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Developing a strategy of data collection and pre-processing to assess bike-sharing system station placements with the help of GIS
28-35Views:173Our research presents a methodological framework for analyzing bicycle-sharing systems, using the self-service bike operations of JCDecaux in Toulouse as a case study. The objective was to identify a method for obtaining a cleansed and structured attribute list that could be useful in evaluating and optimizing the placement of bicycle rental docks. Utilizing open data, our approach involves developing a Python script within QGIS to create new layers around each of the 288 studied bicycle rental stations, based on a selected 100-meter buffer. This buffer size is chosen to reduce data overlap in dense urban settings. The script is designed to collect urban features within these buffers that register as multipolygons (mainly buildings) or points (amenities, transportation features), moreover it applies categorization of data, such as identifying and marking the different building types. The method includes a basic visualization of potential data in QGIS using OpenStreetMap.
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Environments conducive to Theobroma cacao in Martinique
1-15Views:33The current cocoa orchards in Martinique are genetically diversified and enjoy a good health situation. The aromatic properties of chocolates produced from Martinique beans seem exceptional. The cultivation of cocoa on this French island located in the Caribbean achieved international fame in the 18th century. Today, almost fifty farmers continue to grow cocoa, but climate projections indicate that the possibilities for growing this species will have considerably decreased in the coming decades. A geographic information system (GIS) was in fact developed using QGIS software version 3.36.2, to carry out an agroclimatic zoning and show the effect of climatic constraints on the distribution of environments suitable for Theobroma cacao, in Martinique. The climatic requirements of the species were defined based on global scientific literature and the environmental data comes from the French national meteorological services. Agroforestry, agro-ecology, plant selection and scientific innovations in agronomy will be the main ramparts to prevent a possible decline of this culture on the island.
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Comparison of the most popular open-source GIS software in the field of landscape ecology
76-92Views:432GIS (Geographic Information System) software is a very useful tool in modern landscape ecology research. With its help data can be obtained which can - after processing - help to understand and demonstrate the processes taking place in the landscape. Since direct environmental measurements and sampling from a large area are, in many cases, difficult or even impossible, modelling with GIS tools is very important in the workflow of landscape research and landscape analysis. In this article we review the best known open source GIS systems and geographic information tools with possibilities for landscape ecology application. Furthermore we will introduce all the basic concepts that are associated with these open source software programmes. We provide a comparative analysis of the most widely used open source GIS applications, where, through a specific example, we will examine how these tools are used to produce basic landscape metric indicators. We will examine those functions of the programmes that are necessary to produce a complete thematic map, and finally we will emphasize various other important functions of the software to give adequate information for those users who choose open source code GIS tools, for financial reasons or otherwise, to complete a landscape ecology analysis. Our opinion is that this type of comparison is much more informative than those done by proprietary software, because these latter are all based on a basic data library, and therefore yield similar results (proj4, gdal/ogr, jts/geos, etc.) to their ‘paid’ competitors. This examination is timely, as these programmes have been gaining popularity over the last 20 years thanks to their continuous development, their independence from any platform, and their compatibility with most data formats.
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Monitoring temperature patterns at selected world heritage sites in Egypt using high resolution WorldClim data
42-58Views:651Long term temperature patterns helps in assessing changes in the climatic conditions of an area and climatic changes poses a major challenge to the world heritage sites whether it is natural or cultural. Therefore in this study using maximum and minimum temperature data for the period 1960-2021 downloaded from WorldClim 2.1 calculation of mean temperature is done in QGIS environment for the selected UNESCO world heritage sites of Arab Republic of Egypt. WorldClim 2.1 provides finer resolution gridded data downscaled from Climate Research Unit. Trend analysis using linear regression and Mann-Kendall method and Sen’s Slope estimate is used to understand the patterns of mean temperature at all the selected sites. The study reveals that mean temperature at all the selected sites is increasing but since 1990 the sites which are located geographically in lower Egypt are witnessing rapid increase in mean temperature compared to the sites located in upper Egypt which historically witnessed more temperature due to its geographical milieu. This study can help in stimulating the utility of geospatial data in understanding the changes in climatic parameters in relation to world heritage sites. Moreover it can serve as foundation upon which detailed longitudinal site specific investigation can be done.