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Accuracy assessment of different soil databases concerning WRB reference soil groups
1-12Views:306As a result of international cooperation, the conditions of data access and data usage have been significantly improved during the last two decades. Also, the establishment of web-based geoinformatic infrastructure allowed researchers to share their results with the scientific community more efficiently on the international level. The aim of this study is to investigate the accuracy of databases with different spatial resolutions, using the reference profiles of LUCAS topsoil database. In our study, we investigated the accuracy of World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) Reference Soil Groups (RSG) groups stored in freely accessible soil databases (European Soil Database (ESDB), International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC)) in Hungary. The study concluded that the continental scale database tends to be more accurate. We used the Kappa Index of Agreement (KIA) statistical index to evaluate accuracy. The European and the international databases showed a value of 0.9643 and 0.3968, respectively. Considering the results, we can conclude that the spatial resolution has a relevant impact on the accuracy of databases, however, the study should be extended to the national level and the indices should be assessed together.
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Environment protection and its reflection in the environmental consciousness of the inhabitants in a middle-sized town (Vác, Hungary)
83-94Views:121Abstract The paper presents the role of urban environmental protection in sustainable development while analysing the factors influencing the environmental consciousness of the inhabitants of a middle-sized town based on a general model, together with the role of environmental consciousness in solving environmental protection problems at settlement level. My particular research focused on characterising the environmental state of Vác, with a population of 35000 people, and on the knowledge and environmental consciousness of the inhabitants. In the course of the representative questionnaire survey, 439 people gave assessable answers. Questions were related to the most significant environmental problems (air pollution, water contamination, sewage treatment, waste management). Answers were compared to the real situation based on measurements. Results revealed that the knowledge of the inhabitants on local environmental problems is better than the national average. In certain relations (water contamination, sewage treatment), however, it is deficient, thus information transfer was studied separately as well. It can be stated that local governments should make greater efforts in order to inform inhabitants. Environmental attitude of the inhabitants can be regarded as good. Based on the general model, I analysed the tasks of the settlement to improve environmental consciousness in order to increase efficiency of urban environmental protection.
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Water chemical analysis of the oxbow lakes near the Upper-Tisza River
36-42Views:194The Tisza river plays an important role in the life of Eastern Hungary. Beside the river there are several oxbow lakes, cut off meanders. In this paper the water quality of these lakes was examined from the section of Tarpa to Rakamaz. 45 oxbow lakes were sampled and the chemical parameters were determined. Sodium was used as a pollutant (sewage water) indicator and 2 lakes were found extremely polluted. The lakes outside the dam were slightly polluted because of the lack of renewal of the water body and the ones in the active floodplain had good quality parameters.
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Environmental objective analysis, ranking and clustering of Hungarian cities
91-108Views:111The aim of the study was to rank and classify Hungarian cities and counties according to their environmental quality and level of environmental awareness. Ranking of the Hungarian cities and counties are represented on their „Green Cities Index” and „Green Counties Index” values. According to the methodology shown in Part 1, cities and counties were grouped on different classification techniques and efficacy of the classification was analysed. However, they did not give acceptable results either for the cities, or for the counties. According to the parameters of the here mentioned three algorithms, reasonable structures were not found in any clustering. Clusters received applying algorithm fanny, though having weak structure, indicate large and definite regions in Hungary, which can be circumscribed by clear geographical objects.
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Land use changes of the riparian landscape in Hungary between 1990 and 2018
82-95Views:211The protection and the restoration of rivers is one of the most important challenges of our time, due to the impact of human activities. The aim of the research was to assess the land use changes in the Hungarian riparian landscape. Several landscape corridors of different (50-100-300-500 m) widths near rivers were analyzed since 1990, using the CORINE Land Cover database. Positive changes in the land use of riparian landscape can be seen: continuous increase in the case of forest areas; and slight decrease in the extent of agricultural land since 1990. Unfortunately, the extent of grasslands and other near-natural areas is reduced; and there has been a steady increase in built-up areas. Examining the changes in built-up areas in more detail, a big increase is shown by the extent of urban green areas. As a continuation of the research, an evaluation methodology is being developed to determine the restoration potential of urban rivers on study area level and on national level. The results presented in this paper on land use changes and land use conditions can be useful for the research about restoration potential at national level.
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Rock mass rating in Bükk Mts., N Hungary based on petrophysical parameters and parting conditions
161-168Views:296In the region of Bánkút and Ómassa, Bükk Mountains the strength of the rocks of 29 outcrops was studied based on Rock Mass Rating (RMR). Strength of the rock masses showed no correlation with the material of the Formations they exposed, however, correlation between the orientation of valleys and ridges and the location of the most deformed rocks and thus that of the rock masses with poorest qualification could be observed.
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Cadastral survey of unique landscape features via the examples of Vászoly, Hungary
20-35Views:157In the Hungarian legal system the Act on Nature Conservation contains a peculiar category, the notion of the unique landscape feature. The unique landscape feature is a natural or man-made object which represents value for local people. The purpose of this study is on the one hand to familiarize this specific category, on the other hand to introduce the method of cadastral survey via the example of a small Hungarian settlement, Vászoly. Vászoly and its surroundings are situated on the south-eastern part of the Balaton Uplands, a part of the Bakony Region. In spite of the survey, the distribution of the features among the categories reflects the national tendency, that is, most of the cadastred landscape features in Vászoly are cultural-historical ones, because these types of features are located mostly within the inner areas of the settlements, which makes them easier to survey. However, these features are not always really valuable. It can be stated that most of the features are related to the settlement (mostly features of sacral traditions) and agricultural production (first of all features of viniculture). Surveying the sets of the unique landscape features, the changing landscape patterns, the certain landscape characters and the peculiarities of the landscape explain their origin and former function.
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Integrating applied lake ecology into spatial planning: towards a socially acceptable lakeshore restoration at Lake Velence (Hungary)
27-41Views:319A good chance of a socially accepted shore-restoration that is sustainable for the long run stands only, if all those, concerned in lake use, are also interested in the ecological interventions, if shore-restoration serves social and economic purposes, as well. In the previous phase of our research, assessments were made to find the sections of the shore zone that are suitable for restoration: to detect the sites where the existing artificial shoreline stabilization works could be removed. So that social demands should be involved in the assessment process, to begin with, structured interviews were made. According to the results, the share of the plots, being suitable or partially suitable for shore-restoration, slightly exceeded 7%. The analysis of restoration’s limiting factors has shown that the type of shoreline stabilization, the width of zone covered by emergent macrophytes, the extent of human pressures, and the relevant regulations on zoning (fixed in urban plans) together set limits to restoration. The interviews have made it clear that as a result of the changed demands on recreation-tourism, also the natural and landscape values have become more significant.
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Mapping aquatic vegetation of the Rakamaz-Tiszanagyfalui Nagy-Morotva using hyperspectral imagery
1-10Views:251Rapid development in remote sensing technologies provides more and more reliable methods for environmental assessment. For most wetlands, it is difficult to walk-in without disturbing the endangered species living there; therefore, application of opportunities provided by remote sensing has a great importance in population-mapping. One effective tool of vegetation pattern estimation is hyperspectral remote sensing, which can be used for association and species level mapping as well, due to high ground resolution. The Rakamaz-Tiszanagyfalui Nagy-morotva is an oxbow lake, located in the north-eastern part of Hungary. For this study, a wetland area of 1.17 km2 containing the original water bad and shoreline was selected. For the image analysis, images taken by an AISA DUAL system hyperspectral sensor were used. At the same time, 7 main vegetation classes were separated, which are typical for the sample plot designated on the test site. Classification was performed by the master areas signed by the most common associations of the Rakamaz-Tiszanagyfalui Nagy-morotva with determined spectrums. During the image analysis, SAM classification method was used, where radian values were optimized by the results of classification performed at the control area.
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Comparison of CO2-emissions of households heated by natural gas and firewood
64-72Views:170In terms of climate protection, one of the most important questions is the reduction of the GHG emission. In this study, I compared CO2 -emission of households heated by natural gas and firewood, which had similar heated area and volume of air, considering the carbon-dioxide absorbing of forests of the households heated by firewood. Natural gas is a fossil fuel; however, the firewood (solid biomass) is a renewable energy resource. One of the main features of renewable energy sources is to get into the atmosphere less CO2 than fossil fuels. The renewable energy resources emit into the air just as much CO2 as they absorb during their life cycle.
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The Mass Ratio of the Epiphytic Periphyton of the Nyéki-Holt-Duna
232-241Views:267The knowledge of the periphytic structure is important for the fact that the composition of epiphytic periphyton indicates the ecologically different habitats, the biological state of water-quality and its changes. Plants like reed, great bulrush, saligot, pondweed, and water-rose separately were collected from the different sampling sites for the epiphytic periphyton examination. We performed the comparability of the monitoring systems based on the periphyton category (mass), the group (ash%), the type (chl-a%), and the character (AI), and we used the biological indicators to determine the ecological state. Taking into consideration the examined years and the results of the analysis of the mass and the chemical composition of the periphyton, by means of the NTPI, the overweight of the good ecological state is characteristic of the Nyéki-Holt-Danube.
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Flood model for the Bódva catchment
12-26Views:224In term of floods the current area of Hungary has extensively been endangered. Modelling of flood processes – mainly following the hydrological events in the riverbed – has recently been developed. As far as protection dykes provide protection of the inhabited and agricultural areas, the flood models can run with acceptable preciseness. However, when dykes cannot withstand against the increasing load and a dyke burst occurs, fast and efficient protection measures shall be taken in the protected areas. The dynamic 4D Flood model presented in this paper makes possible a fast modelling of dyke burst occurring in the protected side and spreading of water mass, based on real parameters. For this reason the features of protected area shall be recognised, for example topology of creeks, features of agricultural and inhabited areas, parameters of roads, railways, rainwater drainage, buildings, natural conditions (soil parameters, meteorological characteristics, etc.). The results satisfy the comprehensive demands of the Directorate General for Disaster Prevention of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County. In case of dyke burst, the completed Flood Model can run the expected events of the next hour in a few minutes. This time is enough for the specialists to bring operative decisions to protect the inhabitants and avoid material losses.
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Periphery Dichotomy and its Investigation by GIS Methods
131-136Views:280Centre-periphery dichotomy can be regarded as one of the crucial issues in human geography and regional science. The definition of periphery is far from unambiguous due to its relative expression and its content. This is the reason why can significant number of studies be found focusing on the delimitation of central and peripheral areas. The revolution of computer technology and the rapid development of GIS cause the more and more extended usage of these techniques in the human geography as well. These related studies were categorised by their approaches – namely the locational or developmental centreperiphery concepts – and their GIS tools. Application of spatial parameters with extended datasets and complex GIS based calculations mean the most precise and complicated use of GIS and computer tools in the delimitation of peripheral (and central) areas.
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Types and characteristics of the oxbow-lakes in Lower-Tisza-valley - classification from landscape planning perspective
19-25Views:108The study area is located in Hungary on the South of the Great Plane called Alföld in Hungarian. There are ten oxbow lakes are located in the region of the Lower Tisza Valley. The quality of the area’s oxbow lakes are rather different. There are protected, highly valuable sites in terms of landscape and nature conservation, yet degraded areas utilized for economic purposes can also be found. In the course of river-control in the Lower Tisza Valley was affected by the 84-90th cutoffs, therefore oxbows have been formed in the area. Four of these oxbows are on the part that is not effected by floods, and six of them are located in the active floodplain.The attributes or usage of oxbow lakes allow for a complex system of categorisation. The assessment and classification of oxbow lakes can establish the grounds for assessment, as well as for planning the interventions of landscape restoration.
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Spatial distribution of selected soil features in Hajdú-Bihar county represented by digital soil maps
203-213Views:353With the ongoing DOSoReMI.hu project we aimed to significantly extend the potential, how soil information requirements could be satisfied in Hungary. We started to compile digital soil maps, which fulfil optimally general as well as specific national and international demands from the aspect of thematic, spatial and temporal accuracy. In addition to relevant and available auxiliary, spatial data themes related to soil forming factors and/or to indicative environmental elements we heavily lean on the various national soil databases. The set of the applied digital soil mapping techniques is gradually broadened. In our paper we present some results in the form of brand new soil maps focusing on the territory of Hajdú-Bihar county.
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The developement of red mud flood environmental information system and the methodology for the spatial analysis of the degraded area
1-11Views:311The red mud disaster occurred on 4th October 2010 in Hungary has raised the necessity of rapid intervention and drew attention to the long-term monitoring of such threat. Both the condition assessment and the change monitoring indispensably required the prompt and detailed spatial survey of the impact area. It was conducted by several research groups - independently - with different recent surveying methods. The high spatial resolution multispectral aerial photogrammetry is the spatially detailed (high resolution) and accurate type of remote sensing. The hyperspectral remote sensing provides more information about material quality of pollutants, with less spatial details and lower spatial accuracy, while LIDAR ensures the three-dimensional shape and terrain models. The article focuses on the high spatial resolution, multispectral electrooptical method and the evaluation methodology of the deriving high spatial resolution ortho image map, presenting the derived environmental information database.
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Comparison of soil moisture indices and field measurements in hilly agricultural lands of SW Hungary
50-57Views:403The retention of surface runoff and the preservation of soil moisture are among the most important water-related ecosystem services. In addition to field monitoring, advanced remote sensing techniques have been devised to reveal soil moisture dynamics on agricultural land. In our study we compare two soil moisture indices, TWI and SAVI, in three agricultural areas with different land use types. The SAVI has been found suitable to point out spatial variation on the moisture conditions of the vadose zone.
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Land use changes and their effect on floodplain aggradation along the Middle-Tisza River, Hungary
1-10Views:149Land-use changes and their effect on overbank sediment accumulation were investigated on the floodplain of Middle-Tisza River. Military survey maps (1783, 1860, 1883 and 1890) and aerial photos (1950, 1965, 1980 and 2000) were used to evaluate land-use changes and to calculate the vegetational roughness of the area. To determinate the rate of overbank sedimentation sediment samples were collected from a pit, the grain-size, content of organic matter, heavy metal content (Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni and Cd) and pH were measured. Until 1950 meadows and pastures were typical on the floodplain, gallery-forest was along the river, the oxbow-lake and the artificial levee. Notable landuse changes were detected in the second half of the 20th century, as the aerial photo taken in 1965 shows extensive forestry in the area. These land-use changes affected the average vegetational roughness, as it has been doubled since the disappearance of grasslands. Land-use changes highly affect the aggradation, as the increased roughness decreases the flood velocity on the floodplain, causing accelerated aggradation. Using Pb marker horizons and grain-size changes the studied sediment profile was compared to dated profiles (Braun et al. 2003), thus, the sediment accumulation rate could be determined for the periods of 1858-1965 and 1965-2005. According to our measurements the accumulation rate was doubled since 1965, very likely in connection with the doubled vegetational roughness.
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Comparative analysis of Landsat TM, ETM+, OLI and EO-1 ALI satellite images at the Tisza-tó area, Hungary
53-62Views:458Satellite images are important information sources of land cover analysis or land cover change monitoring. We used the sensors of four different spacecraft: TM, ETM+, OLI and ALI. We classified the study area using the Maximum Likelihood algorithm and used segmentation techniques for training area selection. We validated the results of all sensors to reveal which one produced the most accurate data. According to our study Landsat 8’s OLI performed the best (96.9%) followed by TM on Landsat 5 (96.2%) and ALI on EO-1 (94.8%) while Landsat 7’s ETM+ had the worst accuracy (86.3%).
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Landscape shape index, as a potencial indicator of urban development in Hungary
78-88Views:541The study of settlement shape, morphology and structure is a classic topic of urban geography. Since the 1960s multiple shape indices have been developed. Urban patterns were then compared with geometric forms or, alternatively their temporal changes were tracked and analysed. In the current study we adapted the landscape shape index (LSI) to analyse the historical shape development of eight Hungarian cities. The LSI is capable to demonstrate the functional and mutual relationship between the developed area and their immediate physical and natural environment. Over the past 230 years the land area of the studied cities has increased manifold for several reasons: on average, an areal increase of 10.4 to 24.5 was observed for the eight settlements, while their perimeter increased by 8.8 to 30.3 times. Simultaneously with their size growth, the studied cities are characterized by an increasingly fragmented and dissected ground plans. Consequently, due to the longer border between the developed areas and the adjacent natural zones, urban areas have become increasingly sensitive to environmental effects over the past century, while mutual ecological and environmental interactions has also considerably increased between the adjoining zones. In general, cities of hilly and low-mountain areas had the highest LSIs, whereas cities located on relatively flat grounds had comparatively low LSIs. We also investigated the rank correlation of the historical change of LSI of the studied settlements. Cities of high positive correlations (> 0.9) were classified into two major categories. Miskolc, Pécs, Szeged and Kecskemét belonged to the group of higher LSIs, whereas Székesfehérvár and Nyíregyháza fell into the class of medium LSIs and the third category included Debrecen and Győr, cities of low (< 0.9) LSIs. Based on the temporal trends of the LSIs, our results provide applicable information for decision makers in order to monitor, manage and track their investments, city management policies and infrastructural development strategies.
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Heavy metal content of flood sediments and plants near the River Tisza
120-131Views:142The River Tisza is Hungary’s especially important river. It is significant not only because of the source of energy and the value insured by water (hydraulical power, shipping route, stock of fish, aquatic environment etc.) but the active floodplain between levees as well. Ploughlands, orchards, pastures, forests and oxbow lakes can be found here. They play a significant role in the life of the people living near the river and depend considerably on the quality of the sediments settled by the river. Several sources of pollution can be found in the catchment area of the River Tisza and some of them significantly contribute to the pollution of the river and its active floodplain. In this paper we study the concentration of zinc, copper, nickel and cobalt in sediments settled in the active floodplain and the ratio of these metals taken up by plants. Furthermore, our aim was to study the vertical distribution of these elements by the examination of soil profiles. The metal content of the studied area does not exceed the critical contamination level, except in the case of nickel, and the ratio of metals taken up by plants does not endanger the living organisms. The vertical distribution of metals in the soil is heterogeneous, depending on the ratio of pollution coming from abroad and the quality of flood.
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Evaluation of the possibilities for stream restoration: preassessment of the Váli-stream (Hungary)
26-44Views:322The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of restoration of a stream section. The starting point of the multiple-step assessment process was a historical analysis, which resulted in the definition of different sections within the study area, providing a base for the further restoration goals. The assessment of the current conditions was elaborated particularly to determine those factors, which could limit restoration. These assessments cover the land use pattern, furthermore the analysis of vegetation and habitat patches. As a result of the historical analysis, it has been found that the stream side habitat patches have decreased significantly despite the constant space available. This change was not caused by the increased area of the settlement, but rather by the higher dominancy of arable forms of land use. The greatest share of wet and mesic meadows and agricultural habitats in the study areas, covering 57.5% of the total area, indicates significant anthropogenic effects. Consequently it can be stated that the reference conditions are not the only determining factors of the restoration possibilities. Restoration style and intensity have been defined on basis of all assessed factors.