GIS

During last two decades, Bartin Forests in northwest of Turkey have been exploited by human impacts. Easy access and the abundance of valuable and large diversity forest products have led to higher population densities with opening new settlement areas via deforestation activities. In this study, interpretation of digital image classification resulted from multi-date Landsat-5 TM images recorded in time frame between 1992s and 2000s was evaluated to produce land cover maps for change detection analysis. The accuracy of the Landsat TM classification and errors inherent to the techniques used were assessed accordingly. The updated digital forest inventory plans, existing different scales topographic maps and aerial photographs was integrated into a GIS database with the generated classification results in order to elaborate a spatially explicit multi-date database on land use/cover change. This spatial model is used for identifying deforestation fronts and biodiversity conservation. A...

Land-use/land-cover change is the most important factor in causing biodiversity loss. The Mediterranean region has been affected by antropic disturbance for thousands of years, and is, nowadays, one of the most significantly altered hotspots in the world. However, in the last years a significant increase in forest cover has been measured. These new patterns are independent from planned conservation strategies and appear to have a substantial impact on landscapes and biodiversity. We used three land-use/land-cover maps (from 1960 to 2000) covering the Italian peninsula to analyze the pattern of land-use/land-cover change. We measured an increase in forests, especially in mountains, an increase in artificial areas, especially in coastal zones, and a decrease in pastures. Intensively cultivated areas showed a limited decrease while extensively cultivated ones showed a marked decrease. In the same period mammal and bird species followed a similar pattern, with forest birds, ungulates and carnivores increasing, and typically Mediterranean species decreasing. We suggest that our results may provide important information, which could be useful for conservation planning in the entire Mediterranean hotspot. We suggest that an increasing conservation effort should be made to protect the Mediterranean-type forests and scrublands, as well as traditional agricultural practices. Moreover, future conservation efforts should consider the broad socio-political and ecological processes that are most likely to occur across the whole hotspot, especially along coastal areas, and the network of protected areas should be functionally integrated in a conservation strategy that includes the human-dominated landscape.

A revisão bibliográfica apresentada é uma síntese de diversos autores, os quais proporcionam uma introdução à agricultura de precisão, através de conceitos básicos e vantagens que o sistema oferece, demonstrando que não é somente uma colhedora automotriz com um sistema de posicionamento global. A agricultura de precisão pode ser considerada como um amplo conceito, englobando tecnologias e novos conhecimentos de informática, eletrônica, geoprocessamento entre outros. Este conceito incorpora um grande número de conhecimentos científicos novos e alta tecnologia, apresentando ao produtor novos termos, conceitos, equipamentos e tecnologias.

This article reflects upon the impact that technology and innovation has had on urban development. From NASA's Landstat program, to Google maps and GPS, technlogy has had a significant impact on urban planning and land use law. The article begins with a discussion of the impact of the elevator and steel technologies on urban architecture and density, and then moves to changes in transportation such as the automobile and the development of public transportation systems. Green buildings, GIS, satellite data, online mapping, personal computers, the Internet and cell phones are all examined.

ABSTRACT: Land and water are two broad components on which the entire biotic community thrive. In the study area the main rock types are basalts and laterites. The main landform units in this province are-valley fills, lower plateau and upper plateau. Occurrence of groundwater in hard rock terrain is mainly controlled by structures, landforms, lithology and recharge conditions. Remote Sensing technology is today widely used in survey and management of natural resources. The technology has been found to be very effective in identification of potential zones for ground water exploration. Thematic maps on geology, structures and geomorphology has been prepared using satellite data. Geo-electrical resistivity survey was conducted in the study area. Finally, by integrating the geology, geomorphology, structures and the geophysical data, the groundwater potential of the study area has been prepared. Criteria for GIS analysis have been defined on the basis of groundwater conditions and geo...

Designing a fuel-sampling program that accurately and efficiently assesses fuel load at relevant spatial scales requires knowledge of each sample method’s strengths and weaknesses. We obtained loading values for six fuel components using five fuel load sampling techniques at five locations in western Montana, USA. The techniques included fixed-area plots, planar intersect, photoloads, a photoload macroplot, and a photo series. For each of the six fuels, we compared (1) the relative differences in load values among techniques and (2) the differences in load between each method and a reference sample. Totals from each method were rated for how much they deviated from totals for the reference in each fuel category. The planar-intersect method, which used 2.50 km of transects, was rated best overall for assessing the six fuels. Bootstrapping showed that at least 1.50 km of transect were needed to obtain estimates that approximate the reference sample. A newly developed photoload method,...

Although remotely sensed images have been used to study urban growth patterns the world over, very few studies have employed these methods to examine the growth of Iranian cities. Shiraz is perhaps the most important city in the southern part of Iran and, thus, was selected for this study. We used satellite images of the study area from the period between 1976 and 2005, and population censuses of Shiraz. By applying classification methods to the satellite images four main types of land use were extracted: water, built-up, vegetation and bare land. Then, the area coverage for all the land use types at different points in time were measured and coupled with population data. The results demonstrate that, over the entire study period, development in Shiraz cannot be characterized as sprawl. Since 2000, however, one can see evidence of sprawl. These results are also supported by calculations using Shannon’s entropy. A further finding is that vegetation growth did not keep pace with that of population or the built-up area; more recently, vegetation has greatly declined. It is advisable that future plans for the city give serious consideration to the preservation of available vegetation and, when possible, the restoration of vegetation that was destroyed in the past.► Remote sensing and GIS, are two powerful tools for urban environment studies. ► Built-up per capita index is a simple, but effective indicator of sprawl measurements. ► Shanonn’s entropy calculation, is the most validated method for sprawl measurement. ► Shiraz city is in the early stages of sprawl development.

Land use refers to the main activity of man on the land, which is directly related to land and land resources. The study land use is therefore become a very important tool in the hands of the planners of urban, rural or regional, to assess and forecast land use necessities and to assign apt use to land resources. Remote Sensing and GIS serves as a modern tool for data acquisition and the techniques are applied to resource evaluation including land use studies. The increasing trend of urbanization it affects the agricultural, water resources and ecosystems which are available in the study area. The results show that significant land use changes occurred in the study area Nandhiyar sub basin, between the years 1994, 2004 and 2010 respectively, which may be related to economic development and urban expansion between 1994, 2004 and 2010. The result reveals that the maximum changes were noticed in increase in Tanks, Settlement, wasteland category in the study area.

In large canal irrigation project areas, integrated management of surface and groundwater resources can improve water use efficiencies and agricultural productivity and also control water logging. Such integrated management requires an estimation of spatial distribution of recharge and ground water flow in the underlying aquifer. Recharge occurs both as percolation losses from fields and seepage losses from the water distribution network. Percolation losses are influenced by weather, soil properties, land use, and canal water and groundwater use. Seepage losses depend on the conditions of flow in the water distribution system. In large irrigation project areas all the factors influencing the recharge of groundwater vary spatially. In this study, a geographical information systems (GIS) is used to map the spatial distribution of recharge which then serves as input to a regional groundwater flow model for simulating the behavior of the underlying aquifer. The basis is that the project...

The concentration of people in densely populated urban areas, especially in developing countries, calls for the use of monitoring systems like remote sensing. Such systems along with spatial analysis techniques like digital image processing and geographical information system (GIS) can be used for the monitoring and planning purposes as these enable the reporting of overall sprawl at a detailed level.In the present work, urban sprawl of the Ajmer city (situated in Rajasthan State of India) has been studied at a mid scale level, over a period of 25 years (1977–2002), to extract the information related to sprawl, area of impervious surfaces and their spatial and temporal variability. Statistical classification approaches have been used for the classification of the remotely sensed images obtained from various sensors viz. Landsat MSS, TM, ETM+ and IRS LISS-III. Urban sprawl and its spatial and temporal characteristics have been derived from the classified satellite images. The Shannon's entropy and landscape metrics (patchiness and map density) have been computed in terms of spatial phenomenon, in order to quantify the urban form (impervious area). Further, multivariate statistical techniques have been used to establish the relationship between the urban sprawl and its causative factors. Results reveal that land development (160.8%) in Ajmer is more than three times the population growth (50.1%). Shannon's entropy and landscape metrics has revealed the spatial distribution of the urban sprawl over a period of last 25 years.

The conversion of mangrove areas into shrimp farming ponds has been indicated as the main activity responsible for the reduction in the area of this ecosystem along the northeastern coast of Brazil. The present study was conducted using remote sensing methods and a geographical information system with the aim of quantifying the participation of this activity in the reduction of the mangrove areas along the northern coast of the State of Pernambuco (northeast, Brazil), where shrimp farming has been implanted in last recent years. From 1973 to 2005, there was reduction of about 2.052 ha of mangrove, 197 ha of which were converted into shrimp ponds. Thus, the real contribution of shrimp farming to this reduction was just 9.6% of the total area. Other anthropogenic activities, such as agriculture, urban expansion and tourism, contributed greatly to the reduction in the mangrove areas along the northern coast of the State of Pernambuco.

Vegetation cover degradation is still a very common problem in many parts of Morocco; moreover, it affects straight up the amount of the annual soil loss rate. The analytical approach used in this study, respectively, includes remote sensing techniques, application of USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) and overlay analysis in a raster Geographic Information System (GIS) environment, employing available information on the region covering the Kalaya catchment. Thus, this procedure allowed the calculation of the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), the execution of two types of classification (unsupervised and supervised) for 1999 and 2010 imagery and eventually the prediction of soil erosion risk in the watershed in question. The main outcome was the production of multidate vegetation cover maps, land use maps and soil loss risk maps. The overlay of two maps allowed us to highlight the changes occurred in this area, which evidence the high anthropogenic impact on the dynami...

Urban flooding is an inevitable problem for many cities around the world. In the present paper, modelling approaches and principles for analyses of urban flooding are outlined. The paper shows how urban flooding can be simulated by one-dimensional hydrodynamic ...

In an era saddled by mounting energy dependency and insecurity, some are not only turning to renewable geothermal energy to ensure access, but it is growing in usage in the Western region of the United States of America. Notwithstanding the United States role as a major producer of geothermal resources globally, geothermal energy has over the last several years found ample use in various spheres of daily endeavors within communities. The surging demand is much so that, it now contributes quite significantly in the generation of electricity to power households and farming activities and to sustain domestic supplies essential to segments of the economy for communities from California to Nevada. With much of the production levels, installations and plant capacities of geothermal power fully entrenched in the western region of the country considering the geologic and physical attributes, California stands out as the largest producer of geothermal power compared to its neighbors in the western region. For that, the demand for geothermal resource has been recurrent in quite a few counties over the years on the California side of the US Western region. In the face of widespread demands in the region, geothermal energy infrastructure in the form of new plants has gradually penetrated different states under varying level of production and installed capacities to boost energy security and sustain development of the areas. Even at that, very little has been done in the literature to undertake a regional assessment of the potentials of geothermal energy using a mix scale approach of spatial analysis anchored in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Accordingly, this study will fill that void in research by utilizing mix scale tools of GIS and descriptive states in analyzing the geothermal energy potentials of states in the Western region of the United States. Emphasizing the issues, trends, impacts, production, factors and future efforts through recommendations, the results point to growing usage and changes in a whole set of energy indicators ranging from production and demands, installed capacity to others over time in the region with much of that in California coupled with an uptick in geothermal portfolio. Additionally, the GIS mapping of the trends highlights gradual dispersion of changing patterns in consumption and presence of infrastructural facilities visibly concentrated in a cluster of areas located in the western region. With all these attributed to a host of socioeconomic and physical factors, the paper proposed suggestions ranging from the design of a regional geothermal energy information system, the education of the public and more infrastructural development in the sector.

It is observed that there is a tremendous change in computer hardware and software. Simultaneously there was a change in types and devices of input and outputs for computers. As far as input to computer is concern, it was started from punched cards, then magnetic tapes and so on up to touch screen and voice input. The same case is happened with output of computer. At the beginning it was just information (Processed data). It might be in text or image formats. But now a days the output of computer is everywhere in the world (Directly or indirectly it is related with computers).Here I want to introduce “no-touch interface ” of computer for “rural development”. This research is not just descriptive or analytical research or survey. Here I want to suggest a solution for immediate problems facing a rural area of the India and world. So I will say this is applied research and somewhat it is laboratory research. I want to discuss role of “No-Touch Interface ” of ICT in Rural Development. I...

this report. Section II describes the major functions of IVHS, and their requirements, if any, for navigable map databases. Section III discusses alternative data models, including the traditional planar link/node model and newer, more powerful models. Section IV examines the design of a distributed navigable map database, and the capabilities of current GIS and database management products in this area

The 1990s saw the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania change from centrally planned to more market oriented economies with associated societal transformations. Profound changes such as these create uncertainty and social instability that can lead to social problems including increased rates of crime and disorder. We report and comment upon Police recorded crime data that shows numbers of acquisitive and drug related crimes in the three states from 1993 to 2000. However the scale of economic change including the mediating effects of social institutions may vary from place to place within each state. Acquisitive crime is a phenomenon typical of urban or densely populated regions in the Baltic countries. Analysing regional variation in crime rates provides an opportunity to test whether negative socio-economic change impacts on rates for these crimes. Findings show weak evidence of the effect of social change on crime. Spatial statistical techniques and GIS (Geographical Information Systems) underpin the methodology employed.

Nowadays, daily life intensively depends on public services. Increasing population and urbanization take humans away from environment which may lead to chaos in usage of city lands. Consequently, human is in trouble using public services and facilities including green spaces. Isfahan, one of the metropolitans, has 18 m2 green spaces per person while City Park of district 8 is of inappropriate distribution with regard to population density. To create a localization map of civil park, Isfahan district 8 has been selected. The selected district delimits to Baharestan in north and to Kaveh street in west and to Shahid Forouqi in south and to Emam Komeini street in west-south. Finally, GIS has been used to create given layers and calculate weights based on AHP. According to overlap between layers, the most appropriate places have been identified.

The study of material culture generated by military engagements has created an emergent sub-discipline of archaeological studies centred on battlefields. This approach has developed a particular and sophisticated methodology that is able to deal with the fact that archaeologists will often not find either structures or a useful stratigraphical record on the site, as the material remains of the battle

The development of the revised New Zealand Curriculum provides an excellent opportunity to investigate GIS-based learning pedagogies within the social sciences classroom. The new curriculum privileges inquiry-based activities with a more participatory approach to learning, providing students with greater autonomy in their studies. This paper emphasises the value of GIS technology for extending student learning when situated within a problem-based learning (PBL) framework. Using GIS, students undertake geographic inquiry through meaningful learning grounded in constructivist learning theory. PBL is well suited as an instructional strategy for integrating GIS as students actively learn when presented with authentic, real-world problems.