Comparative Analysis of the Spectral Response of Vegetation for Monitoring the State of the Landscapes of the Protected Area of Delta Del Cauto (Cuba)

Using satellite images and indices to determine qualities of the natural environment components enables today to identify their behavior and evaluation while facilitating diagnosis or predicting trends and projections of their behavior. The vegetation cover is essential for man; hence, there are multiple and substantial resources, methods, and technologies for studying and conserving this heritage. The use of indices to show the spectral behavior of the coverage is becoming increasingly common in many pieces of research about the geographical environment. The article analyzes the study results of the spectral response of vegetation in the main communities of the Cauto Delta Fauna Reserve, which is necessary for follow-up studies, vegetation mapping, and optimization of territory management. For this purpose, the temporal behavior was analyzed from the spectral response of the vegetation cover using the normalized vegetation index (NDVI) of Sentinel-2 images. As a result, the spectral responses of the six plant formations in the area were obtained. Our calculations indicate that the average spectral response of plant communities varies in the range of − 0.01 to 0.83. These values are present in the communities of saladares and secondary forests, respectively. Months and years of the highest and lowest spectral response of NDVI were also identified.