Spatial GIS Analysis of the Environmental Landscape Changes, Hungary (original) (raw)
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Actual Problems of the Conservation and Development of Biological Resources, 2015
The presentation demonstrates a technical case study of the image processing by ILWIS GIS. Study area is located in the southwestern, agricultural part of Hungary (Mecsek Hills foothill area). The landscapes of the Mecsek region represent a unique part of the Hungarian environment belonging to the Carpathian basin. However, changes in the land cover types were detected recently caused by various environmental reasons. Study aim was to compare changes in the land cover types and landscape dynamics. 3 Landsat TM images have a temporary gap of 14 years (1992-2006). The gap aimed to assess vegetation changes in the summer months (June). The study includes following methodological steps: 1) Data collection: 3 Landsat TM images; 2) Data import and conversion. 3) Data preprocessing: scenes of 1992, 1999 and 2006. 4) Making color composites from 3 Landsat TM spectral channels (multi-band layers). 5) Image segmentation and classification (clustering). 6) GIS mapping and spatial analysis. 7) Google Earth snapshot verification. 8) Results interpretation. Results analysis shown changes in the selected area detected by ILWIS GIS image classification.
Proceedings of XIIth International Conference 'Geoinformatics: Theoretical and Applied Aspects', 2013
The research aim is application of GIS and spatial analysis of satellite images for agricultural mapping. The study area is located in Mecsek Hills, Hungary. These landscapes represent unique part of Hungarian environment in the Carpathian Basin. Diverse landscape structure with complex biogeographic composition characterizes this region. However, this region is intensely used in agriculture, which causes high land heterogeneity. The research method consists in using ILWIS GIS and Landsat TM satellite imagery (1992, 1999 and 2006). The methodology includes clustering, spatial analysis, interpretation and classification. Clustering algorithm is based on the analysis of the similarity of the spectral signatures of pixels, and grouping pixels into thematic categories of classes of the land cover types in study area. This paper contributes to the development of the agricultural monitoring in region of central Europe. The distribution of the landscapes in the Mecsek Hills area was analyzed. Land cover types were interpreted by association of pixels on the image to different thematic classes: vegetation, categories of agricultural land and other areas (in total, 12 classes). The results consists in thematic land cover maps of the study area in 1992, 1999, 2006 showing landscape dynamics.
Impacts of Climate Change on Landscapes in Central Europe, Hungary
Current Problems of Ecology. Ecological Monitoring and Management of Nature Protection, 2012
The study area is located in Central Europe and focusing on Mecsek Hills, a low mountain range in the south western part of Hungary. The region of central Europe includes complex mis of elements from mediterranean and continental climate, since the area is located in transitional zone of sub-atlantic and sub-mediterranean climate types. Mecsek Hills is a unique region of the Hungarian environment. Its central European location specifies distribution of diverse landscape types, formed under conditions of transitional climatic settings, mixed from sub-atlantic to sub-mediterranean. The distribution of ecosystems in the region illustrate adaptation of soil properties to actual climate conditions. As determined by the present-day climatic and geomorphological settings, soils in the Mecsek region are rich in nutrients, and landscapes are characterized by various mixed soil types. Brown forest soils predominate on hilltops of Mecsek, while alluvial soils on floodplains [1]. According to the underlying soil types, the landscapes are characterized by mixed vegetation types. The most typical is Pannonian mixed forests of temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, common in Euro-Siberian region. There are also forests of Turkey and hornbeam oak in the catchment area of Mecsek region. The dominating vegetation coverage types on the slopes of Mecsek Hills include beech forests, ravine forests and oaks. Some regions of the Mecsek Hills include unique biogeographic areas with endemic species, not founded elsewhere in Carpathian Basin. The overall climate change, especially the global temperature increase, controls balance of heat and water budget on the Hungarian landscapes, and has considerable impact on the agricultural landscapes. In the past decades there were changes in climate, detected in the Carpathian Basin region, which illustrate general fluctuations in the climatic settings in Hungary and change of overall average air temperatures [2]. Recently, considerable increase in the occurrence of hazards is detected in Carpathian Basin: rainfalls, drought and heat periods in summer. Climate change makes impact on local soil properties, which affects ecosystem structure. Various ecological factors have impact on ecosystems with different impact factor, according to vulnerability and sensitivity: the main impact have temperatures and precipitation, affecting soil water regime, evaporation and water runoff. The overall impact of various factors make a joint effect on ecosystems structure. Recent climate changes mostly influence regional hydrological regime, e.g. increased temperature warming, regime and intensity of precipitation [3, 4]. Hydrology strongly affect soil properties (texture, moisture), nutrient regime (organic matter content) and fertility. The main environmental problems nowadays in Hungary are aridification and desertification. It is reflected in increased annual temperatures and decreased precipitation [5]. A new hydrological and meteorological balance triggers evolution of landscapes and cause landscape dynamics [6]. Reduced availability of water affects ecosystems. Vegetation coverage is the most vulnerable and least resisting elements of landscapes, with the most rapid response to external changes, like water shortage. Hence, since 1961, the net primary production dropped from 67% to 49% [7]. Recently in the Carpathian Basin there is considerable increase in extreme hazardous events: droughts, water shortage and floods. Driving factor is changes in precipitation distribution in the past decades. The local flood hazard risk can be assessed as moderate to high [8]. Thus, lowlands are potentially exposed to floods, since the majority of river discharge is collected by the runoff from the hills [9], which is intensified by the hazards, and lead to floods. Cumulative effects of environmental, climate and anthropogenic factors (intensive agricultural activities) affect Hungarian landscapes. Combination of the satellite images with GIS techniques is a key method for land patterns identification and classification of ecosystems. Research methodology is based on the GIS spatial analysis tools and classification of Landsat TM image, which was used for visualizing landscapes. An ILWIS GIS was applied to perform spatial analysis and mapping. The research algorithm is clustering, which classifies pixels with similar value of Digital Numbers (DNs) to thematic classes. As a result, spatial analysis on distribution of land cover patterns was performed. Data processing include image pre-processing, enhancement, classification, spatial analysis and interpretation. A land cover map was created by classifying study area into land categories. The core method used in the current work for the interpretation of imagery is clustering algorithm. This method is based on the remote sensing general principle that each unique pixel on a multichannel image has spectral signature defined by the reflectance of its DN in each spectral band. The DNs of pixels create unique signatures for various objects, distinguishable from other objects. Multispectral cluster classification was applied for the Landsat TM image, by extracting information about values of the pixels DNs, analyzing their spectral signatures. During classification, digital cells are measured according to the similarity of their * Издается в авторской редакции.
Analyses of Landscape Geographic Impacts of Potential Climate Change in Hungary
2012
Change of climate can be a remarkable turning point in the 21 st century history of mankind. An important task of landscape geographic research is forecasting environmental, nature protection, land use demands and helping mitigation of disadvantageous processes from the aspect of society. ALADIN and REMO numeric climate models predict strong warming and lack of summer precipitation for the area of Hungary for the period between 2021 and 2100. There is a predicted growth in frequency of extreme weather events (heat waves, droughts hailstorms). Changes have been forecasted using data presented in table 1. For analyses of complex landscape geographic impacts of climate change the area of Hungary have been divided into 18 mesoregions with 5.000-10.000 km 2 area each (figure 1). The main aspect of choosing the regions was that they should have homogeneous physical, geographic and land use endowments and, for this reason, they should react to climate change the same way. Relationships bet...
In this research, land cover change in the Elmacik Mountain and its surroundings is investigated. The study area, the Elmacik Mountain, is located in the northwestern part of Turkey between the coordinates of 40°32-40°45 N and 30°35-31°24 E. This area covered with humid forests is located in the Euxine province of Euro-Siberian phytogeographical region. Fagus orientalis communities constitute climax plant community of these forests. Negative effects of population growth, urbanization and industrialization on natural environment can be observed in this research area surrounded by the cities of Sakarya and Duzce. Moreover, we observed that the forest was destroyed and converted into agricultural lands by the rural population of the area. The aim of this study is to analyze natural land cover changes as a result of the permanent effects of human activities in the area, and detect the current status of this area. For this purpose, Landsat TM satellite images which have different spatial resolution are used as data between the periods of 1987 – 2010. These images are analyzed by utilizing data image processing techniques in ERDAS Imagine© 10.0 and ArcGIS© 10.0 software. Land cover change nomenclature is classified according to the CORINE (Coordinationt of Information on the Environment). Furthermore, image analysis results are confirmed by the field research. As a result, it is concluded that significant changes have occurred on the natural land cover between the years 1987-2010 in the Elmacik Mountain and its surrounding area.
Research Proposal, 2011
Research plan for the application at TÜBİTAK Scholarship. Host organization: Ege University, Faculty of Geography, Izmir, Turkey. Study area: Izmir, Turkey. The study region of Izmir and its surroundings is known for the unique and rich physical geography and environmental settings. The physical geography of the region combines diverse landforms, various geomorphological and natural landscapes, species and vegetation richness. research aims: Environmental mapping of mountainous landscapes (western Anatolia); Spatial analysis of land cover types in western Anatolian province. The research is technically based on Quantum GIS and ILWIS software using remote sensing data (Landsat TM) for image processing and classification. The research is proposed for two months.
The analysis of agricultural landscape change using GIS techniques. Case study: Podoleni, Romania
Lucrări Științifice Seria Agronomie, 54 (1), 2011
The increasingly tensions rising between society's need for resources and space on the one hand, and the capacity of the land to support these needs on the other hand lead to unprecedented changes in landscape configuration, and hence, to the environment. This paper analyzes changes in the agricultural landscape of Podoleni, Neamt County, Romania, in spatio -temporal terms, as a result of the modernization of the ground processing techniques, types of crops, and the degree of fragmentation of land parcels. The study was conducted using Geographical Information Systems techniques, the main materials used in the analysis are topographic maps from different representative periods, and the 2006 orthophotomaps. Application of GIS techniques at a detailed scale (1:5000) allows an efficient management of land use for local authorities. The results highlight the optimal management of agricultural land so as to maintain a balance between their basic function (food needs) and preservation of nature (landscape, environment).
2020
The transformation of the landscapes due to the anthropogenic activities is increasing worldwide. These changes are also manifested in the change of soil-forming processes. The land cover (LC) changes evaluated according to their influence on anthropogenic features of soils allows to distinguish between LC changes resulting increased and decreased human impact (HI). In our study, we assess the changes of HI on landscapes and its spatial distribution across Hungary. The changes were evaluated by using LC data of four periods between 1990 and 2018 reclassified based on the related anthropogenic soil features. To identify the hotspots of the changes 1×1 grids were applied in which the direction (increasing, neutral or decreasing HI) and frequency (number of landscape patches with LC changes) of changes were evaluated. In our research, the hotspots were identified over the studied four periods. We point out that the spatial distribution of hotspots is very different. The hotspots of the...
Quantifying land cover changes in a meditteranean environment using Landsat
The rapid advent in geoinformation technologies, such as Earth Observation (EO) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), has made it possible to observe and monitor the Earth's environment on variable geographical scales and analyze those changes in both time and space. This study explores the synergistic use of Landsat EO imagery and Support Vector Machines (SVMs) in obtaining Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) mapping and quantifying its spatio-temporal changes for the municipality of Mandra-Idyllia, Attica Region, Greece. The study area is representative of typical Mediterranean landscape in terms of physical structure and coverage of species composition. Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) images from 1993, 2001 and 2010 were acquired, pre-processed and classified using the SVMs classifier. A total of nine basic classes were established. Eight spectral band ratios were created in order to incorporate them in the initial variables of the image. For validating the classification, in-situ data were collected for each LULC type during several field surveys that were conducted in the area. The overall classification accuracy for 1993, 2001 and 2010 Landsat images was reported as 89.85%, 91.01% and 90.24%, respectively, and with a statistical factor (K) of 0.96, 0.89 and 0.99, respectively. The classification results showed that the total extent of forests within the studied period represents the predominant LULC, despite the intense human presence and its impacts. A marginal change happened in the forest cover from 1993 to 2010, although mixed forest decreased significantly during the studied period. This information is very important for future management of the natural resources in the studied area and for understanding the pressures of the anthropogenic activities on the natural environment. All in all, the present study demonstrated the considerable promise towards the support of geoinformation technologies in sustainable environmental development and prudent resource management.