthquakes, flooding, landslides). In particular, landslide activity is considered one of the most relevant processes shaping the Italian peninsula, often closely affecting urban and industrial areas and infrastructures. Landslide activity in southern Italy strongly influenced the development of urban areas by controlling the shape and the areal extend of the urban settlements. In this paper, we propose a multidisciplinary approach capable of assessing the correlation between landslides and the spatial distribution of urban fabric. To this aim, we consider as case studies, the two municipalities of Pisticci and Corleto Perticara, in the Basilicata region in southern Italy, that strongly differ for the geological contexts and landslide types. The evolution in time of the landslide activity and the shape variations of the two considered settlement systems is described in terms of shape index from 1950 to 2006. Starting from the description of the two study areas, from both the geological and the urban point of view, the shape index will be calculated. Eventually, the results obtained will be compared with the perimeters of the urban centers defined by the respective urban planning regulations.