title: Mapping asbestos-cement roofing with hyperspectral remote sensing over a large mountain region of the Italian Western Alps.
abstract: The World Health Organization estimates that 100 thousand people in the world die every year from asbestos-related cancers and more than 300 thousand European citizens are expected to die from asbestos-related mesothelioma by 2030. Both the European and the Italian legislations have banned the manufacture, importation, processing and distribution in commerce of asbestos-containing products and have recommended action plans for the safe removal of asbestos from public and private buildings. This paper describes the quantitative mapping of asbestos-cement covers over a large mountainous region of Italian Western Alps using the Multispectral Infrared and Visible Imaging Spectrometer sensor. A very large data set made up of 61 airborne transect strips covering 3263 km2 were processed to support the identification of buildings with asbestos-cement roofing, promoted by the Valle d'Aosta Autonomous Region with the support of the Regional Environmental Protection Agency. Results showed an overall mapping accuracy of 80%, in terms of asbestos-cement surface detected. The influence of topography on the classification's accuracy suggested that even in high relief landscapes, the spatial resolution of data is the major source of errors and the smaller asbestos-cement covers were not detected or misclassified.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Remote Sensing (L@RS), Politecnico di Milano-Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (ABC), Via Ponzio 31, Milano 20133, Italy. federico.frassy@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frassy
authors.affiliation: Optical Remote Sensing Group, IREA-CNR, Via Bassini 15, Milano 20133, Italy. candiani.g@irea.cnr.it.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Candiani
authors.affiliation: ERM Italia S.p.A., Via San Gregorio 38, Milano 20124, Italy. marco.rusmini@erm.com.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rusmini
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Remote Sensing (L@RS), Politecnico di Milano-Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (ABC), Via Ponzio 31, Milano 20133, Italy. pieralberto.maianti@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Pieralberto
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maianti
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Remote Sensing (L@RS), Politecnico di Milano-Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (ABC), Via Ponzio 31, Milano 20133, Italy. andrea.marchesi@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marchesi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Remote Sensing (L@RS), Politecnico di Milano-Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (ABC), Via Ponzio 31, Milano 20133, Italy. francesco.rotanodari@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rota Nodari
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Remote Sensing (L@RS), Politecnico di Milano-Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (ABC), Via Ponzio 31, Milano 20133, Italy. giorgio.dallavia@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dalla Via
authors.affiliation: ARPA Valle d'Aosta, Loc. Grande Charrière, 44, Saint-Christophe (AO) 11020, Italy. c.albonico@arpa.vda.it.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Albonico
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Remote Sensing (L@RS), Politecnico di Milano-Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (ABC), Via Ponzio 31, Milano 20133, Italy. marco.gianinetto@polimi.it.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gianinetto
mesh_terms: D000269:Adhesives / Q000032:analysis*; D000401:Aircraft / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000531:Altitude; D001194:Asbestos / Q000032:analysis*; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D062305:Geographic Mapping; D007558:Italy; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D000269:Adhesives; D001194:Asbestos