Scientific Applications of GIS. Jesse Nestler, Jessica Mullins, Nick Hulse, Carl Vitale, Italo Saraiva Goncalves

Transcription

1 Scientific Applications of GIS Jesse Nestler, Jessica Mullins, Nick Hulse, Carl Vitale, Italo Saraiva Goncalves

2 1. GIS and Landscape Conservation 2. Questions about Aspinall 3. Land Use and Land Cover 4. Questions about Bibby & Shepherd

3 1. GIS and Landscape Conservation 2. Questions about Aspinall 3. Land Use and Land Cover 4. Questions about Bibby & Shepherd

4 Landscape Conservation The conservation of resources within the context of human environment interactions Humans matter Stakeholder integration multiple straws in a single pool Overlap between scientific disciplines Scale dependence calls for a holistic approach

5 Guiding Principles with GIS Biodiversity and Sustainability Maximize biodiversity Maintain ecological structure (thru area designation) Spatial and taxonomic data Emphasis on landscape Morphology, ecology, chronology, regionalization, classification Ecological understanding enhances management efforts

6 Geographic Data and Landscapes Spatial Analysis Requires a degree of spatial logic Provides a framework for objective landscape classifications Explore relationships across large extents Provides the ability to predict impacts of environmental stressors Limitations Maps make things look discrete Population boundaries

7 Ecological Analysis Central focus of Landscape Ecology is scale, pattern, and heterogeneity GIS is the perfect tool, right? Temporal variation across a landscape needs work GIS must be developed, maintained, and tailored to the ecological question being evaluated. Defining context and mechanisms Ex: Dust on Snow events

8 Beyond Cold Hard Data Qualitative supplementation can make spatial analysis even better! Scenic appraisal/geometry and individual perception GIS has the capacity to interpret behavioral preferences Provides the platform to quantify subjective experiences of a landscape Geographic principles and landscape-level conservation are extensively linked, and GIS acts as the bridge to understanding!

9 1. GIS and Landscape Conservation 2. Questions about Aspinall 3. Land Use and Land Cover 4. Questions about Bibby & Shepherd

10 QUESTION Please explain how spatial analysis is literally used in landscape conservation. I didn t understand how it related to the practice. ANSWER Observing the spatiality of ecological processes leads to understanding of the processes relationships Allows for comparison at multiple geographical scales Understanding spatial patterns, or ecological neighborhoods will lead to more proper management practices

11 QUESTION How can we better improve the applications for GIS in order to satisfy the needs of ecosystems and environment? How can said applications help map-readers and the general public make greater changes to benefit our already critical-state planet? ANSWER Increase data sources and quality + Intuitively present collected data = Pressure for improved management practices

12 QUESTION How are viewsheds and individual perceptions of landscapes used as a component of landscape conservation in various fields or in institutions (i.e. National Parks)? Is there any evidence of the described policies being used for this? ANSWER GIS Specialists Trails in the perfect spot Scenic roads through National Parks with minimal disturbance

13 QUESTION In what ways has GIS contributed to a more holistic approach to land conservation? ANSWER Instead of perceiving the landscape as several independent patches, managers must deal with the entire landscape holistically and begin to anticipate how activities in one area might affect the condition of surrounding areas. - Baskent, E., & Keles, S. (2005). Spatial forest planning: A review. Ecological Modelling, 188,

14 QUESTION ANSWER With finer resolution satellites, will remote sensing and cartography begin to greatly expand in landscape conservation? Already plays significant role, will certainly increase Remote sensing and air photography currently used to understand spatiality

15 1. GIS and Landscape Conservation 2. Questions about Aspinall 3. Land Use and Land Cover 4. Questions about Bibby & Shepherd

16 Introduction The representation and analysis of landcover/landuse has been a major area for GIS applications as long as the technology has been around Part of the collective will formation which is attempting to shape and form the natural and built environments Land use information plays two distinct roles: Aiding the development of policy rules, and forming the basis on which policy is applied in individual cases. GIS can easily support both roles Britain's largest issue is development control, and they have employed many land use planners to use GIS to support them Disjunction: amount of urban land use change is small compared to the size of the territory the data isn t accurate enough to produce and accurate image of the land use, and change in use This reading focuses mostly on the UK and land use planning.

17 Meaning and Spatial Scale The issues of combining land use data with GIS are determining: the relationship between the definition of a land use, the definition of the parcels into which land is divided, and the issues of acquiring empirical data of what occupies a particular part of Earth s surface Land use is defined as the social purpose of land, where land cover is everything non artificial or constructed on the land. Land use studies can be characterized by their scale which describes the spatial extent of the objects of interest, and the conception of social purpose employed. Another issue in GIS is how can data on land use from the parcel scale be used to realise the same concept on the larger scales. Parcel > Area/sector > Settlement/region

18 Meaning and Spatial Scale (cont.) Data collection is also an important part of any project involving GIS Field surverys, remote sensing, and other forms of data collection have proved to be expensive and no very helpful in extracting land cover data Huge amounts of data collected can represent only a very small portion of the earths surface, and when talking about land use the subject area is very large It has become hard to extract data using these traditional methods, and newer forms of data collection have and must be found.

19 Land Cover Data via Mechanical Perception It is not clear if remote sensing data are capable of revealing the intricacies of the Earth s surface, it is also not always true that inferences can be made about land use from knowing the structure of the land Remote sensing data is useful in certain practical situations, like using infra-red radiation reflectance to map developed areas versus rural areas. But in most situations these data are not enough to build a detailed land use map Normally using GIS software and combining this quantitative data with aerial survey photos, satellite data analysis, and field research to build a detailed map. While producing The Landcover of Scotland 1988 they took remote sensing data and combined with survey and aerial photograph data from the UK Department of the Environment to fill any gaps in their data.

20 Land Use Data & Spatial Representation Although ecological interests motivate a concern for land cover as part of an integrated physical system, Britain s regulatory planning effort is primarily concerned with land use. The prime sources of data are: - Spatial and other representations, whether these be digital definitions of urban areas - Policy areas defined on local plans - Simply lists of retailers and other commercial organizations

21 Land Use Data & Spatial Representation (cont.) In creating such representations GIS plays a key role. However, the use of GIS to generate land use information for policy highlights the incommensurability of different land use descriptions and demands their resolution. Introducing of systems such as: the General Information System for Planning (Department of the Environment 1972) That prompted the development of a National Land Use Classification and generated debate about definitions of land use and activity.

22 Land Use Data & Spatial Representation (cont.) The Department of the Environment report noted, for example, the... lack of general consensus among those consulted on basic questions about the concept of a standard classification. Moreover, differences in meaning imply differences in geometry and vice versa, a fact which becomes increasingly important as more general social purposes are defined in land use studies.

23 The Problem with Land Parcels The discussion to this point implies that land use studies which use GIS must either produce standardized definitions or develop methods of reconciling meanings. Land use analysts have tended to give priority to the division of space and devote considerable effort to defining standardised land parcels. The requirement for standardised land parcels in such work has resulted in the definition of a British Standard Basic Land and Property Unit or BLPU

24 Standardization Standardization of land parcels could proceed on a number of bases. That parcels may be defined by reference to land ownership or an area subject to a tax as well as to a unit of use. As different substantive modes of parcel definition generate different parcels, the drive towards standardization focuses increasingly on a particular representation of reality, namely the large scale map. Within such a framework, the land use activities recognized depend on the prior identification of curtilages and these in turn depend, in part, on cartographic representation.

25 Standardization (cont.) The cartographic imperative underlies the requirement of BS 7666 that if BLPUs were all identified at one time they would exhaust the land surface without gaps or overlaps. Where the physical structure of space does not dictate a unique set of land parcels, cartographic Gestalt takes over.

26 Land Use Analysis: Broader Purposes, Broader Extents The issues discussed before lie at the interface between sitebased (local) and strategic studies. The interests of strategic policy makers tend to focus on: - Broader definitions of social purpose - Land use - Wider areal extents Debates about: - the amount of vacant land in cities - the rate at which land is being converted from urban to rural uses The key concern of planning policy is with attempting to manipulate urban growth to generate sustainable patterns of development

27 Land Use Analysis: Broader Purposes, Broader Extents (cont.) The use of GIS to provide information to inform planning policy at this level involves an appeal to general ideas, the estimation of various aggregates, and the construction of broader geographical areas.

28 Constructing Policy Areas As stated before, planning policy requires creation of broader geographical areas by: - Digitizing lines to encircle target areas - Defining border areas by some arbitrary order. - Using GIS to finally define borders on a more specific basis Use of datasets of organizations within GIS can increase functionality for a social purpose as well as address issues in land use policy. (ie. planning for rural development) Issues arise when trying to analyze best land use when private sector interests contradict individual interests.

29 Projecting Urban Growth and Change in England GIS applications have the power to weight heavily on regional politics. Research on demographics and urbanization has produced graphics and projections to aid in policy making. GIS and several datasets were used to represent growth in England on both a socioeconomic and administrative base However, different interpretations of the data have their own biases.

30 Synthesizing Urban Areas Urban areas have traditionally been created by utilizing land data in a GIS framework. If the data is available this method can produce detailed products of land, but it may lack social meaning. Using postal address points and residential delivery locations, new lines of land use can be drawn in rural areas while maintaining a social context. This technique can be used to estimate urban areas where traditional data is unavailable.

31 Conclusion of article If GIS is used as a tool for construction, then data that might seem irrelevant, such as address lists, can be used to create a construct that is relevant to land use policy. GIS in land use has moved from a generic map making tool to one that can add a social purpose to a broad spatial scale. Therefore, GIS should be used as a constructive tool for defining areas with social and economic meaning and not just limited to drawing of land parcels. However, issues can arise

32 1. GIS and Landscape Conservation 2. Questions about Aspinall 3. Land Use and Land Cover 4. Questions about Bibby & Shepherd

33 QUESTION How can remote sensing gain accuracy when it comes to surveying the landscape? ANSWER Remote sensing on its own probably cannot gather enough information to accurately portray an entire landscape. That is why it is key to compliment the data with information gathered from other sources to paint a complete picture

34 QUESTION ANSWER The topic is still a bit grey on land use/cover, but I was wondering about places like Westwood Park, Detroit. Much of its residential and commercial areas are no longer occupied. If something is supposed to have function but no longer does, then is it still land use? Yes, anything occupying the surface is considered use because the land cannot at that time be utilized for anything different, even if it is not active. This would be interesting to see if you could differentiate land like this in GIS.

35 Thank you! Questions?