Remote sensing and GIS-based regional geomorphological mapping—a tool for land use planning in developing countries

Land use planning and necessary supporting data are crucial to developing countries that are usually under severe environmental and demographic strains. Approaches and methods to map the variability of natural resources are important tools to properly guide spatial planning. In this paper, we describe a method to quickly map terrain at reconnaissance (1:250,000) and semi-detailed (1:50,000) levels. This method can be utilized as a basis for further land evaluation and land use planning in large territories. The approach was tested in the state of Michoacan, central-western Mexico, currently undergoing rapid deforestation and subsequent land degradation.Results at the reconnaissance level describe the geographic distribution of major landforms and dominant land cover, and provide a synoptic inventory of natural resources. Results at the semi-detailed level indicate how to nest individual landforms to major units and how they can be used to run procedures for land evaluation. If combined with appropriate socioeconomic data, governmental guidelines for land use planning can be formulated on the basis of reconnaissance and semi-detailed terrain analysis.     

山洪视角下社区韧性影响因素及其定量分析

山洪灾害具有广泛性、突发性、破坏性等特征,开展山洪易发区的社区韧性评估,从而提高灾害应对能力是当前防灾减灾的前沿热点和难点。论文提出了一套多学科的综合方法：(1)利用中介效应明晰了山洪视角下社区韧性评价体系各指标间的定量化传递关系;(2)构建了基于决策实验室分析和解释结构模型的耦合数学模型,确定社区韧性影响因素的多级递阶解释结构模型,分析社区韧性的差异化影响因素;(3)采用信息扩散方法,定量分析山洪灾害社区韧性的变化趋势并排序。以粤北山洪易发区为例,从城镇、村落、城乡结合部3种类型社区进行灾害韧性分析。结果表明：山洪视角下的社区韧性指标体系是一个多维度多层次的复杂网络系统,包括环境、社会、心理、制度和信息沟通5个方面;不同类型社区灾害韧性的直接影响因素呈差异化特征,而供排水设施建设和洪灾应急演练为社区韧性的根本影响因素,对增强山洪视角下社区韧性发挥本质性作用;由于调研村落多位于山洪频发区,居民防范灾害、减轻灾害影响的意识较强,村落较城镇和城乡结合社区呈现出更高的韧性。研究可为提升粤北山洪易发区社区韧性及社区防灾减灾能力提供科学参考,该综合分析方法亦可为其他类型灾害的精细化防灾减灾提供支...     

山洪泥石流风险评估与风险管理理论与方法

山洪泥石流是中国常见的自然灾害,充分认识其形成机制与潜在风险是防灾减灾的关键。本文阐述了山洪泥石流形成机理,以及风险分析与管理的方法和内容,系统认识了地表产流流量激增、土体破坏物质供给激增、沟道堵塞体级联溃决流量放大和动床侵蚀规模增大等4个山洪泥石流的形成过程,介绍了基于动力过程的山洪泥石流风险评估方法和承灾体易损性评估方法,构建了基于灾害动力过程的风险评估与风险制图方法。进而,基于风险评估结果,提出可用于具体灾害点减灾的风险管理内容和风险调控技术、灾害防治的工程与非工程措施与制技术方案。最后,重点讨论了包括灾害风险预测、临灾预案、灾害防治工程方案等内容的风险处置对策,并形成一套基于山洪泥石流动力过程的风险评估与风险管理理论与方法体系。     

GIS-based modelling of topography-induced solar radiation variability in complex terrain for data sparse region

Solar radiation not only sustains the lives on the Earth, but also creates spatial and temporal variations of hydrological ingredients, such as vegetation, soil moisture, and snow. Precise quantification of spatial solar radiation incident on the Earth's surface which accounts for the topographic modulation, especially in complex terrain, underpins the study of many catchment hydro-meteorological and hydro-ecological processes. Topography is a key parameter that affects the spatial solar radiation pattern across different scales. This article addresses the issue of modelling spatial variability of actual solar radiation caused by topography from the hydrological perspective. Models with different algorithms and different complexities, from the simple empirical equations to process-based physical approach, have been developed to parameterize and calculate the potential radiation (under clear-sky condition) and the actual radiation (under overcast cloudy condition). Based on a review of the general steps of solar radiation modelling and the corresponding models for each step, two models with easily or globally available data for spatial solar radiation modelling in complex terrain, namely, the physically parameterized, remote-sensing-oriented Heliosat-2 model and the sunshine duration-based Angström–Prescott regression model are selected and implemented in a GIS framework. The capability of both models for simulation of cloudy-sky radiation on horizontal surfaces has been verified against observed station data showing an R ² greater than 0.9. The validity of the models for modelling inclined surface is tested by comparing against each other, which has shown a satisfactory agreement and demonstrated that the simple Angström–Prescott method performed reasonably well compared with the more elaborate Heliosat-2 method. Scale sensitivity of the models and the shading effect are examined with different digital elevation model (DEM) resolutions from 30 to 500 m and reveal the existence of a threshold grid size to resolve the topography-induced spatial solar radiation variability. Spatial mapping of potential solar radiation and actual solar radiation has been demonstrated in a small catchment in Southern Germany, with a spatial difference up to 30% in winter and 5% in summer. This may lead to a significant difference for the energy-limited hydrological processes, such as snowmelt, and evapotranspiration.     

Exploring spatial relationships between stream channel features,water depths and flow velocities during flash floods using HEC-GeoRAS and Geographic Information Systems

Journal of Geographical Sciences - Water depths and flow velocities decisively influence the damage caused by flash floods. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a powerful and useful tool,...     

GIS-based cost distance modelling to support strategic maritime search and rescue planning: A feasibility study

Geographic information system (GIS) based methodologies are widely used to various problems. However, its potential for application to strategic maritime search and rescue (SAR) planning remains largely unexplored. To investigate the applicability of GIS-based tools to this problem, this paper presents an approach to evaluate accessibility and response times in a sea area. Such information aids to objectify the response effectiveness of a SAR system, which is important for rational resource allocation. The presented methodology accounts for the main characteristics of maritime response, namely spatial accessibility, capabilities of search and rescue units (SRUs) and prevailing wave conditions, which affect the attainable SRU speeds. An application to the Finnish areas of the Gulf of Finland is shown. Despite the existence of some difficulties with currently available tools (e.g. accurate and user-friendly spatial wave models and challenges with using raster-based methods in topologically complex areas) and limitations in knowledge (e.g. the SRU capabilities in actual operations), the results indicate that the methodology provides good opportunities for enhancing maritime decision making.     

Multi-criteria, multi-objective and uncertainty analysis for agro-energy spatial modelling

The worldwide increase in the use of biomass as a Renewable Energy Source raises the issue of introducing crops dedicated to energy production into rural landscapes. The purpose of this paper is to set-up a GIS based multi-criteria approach to assess a range of possibilities for perennial energy crops conversion. The presented method was implemented at the regional level in the Yorkshire and the Humber Region in Northern UK. The first phase of the study aims to set-up a land capability model for the specific purpose of assessing the potential of different typologies of perennial energy crops, on the basis of specific pedo-climatic and topographic factors. The model output illustrates a range of potentials for energy crop conversion that can be explored in the given landscape. In the second phase a uncertainty analysis of the land capability model was performed through a simulation approach in order to interpret the influence of assumptions and uncertainty on input data and model parameters. The last phase of the study allows allocating the energy crop conversion area according to specific environmental constraints, nature protection targets, food production priorities and land capability values. The land allocation output gives a rather restrictive energy crop penetration scenario, where more than half of the conversion area is allocated to cropping systems with low land degradation potential. This scenario represents a preliminary regional analysis of the energy crop potential in terms of theoretically available conversion areas. The final results also show that the areas with highest environmental risks correspond to the areas with both the lowest suitability for energy crop cultivation and the highest model uncertainty.     

Geomorphological and sedimentological analysis of a catastrophic flash flood in the Arás drainage basin (Central Pyrenees, Spain)

On August 7th, 1996, an intense and short-duration convective storm occurred over the 18.6-km² Arás drainage basin (Central Pyrenees, Spain). This high relief basin is composed of three subbasins, Aso, Betés and La Selva, and feeds the Arás alluvial fan, in the Gállego river valley. This alluvial fan had been drained by an artificial channel (about 125 m³/s at bank-full capacity). More than 30 check dams in its feeder channel, the Arás barranco, had been previously filled by earlier sediments. The heaviest rain was over the Betés subbasin (total rainfall 178.4 mm; maximum rainfall intensity of 153 mm/h for a 10-min time interval was estimated). Most of the rainfall fell in a 70-min period. This storm resulted in high runoff, causing catastrophic damage and significant geomorphic changes in the drainage basin, especially in the Betés subbasin. The high discharge, concentrated in the Arás barranco, destroyed most of the check dams, flushing out a great amount of debris. Major channel trenching and widening occurred in this barranco. When the confined sediment-laden flash flood reached the basin mouth, it sheet-flooded the southern sector of the Arás fan depositing a massive amount of debris. On this fan 87 people lost their lives and the direct physical damage has been estimated at 55 million dollars. Two stages in the development of the flood have been differentiated from the sedimentological and morphological analysis of the flooded fan lobe. A first stage (peak discharge) of sheet-flooding deposited a coarse boulder lobe, burying the artificial channel at the fan head and causing a darnming effect on the water flood. During the second stage (discharge decline) the flood made its way through the fan head, incising the previous debris accumulation and splitting into two main flow paths.     

Integrated modelling of population,employment and land-use change with a multiple activity-based variable grid cellular automaton

A constrained cellular automaton (CA) framework is used to model both land use and, at the same resolution, densities of population and economic activity. The multi-scale processes determining the location of population, economic activity and land use are captured in a variable grid CA, in which the neighbourhood of each cell includes the entire modelled area. The transition rules generating the spatial dynamics incorporate both the land use and the activities, and because they cover the entire modelled area, they represent interaction effects at all spatial scales; effectively, they are distance decay functions. In general, any particular cell hosts a number of activities (population, employment in various sectors) regardless of its land use, so in effect multiple land uses are modelled as multiple activities, although activity levels are normally highest on cells of the corresponding land use. The model is applied to both the urban-centred Greater Dublin Region and the country of Belgium, which consists of the entire polycentric urban system and its rural matrix. Results for both applications are good, as measured by the errors of both predicted populations and fractal dimensions, and the model outperforms the best existing models by these measures.     

Modelling the impact of land-use change and farm dam construction on hillslope sediment delivery to rivers at the regional scale

Landscapes in southeastern Australia have changed dramatically since the spread of European colonisation in the 19th century. Due to widespread forest clearance for cultivation and grazing, erosion and sediment yields have increased by a factor of more than 150. In the 20th century, erosion and sediment yield were reduced again due to an increasing vegetative cover. Furthermore, during the last decades, thousands of small farm dams were constructed to provide drinking water for cattle. These dams trap a lot of sediment, thereby further reducing sediment delivery from hillslopes to river channels. Changes in sediment delivery since European colonisation are documented in sediment archives. Within this study, these changing rates in hillslope erosion and sediment delivery were modelled using a spatially distributed erosion and sediment delivery model (WATEM/SEDEM) that was calibrated for Australian ecosystems using sediment yield data derived from sedimentation rates in 26 small farm dams. The model was applied to the Murrumbidgee river basin (30,000 km²) under different land-use scenarios. First, the erosion and sediment yield under pre-European land-use was modelled. Secondly, recent land-use patterns were used in the model. Finally, recent land-use including the impact of farm dams and large reservoirs was simulated. The results show that the WATEM/SEDEM model is capable of predicting the intensity of the geomorphic response to changes in land-use through time. Changes in hillslope erosion and hillslope sediment delivery rates are not equal, illustrating the non-linear response of the catchment. Current hillslope sediment supply to the river channel network is predicted to be 370% higher compared to the pre-European settlement period, yet farm dams have reduced this back to 2.5 times the pre-19th century values. The role of larger reservoirs is even more important as they have reduced the current sediment supply downstream to their pre-European values, thus completely masking the increased hillslope erosion rates from land-use change. However, the model does so far not include valley widening and sediment storage in river systems. Therefore, modelled rates of sediment delivery are lower than observed values.     

Visualisation and evaluation of flood uncertainties based on ensemble modelling

This study evaluates how users incorporate visualisation of flood uncertainty information in decision-making. An experiment was conducted where participants were given the task to decide building locations, taking into account homeowners’ preferences as well as dilemmas imposed by flood risks at the site. Two general types of visualisations for presenting uncertainties from ensemble modelling were evaluated: (1) uncertainty maps, which used aggregated ensemble results; and (2) performance bars showing all individual simulation outputs from the ensemble. Both were supplemented with either two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) contextual information, to give an overview of the area.

The results showed that the type of uncertainty visualisation was highly influential on users’ decisions, whereas the representation of the contextual information (2D or 3D) was not. Visualisation with performance bars was more intuitive and effective for the task performed than the uncertainty map. It clearly affected users’ decisions in avoiding certain-to-be-flooded areas. Patterns to which the distances were decided from the homeowners’ preferred positions and the uncertainties were similar, when the 2D and 3D map models were used side by side with the uncertainty map. On the other hand, contextual information affected the time to solve the task. With the 3D map, it took the participants longer time to decide the locations, compared with the other combinations using the 2D model.

Designing the visualisation so as to provide more detailed information made respondents avoid dangerous decisions. This has also led to less variation in their overall responses.     

Towards an integration of process measurements, archive analysis and modelling in geomorphology — the Kärkevagge experimental site, Abisko area, northern Sweden

The analysis of Holocene geomorphic process activity demands long–term data sets, which are available for the Kärkevagge catchment due to 50 years of intensive geomorphologic field studies. This data set is used in combination with additional field measurements, remote sensing and digital elevation model (DEM) analysis to provide input data for modelling Holocene valley development. On the basis of this information, geomorphic process units (GPUs) are defined by means of GIS modelling. These units represent areas of homogeneous process composition that transfer sediments. Since the data base enables the quantification of single processes, the interaction of processes within the units can also be quantified. Applying this concept permits calculation of recent sediment transfer rates and hence leads to a better understanding of actual geomorphic landscape development activity. To extrapolate these data in time and space the process–related sediments in the valley are analysed for depth and total volume, primarily using geophysical methods. In this fashion the validity of measured process rates is evaluated for the Holocene time scale. Results from this analysis are exemplified in a cross–profile showing some of the principal sediment units in the valley. For example, the measured modern rates on a slush torrent debris fan seem to represent the Holocene mean rate. This approach should also be suitable for revealing Holocene geomorphic landscape development in terms of climate change.     

A fuzzy multiple-attribute decision-making modelling for vulnerability analysis on the basis of population information for disaster management

Research activity and published literature on the reliability and vulnerability analysis of urban areas for disaster management has grown tremendously in the recent past. Population information has played the most important role during the entire disaster management process. In this article, population information was used as the evaluation criterion, and a fuzzy multiple-attribute decision-making (MADM) approach was used to support a vulnerability analysis of the Helsinki area for disaster management. A kernel density map was produced as a result that showed the vulnerable spatial locations in the event of a disaster. Model results were first validated against the original population information kernel density maps. In the second step, the model was validated by using fuzzy set accuracy assessment and the actual domain knowledge of the rescue experts. This is a novel approach to validation, which makes it possible to see how and if computer decision-making models compare to a real decision-making process in disaster management. The validation results showed that the fuzzy model has produced a reasonably accurate result. By using fuzzy modelling, the number of vulnerable areas was reduced to a reasonable scale and compares to the actual human assessment of these areas, which allows resources to be optimised during the rescue planning and operation.     

Towards an integration of process measurements, archive analysis and modelling in geomorphology — the Kärkevagge experimental site, Abisko area, northern Sweden

The analysis of Holocene geomorphic process activity demands long–term data sets, which are available for the Kärkevagge catchment due to 50 years of intensive geomorphologic field studies. This data set is used in combination with additional field measurements, remote sensing and digital elevation model (DEM) analysis to provide input data for modelling Holocene valley development. On the basis of this information, geomorphic process units (GPUs) are defined by means of GIS modelling. These units represent areas of homogeneous process composition that transfer sediments. Since the data base enables the quantification of single processes, the interaction of processes within the units can also be quantified. Applying this concept permits calculation of recent sediment transfer rates and hence leads to a better understanding of actual geomorphic landscape development activity. To extrapolate these data in time and space the process–related sediments in the valley are analysed for depth and total volume, primarily using geophysical methods. In this fashion the validity of measured process rates is evaluated for the Holocene time scale. Results from this analysis are exemplified in a cross–profile showing some of the principal sediment units in the valley. For example, the measured modern rates on a slush torrent debris fan seem to represent the Holocene mean rate. This approach should also be suitable for revealing Holocene geomorphic landscape development in terms of climate change.     

Land-cover and land-use change in a Mediterranean landscape: A spatial analysis of driving forces integrating biophysical and human factors

This article develops a spatial analysis applied to examine the main driving forces of land-cover and land-use (LCLU) change in a Mediterranean region. Three different tools have been used in order to differentiate LCLU changes, driving forces and landscape dynamics. LCLU changes have been quantified with remote sensing techniques, driving forces have been analysed with multiple logistic regressions combining biophysical and human variables, whereas landscape dynamics have been quantified using different metrics. Results show the intensification of subsidised herbaceous crops on the coastal agricultural plain, the abandonment of olive trees and vineyards in the transitional area and forest restoration in the mountainous subregion.     

前期土壤湿度和降雨对小流域山洪预警指标的影响评估

山洪灾害临界雨量预警指标受多种因素影响,尤其是前期土壤湿度状况和降雨变化。基于分布式水文模型和情景分析法确定安徽省岳西流域的山洪灾害临界雨量集合,评估前期土壤湿度状况、雨型和预警时段对临界雨量变化的影响。研究表明：① 中国山洪水文模拟系统在研究区内具有较好的适用性,率定期和验证期的平均径流深和洪峰流量相对误差均在15%以内,平均峰现时间误差在1h以内,平均Nash-Sutcliffe系数为0.79和0.77;② 60种情景模式下,池墩组村的临界雨量集合为141~528 mm;③ 前期土湿状况和雨型均显著影响临界雨量变化,随着土壤饱和率从0.20分别增加到0.50和0.80,临界雨量分别减少13.7%~16.2%和26.8%~31.8%;短历时预警时,临界雨量由大到小的相应雨型分别为减弱雨型、中间雨型和增强雨型。研究可为山洪灾害预报和早期预警提供理论支持,也为中国山洪灾害防治提供参考和借鉴。     

Assessment of land-use and land-cover changes from 1965 to 2014 in Tam Giang-Cau Hai Lagoon,central Vietnam

This study integrates the use of multi-source and multi-resolution remote sensing, topographic and field-based datasets to quantify land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes along a coastal stretch of Thua Thien Hue Province (central Vietnam). The LULC change analysis involves the Tam Giang-Cau Hai lagoon, the largest lagoon system in Southeast Asia, which is running nearly 70 km along the coast and having about 22,000 ha of water surface.The LULC change analysis was performed by computer-aided visual interpretation for 5 years (1965, 1989, 2000, 2006 and 2014) using satellite imagery from LANDSAT MSS, TM, ETM+ and 8, ASTER and SPOT5. National topographic maps were also used for the 1965 and 2000 years.To adequately represent the LULC features and peculiarities of central Vietnam coastal areas, an adapted CORINE Land Cover nomenclature was used where new 3rd and 4th level classes were adopted. Due to their intrinsic relative high spatial and radiometric resolution, SPOT5 images from 2006 were assumed as a reference for interpretation keys and first delineation. Changes were mapped by editing those vectors representing features which underwent LULC change prior or after 2006. Spatial and temporal changes were analyzed by post-classification approach and validated by ground truth information. High detail object-based classification was finally performed to infer the capability of medium spatial resolution imagery for extracting cadastral scale pond maps. The accuracy of classification was checked by a polygon by polygon comparison with an existing aquaculture facility inventory.Five LULC maps were obtained by applying a legend of 21 classes including two newly defined: “Aquaculture ponds” and “Mangrove forest”. The overall classification accuracy of the LULC map is 85% while the KHAT statistics 0.81 for the year 2006. Accuracy of the object-based aquaculture facilities classification is 84% or better for the SPOT5 imagery and 47.9% for the ASTER imagery. The study provides a synoptic LULC representation for the largest lagoon system of Southeast Asia and delivers quantitative estimates of main changes occurred during the last 50 years. Moreover, it reveals the adaptability of the CORINE Land Cover method outside European environment. Finally, SPOT5 provides good results to map aquaculture features at cadastral scale, even if in some circumstances (e.g. tidal areas), the integration with higher spatial resolution multispectral sensors should be envisaged.     

贺兰山银川段不同重现期山洪灾害风险与影响区划研究

为评估贺兰山银川段山洪灾害风险程度及其影响,利用高分辨率数字高程模型(DEM)、行政区划、水系和自动气象站历史降水数据,以及居民点、学校、桥梁等社会经济信息资料,采用FloodArea模型模拟与ArcGIS空间叠加统计分析相结合的方法,分析研究了贺兰山银川段不同重现期山洪灾害风险分布特征,及其对人口、土地利用和国内生产总值(GDP)的影响。结果表明:(1)贺兰山银川段10～100 a一遇山洪灾害低、中、高风险区面积分别为109.5～276.3 km2、45.0～231.0 km2、13.4～204.3 km2,同一风险等级的山洪灾害区划面积随着重现期增大呈显著增大趋势。(2)贺兰山10 a和20 a一遇山洪灾害风险区主要位于海拔1 130～1 450 m的山洪沟及其两侧区域,50 a一遇山洪灾害风险区主要集中在山洪沟下游和山前海拔1 130～1 180 m的冲击扇区,100 a一遇山洪灾害风险区覆盖整个山前海拔1 120～1 350 m的区域和冲击扇区。随着重现期增大,贺兰山山洪灾害风险区具有向上游(下游)区域扩展较慢(更快)的显著特征。(3)银川市受贺兰山10 a、20 a、50 a...     

Comparison of soil physico-chemical properties under different land-use and cover types in northeastern China's Horqin Sandy Land

The Horqin Sandy Land of northeastern China was originally a grassland with plenty of water and lush vegetation dominated by palatable grass species along with sparsely scattered woody species. However, it has experienced severe desertification in recent decades due to its fragile ecology together with inappropriate human activities. Currently, the landscape of the Horqin Sandy Land is dominated by irrigated croplands and sand dunes with different degrees of vegetation cover, as the region has become the most important part of the semiarid agro-pastoral ecotone of northern China. In this study, we compared soil physical and chemical properties under different land-use and cover types (irrigated cropland, rainfed cropland, sandy grassland, fixed dunes, and mobile dunes). We found that soil particle size distribution; organic C, total N, and total mineral element, microelement, and available microelement and nutrient contents; pH; CEC; and bulk density differed significantly among the land-use and cover types. In general, soil quality was highest in the cropland, intermediate in the sandy grassland, and lowest in the dunes. The most important soil quality attribute, soil organic carbon (SOC) storage, decreased in the following order: irrigated cropland (5,699 g/m²) > sandy grassland (3,390 g/m²) > rainfed cropland (2,411 g/m²) > fixed dunes (821 g/m²) > mobile dunes (463 g/m²). SOC was significantly positively correlated with a large proportion of the other soil physico-chemical parameters. Our results suggest that the key issue in restoration of the degraded soils will be to increase SOC storage, which would also create a high potential for sequestering soil C in desertified areas of the Horqin Sandy Land.     

基于遥感与GIS的江河源区土地利用动态变化研究

基于TM／ETM卫星遥感数据,运用GIS方法,对江河源区1986～2000年土地利用类型的时空变化特征进行了研究。结果表明：近15年来源区林地、湿地、草地和冰川面积减少,建设用地、耕地和未利用土地面积显著增加,土地综合利用程度下降。土地利用动态转化过程以草地转化为未利用土地、湿地转化为草地和未利用地逆转为草地为主要特征,全区土地利用的空间位置转换而积大于其数量变化。气候变化和人类经济活动是导致研究区土地利用变化的丰要因素。