Jorge Rocha | Universidade de Lisboa (original) (raw)
Journal Articles by Jorge Rocha
Journal of Travel Research, 2021
This article provides an approach to the geographic and quantitative interpretation of tourism in... more This article provides an approach to the geographic and quantitative interpretation of tourism intensification, drawing on
the concepts of fractals, and fractal dimension (D). Exploring tourism intensification in Lisbon, we first present a geographic
construct that represents the spatial layout of tourism based on crowd-contributed spatial signatures advocating a collective
sense of the “tourist city.” Then, we assess the tourism-related intensification patterns, based on the estimation of D, for
different years. Significant statistical associations can be found between D and tourism intensification across the urban space.
Intensification on tourism cores is more homogeneously distributed, yet it evolves into a more compact form of spatial
organization. On the other hand, there is a decline in the degree of homogeneity of tourism intensification from tourism
cores to the periphery. This approach has also proved useful for exploring tourism intensification in destinations at different
hierarchical levels, such as in Lisbon and Oporto metropolitan areas.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2020
Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito that has colonized several European countries as well as... more Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito that has colonized several European countries as well as Portugal, where it was detected for the first time in 2017. To increase the knowledge of Ae. albopictus population dynamics, a survey was carried out in the municipality of Loulé, Algarve, a Southern temperate region of Portugal, throughout 2019, with Biogents Sentinel traps (BGS traps) and ovitraps. More than 19,000 eggs and 400 adults were identified from May 9 (week 19) and December 16 (week 50). A positive correlation between the number of females captured in the BGS traps and the number of eggs collected in ovitraps was found. The start of activity of A. albopictus in May corresponded to an average minimum temperature above 13.0 • C and an average maximum temperature of 26.2 • C. The abundance peak of this A. albopictus population was identified from September to November. The positive effect of temperature on the seasonal activity of the adult population observed highlight the importance of climate change in affecting the occurrence, abundance, and distribution patterns of this species. The continuously monitoring activities currently ongoing point to an established population of A. albopictus in Loulé, Algarve, in a dispersion process to other regions of Portugal and raises concern for future outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases associated with this invasive mosquito species.
Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito that has colonized several European countries as well as... more Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito that has colonized several European countries as well as Portugal, where it was detected for the first time in 2017. To increase the knowledge of Ae. albopictus population dynamics, a survey was carried out in the municipality of Loulé, Algarve, a Southern temperate region of Portugal, throughout 2019, with Biogents Sentinel traps (BGS traps) and ovitraps. More than 19,000 eggs and 400 adults were identified from May 9 (week 19) and December 16 (week 50). A positive correlation between the number of females captured in the BGS traps and the number of eggs collected in ovitraps was found. The start of activity of A. albopictus in May corresponded to an average minimum temperature above 13.0 • C and an average maximum temperature of 26.2 • C. The abundance peak of this A. albopictus population was identified from September to November. The positive effect of temperature on the seasonal activity of the adult population observed highlight the importance of climate change in affecting the occurrence, abundance, and distribution patterns of this species. The continuously monitoring activities currently ongoing point to an established population of A. albopictus in Loulé, Algarve, in a dispersion process to other regions of Portugal and raises concern for future outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases associated with this invasive mosquito species.
Applied Sciences , 2020
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These in... more The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (SGD7) and making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SGD11). Thus, across the globe, major cities are moving in the smart city direction, by, for example, incorporating photovoltaics (PV), electric buses and sensors to improve public transportation. We study the concept of integrated PV bus stop shelters for the city of Lisbon. We identified the suitable locations for these, with respect to solar exposure, by using a Geographic Information System (GIS) solar radiation map. Then, using proxies to describe tourist and commuter demand, we determined that 54% of all current city bus stop shelters have the potential to receive PV-based solutions. Promoting innovative solutions such as this one will support smart mobility and urban sustainability while increasing quality of life, the ultimate goal of the Smart Cities movement.
Sustainability, 2020
The present study used the official Portuguese land use/land cover (LULC) maps (Carta de Uso e Oc... more The present study used the official Portuguese land use/land cover (LULC) maps (Carta de Uso e Ocupação do Solo, COS) from 1995, 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2018 to quantify, visualize, and predict the spatiotemporal LULC transitions in the Beja district, a rural region in the southeast of Portugal, which is experiencing marked landscape changes. Here, we computed the conventional transition matrices for in-depth statistical analysis of the LULC changes that have occurred from 1995 to 2018, providing supplementary statistics regarding the vulnerability of inter-class transitions by focusing on the dominant signals of change. We also investigated how the LULC is going to move in the future (2040) based on matrices of current states using the Discrete-Time Markov Chain (DTMC) model. The results revealed that, between 1995 and 2018, about 28% of the Beja district landscape changed. Particularly, croplands remain the predominant LULC class in more than half of the Beja district (in 2018 about 64%). However, the behavior of the inter-class transitions was significantly different between periods, and explicitly revealed that arable land, pastures, and forest were the most dynamic LULC classes. Few dominant (systematic) signals of change during the 1995-2018 period were observed, highlighting the transition of arable land to permanent crops (5%) and to pastures (2.9%), and the transition of pastures to forest (3.5%) and to arable land (2.7%). Simulation results showed that about 25% of the territory is predicted to experience major LULC changes from arable land (−3.81%), permanent crops (+2.93%), and forests (+2.60%) by 2040.
Science of the Total Environment, 2020
Future land use/cover change (LUCC) analysis has been increasingly applied to spatial planning in... more Future land use/cover change (LUCC) analysis has been increasingly applied to spatial planning instruments in
the last few years. Nevertheless, stakeholder participation in the land use modelling process and analysis is
still low. This paper describes a methodology engaging stakeholders (from the land use planning, agriculture,
and forest sectors) in the building and assessment of future LUCC scenarios.We selected as case study the Torres
VedrasMunicipality (Portugal), a peri-urban region near Lisbon. Our analysis encompasses a participatoryworkshop
to analyse LUCCmodel outcomes, based on farmer LUCC intentions, for the following scenarios: A0 - current
social and economic trend (Business as Usual); A1 - regional food security; A2 - climate change; and B0 - farming
under urban pressure. This analysis allowed local stakeholders to develop and discuss their own views on the
most plausible future LUCC for the following land use classes: artificial surfaces, non-irrigated arable land, permanently
irrigated land, permanent crops and heterogeneous agricultural land, pastures, forest and semi-natural
areas, and water bodies and wetlands. Subsequently, we spatialized these LUCC views into a hybrid model (Cellular
Automata - Geographic Information Systems), identifying the most suitable land conversion areas. Werefer
to this model, implemented in NetLogo, as the stakeholder-LUCC model.
The results presented in this paper model where, when, why, and what conversions may occur in the future in
regard to stakeholders' points of view. These outcomes can better enable decision-makers to perform land use
planning more efficiently and develop measures to prevent undesirable futures, particularly in extreme events
such as scenarios of food security, climate change, and/or farming under pressure.
European Journal of Geography, 2015
The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Geography education is very important in ter... more The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Geography education is very important in terms of geographical skills development such as spatial literacy, the ability to recognize patterns and relations between geographical phenomena and to explore real-world problems. This paper analyses how Portuguese Geography Education (both in basic and higher education) addresses this important matter and also presents some projects that have been developed in order to enhance the use of GIS in the classroom. Being recognized as an important tool in Geography education the fact remains that a minority of Geography teachers refers using it in their classes for reasons related to lack of training or the need to develop a content centred syllabus in a limited schedule. If learning Geography is about understanding our world, GIS has an important role to play that should be present in Geography Education.
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 2019
The conceptual and methodological debate on urban form has grown in the last decades to recognize... more The conceptual and methodological debate on urban form has grown in the last decades to recognize that social, economic, demographic and political processes can contribute to the development of new urban forms, especially those related to urban sprawl, as well as to find alternative methodologies for measuring them. Spatial metrics derived from landscape ecology arise as principal indicators to measure urban form. This paper proposes a typology of the urban occupation of Portuguese municipalities. It uses land use/cover data from 1990 and 2006 to extract built-up areas, and it presents five spatial metrics alongside seventeen statistical indicators from 1991 to 2011 most commonly used in the literature to characterize urban occupation. It uses a self-organising map as a visual tool to identify trends and relationships among variables and to cluster municipalities. Based on the self-organising map's visual clustering, six types of urban occupation of Portuguese municipalities are proposed. In addition, the paper discusses the added value of using indicators that describe both the patterns and the characteristics of the municipalities for making spatial planning decisions in Portugal. The observed results show that spatial metrics are particularly adequate for measuring peri-urban municipalities (urban sprawl areas). These results represent the first multidimensional and systematic analysis of Portuguese urban occupation and they can be the first step in the integration of spatial metrics as indicators that are suitable for the analysis of spatial planning, and also for comparative purposes at a broader geographical scale.
PlosOne, 2016
Malaria is currently one of the world´s major health problems. About a half-million deaths are re... more Malaria is currently one of the world´s major health problems. About a half-million deaths are recorded every year. In Portugal, malaria cases were significantly high until the end of the 1950s but the disease was considered eliminated in 1973. In the past few years, endemic malaria cases have been recorded in some European countries. With the increasing human mobility from countries with endemic malaria to Portugal, there is concern about the resurgence of this disease in the country. Here, we model and map the risk of malaria transmission for mainland Portugal, considering 3 different scenarios of existing imported infections. This risk assessment resulted from entomological studies on An. atroparvus, the only known mosquito capable of transmitting malaria in the study area. We used the malariogenic potential (deter-mined by receptivity, infectivity and vulnerability) applied over geospatial data sets to estimate spatial variation in malaria risk. The results suggest that the risk exists, and the hotspots are concentrated in the northeast region of the country and in the upper and lower Alentejo regions.
Land Use Policy, 2016
In the past few decades, urbanisation has become a major phenomenon in European cities, thus repr... more In the past few decades, urbanisation has become a major phenomenon in European cities, thus representing one of the key human land cover changes with socioeconomic and environmental impacts. In the Lisbon metropolitan region it is estimated that 17% of natural and farmland have been transformed into artificial areas. Since the end of 1990s, specific EU guidelines have been issued to contain urban sprawl and preserve agricultural land. Spatial planning in Portugal obviously is integrating these assumptions into the statutory land-use master plans. But what is the performance of this land use planning system regarding land cover evolution itself? Based on the Lisbon metropolitan region (LMR), one of the major areas of urban growth in Portugal, we examine spatio-temporal land cover patterns between 1990 and 2007 by integrating cross-matrix analysis, spatial metrics, and gradient analysis. Additionally, we overlay these land cover dynamics with municipal master plans that regulate land development in order to assess the compliance levels of this land-use regulatory system. Results indicate that: artificial areas are growing by coalescence and/or by scattered development along an urban-rural gradient; agricultural land is reducing and fragmentation is increasing to enlarge peri-urban spaces; there are high levels of conversion of agricultural land into urban land in protected areas, thus showing a lack of compliance to the land use regulatory system visible in the existing gaps between the original land-use assignments of the master plan and the actual developments.
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2016
Analyses of saltmarsh ecosystem services have been particularly focused on the capacity of mitiga... more Analyses of saltmarsh ecosystem services have been particularly focused on the capacity of mitigating climate change effects to cope with rising sea levels and concerning flood management. Nevertheless, ecosystem stability is vital for accurate service delivery, but land-use changes and coastal erosion are affecting saltmarshes. This provides the background for one of the primary arguments for protecting saltmarshes. Landscape metrics were selected according to shape, complexity, and connectivity parameters , and added to average elevation and distance to the coast, for two years-1972 and 2010. We developed an equation that measures coastal protection, taking into account the results of PCA and the percentage of explained variation of each component (coastal defence index: ES_CoastDef). Three salt-marshes located in the Algarve region, Portugal, were selected to apply the coastal defence index. Individual patches were analysed according to saltmarsh typologies. Results revealed that every saltmarsh decreased its coastal defence from 1972 to 2010; changes in shape and connectivity metrics affect mostly the index performance. In 1972, natural saltmarshes offered a better coastal defence than the other typologies, but in 2010 formerly reclaimed saltmarshes comprised higher values of coastal defence. Positive evolutions in terms of reclaimed saltmarshes have enabled them to provide coastal defence ecosystem services. Thus, through this index it is possible to outline target coastal defence parameters and design strategies for their conservation and consider ecological restoration.
Finisterra, 2007
Neste artigo é apresentada uma metodologia de análise de imagem orientada por objecto para separa... more Neste artigo é apresentada uma metodologia de análise de imagem orientada por objecto para separar duas classes de uso do solo: habitação unifamiliar e plurifamiliar. Estas classes, frequentes em áreas periurbanas, são muito heterogéneas do ponto de vista espectral, razão pela qual a abordagem pixel a pixel não serve para a sua correcta identificação. A análise orientada por objecto mostrou-se adequada para separar estas classes por se basear na segmentação multiresolução e nos parâmetros escala, cor, forma, suavidade e compacticidade. Os conceitos de habitação unifamiliar e de habitação plurifamiliar são discutidos tendo em consideração uma noção nova: a noção de objecto compósito. Palavras-chave: Detecção remota, segmentação multiresolução, classificação hierárquica, objecto.
Finisterra, 2007
Os ambientes urbanos são heterogéneos, sendo útil simplificá-los em combinações de materiais bási... more Os ambientes urbanos são heterogéneos, sendo útil simplificá-los em combinações de materiais básicos de uso e ocupação do solo a fim de permitir estudos quantitativos. O modelo VIS proposto por Ridd em 1995 é um modelo conceptual que permite simplificar ambientes urbanos através da combinação de três componentes básicos: vegetação (V), superfície impermeável (I) e solo (S). A maio-ria dos usos urbanos pode ser interpretada à luz de combinações destes três componentes básicos. A análise da composição do VIS permite revelar que a maioria das características urbanas tem a sua própria composição original destes três factores, a qual é difícil de observar através dos métodos de classificação de imagens de satélite que operam ao nível do pixel. Este trabalho examina as características das classes de uso e ocupação do solo urbano na Grande Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (GAML) utilizando técnicas de classificação baseadas no sub-pixel, nomeadamente a Análise de Mistura Espectral (AME), desenvolvendo um modelo conceptual para caracterizar os padrões de ocupação, sendo explorada e testada a aplicabilidade da AME para medir a composição física da morfologia urbana, através de imagens mul-tiespectrais Landsat 7 ETM+ e SPOT 5 HRVIR, avaliando, ao mesmo tempo, o efeito que as diferenças de resolução espacial podem ter nos resultados obtidos. Palavras-chave: Detecção remota, Análise de Mistura Espectral, uso do solo urbano.
Finisterra, 2005
A principal finalidade da metodologia apresentada neste documento é a criação e a validação, atra... more A principal finalidade da metodologia apresentada neste documento é a criação e a validação, através da aplicação a um caso de estudo, de uma forma eficiente de classificação de imagens de satélite, que integra informação auxiliar (dados dos Censos, do Plano Director Municipal e a rede viária) e dados provenientes de Detecção Remota, num Sistema de Informação Geográfica. O procedimento desenvolvido segue uma estratégia de classificação por níveis, sendo composto por três etapas principais: Estratificação pré-classificação; Aplicação dos classificadores de Bayes e de Máxima Verosimilhança (MV); Aplicação de regras de pós-classificação. As abordagens comuns incorporam os dados auxiliares antes, durante ou depois da classificação. No método proposto recorre-se a esse tipo de informação em todas as etapas. O método consegue, globalmente, melhores resultados que os classificadores clássicos: Mínima Distância, Paralelepípedo e Máxima Verosimilhança (MV). Além disso, melhora substancialmente a exactidão das classes onde o processo de classificação faz uso da informação auxiliar. Palavras-chave: Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG), detecção remota, informação auxiliar.
Sustainability, 2018
Land-Use/Cover Change (LUCC) reacts to demographic pressures, economic trends, or improved transp... more Land-Use/Cover Change (LUCC) reacts to demographic pressures, economic trends, or improved transport networks. Urban growth with implications on LUCC patterns can be measured using a diversity of methods. Our study derives from Tobler's first law of geography: 'everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant ones'. We identified and measured the influence of neighbouring distance on urban growth from the edge of existing urban areas. For that, we have developed a method, built using the NetLogo software tool, which we called Land-use chAnge and Neighbouring Distance (LAND). We selected Torres Vedras (Portugal) to conduct our case study due to its increasing urban development in the past few years. The periods of analysis were. The results have shown the influence and the effect of strong spatial correlation between the proximity of existing artificial surfaces and the emergence of new ones. The understanding of the patterns of urban growth is helpful to plan forward land developments. This method can be used to write guidelines for decision makers to monitor urban expansion and define spatial planning priorities.
Revista Cartográfica, 2018
No presente trabalho, utilizaram-se as fotos georreferenciadas dos visitantes da cidade de Lisboa... more No presente trabalho, utilizaram-se as fotos georreferenciadas dos visitantes da
cidade de Lisboa, partilhadas na rede ‘Panoramio’ entre 2007 e 2014, como proxy
para analisar a distribuição espacial e temporal dos mesmos dentro da cidade. O
conjunto total de dados (> 75.000 fotografias) foi segmentado em visitantes e locais,
com base nas marcas temporais, resultando numa amostra de 17.604 fotos tiradas
por > 5.000 utilizadores. A evidência empírica sugere que a distribuição espacial dos
visitantes não é homogénea. Complementarmente, avaliamos a relação espacial entre
o padrão observado (a aglomeração geográfica de visitantes) e um conjunto de 24
variáveis associadas à oferta turística da cidade. Através da análise de regressão linear
múltipla, verificou-se que são os ‘Monumentos de interesse público’, os elementos
que apresentam maior atratividade e, apurou-se, considerando os fatores explicativos
selecionados, que existem áreas do centro histórico, cujo potencial turístico está
subestimado.
Land Use Policy, 2019
Different mechanisms drive land use and land cover changes (LUCC). This paper presents an explora... more Different mechanisms drive land use and land cover changes (LUCC). This paper presents an exploratory analysis aimed at understanding the complex dynamics of LUCC based on farmers' intentions when they are faced with four scenarios with the time horizon of 2025: (1) A0-current social and economic trend; (2) A1-intensified agricultural production; (3) A2-reduced agricultural production; and (4) B0-increasing demand for urban development. LUCC models are applied to a Torres Vedras (Portugal) case study. This territory is located in a peri-urban area near Lisbon dominated by forest and agricultural land, which has been suffering considerable urban pressure in the last decades. Farmers-major agents of agricultural land use change-were interviewed to obtain their LUCC intentions according to the scenarios studied. To model LUCC a Cellular automata-Markov chain approach was applied. Our results suggest that significant LUCC will occur depending on their intentions in the different scenarios. The highlights are: (1) the highest growth in permanently irrigated land in the A1 scenario; (2) the biggest drop in non-irrigated arable land, and the highest growth in forest in the A2 scenario; and (3) the greatest urban growth was recognized in the B0 scenario. To verify if the fitting simulations performed well, techniques to measure agreement and quantity-allocation disagreements were applied.These outcomes could provide decision-makers with the capacity to observe different possible futures in 'what if' scenarios , allowing them to anticipate future uncertainties, and consequently allowing them the possibility to choose the more desirable future.
Lucanus, 2018
Em pleno Vale do Sousa e na fronteira da Área Metropolitana do Porto, o concelho de Lousada é um ... more Em pleno Vale do Sousa e na fronteira da Área Metropolitana do Porto, o
concelho de Lousada é um laboratório pertinente para analisar e modelar as dinâmicas de uso e ocupação do solo, tendo em conta o padrão de povoamento difuso de base rural e industrial que exibe. Este artigo propõe um diagnóstico geográfico das dinâmicas e padrões de uso do solo ocorridos entre 1995 e 2010, e um modelo de simulação que considera um cenário Business as usual (BAU) para uso e ocupação do solo em 2025. Os resultados evidenciam uma clara perda da área agrícola em detrimento da área artificial (i.e. área construída) e uma ligeira diminuição da floresta e dos meios seminaturais entre
1995 e 2010. O modelo de simulação para 2025 dá continuidade a essas dinâmicas. Esta análise apresenta uma perspetiva interessante para apoiar a tomada de decisão em matéria de ordenamento do território, nomeadamente à luz das questões em matéria de alterações
climáticas, desenvolvimento sustentável e preservação ambiental.
Applied Geography, 2019
Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) occurs as a consequence of both natural and human activities (Fo... more Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) occurs as a consequence of both
natural and human activities (Foley et al., 2005; Lambin et al., 2001;
van Vliet, de Groot, Rietveld, & Verburg, 2015), causing negative impacts
on biophysical and agricultural resources (Foley et al., 2011;
Ramankutty & Foley, 1999). In enlarged urban regions, the major
changes are those which occur from agriculture to urban uses
(Abrantes, Fontes, Gomes, & Rocha, 2016; Marraccini et al., 2015).
Urban and rural uses are in constant competition due to population
growth and housing demand. This competition and the rapid nature of
change leads to fragmented and scattered land use patterns (Errington,
1994; Gomes et al., 2019) generating new challenges for food security,
and soil and biodiversity preservation (Heistermann, Muller, &
Ronneberger, 2006; Satterthwaite, McGranahan, & Tacoli, 2010).
Ecological Indicators, 2019
The fragmentation of agricultural land is influenced by political, economic, social, ecological a... more The fragmentation of agricultural land is influenced by political, economic, social, ecological and environmental factors, which affect its dynamics, patterns, structures, and functions. However, a deep analysis aimed at examining agricultural land fragmentation and its driving forces, and predicting future agricultural land fragmentation is needed. We investigated the degree of fragmentation in a case study in Torres Vedras municipality (Portugal). This territory has experienced significant agricultural land use changes in the last twenty years, mainly in the form of agricultural intensification and land fragmentation. The purposes of the study are: (1) to identify different degrees of agricultural land fragmentation; (2) to analyse and recognize underlying driving forces; (3) to identify the effect of scale; (4) and to predict agricultural land fragmentation for 2025 in a business as usual scenario. This approach concentrates on a cluster analysis to define the agricultural land fragmentation and a multi-layer perceptron to project agricultural land fragmentation. The results indicate that a 5 by 5 km scale of analysis is more efficient than 2 by 2 km to identify the most influential driving forces, in which human activities are one of the main causes of agricultural land fragmentation. In addition, the results also predict that agricultural land fragmentation will increase in 2025. These outcomes should be used to forecast agricultural land fragmentation and to reduce negative impacts.
Journal of Travel Research, 2021
This article provides an approach to the geographic and quantitative interpretation of tourism in... more This article provides an approach to the geographic and quantitative interpretation of tourism intensification, drawing on
the concepts of fractals, and fractal dimension (D). Exploring tourism intensification in Lisbon, we first present a geographic
construct that represents the spatial layout of tourism based on crowd-contributed spatial signatures advocating a collective
sense of the “tourist city.” Then, we assess the tourism-related intensification patterns, based on the estimation of D, for
different years. Significant statistical associations can be found between D and tourism intensification across the urban space.
Intensification on tourism cores is more homogeneously distributed, yet it evolves into a more compact form of spatial
organization. On the other hand, there is a decline in the degree of homogeneity of tourism intensification from tourism
cores to the periphery. This approach has also proved useful for exploring tourism intensification in destinations at different
hierarchical levels, such as in Lisbon and Oporto metropolitan areas.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2020
Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito that has colonized several European countries as well as... more Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito that has colonized several European countries as well as Portugal, where it was detected for the first time in 2017. To increase the knowledge of Ae. albopictus population dynamics, a survey was carried out in the municipality of Loulé, Algarve, a Southern temperate region of Portugal, throughout 2019, with Biogents Sentinel traps (BGS traps) and ovitraps. More than 19,000 eggs and 400 adults were identified from May 9 (week 19) and December 16 (week 50). A positive correlation between the number of females captured in the BGS traps and the number of eggs collected in ovitraps was found. The start of activity of A. albopictus in May corresponded to an average minimum temperature above 13.0 • C and an average maximum temperature of 26.2 • C. The abundance peak of this A. albopictus population was identified from September to November. The positive effect of temperature on the seasonal activity of the adult population observed highlight the importance of climate change in affecting the occurrence, abundance, and distribution patterns of this species. The continuously monitoring activities currently ongoing point to an established population of A. albopictus in Loulé, Algarve, in a dispersion process to other regions of Portugal and raises concern for future outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases associated with this invasive mosquito species.
Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito that has colonized several European countries as well as... more Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito that has colonized several European countries as well as Portugal, where it was detected for the first time in 2017. To increase the knowledge of Ae. albopictus population dynamics, a survey was carried out in the municipality of Loulé, Algarve, a Southern temperate region of Portugal, throughout 2019, with Biogents Sentinel traps (BGS traps) and ovitraps. More than 19,000 eggs and 400 adults were identified from May 9 (week 19) and December 16 (week 50). A positive correlation between the number of females captured in the BGS traps and the number of eggs collected in ovitraps was found. The start of activity of A. albopictus in May corresponded to an average minimum temperature above 13.0 • C and an average maximum temperature of 26.2 • C. The abundance peak of this A. albopictus population was identified from September to November. The positive effect of temperature on the seasonal activity of the adult population observed highlight the importance of climate change in affecting the occurrence, abundance, and distribution patterns of this species. The continuously monitoring activities currently ongoing point to an established population of A. albopictus in Loulé, Algarve, in a dispersion process to other regions of Portugal and raises concern for future outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases associated with this invasive mosquito species.
Applied Sciences , 2020
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These in... more The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These include ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (SGD7) and making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SGD11). Thus, across the globe, major cities are moving in the smart city direction, by, for example, incorporating photovoltaics (PV), electric buses and sensors to improve public transportation. We study the concept of integrated PV bus stop shelters for the city of Lisbon. We identified the suitable locations for these, with respect to solar exposure, by using a Geographic Information System (GIS) solar radiation map. Then, using proxies to describe tourist and commuter demand, we determined that 54% of all current city bus stop shelters have the potential to receive PV-based solutions. Promoting innovative solutions such as this one will support smart mobility and urban sustainability while increasing quality of life, the ultimate goal of the Smart Cities movement.
Sustainability, 2020
The present study used the official Portuguese land use/land cover (LULC) maps (Carta de Uso e Oc... more The present study used the official Portuguese land use/land cover (LULC) maps (Carta de Uso e Ocupação do Solo, COS) from 1995, 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2018 to quantify, visualize, and predict the spatiotemporal LULC transitions in the Beja district, a rural region in the southeast of Portugal, which is experiencing marked landscape changes. Here, we computed the conventional transition matrices for in-depth statistical analysis of the LULC changes that have occurred from 1995 to 2018, providing supplementary statistics regarding the vulnerability of inter-class transitions by focusing on the dominant signals of change. We also investigated how the LULC is going to move in the future (2040) based on matrices of current states using the Discrete-Time Markov Chain (DTMC) model. The results revealed that, between 1995 and 2018, about 28% of the Beja district landscape changed. Particularly, croplands remain the predominant LULC class in more than half of the Beja district (in 2018 about 64%). However, the behavior of the inter-class transitions was significantly different between periods, and explicitly revealed that arable land, pastures, and forest were the most dynamic LULC classes. Few dominant (systematic) signals of change during the 1995-2018 period were observed, highlighting the transition of arable land to permanent crops (5%) and to pastures (2.9%), and the transition of pastures to forest (3.5%) and to arable land (2.7%). Simulation results showed that about 25% of the territory is predicted to experience major LULC changes from arable land (−3.81%), permanent crops (+2.93%), and forests (+2.60%) by 2040.
Science of the Total Environment, 2020
Future land use/cover change (LUCC) analysis has been increasingly applied to spatial planning in... more Future land use/cover change (LUCC) analysis has been increasingly applied to spatial planning instruments in
the last few years. Nevertheless, stakeholder participation in the land use modelling process and analysis is
still low. This paper describes a methodology engaging stakeholders (from the land use planning, agriculture,
and forest sectors) in the building and assessment of future LUCC scenarios.We selected as case study the Torres
VedrasMunicipality (Portugal), a peri-urban region near Lisbon. Our analysis encompasses a participatoryworkshop
to analyse LUCCmodel outcomes, based on farmer LUCC intentions, for the following scenarios: A0 - current
social and economic trend (Business as Usual); A1 - regional food security; A2 - climate change; and B0 - farming
under urban pressure. This analysis allowed local stakeholders to develop and discuss their own views on the
most plausible future LUCC for the following land use classes: artificial surfaces, non-irrigated arable land, permanently
irrigated land, permanent crops and heterogeneous agricultural land, pastures, forest and semi-natural
areas, and water bodies and wetlands. Subsequently, we spatialized these LUCC views into a hybrid model (Cellular
Automata - Geographic Information Systems), identifying the most suitable land conversion areas. Werefer
to this model, implemented in NetLogo, as the stakeholder-LUCC model.
The results presented in this paper model where, when, why, and what conversions may occur in the future in
regard to stakeholders' points of view. These outcomes can better enable decision-makers to perform land use
planning more efficiently and develop measures to prevent undesirable futures, particularly in extreme events
such as scenarios of food security, climate change, and/or farming under pressure.
European Journal of Geography, 2015
The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Geography education is very important in ter... more The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Geography education is very important in terms of geographical skills development such as spatial literacy, the ability to recognize patterns and relations between geographical phenomena and to explore real-world problems. This paper analyses how Portuguese Geography Education (both in basic and higher education) addresses this important matter and also presents some projects that have been developed in order to enhance the use of GIS in the classroom. Being recognized as an important tool in Geography education the fact remains that a minority of Geography teachers refers using it in their classes for reasons related to lack of training or the need to develop a content centred syllabus in a limited schedule. If learning Geography is about understanding our world, GIS has an important role to play that should be present in Geography Education.
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 2019
The conceptual and methodological debate on urban form has grown in the last decades to recognize... more The conceptual and methodological debate on urban form has grown in the last decades to recognize that social, economic, demographic and political processes can contribute to the development of new urban forms, especially those related to urban sprawl, as well as to find alternative methodologies for measuring them. Spatial metrics derived from landscape ecology arise as principal indicators to measure urban form. This paper proposes a typology of the urban occupation of Portuguese municipalities. It uses land use/cover data from 1990 and 2006 to extract built-up areas, and it presents five spatial metrics alongside seventeen statistical indicators from 1991 to 2011 most commonly used in the literature to characterize urban occupation. It uses a self-organising map as a visual tool to identify trends and relationships among variables and to cluster municipalities. Based on the self-organising map's visual clustering, six types of urban occupation of Portuguese municipalities are proposed. In addition, the paper discusses the added value of using indicators that describe both the patterns and the characteristics of the municipalities for making spatial planning decisions in Portugal. The observed results show that spatial metrics are particularly adequate for measuring peri-urban municipalities (urban sprawl areas). These results represent the first multidimensional and systematic analysis of Portuguese urban occupation and they can be the first step in the integration of spatial metrics as indicators that are suitable for the analysis of spatial planning, and also for comparative purposes at a broader geographical scale.
PlosOne, 2016
Malaria is currently one of the world´s major health problems. About a half-million deaths are re... more Malaria is currently one of the world´s major health problems. About a half-million deaths are recorded every year. In Portugal, malaria cases were significantly high until the end of the 1950s but the disease was considered eliminated in 1973. In the past few years, endemic malaria cases have been recorded in some European countries. With the increasing human mobility from countries with endemic malaria to Portugal, there is concern about the resurgence of this disease in the country. Here, we model and map the risk of malaria transmission for mainland Portugal, considering 3 different scenarios of existing imported infections. This risk assessment resulted from entomological studies on An. atroparvus, the only known mosquito capable of transmitting malaria in the study area. We used the malariogenic potential (deter-mined by receptivity, infectivity and vulnerability) applied over geospatial data sets to estimate spatial variation in malaria risk. The results suggest that the risk exists, and the hotspots are concentrated in the northeast region of the country and in the upper and lower Alentejo regions.
Land Use Policy, 2016
In the past few decades, urbanisation has become a major phenomenon in European cities, thus repr... more In the past few decades, urbanisation has become a major phenomenon in European cities, thus representing one of the key human land cover changes with socioeconomic and environmental impacts. In the Lisbon metropolitan region it is estimated that 17% of natural and farmland have been transformed into artificial areas. Since the end of 1990s, specific EU guidelines have been issued to contain urban sprawl and preserve agricultural land. Spatial planning in Portugal obviously is integrating these assumptions into the statutory land-use master plans. But what is the performance of this land use planning system regarding land cover evolution itself? Based on the Lisbon metropolitan region (LMR), one of the major areas of urban growth in Portugal, we examine spatio-temporal land cover patterns between 1990 and 2007 by integrating cross-matrix analysis, spatial metrics, and gradient analysis. Additionally, we overlay these land cover dynamics with municipal master plans that regulate land development in order to assess the compliance levels of this land-use regulatory system. Results indicate that: artificial areas are growing by coalescence and/or by scattered development along an urban-rural gradient; agricultural land is reducing and fragmentation is increasing to enlarge peri-urban spaces; there are high levels of conversion of agricultural land into urban land in protected areas, thus showing a lack of compliance to the land use regulatory system visible in the existing gaps between the original land-use assignments of the master plan and the actual developments.
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2016
Analyses of saltmarsh ecosystem services have been particularly focused on the capacity of mitiga... more Analyses of saltmarsh ecosystem services have been particularly focused on the capacity of mitigating climate change effects to cope with rising sea levels and concerning flood management. Nevertheless, ecosystem stability is vital for accurate service delivery, but land-use changes and coastal erosion are affecting saltmarshes. This provides the background for one of the primary arguments for protecting saltmarshes. Landscape metrics were selected according to shape, complexity, and connectivity parameters , and added to average elevation and distance to the coast, for two years-1972 and 2010. We developed an equation that measures coastal protection, taking into account the results of PCA and the percentage of explained variation of each component (coastal defence index: ES_CoastDef). Three salt-marshes located in the Algarve region, Portugal, were selected to apply the coastal defence index. Individual patches were analysed according to saltmarsh typologies. Results revealed that every saltmarsh decreased its coastal defence from 1972 to 2010; changes in shape and connectivity metrics affect mostly the index performance. In 1972, natural saltmarshes offered a better coastal defence than the other typologies, but in 2010 formerly reclaimed saltmarshes comprised higher values of coastal defence. Positive evolutions in terms of reclaimed saltmarshes have enabled them to provide coastal defence ecosystem services. Thus, through this index it is possible to outline target coastal defence parameters and design strategies for their conservation and consider ecological restoration.
Finisterra, 2007
Neste artigo é apresentada uma metodologia de análise de imagem orientada por objecto para separa... more Neste artigo é apresentada uma metodologia de análise de imagem orientada por objecto para separar duas classes de uso do solo: habitação unifamiliar e plurifamiliar. Estas classes, frequentes em áreas periurbanas, são muito heterogéneas do ponto de vista espectral, razão pela qual a abordagem pixel a pixel não serve para a sua correcta identificação. A análise orientada por objecto mostrou-se adequada para separar estas classes por se basear na segmentação multiresolução e nos parâmetros escala, cor, forma, suavidade e compacticidade. Os conceitos de habitação unifamiliar e de habitação plurifamiliar são discutidos tendo em consideração uma noção nova: a noção de objecto compósito. Palavras-chave: Detecção remota, segmentação multiresolução, classificação hierárquica, objecto.
Finisterra, 2007
Os ambientes urbanos são heterogéneos, sendo útil simplificá-los em combinações de materiais bási... more Os ambientes urbanos são heterogéneos, sendo útil simplificá-los em combinações de materiais básicos de uso e ocupação do solo a fim de permitir estudos quantitativos. O modelo VIS proposto por Ridd em 1995 é um modelo conceptual que permite simplificar ambientes urbanos através da combinação de três componentes básicos: vegetação (V), superfície impermeável (I) e solo (S). A maio-ria dos usos urbanos pode ser interpretada à luz de combinações destes três componentes básicos. A análise da composição do VIS permite revelar que a maioria das características urbanas tem a sua própria composição original destes três factores, a qual é difícil de observar através dos métodos de classificação de imagens de satélite que operam ao nível do pixel. Este trabalho examina as características das classes de uso e ocupação do solo urbano na Grande Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (GAML) utilizando técnicas de classificação baseadas no sub-pixel, nomeadamente a Análise de Mistura Espectral (AME), desenvolvendo um modelo conceptual para caracterizar os padrões de ocupação, sendo explorada e testada a aplicabilidade da AME para medir a composição física da morfologia urbana, através de imagens mul-tiespectrais Landsat 7 ETM+ e SPOT 5 HRVIR, avaliando, ao mesmo tempo, o efeito que as diferenças de resolução espacial podem ter nos resultados obtidos. Palavras-chave: Detecção remota, Análise de Mistura Espectral, uso do solo urbano.
Finisterra, 2005
A principal finalidade da metodologia apresentada neste documento é a criação e a validação, atra... more A principal finalidade da metodologia apresentada neste documento é a criação e a validação, através da aplicação a um caso de estudo, de uma forma eficiente de classificação de imagens de satélite, que integra informação auxiliar (dados dos Censos, do Plano Director Municipal e a rede viária) e dados provenientes de Detecção Remota, num Sistema de Informação Geográfica. O procedimento desenvolvido segue uma estratégia de classificação por níveis, sendo composto por três etapas principais: Estratificação pré-classificação; Aplicação dos classificadores de Bayes e de Máxima Verosimilhança (MV); Aplicação de regras de pós-classificação. As abordagens comuns incorporam os dados auxiliares antes, durante ou depois da classificação. No método proposto recorre-se a esse tipo de informação em todas as etapas. O método consegue, globalmente, melhores resultados que os classificadores clássicos: Mínima Distância, Paralelepípedo e Máxima Verosimilhança (MV). Além disso, melhora substancialmente a exactidão das classes onde o processo de classificação faz uso da informação auxiliar. Palavras-chave: Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG), detecção remota, informação auxiliar.
Sustainability, 2018
Land-Use/Cover Change (LUCC) reacts to demographic pressures, economic trends, or improved transp... more Land-Use/Cover Change (LUCC) reacts to demographic pressures, economic trends, or improved transport networks. Urban growth with implications on LUCC patterns can be measured using a diversity of methods. Our study derives from Tobler's first law of geography: 'everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant ones'. We identified and measured the influence of neighbouring distance on urban growth from the edge of existing urban areas. For that, we have developed a method, built using the NetLogo software tool, which we called Land-use chAnge and Neighbouring Distance (LAND). We selected Torres Vedras (Portugal) to conduct our case study due to its increasing urban development in the past few years. The periods of analysis were. The results have shown the influence and the effect of strong spatial correlation between the proximity of existing artificial surfaces and the emergence of new ones. The understanding of the patterns of urban growth is helpful to plan forward land developments. This method can be used to write guidelines for decision makers to monitor urban expansion and define spatial planning priorities.
Revista Cartográfica, 2018
No presente trabalho, utilizaram-se as fotos georreferenciadas dos visitantes da cidade de Lisboa... more No presente trabalho, utilizaram-se as fotos georreferenciadas dos visitantes da
cidade de Lisboa, partilhadas na rede ‘Panoramio’ entre 2007 e 2014, como proxy
para analisar a distribuição espacial e temporal dos mesmos dentro da cidade. O
conjunto total de dados (> 75.000 fotografias) foi segmentado em visitantes e locais,
com base nas marcas temporais, resultando numa amostra de 17.604 fotos tiradas
por > 5.000 utilizadores. A evidência empírica sugere que a distribuição espacial dos
visitantes não é homogénea. Complementarmente, avaliamos a relação espacial entre
o padrão observado (a aglomeração geográfica de visitantes) e um conjunto de 24
variáveis associadas à oferta turística da cidade. Através da análise de regressão linear
múltipla, verificou-se que são os ‘Monumentos de interesse público’, os elementos
que apresentam maior atratividade e, apurou-se, considerando os fatores explicativos
selecionados, que existem áreas do centro histórico, cujo potencial turístico está
subestimado.
Land Use Policy, 2019
Different mechanisms drive land use and land cover changes (LUCC). This paper presents an explora... more Different mechanisms drive land use and land cover changes (LUCC). This paper presents an exploratory analysis aimed at understanding the complex dynamics of LUCC based on farmers' intentions when they are faced with four scenarios with the time horizon of 2025: (1) A0-current social and economic trend; (2) A1-intensified agricultural production; (3) A2-reduced agricultural production; and (4) B0-increasing demand for urban development. LUCC models are applied to a Torres Vedras (Portugal) case study. This territory is located in a peri-urban area near Lisbon dominated by forest and agricultural land, which has been suffering considerable urban pressure in the last decades. Farmers-major agents of agricultural land use change-were interviewed to obtain their LUCC intentions according to the scenarios studied. To model LUCC a Cellular automata-Markov chain approach was applied. Our results suggest that significant LUCC will occur depending on their intentions in the different scenarios. The highlights are: (1) the highest growth in permanently irrigated land in the A1 scenario; (2) the biggest drop in non-irrigated arable land, and the highest growth in forest in the A2 scenario; and (3) the greatest urban growth was recognized in the B0 scenario. To verify if the fitting simulations performed well, techniques to measure agreement and quantity-allocation disagreements were applied.These outcomes could provide decision-makers with the capacity to observe different possible futures in 'what if' scenarios , allowing them to anticipate future uncertainties, and consequently allowing them the possibility to choose the more desirable future.
Lucanus, 2018
Em pleno Vale do Sousa e na fronteira da Área Metropolitana do Porto, o concelho de Lousada é um ... more Em pleno Vale do Sousa e na fronteira da Área Metropolitana do Porto, o
concelho de Lousada é um laboratório pertinente para analisar e modelar as dinâmicas de uso e ocupação do solo, tendo em conta o padrão de povoamento difuso de base rural e industrial que exibe. Este artigo propõe um diagnóstico geográfico das dinâmicas e padrões de uso do solo ocorridos entre 1995 e 2010, e um modelo de simulação que considera um cenário Business as usual (BAU) para uso e ocupação do solo em 2025. Os resultados evidenciam uma clara perda da área agrícola em detrimento da área artificial (i.e. área construída) e uma ligeira diminuição da floresta e dos meios seminaturais entre
1995 e 2010. O modelo de simulação para 2025 dá continuidade a essas dinâmicas. Esta análise apresenta uma perspetiva interessante para apoiar a tomada de decisão em matéria de ordenamento do território, nomeadamente à luz das questões em matéria de alterações
climáticas, desenvolvimento sustentável e preservação ambiental.
Applied Geography, 2019
Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) occurs as a consequence of both natural and human activities (Fo... more Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) occurs as a consequence of both
natural and human activities (Foley et al., 2005; Lambin et al., 2001;
van Vliet, de Groot, Rietveld, & Verburg, 2015), causing negative impacts
on biophysical and agricultural resources (Foley et al., 2011;
Ramankutty & Foley, 1999). In enlarged urban regions, the major
changes are those which occur from agriculture to urban uses
(Abrantes, Fontes, Gomes, & Rocha, 2016; Marraccini et al., 2015).
Urban and rural uses are in constant competition due to population
growth and housing demand. This competition and the rapid nature of
change leads to fragmented and scattered land use patterns (Errington,
1994; Gomes et al., 2019) generating new challenges for food security,
and soil and biodiversity preservation (Heistermann, Muller, &
Ronneberger, 2006; Satterthwaite, McGranahan, & Tacoli, 2010).
Ecological Indicators, 2019
The fragmentation of agricultural land is influenced by political, economic, social, ecological a... more The fragmentation of agricultural land is influenced by political, economic, social, ecological and environmental factors, which affect its dynamics, patterns, structures, and functions. However, a deep analysis aimed at examining agricultural land fragmentation and its driving forces, and predicting future agricultural land fragmentation is needed. We investigated the degree of fragmentation in a case study in Torres Vedras municipality (Portugal). This territory has experienced significant agricultural land use changes in the last twenty years, mainly in the form of agricultural intensification and land fragmentation. The purposes of the study are: (1) to identify different degrees of agricultural land fragmentation; (2) to analyse and recognize underlying driving forces; (3) to identify the effect of scale; (4) and to predict agricultural land fragmentation for 2025 in a business as usual scenario. This approach concentrates on a cluster analysis to define the agricultural land fragmentation and a multi-layer perceptron to project agricultural land fragmentation. The results indicate that a 5 by 5 km scale of analysis is more efficient than 2 by 2 km to identify the most influential driving forces, in which human activities are one of the main causes of agricultural land fragmentation. In addition, the results also predict that agricultural land fragmentation will increase in 2025. These outcomes should be used to forecast agricultural land fragmentation and to reduce negative impacts.
Estudos para o Planeamento Regional e Urbano, 2008
O desenvolvimento sustentável, o ordenamento e planeamento do território e os Sistemas de Informa... more O desenvolvimento sustentável, o ordenamento e planeamento do território e os Sistemas de Informação Geográfica são a trilogia que compõe e estrutura este trabalho. A constatação de que
o termo desenvolvimento sustentável é utilizado de forma arbitrária, por vezes abusiva, levou a tentar perceber o conceito para o qual remete e, consequentemente, a aprofundar o tema. O facto de os cidadãos associarem o termo desenvolvimento sustentável ao conceito de ambiente, faz com que tenha cada vez maior peso na sociedade e, em consequência, seja um termo recorrente nos discursos políticos e presente em quase todos os documentos de ordenamento e planeamento do território.
Estudos para o Planeamento Regional e Urbano, 2007
O principal objectivo é o desenvolvimento e a validação, através da aplicação a um caso de estudo... more O principal objectivo é o desenvolvimento e a validação, através da aplicação a um caso de estudo, de uma forma eficiente da classificação de imagens de satélite, que integre informação auxiliar (dados dos censos; Plano Director Municipal e a rede viária) e dados provenientes de detecção remota, num Sistema de Informação Geográfica. O texto inicia-se com uma breve introdução que enquadra o leitor na temática subjacente à tese, seguindo-se uma explanação sobre os conceitos e fundamentos da teledetecção, sobre as características dos Satélites artificiais da Terra e uma descrição dos métodos usualmente empregues na classificação de imagens de satélite. Prossegue-se com a descrição e validação do método proposto para a classificação de imagens com recurso a informação não espectral. O procedimento desenvolvido segue uma estratégia de classificação por níveis, sendo composto por três estágios principais: 1) Estratificação de pré-classificação; 2) Aplicação dos classificadores de Bayes e de Máxima Verosimilhança (MV); 3) Aplicação de regras de pós-classificação. Por fim, conclui-se sobre as virtudes e defeitos do método desenvolvido e apresentam-se algumas propostas para trabalho futuro.
Spatial Analysis, Modelling and Planning, 2018
New powerful technologies, such as geographic information systems (GIS), have been evolving and a... more New powerful technologies, such as geographic information systems (GIS), have been evolving and are quickly becoming part of a worldwide emergent digital infrastructure. Spatial analysis is becoming more important than ever because enormous volumes of spatial data are available from different sources, such as social media and mobile phones. When locational information is provided, spatial analysis researchers can use it to calculate statistical and mathematical relationships through time and space. This book aims to demonstrate how computer methods of spatial analysis and modeling, integrated in a GIS environment, can be used to better understand reality and give rise to more informed and, thus, improved planning. It provides a comprehensive discussion of spatial analysis, methods, and approaches related to planning.
Multi-agent Systems, 2017
Multi-agent system (MAS) is an expanding field in science and engineering. It merges classical fi... more Multi-agent system (MAS) is an expanding field in science and engineering. It merges classical fields like game theory with modern ones like machine learning and computer science. This book provides a succinct introduction to the subject, covering the theoretical fundamentals as well as the latter developments in a coherent and clear manner. The book is centred on practical applications rather than introductory topics. Although it occasionally makes reference to the concepts involved, it will do so primarily to clarify real-world applications. The inner chapters cover a wide spectrum of issues related to MAS uses, which include collision avoidance, automotive applications, evacuation simulation, emergence analyses, cooperative control, context awareness, data (image) mining, resilience enhancement and the management of a single-user multi-robot.
Decent Work and Economic Growth. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 2020
Sustainable tourism plans to meet the needs of the current generation and of the following ones a... more Sustainable tourism plans to meet the needs of the current generation and of the following ones as it tries to find the best way of using the resources available and, at the same time, ensuring the economic development. Smart tourism uses Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to improve tourists’ experience and enhancing local quality of life. It connects to the concept of smart destination, which applies ICT to support tourists on planning their journey and choosing their destination in a convenient and sustainable way.
Spatial Modeling in GIS and R for Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2019
Urban growth, urban extension, and urban sprawl are sometimes used synonymously, even though they... more Urban growth, urban extension, and urban sprawl are sometimes used synonymously, even though they differ conceptually. Urban growth is an increase in the urbanized land cover. One possible means of urban growth is by urban extension. Urban growth according to spontaneous or unplanned urban development is called urban sprawl. Urban sprawl usually has negative connotations, associated with the generation or intensification of complex urban problems, such as land, water, and air pollution, with their consequent negative impacts on human health
Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education, 2019
Definition One can define sustainability as the capacity to preserve, sustain, and nurture, which... more Definition One can define sustainability as the capacity to preserve, sustain, and nurture, which in practical terms can be translated into identifying, developing , and promoting sustainable attitudes, practices, and strategies, preserving the natural environment without forgetting the economic and social components. In fact, sustainability has to do with the issues of distribution, following the standards of intra-and intergenerational equity. We all know that human actions have consequences, if not for the perpetrator then for others with a spatiotemporal shift. Therefore, evaluating the impact of a specific activity on sustainability is problematic for this reason and several others.
Beach Management Tools - Concepts, Methodologies and Case Studies, 2018
Remote sensing data and image classification algorithms can be very useful in the identification ... more Remote sensing data and image classification algorithms can be very useful in the identification of beach patterns and therefore can be used as inputs in beach classification models. In this work, one aerial photograph, one IKONOS-2 image and one FORMOSAT-2 image were applied to a part of the northwest coast of Portugal. Several image processing algorithms were employed and compared: pixel-based approach, object-based approach, Principal Components Analysis (PCA), Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Decision Trees (DT). The ANN and DT algorithms employed conduced to better results than the traditional classification methodologies (pixel-based, object-based and PCA), allowed a more accurate identification of rip currents. Regarding the data used, the high spatial resolution of aerial photograph allows for the better discrimination of different micro patterns. The FORMOSAT-2 image presents a lower spatial resolution, which did not allow for the identification of small microforms. Concluding, the conjugation of better spatial and spectral resolution of IKONOS-2 data and the data mining algorithms seems to be the better approach to accurately identify
beach patterns through remotely sensed data.
Beach Management Tools - Concepts, Methodologies and Case Studies, 2018
Climate change and its effects are inevitable according to many authors; policies should be assum... more Climate change and its effects are inevitable according to many authors; policies should be assumed regarding their mitigation and adaptation. Some economic sectors may suffer negative impacts, being tourism one with greater potential for impact. The increase in average sea level is one of the potential effects of climate change that can have consequences on tourism, particularly in the travel destinations that include coastal regions. The main objective of this work is to propose an approach for the assessment of potential impacts of the increase in the average sea level of tourism in a coastal area with a tripartite methodology. This methodology includes the assessment of physical vulnerability of the coast, including a coastal vulnerability index composed by nine physical variables-elevation, distance to shore, tide amplitude, significant wave weight, erosion/accretion rates, geology, geomorphology, ground cover vegetation and anthropogenic actions-followed by a quantification of coastal recession, based on the Bruun rule and the data of Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), on the rise in average sea level. Finally, it is estimated the total economic value of an area of recreation and tourism, based on the travel cost method. The proposed methodology was applied to a case study in the Portuguese coast, corresponding to the beach of São Jacinto, in Aveiro.
Beach Management Tools - Concepts, Methodologies and Case Studies, 2018
Shoreline erosion is a problem that causes major concerns to coastal cities worldwide. About 70% ... more Shoreline erosion is a problem that causes major concerns to coastal cities worldwide. About 70% of the world's sandy beaches retreated at a rate of 0.5-1.0 m.year −1. Therefore, the protection against beach loss and appropriate land management along the shoreline are critical issues that need to be addressed. The modelling and simulation of dynamic and complex systems, such as coastal areas, are important for the definition of an innovative planning and management strategy. To explore sandy beaches threatened by shoreline retreat, this works aims to develop a geosimulation hybrid model. The geosimulation (geocomputation) is an emergent field of analysis embracing heuristic search, artificial neural networks and cellular automata, among others. In this chapter we present a method to simulate both the coast line and the land use/cover evolution in a developed costal area reality, by coupling cellular automata (CA) and multi-layer perceptron (MLP) artificial neural network (ANN) with fuzzy set theory (CA-ANN-Fuzzy) in a GIS environment. Such alterations simulation solely by means of cellular automata isn't suitable, because these models, in its more conventional structure, comprise limitations in the space parameters and transition rules. In this work a neural network is used to calibrate the importance degree that each prediction variable (probability) has in the
geographic constraints (weights), i.e. considers spatial and temporal non linearities of the driving forces underlying the urban growth processes, while fuzzy set theory captures the uncertainty associated with transition rules. The proposed method predict high shoreline drawbacks in only 14 years, mainly at North (40 meters) and West (20 meters). The model has an overall accuracy of 86% (14% of error in 60 years).
Beach Management Tools - Concepts, Methodologies and Case Studies, 2018
The concept of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV) and its mapping have become extremely important... more The concept of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV) and its mapping have become extremely important within the scope of habitat restoration in almost every European country. The aim of this study is to predict the PNV in the sites of Natura 2000 Network 'Sado Estuary' and 'Comporta-Galé' based on the vegetation series and the main environmental variables. The modelling approach is based on the distribution of communities referred to as classification then modelling. Subsequently, several statistical model-fitting techniques, such as regression models, machine learning and rule-based, were successfully applied to the survey data (9 vegetation series; and 7 environmental/predictor variables). The spatial database was organized as a Geographic Information System (GIS) and was also used to perform the Species Distribution Models (SDM) at community level. The results show a high correspondence between the vegetation series and the environmental gradients. The predicted PNV maps based on the Maximum Entropy Model were validated with the official map of the PNV of the sites of Natura 2000 Network ‘Sado Estuary’ and ‘Comporta-Galé’, and presented an overall accuracy of 86%. Often, conservation planning and biodiversity resource management is carried out at more detailed scales, where SDM allows integration of community direct observations and improve our interpretation of PNV local distributions along environmental gradients VNP in beach and coastal sand dunes environments.
Frontiers in Information Systems, 2018
Agent-Based Models (ABM) are becoming more relevant in computational social science (CSS) due to ... more Agent-Based Models (ABM) are becoming more relevant in computational social science (CSS) due to the potential to model complex phenomena that emerge from individual-based interactions. Most tourism theoretical models recognize the complex nature of the tourism system, and complexity is a subject of growing interest among researchers. Geosimulation models (GM) are presented as potential tools to address tourism in a complex systems lens. Particularly ABM, has a GM tool, as captured growing interest by tourism researchers, however there is little empirical application as a tool to explore and predict tourism patterns. The purpose of the chapter is to frame ABM in GM following a complex systems theoretical approach, in order to increase knowledge by (i) considering the complex nature of tourism, (ii) providing tools to explore the interactions between system components, (iii) discussing the potential for coupling ABM and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in tourism research, and (iv) giving insights on the functioning of the tourist behaviours and decision-making process through an ABM approach. Also a theoretical ABM is developed to improve knowledge on tourist decision-making in the selection of a destination to vacation. Tourists' behaviour, such as individual motivation and social network influence in the vacation decision-making process are presented. Ongoing work on loose coupling of ABM and GIS is discussed.
Os Municípios na Modernização Educativa, 2014
Remote Sensing for Science, Education, and Natural and Cultural Heritage, 2010
The climatic factors and their variability, both spatial and temporal, linked to precipita-tion d... more The climatic factors and their variability, both spatial and temporal, linked to precipita-tion decreasing and irregular distribution, due to climatic changes, have been gathering a higher weight in the definition of water management policies. These policies have important implications on agriculture. Using new technologies that allow a better use of water requires institutional changes in major areas. The first point is the need for base information with an adequate spatial and temporal resolution. The work we have done includes itself in the water efficient and sustained use, allowing the improvement of irrigation systems and it’s the result of a jointly effort of several teams based on an international project. The PLEIADES Project - Participatory multi-Level EO-assisted tools for Irrigation water management: and Agricultural Decision - Support, falls in the 6th Framework Programme, Priority 6 - Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems – CEC - Research Directorate-General-Integrating and Strengthening the European Research Area. The Portuguese working area was the Caia irrigation area, a subsystem of Guadiana basin, located in the southeast of Portugal, near the border with Spain. The system praised by PLEIADES stands mainly over FAO normative, about culture water needs and the calculation of cultural coefficient (Kc) in a simple way, directly from remote sensing data. For that we simply use radiometric parameters derived from visible and infrared bands.
Geophilia: o sentir e os sentidos da Geografia Homenagem a Jorge Gaspar, 2007
Coastal areas stand in the intersection of human and physical factors, some of them interacting i... more Coastal areas stand in the intersection of human and physical factors, some of them interacting in a non linear fashion and presenting feedbacks, which typically are characteristics of complex systems. This kind of systems are very difficult to model in a top-down approach, due to the high number of variables in question and the nature of relations between them. The spatial dimension itself, also introduces some complexity which is difficult to capture in a deterministic approach. In this study, we propose a bottom-up approach for modelling the coastline evolution, integrating land use cover. The system is based in a probabilistic Cellular Automata (CA) model, which divides the study area in a grid. The hermetic structure of CA is overcomed by using transition rules whose weights have been calibrated by a Artificial Neural Network (ANN). In this way, the knowledge of past events is incorporated into the model and projected into the future, by means of using "intelligence"; this contrasts with techniques such as linear regression, whose efficacy in the case study was evaluated to be much inferior. Finally, is important to mention that the use of a Geographical information Systems (GIS) environment, enabled to assemble together different types of data and overlap them in an efficient way, which would be very hard or impossible to do otherwise; therefore, we believe that the use of GIS is crucial in spatial based simulations. The case study for this model was an area of the Municipality of Almada (Portugal) that has an extensive coastal line, both Atlantic and estuary. The modelling of spatially dynamic and naturally complex phenomena occurring in these coastal areas, is important for the definition of an innovative strategy for their physical planning and also their environmental management.
Finisterra, 2006
... sob a coordenação do Professor Doutor José António Tenedório (Presidente do e-Geo) e do Profe... more ... sob a coordenação do Professor Doutor José António Tenedório (Presidente do e-Geo) e do Professor Doutor Rui Pedro Julião (Vice ... No caso dos autómatos celulares e sistemas multiagentes, expressou-se a preocu-pação na análise multiescala e multitempo, de fenómenos ...
Palavras-chave: representação, paisagem, identidade, regiões vinhateiras, desenvolvimento rural.
Urban environments are heterogeneous by nature. Hence, to allow quantitative studies it is necess... more Urban environments are heterogeneous by nature. Hence, to allow quantitative studies it is necessary to simplify them in combinations of basic land use/cover materials. The Ridd's VIS model (1995) is a conceptual representation that allows simplifying urban environments through the combination of three basic components: vegetation (V), impervious surface (I), and soil (S). More recently, Lu and Weng (Lu & Weng 2004) successfully tested a new combination (vegetation, impervious surface and shadow), more adapted to urban reality.
Os Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG) eram, tradicionalmente, uma metodologia de trabalho po... more Os Sistemas de Informação Geográfica (SIG) eram, tradicionalmente, uma metodologia de trabalho pouco utilizada em inventários de património. Nos últimos anos, diversas entidades empreenderam esforços para melhorar as suas bases de dados de património, enriquecendo-as com a possibilidade de, a par com a pesquisa alfanumérica, poder realizar também pesquisas e análises espaciais. Utilizando como ponto de partida dados provenientes do projecto "Corredores Verdes para a Área Metropolitana de Lisboa", actualizando-os e aperfeiçoando-os, o inventário geo-referenciado do património da Área Metropolitana de Lisboa, criou -através da construção de um Sistema de Informação Geográfica -uma base de dados rigorosa e actualizável. Este SIG Património permite não só a pesquisa sobre o património classificado e não classificado da área metropolitana (num total de quase 4000 fichas, correspondendo a elementos e conjuntos geo-referenciados), mas também o cruzamento com outros tipos de informação (por exemplo, altimetria, hidrografia ou dados sobre a população). Nesta comunicação apresentamos o modo como foi elaborado este SIG Património, seguindo os passos dados para a sua construção, assim como os critérios utilizados e as dificuldades que surgiram durante todo o processo. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Património, SIG, Inventário
Avaliar a paisagem é uma tarefa primordial na preservação dos valores ambientais e estético-cultu... more Avaliar a paisagem é uma tarefa primordial na preservação dos valores ambientais e estético-culturais expressos nesse recurso. A metodologia seguida neste artigo assenta numa investigação integrada da paisagem, nas suas diferentes valências. Os estudos integrados são uma prática metodológica de elevado significado na procura da sustentabilidade dos sistemas naturais e humanos, preconizada no ordenamento e na gestão territorial. Classificam-se as paisagens da bacia hidrográfica da Ribeira de Colares a partir de uma avaliação qualitativa e uma outra estruturada a partir de pressupostos estatísticos, apresentando-se as respectivas representações em unidades de paisagem. Pretende-se confrontar os resultados obtidos pelas duas metodologias de investigação, bem como proceder a uma actualização dos dados. Parte-se do princípio que a actualização e a monitorização são ferramentas indispensáveis às acções de planeamento.
Integração de dados fuzzy através da análise multi-critério FERREIRA, José C.; ROCHA, Jorge; TENE... more Integração de dados fuzzy através da análise multi-critério FERREIRA, José C.; ROCHA, Jorge; TENEDÓRIO, José A.; SOUSA, Paulo M. Resumo No contexto das ideias dos finais dos anos oitenta, sobre o desenvolvimento sustentado da paisagem [2], que assentam na manutenção, preservação e recuperação de espaços vitais ao funcionamento ecológico, surge o conceito de corredor verde [28], entendido como uma estratégia [1] de ordenamento do território, popularizado como resposta às modernas exigências de compatibilização entre os efeitos espaciais negativos da evolução económica e a necessária salvaguarda da qualidade ambiental [29, 35]. Os corredores verdes podem ser definidos como "espaços livres lineares ao longo de corredores naturais, como frentes ribeirinhas, cursos de água, festos, canais, vias cénicas, linhas férreas convertidas em usos de recreio, que ligam entre si parques, reservas naturais, sítios históricos, património natural e áreas habitacionais" [28]. A decisão correspondente à escolha entre os vários traçados alternativos, tem por base uma análise multi-critério (AMC). PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Corredores Verdes, SIG, Lógica Fuzzy e Análise Multi-critério.
Nesta comunicação é apresentado um exemplo de segmentação multiresolução e classificação orientad... more Nesta comunicação é apresentado um exemplo de segmentação multiresolução e classificação orientada a objecto de imagens Spot, para a diferenciação de classes de uso do solo na cidade do Porto A abordagem orientada a objecto procura a classificação da informação presente na imagem a partir da formalização das relações estabelecidas entre as entidades encontradas, entendendo-se a imagem como um espaço próprio de construção e representação da realidade, pela introdução de atributos de aproximação ao objecto real, como são disso exemplo a textura, a localização relativa e o contexto espacial. A criação de redes de objectos dá origem a uma tipologia de classes hierarquizada, a várias escalas, numa abordagem sistémica, representativa do território. A experimentação insere-se no projecto EURMET que procura o desenvolvimento de um protocolo de classificação em eCognition, comum a 10 cidades europeias. A análise de imagem é explorada no sentido de se encontrar o maior número de classes possíveis de serem extraídas e, simultaneamente, analisar o tipo de classes separáveis em imagens Spot e as classes que não são possíveis de serem identificadas, recorrendo a abordagem orientada a objecto.
Proceedings of the 16th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science, May 2013
Portuguese soil map coverage remains incomplete, while the existing cartography has some shortcom... more Portuguese soil map coverage remains incomplete, while the existing cartography has some shortcomings. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are advanced computer-based techniques which are being used for Digital Soil Mapping (DSM). These techniques allow mapping soil classes in a cheaper, more consistent and flexible way, using surrogate landscape data. This work compares the performance of two ANN approaches, Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) and Self-Organizing Map (SOM), for DSM. The tests were carried out in IDRISI Taiga for three catchments in Portugal and one in Spain, using different sampling designs to obtain the training sets. Results reveal that best ANN performance is obtained with a MLP model rather than a SOM model, independently of data transformation and sampling method. However, MLP is also the most sensitive method to the data used to develop the models.
Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) is an advanced technique for mapping soil classes (Dobos et al., 2006)... more Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) is an advanced technique for mapping soil classes (Dobos et al., 2006) which has been developed to bridge the gap between existing soil maps based on traditional soil survey and the increasing demand for soil information. Indeed, at the European level, DSM has been driven by the urgent need to address the importance of soils and the growing concern about environmental disasters, the impact of human activities on soils and the role that soil has on global change.
The work presented in this paper is part of SatStat project, which is being developed in e-Geo -G... more The work presented in this paper is part of SatStat project, which is being developed in e-Geo -Geography and Regional Planning Research Centre of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, under the framework of the European Space Agency (ESA) Announce of Opportunities for Portugal. The main goal of SatStat is to annual monitor forest areas using low resolution images. The imagery dataset includes an Envisat-MERIS multitemporal set of images for Portugal. In order to monitor the forest areas, 2003 was consider as the reference year and several classification techniques were tested to map the land cover of Portugal in that year, using a 2 level nomenclature. A pixel-based classifier was tested against an object-oriented classifier and an accuracy assessment was preformed to identify the best method.
apgeo.pt
Page 1. INTEGRAÇÃO DE AUTÓMATOS CELULARES E REDES NEURONAIS EM AMBIENTE SIG PARA PREVISÃO DE ALTE... more Page 1. INTEGRAÇÃO DE AUTÓMATOS CELULARES E REDES NEURONAIS EM AMBIENTE SIG PARA PREVISÃO DE ALTERAÇÕES NOS PADRÕES DE USO E OCUPAÇÃO DO SOLO Jorge Rocha1, José António Tenedório2, Sara Encarnação3 e Saudade Pontes4 ...
Actas do IV Congresso …, Jan 1, 2004
Os ambientes urbanos são heterogéneos, sendo necessário simplificálos em combinações de materiais... more Os ambientes urbanos são heterogéneos, sendo necessário simplificálos em combinações de materiais básicos de uso e ocupação do solo a fim permitir estudos quantitativos. O modelo VIS proposto por Ridd em 1995 é um modelo conceptual que permite simplificar ambientes urbanos através da combinação de três componentes básicos: vegetação (V), superfície impermeável (I), e solo (S). A maioria dos usos urbanos podem ser interpretadas à luz de combinações destes três componentes básicos. A análise da composição do VIS permite revelar que a maioria de características urbanas têm sua própria composição original destes três factores, a qual é difícil de observar através dos métodos de classificação de imagens de satélite que operam ao nível do pixel. Este trabalho examina as características das classes de uso e ocupação do solo urbano na Grande Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (GAML) utilizando técnicas de classificação baseadas no subpixel, nomeadamente a Análise de Mistura Espectral (AME), desenvolvendo um modelo conceptual para caracterizar os padrões de ocupação, sendo explorada e testada a aplicabilidade da AME para medir a composição física da morfologia urbana, através de imagens multiespectrais Landsat 7 ETM+ e SPOT 5 HRVIR, avaliando ao mesmo tempo o efeito que as diferenças de resolução espacial podem ter nos resultados obtidos.
igeo.pt
Nesta comunicação é apresentado um exemplo de segmentação multiresolução e classificação orientad... more Nesta comunicação é apresentado um exemplo de segmentação multiresolução e classificação orientada a objecto de imagens Spot, para a diferenciação de classes de uso do solo na cidade do Porto A abordagem orientada a objecto procura a classificação da informação presente na imagem a partir da formalização das relações estabelecidas entre as entidades encontradas, entendendo-se a imagem como um espaço próprio de construção e representação da realidade, pela introdução de atributos de aproximação ao objecto real, como são disso exemplo a textura, a localização relativa e o contexto espacial. A criação de redes de objectos dá origem a uma tipologia de classes hierarquizada, a várias escalas, numa abordagem sistémica, representativa do território. A experimentação insere-se no projecto EURMET que procura o desenvolvimento de um protocolo de classificação em eCognition, comum a 10 cidades europeias. A análise de imagem é explorada no sentido de se encontrar o maior número de classes possíveis de serem extraídas e, simultaneamente, analisar o tipo de classes separáveis em imagens Spot e as classes que não são possíveis de serem identificadas, recorrendo a abordagem orientada a objecto.
Proceedings of SPIE, Jan 1, 2006
In this paper is presented a land use/cover classification methodology of the rural/urban fringe,... more In this paper is presented a land use/cover classification methodology of the rural/urban fringe, by means of the application of a neuronal network, with resource to the multiresolution image segmentation, construction of complex elements through object oriented analysis ...
Resumo -Os ambientes urbanos são heterogéneos, sendo útil simplificá-los em combinações de materi... more Resumo -Os ambientes urbanos são heterogéneos, sendo útil simplificá-los em combinações de materiais básicos de uso e ocupação do solo a fim de permitir estudos quantitativos. O modelo VIS proposto por Ridd em 1995 é um modelo conceptual que permite simplificar ambientes urbanos através da combinação de três componentes básicos: vegetação (V), superfície impermeável (I) e solo (S). A maioria dos usos urbanos pode ser interpretada à luz de combinações destes três componentes básicos. A análise da composição do VIS permite revelar que a maioria das características urbanas tem a sua própria composição original destes três factores, a qual é difícil de observar através dos métodos de classificação de imagens de satélite que operam ao nível do pixel. Este trabalho examina as características das classes de uso e ocupação do solo urbano na Grande Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (GAML) utilizando técnicas de classificação baseadas no sub-pixel, nomeadamente a Análise de Mistura Espectral (AME), desenvolvendo um modelo conceptual para caracterizar os padrões de ocupação, sendo explorada e testada a aplicabilidade da AME para medir a composição física da morfologia urbana, através de imagens multiespectrais Landsat 7 ETM+ e SPOT 5 HRVIR, avaliando, ao mesmo tempo, o efeito que as diferenças de resolução espacial podem ter nos resultados obtidos.
Como método, a geosimulação aborda a simulação de sistemas modelando grupos adaptáveis de entidad... more Como método, a geosimulação aborda a simulação de sistemas modelando grupos adaptáveis de entidades em interacção. Ao invés de procurar uma aproximação reducionista, i.e. de cima-para-baixo, estudando os sistemas através da sua dissecação em componentes logicamente justificados, a geosimulação é caracterizada por uma aproximação generativa, i.e. de baixo-para-cima. Os fenómenos de interesse são estudados como o produto de múltiplas interacções entre unidades elementares mais simples, que correspondam às entidades fisicamente existentes. Os sistemas e os fenómenos generativos são compreendidos para ser, pelo menos parcialmente, auto-organizados e emergentes. Nos sistemas emergentes, um pequeno número de regras ou leis, aplicadas a nível local e a muitas entidades, é capaz de gerar fenómenos globais complexos – comportamentos colectivos, padrões espaciais extensivos, hierarquias - manifestados de tal forma que as acções das partes não somam simplesmente a actividades do todo. Nos sistemas emergentes, os atributos e os comportamentos importantes podem não ser observáveis por dissecação, porque a riqueza do sistema encontra-se na forma como as interacções geram adaptações ao longo do tempo. Os sistemas auto-organizados emergentes são adaptáveis, porque os fenómenos globais que exibem são o resultado da adaptação do sistema ao ambiente. A geografia em geral, e as áreas urbanas em particular, fornecem muitos exemplos de auto-organização e de emergência, muitos dos quais são discutidos nesta dissertação. Em todos esses exemplos, os objectos individuais adaptam-se e actuam sinergeticamente, e os modelos do geosimulação são frequentemente projectados para explorar, analisar, e, quando possível, predizer sistemas urbanos emergentes. A geosimulação é um campo emergente de investigação que advoga o uso de métodos de análise espacial computacionalmente intensivos como os que recorrem a pesquisas heurísticas, redes neuronais e autómatos celulares. A representação em ambiente SIG do espaço geográfico é frequentemente estática, logo, um foco de investigação com elevada relevância na geosimulação é a elaboração de modelos que combinem os elementos estruturais do espaço (objectos geográficos) com os processos que o modificam (acções humanas e a forma como se processam ao longo do tempo). Estes modelos visam libertar o analista da visão estática do espaço, incutida pela cartografia tradicional e, ressalvar a componente dinâmica como uma parte essencial do espaço geográfico. Esta motivação conduziu à utilização dos autómatos celulares como método de simulação do crescimento urbano e regional. Os autómatos celulares estendem esta analogia de forma a providenciar a visualização de todo um conjunto de células (pixels) em interacção, sendo cada uma delas(es) um computador (autonomização). Desta forma, os autómatos celulares podem ser entendidos como um sistema espacial dinâmico e relativamente simples, no qual o estado de cada célula da matriz depende do estado prévio das células que se encontram dentro de uma determinada vizinhança, de acordo com um conjunto de regras de transição. Esta dissertação apresenta um método de simular a evolução do uso do solo para o ano 2021, numa realidade periurbana (concelho de Almada), com recurso à integração de lógica difusa, modelos preditivos e autómatos celulares em ambiente SIG. A geosimulação das alterações no uso do solo recorrendo unicamente a autómatos celulares é desaconselhada, em virtude destes modelos, na sua forma mais convencional, apresentarem limitações na definição dos parâmetros espaciais e das regras de transição. Face a esta situação, são testados diversos modelos para aferir o grau de importância que cada variável de predição (probabilidade) tem nos constrangimentos geográficos. Estas variáveis (constrangimentos) são obtidas através do tratamento de informação em ambiente SIG, constituindo o modelo global, cuja criação é o objecto principal desta dissertação: o Urb-GeoSim.
Sustainability
Mosquito-borne infections are increasing in endemic areas and previously unaffected regions. In 2... more Mosquito-borne infections are increasing in endemic areas and previously unaffected regions. In 2020, the notification rate for Dengue was 0.5 cases per 100,000 population, and for Chikungunya <0.1/100,000. In 2019, the rate for Malaria was 1.3/100,000, and for West Nile Virus, 0.1/100,000. Spatial analysis is increasingly used in surveillance and epidemiological investigation, but reviews about their use in this research topic are scarce. We identify and describe the methodological approaches used to investigate the distribution and ecological determinants of mosquito-borne infections in Europe. Relevant literature was extracted from PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception until October 2021 and analysed according to PRISMA-ScR protocol. We identified 110 studies. Most used geographical correlation analysis (n = 50), mainly applying generalised linear models, and the remaining used spatial cluster detection (n = 30) and disease mapping (n = 30), mainly conducted using ...
Individual chapters of this publication are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons A... more Individual chapters of this publication are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License which permits commercial use, distribution and reproduction of the individual chapters, provided the original author(s) and source publication are appropriately acknowledged. If so indicated, certain images may not be included under the Creative Commons license. In such cases users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. More details and guidelines concerning content reuse and adaptation can be found at http://www.intechopen.com/copyright-policy.html. Notice Statements and opinions expressed in the chapters are these of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the editors or publisher. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the published chapters. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book.
Applied Sciences, 2022
Forest fires are considered by Portuguese civil protection as one of the most serious natural dis... more Forest fires are considered by Portuguese civil protection as one of the most serious natural disasters due to their frequency and extent. To address the problem, the Fire Forest Defense System establishes the implementation of fuel management bands to aid firefighting. The aim of this study was to develop a model capable of identifying vegetation removal in the urban–rural interface defined by law for fuel management actions. The model uses normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) of Sentinel-2 images time series and is based on the Welch t-test to find statistically significant differences between (i) the value of the NDVI in the pixel; (ii) the mean of the NDVI in the pixels of the same land cover type in a radius of 500 m; and (iii) their difference. The model identifies a change when the t-test points for a significant difference of the NDVI value in the ‘pixel’ as comparted to the ‘difference’ but not the ‘mean’. We use a moving window limited to 60 days before and after ...
Resumo Pretende-se dar a conhecer o Serviço Postal de Campanha (SPC) do Corpo Expedicionário Port... more Resumo Pretende-se dar a conhecer o Serviço Postal de Campanha (SPC) do Corpo Expedicionário Português que actuou durante a I Guerra Mundial, na Flandres. A missão do SPC era a permuta de correspondência entre Portugal e o Corpo Expedicionário Português em França, e as comunicações postais internas entre as várias unidades e formações. Muito se tem escrito sobre a participação do Exército português neste conflito mas a grande maioria dos estudos omite ou refere de forma muito sucinta o SPC, sendo objetivo deste trabalho dar a conhecer a implementação, numa organização militar, de um serviço de índole civil, que lhe foi imposto por força das circunstâncias mas cujo contributo é inestimável na história da participação de Portugal na Grande Guerra. O SPC parte para França em 1917 sob a orientação de Humberto da Cunha Serrão, funcionário da Administração Geral dos Correios e Telégrafos, que tinha sido nomeado para comandar e organizar este serviço. Descreve-se e espacializa-se a organiz...
The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Geography education is very important in ter... more The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Geography education is very important in terms of geographical skills development such as spatial literacy, the ability to recognize patterns and relations between geographical phenomena and to explore real-world problems. This paper analyses how Portuguese Geography Education (both in basic and higher education) addresses this important matter and also presents some projects that have been developed in order to enhance the use of GIS in the classroom. Being recognized as an important tool in Geography education the fact remains that a minority of Geography teachers refers using it in their classes for reasons related to lack of training or the need to develop a content centred syllabus in a limited schedule. If learning Geography is about understanding our world, GIS has an important role to play that should be present in Geography Education.
Land, 2021
Agricultural statistical data enable the detection and interpretation of the development of agric... more Agricultural statistical data enable the detection and interpretation of the development of agriculture and the food supply situation over time, which is essential for food security evaluation in any country. Based on the historical agricultural statistics, this study produces a long spatial time-series with annual production values of three cereals relevant to global food security—wheat, maize, and rice, aiming to provide geographical and historical perspectives. Therefore, we reconstructed past and current production patterns and trends at the district level over 169 years, which supported a space–time cross-reading of the general characteristics of the regional agricultural production value distributions and relative densities in Portugal. Particularly, the production trends of wheat, maize, and rice showed three different situations: growth (maize), stability (rice), and decline (wheat). For decades, maize and wheat production alternated, depending on agricultural years and poli...
Este trabalho encontra-se inserido no projecto Atlas-Repertorio dos Municipios na Educacao e na C... more Este trabalho encontra-se inserido no projecto Atlas-Repertorio dos Municipios na Educacao e na Cultura em Portugal (1820-1986) . Como trabalho inicial, assentou na criacao de uma base de trabalho, i.e. levantamento da informacao para o ano zero (1800). Assim foram geocodificadas, com base no reportorio toponimico nacional, todas as escolas existentes no referido ano e foram vectorizadas, recorrendo a informacao proveniente de cartografia historica, as estradas principais existentes na mesma data. Esta informacao foi alvo de analises de estatistica espacial com base num Sistema de Informacao Geografica (SIG).
As atividades humanas tem influenciado as alteracoes do uso/ ocupacao do solo ao longo dos tempos... more As atividades humanas tem influenciado as alteracoes do uso/ ocupacao do solo ao longo dos tempos. As alteracoes reagem as pressoes demograficas, as tendencias economicas e ao desenvolvimento dos transportes. O crescimento urbano com implicacoes nos padroes de alteracao de uso/ ocupacao do solo pode ser medido atraves de uma diversidade de metricas da paisagem. O nosso estudo e inspirado pela primeira lei da Geografia de Tobler, em que o autor afirma: tudo esta relacionado com tudo, mas as coisas mais proximas estao mais relacionadas do que as coisas distantes. Neste artigo apresentamos o metodo LAND (LandusechAnge and Neighbouring Distance), construido no programa NetLogo, que permite identificar e medir a influencia da distância vizinha no crescimento urbano a partir do limite das areas urbanas existentes. Este metodo permite ser usado como suporte as politicas territoriais na monitorizacao da expansao urbana.
Em pleno Vale do Sousa e na fronteira da Area Metropolitana do Porto, o concelho de Lousada e um ... more Em pleno Vale do Sousa e na fronteira da Area Metropolitana do Porto, o concelho de Lousada e um laboratorio pertinente para analisar e modelar as dinâmicas de uso e ocupacao do solo, tendo em conta o padrao de povoamento difuso de base rural e industrial que exibe. Este artigo propoe um diagnostico geografico das dinâmicas e padroes de uso do solo ocorridos entre 1995 e 2010, e um modelo de simulacao que considera um cenario Business as usual (BAU) para uso e ocupacao do solo em 2025. Os resultados evidenciam uma clara perda da area agricola em detrimento da area artificial (i.e. area construida) e uma ligeira diminuicao da floresta e dos meios seminaturais entre 1995 e 2010. O modelo de simulacao para 2025 da continuidade a essas dinâmicas. Esta analise apresenta uma perspetiva interessante para apoiar a tomada de decisao em materia de ordenamento do territorio, nomeadamente a luz das questoes em materia de alteracoes climaticas, desenvolvimento sustentavel e preservacao ambiental.
Geographic Information Systems and Science, 2019
Sustainability, 2020
The present study used the official Portuguese land use/land cover (LULC) maps (Carta de Uso e Oc... more The present study used the official Portuguese land use/land cover (LULC) maps (Carta de Uso e Ocupação do Solo, COS) from 1995, 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2018 to quantify, visualize, and predict the spatiotemporal LULC transitions in the Beja district, a rural region in the southeast of Portugal, which is experiencing marked landscape changes. Here, we computed the conventional transition matrices for in-depth statistical analysis of the LULC changes that have occurred from 1995 to 2018, providing supplementary statistics regarding the vulnerability of inter-class transitions by focusing on the dominant signals of change. We also investigated how the LULC is going to move in the future (2040) based on matrices of current states using the Discrete-Time Markov Chain (DTMC) model. The results revealed that, between 1995 and 2018, about 28% of the Beja district landscape changed. Particularly, croplands remain the predominant LULC class in more than half of the Beja district (in 2018 about...
Science of The Total Environment, 2020
• LUCC simulations in different scenarios in a peri-urban region were performed. • Spatialization... more • LUCC simulations in different scenarios in a peri-urban region were performed. • Spatialization of stakeholder LUCC views by building of a hybrid model (CA-GIS). • Land use planning could improve by engaging stakeholder participation.
Remote Sensing, 2019
The increasing availability and volume of remote sensing data, such as Landsat satellite images, ... more The increasing availability and volume of remote sensing data, such as Landsat satellite images, have allowed the multidimensional analysis of land use/land cover (LULC) changes. However, the performance of image classification is highly dependent on the quality and quantity of the training set and its temporal continuity, which may affect the accuracy of the classification and bias the analysis of the LULC changes. In this study, we intended to apply a long-term LULC analysis in a rural region based on a Landsat time series of 21 years (1995 to 2015). Here, we investigated the use of open LULC source data to provide training samples and the application of the K-means clustering technique to refine the broad range of spectral signatures for each LULC class. Experiments were conducted on a predominantly rural region characterized by a mixed agro-silvo-pastoral environment. The open source data of the official Portuguese LULC map (Carta de Uso e Ocupação do Solo, COS) from 1995, 2007,...
ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 2019
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open-access Volunteered geographic information (VGI) platform that... more OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open-access Volunteered geographic information (VGI) platform that has been widely used over the last decade as a source for Land Use Land Cover (LULC) mapping and visualization. However, it is known that the spatial coverage and accuracy of OSM data are not evenly distributed across all regions, with urban areas being likelier to have promising contributions (in both quantity and quality) than rural areas. The present study used OSM data history to generate LULC datasets with one-year timeframes as a way to support regional and rural multi-temporal LULC mapping. We evaluated the degree to which the different OSM datasets agreed with two existing reference datasets (CORINE Land Cover and the official Portuguese Land Cover Map). We also evaluated whether our OSM dataset was of sufficiently high quality (in terms of both completeness accuracy and thematic accuracy) to be used as a sampling data source for multi-temporal LULC maps. In addition, we used th...
Sustainability, 2018
Land-Use/Cover Change (LUCC) reacts to demographic pressures, economic trends, or improved transp... more Land-Use/Cover Change (LUCC) reacts to demographic pressures, economic trends, or improved transport networks. Urban growth with implications on LUCC patterns can be measured using a diversity of methods. Our study derives from Tobler's first law of geography: 'everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant ones'. We identified and measured the influence of neighbouring distance on urban growth from the edge of existing urban areas. For that, we have developed a method, built using the NetLogo software tool, which we called Land-use chAnge and Neighbouring Distance (LAND). We selected Torres Vedras (Portugal) to conduct our case study due to its increasing urban development in the past few years. The periods of analysis
Esta dissertação apresenta um método de simular a evolução do uso do solo para o ano 2021, numa r... more Esta dissertação apresenta um método de simular a evolução do uso do solo para o ano 2021, numa realidade periurbana (concelho de Almada), com recurso à integração de lógica difusa, modelos preditivos e autómatos celulares em ambiente SIG. A geosimulação das alterações no uso do solo recorrendo unicamente a autómatos celulares é desaconselhada, em virtude destes modelos, na sua forma mais convencional, apresentarem limitações na definição dos parâmetros espaciais e das regras de transição. Face a esta situação, são testados diversos modelos para aferir o grau de importância que cada variável de predição (probabilidade) tem nos constrangimentos geográficos. Estas variáveis (constrangimentos) são obtidas através do tratamento de informação em ambiente SIG, constituindo o modelo global, cuja criação é o objecto principal desta dissertação: o Urb-GeoSim.