Assessing human impact on alluvial fan development: a multidisciplinary case-study from Lower Khuzestan (SW Iran)

This paper presents a multidisciplinary approach for studying the evolution of an alluvial fan system in Lower Khuzestan (SW Iran). The study draws on previously collected data from geological and archaeological field campaigns and new data derived from the interpretation of satellite imagery and historical textual sources. Three alluvial fans were identified, successively deposited by the Jarrahi river in progressively downstream/westward direction. Judging from archaeological and historical evidence, the successive phases appear to coincide with a relocation of settlement and irrigation activities. The distributary system of the present-day fan developed over a period of less than four centuries. It is suggested that management of levee breaks by man played a key role in such rapid fan development and in maintaining extremely low gradients. Judging from the extensive patterns of ancient irrigation canals, human activity also played an important role in the formation of the earlier fans.     

基于二级模糊综合评判的废弃采石场对景观的影响分析——以泰山风景区及周边采石场为例

以泰山为例,根据风景区内及周边废弃采石场分布现状,选取地理位置、规模、植被恢复程度作为评价因子,利用二级模糊综合评判模型,量化了各个采石场相关指标对景区景观影响程度,并最终得出综合评判结果,为进一步对废弃采石场进行处理提供依据。     

Measuring Change in Place Values for Environmental and Natural Resource Planning Using Public Participation GIS (PPGIS): Results and Challenges for Longitudinal Research

Landscape values are a type of place value and are identified and mapped using public participation GIS (PPGIS). PPGIS engages nonexperts to identify important spatial information for environmental or natural resource planning. In 1998, we used PPGIS to identify landscape values for the Chugach National Forest (Alaska) plan revision process. In 2012, we conducted a longitudinal study of the same national forest using Internet PPGIS to identify changes in landscape values. The empirical results indicate stability in landscape values both in importance and spatial distribution. However, the use of different PPGIS methods (paper map vs. Internet) in the longitudinal study also introduced challenges in interpreting and explaining the spatial results. We discuss trade-offs in conducting longitudinal PPGIS research using mixed methods. PPGIS appears well suited for public lands planning, and national forest planning in particular, but barriers to use, such as regulatory approval, remain formidable.     

基于Markov模型的景观格局分析

以武汉市的MODIS影像数据为例,通过计算各类地物景观指数以及运用马尔科夫模型对各土地利用类型之间的相互转移矩阵进行运算,从而实现对景观格局的分析。结果表明,马尔科夫模型法具有优于景观指数法的优点,不仅可以计算出某一类景观两年面积的变化,更有深入的基质分析,即各类景观之间转换概率。     

Local spatial context measurements used to explore the relationship between land cover and land use functions

Research making use of satellite data for land change science has developed in the last decades. However, analysis of land use has not developed with the same speed as development of new satellite sensors and available land cover data. Improvement of land use analysis is possible, but more advanced methods are needed which make it possible to link image data to analysis of land use functions. To make this linking possible, variable which affect farmer's long term decisions must be taken into account in analysis as well as the relative importance of the landscape itself.A GIS-based tool for the measurement of local spatial context in satellite data is presented in this paper and used to explore the relationship between land covers present in satellite data and land use represented in official databases. By the use of the developed tool, a land configuration image (LCI) over the Siljan area in northern Sweden was produced and used for analysis. The results are twofold. First, the produced LCI holds new information about variables that are relevant for the interpretation of land use. Second, the comparison with statistics of agricultural production shows that production in the study area varies depending on the relative land configuration. Villages consisting of relatively large-scale arable fields and less diverse landscape are less diverse in production than villages which consist of smaller-scale and more heterogonous landscapes. The result is especially relevant for land use studies and policymakers working on environmental and agricultural policies. We conclude that local spatial context is an endogenous variable in the relation between landscape configuration and agricultural land use.     

Assessing landscape change in Waterton Lakes National Park,Canada, using multitemporal composites constructed from terrestrial repeat photographs

The objective of this paper is to investigate landscape level changes that have occurred in Waterton Lakes National Park (WLNP), Canada between the years 1914 and 2005 using digital image processing techniques usually associated with satellite image analysis. Multitemporal colour composites, image classification, and principal components analysis were used to process registered images of the montane ecotone from photographic pairs of Bellevue Hill, Horseshoe Basin and Lakeview Ridge. The resulting digital images offered insight into the spatial nature of the vegetation changes that have occurred over the last 90 years at these sites. Changes observed included increased forest cover through vertical migration and the infill of conifers and aspen both on the slopes and the valley bottoms of WLNP.     

The online TÉKA database,an integrated approach to landmark inventorization

The reduction of untouched areas and the increase in residential, agricultural and industrial areas have gained speed in recent decades. As a result of the changes, one can often observe the disappearance of landmarks that had been connected to production, habitation and transportation. The first step for the preservation of landmarks is their identification and inventorization. In the ordinary sense of the word, ‘landmarks’ mean the important landscape heritage of national history and culture, which need to be identified, protected and preserved for future generations. The purpose of the TÉKA project was to compile a landmark cadastral register that will contribute to the preservation of landscape-related and cultural heritage in Hungary. The landmark cadastral is a Wikipedia-like GIS-based web site. One of the novelties of the TÉKA database is that the data obtained from various sources are gathered in a common, online GIS and integrated into a uniform meta database.     

A geoinformatic approach to the collection of archaeological survey data

This article explores the integration of GIS technology with archaeological survey, focusing primarily on two case studies from central Anatolia, the Göksu Archaeological Project and the Avkat Archaeological Project. The methodology employed allows for expediency and accuracy in data recording, which enables refined analyses of anthropogenic and environmental phenomena. The approaches outlined in this article allowed the investigators to move from field observation to publication quality results within a single field day, usually within a four-hour window from initial field observation. The techniques described in the article are some of the geoinformatic applications that classical archaeology is implementing increasingly to develop a robust archaeoinformatic tool kit.     

Revitalizing ecological capital

Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography 111(2):149–167, 2011

The modernization of agricultural food production has diminished and is diminishing the sustainable use of the local natural resource base, resulting in the fragmentation of landscapes and the decline of biodiversity. In this paper we analyze the revitalization of ecological capital, which provides insights into how effective adjustments in land-use and farming practices can stimulate a reconnection between farming, nature and society. The paper focuses on a case study about endogenous knowledge on the relation between farm activities and the reproduction of the landscape and its flora and fauna in the (Dutch) Friesian Woodlands. We suggest that building adequate, local institutional frameworks that strengthen landscape structures, regional identity and the ‘branding’ of food products will sustain rural development in the area. The results should be of value for increasing the understanding among researchers and policymakers of the potential of endogenous knowledge in governing the increase of the ecological stock in an area.     

The potential of intra-regional supply and demand of agricultural products in an urban fringe area: A case study of the Kanto Plain,Japan

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 109(2):147–159, 2009

The increasingly global reach of industrial agricultural production has progressively distanced consumers and producers. Not surprisingly, opposition to the global food system commonly seeks to re-localize agriculture by cutting the distance between agricultural production and consumption. Analysis of potential foodsheds can provide an important basis upon which to recover local systems of production and consumption. Here, we examine the potential for municipal and micro-level foodsheds in the greater Tokyo mega-region. Similar to other large cities in Asia, the urban fringe of Tokyo has extensive areas of mixed urban and agricultural land-uses which are often seen as problematic, but which may have many merits from the standpoint of sustainable foodsheds. Indeed, our results indicate that many areas on the urban fringe of the Tokyo mega-region bear potential to meet demand for both rice and vegetables within their borders. Moreover, many people could meet their food needs within a short distance of their residence. These results demonstrate the need to examine the potential for micro-level foodsheds on the urban fringe.