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Comparison of the most popular open-source GIS software in the field of landscape ecology
76-92Views:156GIS (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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Remote Sensing and GIS based site suitability analysis for tourism development in Vaishali block, Bihar, India
12-22Views:514Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing are presently recognized generally as an improve instrument for overseeing, breaking down, and showing gigantic volumes of fluctuated information suitable to numerous neighborhood and provincial arranging exercises. Because of the composite idea of the travel industry arranging issues, the planned of GIS in settling these issues is progressively perceived. This paper will think a portion of the conceivable outcomes of GIS applications in the travel industry arranging. For the most part, GIS applications in the travel industry have been tight to recreational office stock, the travel industry situated land the board, and diversion untamed life strife; and have been thin by absence of financing, and awkward techniques. Utilizing the case of site wellness investigation for the travel industry improvement and mapping, this paper features a few uses of GIS in the travel industry arranging in vaishali square, Bihar. According to our present investigation; the most reasonable the travel industry site recognized by the examination is inside significant towns. The urban focus with plausibility to develop into the travel industry focuses. The rest of the land shows a low appropriateness scale because of absence of significant appreciation for make a solid force factor. Availability is an essential for the travel industry advancement. Great street organize availability with closeness to railroads station or air terminal demonstrated solid vacationer potential site, this combined with proximity to grand magnificence delineates high appropriateness. Significant vacation destinations, for example, legacy locales, gardens and water bodies or lake demonstrated high appropriateness. This can be corresponded to the way that legacy destinations and other high appropriate highlights are converted into reasonable the travel industry site.
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Quantitative Morphometric Analysis of Streams in Extreme Humid Areas: A Case Study of the Um-Mawiong River Basin, Mawsynram, Meghalaya
59-75Views:64Quantitative morphometric analysis of the drainage system is essential to characterising a watershed, as all the hydrologic and geomorphic processes occur within the watershed. Consequently, this plays a crucial role in understanding the geo-hydrological attributes of a drainage basin to the terrain feature and its flow patterns, thus enabling the estimate of the incidence of infiltration and runoff and other related hydrological characteristics of a watershed, which strongly impacts natural resource conservation. The study area selected is the Um-Mawiong River basin in Mawsynram, Meghalaya. The basin shows a dendritic pattern that highlights the homogeneity in the texture of the basin. Results suggest that the stream frequency of the basin is 19.10 km², suggesting a faster surface runoff and less infiltration. In addition, it has an Elongation ratio of 0.75 indicating an elongated basin shape. The current study demonstrates that the implementations of GIS techniques are trustworthy, efficient, and capable of managing extensive databases for managing river basins. The present study tries to analyse the linear, areal and relief aspects of the basin using a GIS environment and manipulated for different calculations. The analysis reveals that the total number of stream segments and length are maximum in first-order streams and decrease as stream order increases. The drainage density exhibits a high degree of positive correlation, i.e., 0.87, with its frequency suggesting an increase in stream population concerning increasing drainage density and vice versa.
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Periphery Dichotomy and its Investigation by GIS Methods
131-136Views:157Centre-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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New results on landscape boundaries
1-11Views:56The correct delineation of geographical and landscape ecological units, being the fundamental territorial domains of both physical and human geography, is very important from the aspect of several other related disciplines as well. It is hard to tell how distinct landscape units, or landscape ecological units can be, from a statistical point of view. The present study investigates how welldefined (definable) geographical units (landscapes, landscape types) are in a statistical and mathematical sense. Since landscape forming factors do not exhibit distinct boundaries either, during the analysis it is better to consider them as ecotones. Integration of factors, and the unclear interpretation of present landscape boundaries do further complicate the sound mathematical evaluation of the studied geographical units. In order to resolve these problem GIS techniques were applied.
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GIS-integrated multi-criteria suitability analysis for healthcare facilities site selection in Rajouri district, Jammu and Kashmir, India
12-29Views:96The study aims to develop a Decision Support model for the selection of a suitable site to establish a new healthcare center with adequate facilities based on the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in the Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. This study utilized AHP and GIS to identify an appropriate location for a new healthcare center. The study employed eight criteria to evaluate potential locations and utilized pairwise comparison to assign weights to each criterion. GIS-based spatial analysis was used to create factor and suitability maps for each criterion. Suitability was evaluated on a scale of 0 to 10 and each factor map was combined using the ArcGIS weighted overlay selection tool. The final map of the study represents the suitable site for a healthcare center in the Rajouri district and it shows the sites from the highly suitable to the least suitable area. In Rajouri district, mostly the central part can be considered very suitable as the population density of this area is higher compared to other areas of the district. The southwestern parts of the district are moderately suitable or least suitable sites for a new healthcare center. The study displays the pattern of the existing location of healthcare centers, mostly, the existing locations are not proper and suitable. Therefore, in the future, the allocation of healthcare centers must be in more adequate areas. Policymakers and healthcare professionals can be benefitted from this study in selecting suitable locations for future hospitals, which could ultimately improve access to healthcare services in the region. Additionally, the study can be contemplated in developing new policies for better transportation system in the study area.
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Landslide Susceptibility mapping using the Analytical Hierarchy Process and GIS for Idukki District, Kerala, India
11-32Views:52This study demonstrates the application of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique for landslide susceptibility mapping of Udumbanchola and Devikulam taluk of Idukki district (Kerala, India). The landslide conditioning factors, such as lithology, geomorphology, slope angle, slope aspect, relative relief, drainage properties, land use/ land cover, and lineament characteristics,are derived using remote sensing data and GIS. The landslide susceptibility of the region is estimated using the weights derived by the AHP method. The analysis indicates the controls exerted by the structural and fluvial process and relief characteristics on the landslide activity of the region. The landslide susceptibility map of the region suggests that the high and severe susceptible zones cover about 10.68% of the area, and another 9.40% falls under the moderate susceptibility zone. The results highlight the significance of implementing various structural and non-structural measures in the moderate to severe susceptibility zones to mitigate the impacts of landslides.
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Development of MSW collection service on regional scale: spatial analysis and urban disparities in North-Easr Region, Romania
13-18Views:27The cities are facing illegal dumping of municipal solid waste (MSW) because the waste collection facilities do not cover the entire population. Furthermore, this sector is poorly developed in small towns or villages annexed to administrative territory units (ATU) of cities , MSW are disposed in open dumps polluting the local environment. This paper analyzes on the one hand the urban disparities on public access to waste collection services (WCS) in the North-East Region on the other hand, it performs a comparative analysis between 2003 and 2010 outlining the changes made in the context of Romania’s accession to EU. Also, it performs a quantitative assessment method of uncollected waste at urban level and correlated to demographic features of each city. Spatial-temporal analysis of waste indicators using thematic cartography or GIS techniques should be a basic tool for environmental monitoring or assessment of projects from this field in every development region (NUTS 2). The EU acquis requires the closure of noncompliant landfills, the extension of waste collection services, the development of facilities for separate collection, recycling and reuse according to waste hierarchy concept. Full coverage of urban population to waste collection services is necessary to provide a proper management of this sector. Urban disparities between counties and within counties highlights that current traditional waste management system is an environmental threat at local and regional scale.
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Assessment of the vulnerability of zemmouri bay to coastal erosion, diachronic study between 1957 and 2017
15-30Views:151The analysis and understanding of coastline variability and coastal erosion trends, and accretion are essential to scientists and local decision-makers to guide shoreline management regulations and decisions. This study focuses on detecting and analyzing historical changes in the Zemmouri (Central Algeria) shoreline position between 1957 and 2017. We collected all the necessary data related to the Zemmouri bay to achieve our objective, such as satellite images, aerial photos, and topographical surveys carried out by the DGPS, all between 1957 and 2017 DSAS calculation tool. Diachronic analysis of aerial photographs and satellite images of Zemmouri Bay revealed that only 39% of sandy beaches are eroding while 3% have some stability. The maximum erosion at Mazer East beach is -1.25m/year. The maximum accretion rate of +1.40m/year at Blue Waves beach, mainly due to the implantation of breakwaters at this beach which created tombolos favoring sand accumulation and beach widening.
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Interferences between the ecological network and urbanized areas in Poland
65-77Views:27This 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.
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Mapping of river waterquality using inverse distance weighted interpolation in Ogun-Osun river basin, Nigeria
48-62Views:705Sustainable management of water resources involves inventory, conservation, efficient utilization, and quality management. Although, activities relating to quantity assessment and management in terms of river discharge and water resources planning are given attention at the basin level, water quality assessment are still being done at specific locations of major concern. The use of Geographical Information System (GIS) based water quality information system and spatial analysis with Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation enabled the mapping of water quality indicators in Ogun and Ona catchment of Ogun-Osun River Basin, Nigeria. Using 27 established gauging stations as sampling locations, water quality indicators were monitored over 12 months covering full hydrological season. Maps of seasonal variations in 10 water quality indicators as impacted by land-use types were produced. This ensured that trends of specific water quality indicator and diffuse pollution characteristics across the basin were better presented with the variations shown along the river courses than the traditional line graphs. The production of water quality maps will improve monitoring, enforcement of standards and regulations towards better pollution management and control. This strategy holds great potential for real time monitoring of water quality in the basin with adequate instrumentation.
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Monitoring the changes of a suburban settlement by remote sensing
76-83Views:68Satellite 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.
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Time series analysis of major land resources using Landsat images in a part of district Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India
41-57Views:19Space born technology, with its repetitive nature, uses electromagnetic energy to capture digital data from the Earth's surface by remote sensing systems. The purpose of this research is to track changes in land resources with six time series (2003-09, 2003-15, 2003-21, 2009-15, 2009-21 and 2015-21) over a period of 18 years. Multi-date Landsat images of 2003, 2009, 2015 and 2021 have been used to monitor the changing pattern. Level – I classification scheme composed by NRSC/ ISRO and supervised Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) techniques were used to identify and classify land use/ land cover features located in Jhansi Tehsil. The findings show that there have been significant changes in land resources over the years. The area under agriculture land, built-up and waterbodies were increased by 48.83%, 53.53% and 106.73% while forest/ tree outside forest and wastelands were reduced by 59.74% and 38.68% respectively It is concluded that, the expansion of key land resources indicates the growth in population and socio-economic activities whereas the loss in some land resources might be due to human induced progressive activities.
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Sentinel-2 satellite-based analysis of bark beetle damage in Sopron Mountains, Hungary
33-40Views:18Sopron 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.
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Landuse/landcover change process in a tropical semi-arid zone: case of two rural communes (Chadakori and Saé-Saboua) in Maradi region, Republic of Niger
1-12Views:196The study aimed to analyze the process of Landuse/Landcover change of two rural communes (Saé Saboua and Chadakori) of Maradi region (Republic of Niger) over the past 28 years (1986 – 2014), through landscape structure analysis by diachronic cartographic approach and landscape indices. Mixed classification of temporal series of Landsat images led to identifying six Landuse/Landcover (LULC) classes, namely ”cultivated land under shrubs and trees”, ”cultivated land under trees”, “continuous cropland”, ”fallow/pasture land”, ”forest reserve”, and ”settlement”. The composition and structure of the studied landscapes have greatly changed from 1986 to 2014. The class ”cultivated land under trees” was the landscape matrix in 1986 with 38.65% of landscape total area but in 2001 and 2014 the class ”continuous cropland” became the landscape matrix. The changes also affected the ”forest reserve” which was transformed to smallholder agricultural land from 1986 to 2014. The area occupied by classes ”cultivated land under trees” changed from 38.65% in 1986 to 8.78% in 2014; and from 1986 to 2014, the area occupied by ”fallow/pasture land” has decreased of about 16%. The decrease in these classes was in favor of ¨continuous crop land¨, ¨settlement¨ and “cultivated land under shrubs and trees” which respectively gained 38%, 0.3% and 8.15% of their areas in 1986. The results of this study reflect the problem of access to land and even land saturation in semi-arid region, a consequence of strong population growth. They also contribute to a better rethinking of agricultural practices in order to initiate adaptation and resilience strategies for the population facing food insecurity and poverty.
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Stream gradient investigation in the Bükkalja using interpolated surfaces
23-36Views:115The geological, tectonic settings of an area can be examined with the analysis of drainage network. In the Bükkalja, the Miocene pyroclasts – mainly the welded ignimbrites – had taken decisive part in the evolution of drainage network. For the confirmation of their role, the breakpoints of stream profiles were analysed. However this method provides information only about the direct surroundings of the creeks. In the aim of getting informations about the areas between the streams, surfaces were interpolated from stream gradient data and analysed as stream gradient maps. The stream gradient data were calculated with Hack J.T.’s formula, but due to the false results it was necessary to modify this formula and to recalculate the values. According to the map interpolated from the modified stream gradient values, there is a clearly identifiable relationship between the location of the welded ignimbrites on the surface, and the gradient values. Areas with high values are on the eastern part of the study area, where these pyroclasts can be found, while in the west, where the surface is covered by less resistant rock types, the gradient values are much lower.
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Land use change detection along the Pravara River basin in Maharashtra, using remote sensing and GIS techniques
71-86Views:62In the past few decades there has been an increasing pressure of population all over the world, especially in India, resulting in the utilization of every available patch of available land from woodlands to badlands. The study area represents a basin which is economically growing fast by converting the fallow lands, badlands and woodlands to agricultural land for the past few decades. IRS (Indian Remote sensing Satellites) 1 C – LISS III and IRS 1 C PAN and IRS P6 – LISS III and IRS 1 D PAN Images were merged to generate imageries with resolution matching to the landscape processes operating in the area. The images of the year 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2007 were analyzed to detect the changes in the landuse and landcover in the past ten years. The analysis reveals that there has been 20% increase in the agricultural area over the past ten years. Built up area also has increased from 1.35% to 6.36% of the area and dense vegetation also has marginally increased. The remarkable increase in the agricultural area occurs owing to the reclaim of the natural ravines and fallow lands. Presently the area looks promising, but it is necessary to understand the sedimentological and geomorphological characteristics of the area before massive invasion on any such landscapes because the benefit may be short lived.