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  • Comparison of soil moisture indices and field measurements in hilly agricultural lands of SW Hungary
    50-57
    Views:
    246

    The 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.

  • Water mining and landscape: a study on three blocks (Gangajalghati, Mejhia and Saltora) of Bankura, West Bengal, India
    48-64
    Views:
    110

    Groundwater depletion occurs when the rate of groundwater extraction is higher than the rate of replenishment. It is unequivocal that the demand for fresh water is ever increasing.  The study area lies in the semi-arid climatic zone and it's a solely agrarian society. The water scarcity leads to an impact on soil moisture and soil becomes drier during the dry months. The study is based on the changes in the regional water table which exhibit a relatively rapid response to acute scarcity of water. To specify the soil dryness gravimetric method has been used to study the selected soil samples. The groundwater withdrawal without estimating the water requirement at the regional level leads to soil dryness, and water stress situation to the agrarian economy, and it leaves a direct impact on the land. The perception of the farm owner, that ownership of farmland is synonymous with water mining right from their land leads to stress on the water table. 

     

  • The scenic value of abandoned mining areas in Poland
    132-142
    Views:
    30

    Abandoned Polish mining areas are commonly heavily transformed so that they endanger no longer
    the environment. A disadvantage is that the newly created areas commonly contribute to the
    monotonous urban-industrial landscape, rather than providing additional value. This is partly due to
    legislation that hampers a more diversified management of abandoned mining areas as potentially
    valuable landforms. One of the legal barriers that restricts the possibilities of making these areas more
    attractive, regards the utilization of remaining exploitation holes (i.e. land depressions of at least 2 m
    deep, formed as a result of open-pit mining of energy, chemical, building or metallurgical resources)
    and waste heaps as important cultural and scenic elements. Such a new use of these old mininginduced phenomena is important if it is intended not only to involve the regional population in the
    process of exploring and exploiting the earth’s resources, but also to confront them with some
    negative consequences of these activities, including shaping the landscape in which these objects are
    situated. The current attitude towards a new architecture for abandoned mining areas should be
    reconsidered; particularly the present-day approach based on narrow specializations – for instance of
    experts in mineral exploitation, spatial planning or environmental protection – should be replaced by
    interdisciplinary action regarding shaping the landscape of abandoned mining areas.

  • Boundless settlements – tendencies and future of urban sprawl in the agglomeration of Budapest
    75-88
    Views:
    182

    The Budapest agglomeration is a rapidly changing environment. Urban sprawl has been a prominent process in municipalities around the Hungarian capital, and its pace has significantly increased since the change of regimes. In our paper, we analyse the tendencies of urban development, the role of territorial protection and the types of land use mostly threatened by urban sprawl in two study areas within the Budapest agglomeration. A significant part of the Northern study area – located on Szentendre Island – is under territorial protection, while the Southern study area – located on Csepel Island – has a considerably lower amount of protected areas. We found that the settlements of the Northern study area have been expanding at a much slower pace than their Southern counterparts, where in the absence of effective restrictions, extensive areas – mostly former agricultural fields – have been converted into built-up areas. In addition, the Spatial Plan of the agglomeration allows the same tendencies to continue in both areas in the future as well.

  • Vegetation changes of Sundarbans based on Landsat imagery analysis between 1975 and 2006
    1-9
    Views:
    319

    The Sundarbans in Bangladesh and India is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world. This forest is threatened by effect of climate change and manmade activities. The aim of this paper is to show changes in vegetation cover of Sundarbans since 1975 using Landsat imagery. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index is applied to quantify and qualify density of vegetation on a patch of land. Estimated land area (excluded water body) of this forest is 66% in Bangladesh, and 34% in India, respectively. Net erosion since 1975 to 2006 is ~5.9%. In vicinity of human settlement, areal changes are not observed since 1975. The mangrove forest is decreased by 19.3% due severe tropical cyclone in 1977 and 1988. Moreover, the dense forest is damaged by about 50%. However, more than 25 years is taken by Sundarbans to recover from damage by a severe tropical cyclone. The biodiversity of Sundarbans depends to fresh water flow through it. Therefore, the future of Sundarbans depends to the impact of climate change which has further effect to increasing intensity and frequency of severe tropical cyclone and salinity in water channels in Sundarbans.

  • Directions and prospects of transformation in cultural landscapes of Poland - considerations and attempts of evaluation
    44-57
    Views:
    30

    The article points to several very up-to-date issues that occur in relation with the vanishing of traditional forms of land use and introduction of new, other than indigenous, management styles in Poland. Current processes of deterioration of the structure of the cultural landscapes have been discussed with regard to natural values and the historical process of land management by man. The article is a peculiar case study for quite common negative transformation of the polish countryside caused by relatively free use of the space, legal negligence, low awareness and poor identification of residents with the landscape – the countryside which loses its peculiar and typical features as the result of “mass consumption”. The text also presents positive examples of care taken for the regional landscape and lists initiatives aimed at improving the image of polish area.

  • Is desertification a problem in Hungary?
    242-247
    Views:
    203

    The term of “desertification” refers to a land degradation processes of arid, semiarid and sub-humid
    areas. Although the concept originates from Sub-Saharan Africa, desertification threatens also the area
    of Hungary. The greatest desertification risk is in the central part of the country, in the Danube-Tisza
    Interfluve where drought has always been a huge problem for the local society. Aridification processes
    are mainly due to climate change. Temperature increase and precipitation decrease as well as the increase
    of the frequency and amplitude of extreme events contribute to the acceleration of desertification risk.
    Severe or moderate droughts occur in Hungary nearly every year. Drought frequency has increased,
    primarily in the last decades. Main findings of several research projects of MEDALUS II and III EU
    Framework projects (experiments on the effects of climate change on vegetation, soils and ground water
    level) are summarized in the paper.

  • Types and characteristics of the oxbow-lakes in Lower-Tisza-valley - classification from landscape planning perspective
    19-25
    Views:
    53

    The 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.

  • The concept of the landscape and its acceptance in the practice
    93-104
    Views:
    40

    The landscape is historically perceived basically in two ways: as a tangible material reality and also as an intangible, mental and artistic experience. The basic practical policies related to the landscape ecology under the umbrella conception of the integrated land resources management are based on materialistic geocomplex/geosystem conception. In last decades a massive wave of the “friends of landscape” appeared, who shifted their attendance to the cultural-historical-value and perception based approach to the landscape. This wave is supported by the compromiss soft definition of the landscape and the wording of the European Landscape Convention. Nevertheless, the penetration of the landscape to the practical policies requires the materialistic approach and definition of the landscape.

  • Interferences between the ecological network and urbanized areas in Poland
    65-77
    Views:
    26

    This paper presents spatial relations between Polish urban areas and valuable habitats and links
    between them composing the country’s ecological network. The quantitative analysis for 891 towns
    and cities was conducted using GIS techniques based on cartographic vector data and statistical data.
    Valuable habitats and links between them, such as national parks, landscape parks, CORINE biotopes
    sites, wildlife corridors linking NATURA 2000 sites and ECONET areas, can be found in 72% of
    Polish towns and cities. The proportion of artificial surfaces in those areas is different depending on
    the size of a town or city and its location. Urban areas with the highest index of presence of valuable
    habitats and links between them are concentrated in the south of Poland, where settlement network is
    most dense. However, in the case of those areas the proportion of artificial surfaces interfering with
    the ecological network is lower than Poland’s average, being 16%. The pressure of anthropogenic
    land cover extending onto the country’s ecological network is most conspicuous in urban areas with a
    population of at least several dozen thousand residents where the average developed area is 20.8% of
    their total area. The danger for the continuity of the nature system is best seen in the north western
    Poland, where artificial surfaces interference in towns and cities is largest. The analysis performed
    identified 82 towns and cities, in which the preservation of the continuity of the ecological network
    should be a priority in spatial management because of a higher than average index of the presence of
    valuable habitats and links between them and large proportion of artificial surfaces in those areas.

  • Land use changes and their effect on floodplain aggradation along the Middle-Tisza River, Hungary
    1-10
    Views:
    62

    Land-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.

  • Spatial and temporal pattern of soil pH and Eh and their impact on solute iron content in a wetland (Transdanubia, Hungary)
    34-45
    Views:
    39

    Land mosaics have direct and indirect influence on chemical reaction and redox condition of soils.
    The present paper deals with the relationship between some environmental factors (such as soil and
    vegetation patterns, micro-relief, water regime, temperature and incident solar radiation) and the pH,
    Eh of soils and solute iron in a headwater wetland in Transdanubia, Hungary. Measurements have
    been taken in four different patches and along their boundaries: sedge (Carex vulpina, Carex riparia,
    three patches and two species), horsetail (Equisetum arvense), common nettle (Urtica dioica). The
    spatial pattern of the studied parameters are influenced by the water regime, micro-topography,
    climatic conditions and by direct and indirect effects of vegetation. The indirect effect can be the
    shading, which has influence on soil temperature and on the incident solar radiation (PAR). Root
    respiration and excretion of organic acids appear as direct effects.. There have been measured
    individual pH and Eh characteristic in the studied patches. Soil Eh, pH and solute iron have shown
    seasonal dynamics. Higher redox potentials (increasingly oxidative conditions) and higher pH values
    were measured between late autumn and early spring. The increasing physiological activity of plants
    causes lower pH and Eh and it leads to higher spatial differences. Although temperature is an
    essential determining factor for Eh and pH, but our results suggest it rather has indirect effects
    through plants on wetlands.

  • Landscape shape index, as a potencial indicator of urban development in Hungary
    78-88
    Views:
    332

    The 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.

  • Studying the development of fluvial landforms in the Berettyó-Körös Region using geoinformatic methods
    137-144
    Views:
    157

    Development of fluvial landforms from 1980 till nowadays was studied based on digital elevation maps
    (DEM) composed from contour lines of topographic maps, field data obtained by RTK GPS and aerial
    photos taken by a drone. Greatest denudation of 6-9 metres was measured in the eastern side of the
    erosional valley at Pocsaj caused by piping and mass movements. As a result, the valley widened and
    slightly deepened. Since 1980 around 1-2 metres of accumulation and erosion of similar rate have been
    measured in the secured floodplain environment dissected by abandoned beds, point-bars and swales
    at Kismarja. These values, however, rather reflect the geometric uncertainties and deficiencies of the
    contours of topographic maps than real land changes. Therefore topographic maps can give reliable basis
    for studying the development of lowland landforms only if they depict adequately large sized (minimum
    100 x 100 m) positive or negative forms with great height difference as well (minimum 8-10 m). Accuracy
    of DEMs composed from aerial photos using photogrammetric methods – taking off height faults caused
    by vegetation – is around the same as that of the models created on the basis of RTK GPS measurements.

  • Investigation of the wind power potential of the Hernád valley
    93-107
    Views:
    43

    The University of Debrecen, Department of Meteorology has carried out research into the climatic and social-economic conditions of the Hernád valley in the scope of a scientific project (OTKA K 75794) between 2009 and 2012. The aim is to find out the optimal area for wind and solar energy, as well as biomass utilization. Our purpose is to work out a model wherein the complex evaluation of natural and social-economic conditions and effects can eventually result in a sustainable and conflictfree land use. The results of the research will be useful in working out a regional improvement based on the use of renewable energy sources to help the local decision-making process.

  • A spatio-temporal urban expansion modeling a case study Teheran metropolis, Iran
    10-19
    Views:
    103

    During the past decades, urban growth has been accelerating with the massive immigration of population to cities. Urban population in the world was estimated as 2.9 billion in 2000 and predicted to reach 5.0 billion in 2030. Rapid urbanization and population growth have been a common phenomenon, especially in the developing countries such as Iran. Rapid population growth, environmental changes and improper land use planning practices in the past decades have resulted in environmental deterioration, haphazard landscape development and stress on the ecosystem structure, housing shortages, insufficient infrastructure, and increasing urban climatological and ecological problems. In this study, urban sprawl assessment was implemented using Shannon entropy and then, Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been adopted for modeling urban growth. Our case study is Tehran Metropolis, capital of Iran. Landsat imageries acquired in 1988, 1999 and 2010 are used. According to the results of sprawl assessment for this city, this city has experienced sprawl between 1988 to 2010. Dataset include distance to roads, distance to green spaces, distance to developed area, slope, number of urban cells in a 3 by 3 neighborhood, distance to fault and elevation. Relative operating characteristic (ROC) method have been used to evaluate the accuracy and performance of the model. The obtained ROC equal to 0.8366.

  • Monitoring the changes of a suburban settlement by remote sensing
    76-83
    Views:
    67

    Satellite images and aerial photos support settlement surveys and provide valuable information of their physical environment. Aerial photos are excellent tools to overview large areas and simultaneously provide high-resolution images making them efficient tools to monitor built-up areas and their surroundings. Aerial photos can also be used to collect complex spatial data as well as to detect various temporal changes on the land surface, such as construction of illegal edifices and waste dumps. The 10 to 30-meter resolution SPOT and Landsat images are usually insufficient for site specific data collection and analysis. However, the recently available 0.5-meter resolution satellite images have broadened the scope of monitoring and data collection projects. Beyond environmental and urban monitoring, the new available high-resolution satellite images simplify the everyday work of local authorities and will facilitate the development of governmental databases that include spatial information for public utilities and other communal facilities.

  • Heavy metal loads in the soil of Debrecen
    57-67
    Views:
    39

    Results of examinations on the amount, and spatial distribution of heavy metal compounds in the soil
    of Debrecen, their geographic, pedologic and ecologic aspects are presented in this study. The effects
    of the differences in traffic conditions, build-up/land use and the density of vegetation on the heavy
    metal content of the soils have been examined in city of Debrecen and its closer environment.
    Cadmium-, cobalt-, nickel-, lead-, and copper-contents of the soil samples taken from 88 sites of the
    sample area have been studied after acidic extraction, using atomic absorption spectrometer with the
    flame technique. Close-to-background concentrations of heavy metals in unpolluted soils of the
    forested area of the Nagyerdő were determined. Spatial differences in the heavy metal content of the
    soils for the whole area of Debrecen have been studied. Influence of soil properties (humus, CalciumCarbonate content, pH and grain-size distribution) on the binding and mobility of heavy metals in the
    soil has been examined. Vertical distribution and mobility of heavy metal compounds in acid sandy
    soils was determined. Heavy metal content of soil in the most sensitive areas, playgrounds,
    recreational areas, urban gardens and grazing fields along busy roads has been surveyed.

  • Case study for estimation of the amount of contaminants stored in soil in an industrial area
    1-11
    Views:
    260

    One of the main sources of contaminants in the soil is industrial activity which has become one of the major environmental problems of the last few decades. The development of geoinformatics as well as the introduction of standards and regulations has led to a decreased risk of soil contamination and the cost-effective optimization of remediation activities. Based on the above, the aim of our study is to demonstrate the geoinformation processing of the remediation performed in an industrial area located in the Great Hungarian Plain, with special regard to the estimation of the amount and spread of the contaminants accumulated in the soil. In order to reveal the lithological and hydrogeological properties of the investigated area and the environmental status of the underground areas, we performed a large number of shallow land drillings (115). During the field sampling, 1000–1500 grams of samples were collected from the drill bit and were processed in an accredited laboratory. Based on the concentration and volume models created it can be concluded that with the estimations performed via modeling, we were able to locate the most critical areas from the standpoint of contamination. It was revealed that the focal point of the contaminants accumulated in the soil was in the central part of the investigated area. Furthermore, the model demonstrated the effect of lithological factors, since contaminants tend to accumulate more heavily in cohesive soils compared to porous rocks. The extent of contaminant concentration in the aquifer increased with decreasing depth; however, after reaching the floor clay the extent of contaminant concentration began to decrease. The lithological layer closest to the surface contained the most contaminants.

  • Correction of Atmospheric Haze of IRS-1C LISS-III Multispectral Satellite Imagery: An Empirical and Semi-Empirical Based Approach
    63-74
    Views:
    244

    The atmospheric effect greatly affects the quality of satellite data and mostly found in the polluted urban area in the great extent. In this paper, the atmospheric correction has been carried out on IRS-1C LISS-III multispectral satellite image for efficient results for the Raipur city, India. The atmospheric conditions during satellite data acquisition was very clear hence very clear relative scattering model of improved dark object subtraction method for the correction of atmospheric effects in the data has been carried out to produce the realistic results. The haze values (HV) for green band (band 2), red band (band 3), NIR band (band 4) and SWIR (band 5) are 79, 53, 54 and 124, respectively; were used for the corrections of haze effects using simple dark object subtraction method (SDOS). But the final predicted haze value (FPHV) for these bands are 79, 49.85, 21.31 and 0.13 that were used for the corrections of haze effects applying improved dark object subtraction method (IDOS). We found that IDOS method produces very realistic results when compared with SDOS method for urban land use mapping and change detection analysis. Consequently, ATCOR2 model provides better results when compared with SDOS and IDOS in the study.

  • Sentinel-2 satellite-based analysis of bark beetle damage in Sopron Mountains, Hungary
    33-40
    Views:
    18

    Sopron mountains were affected by bark beetle (Ips typographus) damage between 2017 and 2020, which was surveyed on high-resolution ESA Sentinel-2 satellite images for the period 2017 and 2020 using Mosaic Hub, Anaconda, and Jupyter Notebook web-based computing environments. Biotic forest damage was detected based on vegetation (NDVI) and moisture (MSI, NDWI) indices derived from satellite images. The spatial and temporal change of damage was observed in the image series, resulting in information about the level of degradation and regeneration. In pursuance of GIS processing, 84 forest compartments were compared, which showed in most of the cases (97%) negative interannual change in the index mean values (MSI = - 0.14, NDWI = - 0.2, NDVI= - 0.19) when years compared to each other. The remote sensing-based survey was marked out and validated based on the forest database of the Hungarian Division of Forest of National Land Centre and forest protection damage reports of the Hungarian National Forest Damage Registration System.