Dynamics of Land Surface Temperature in Response to Land‐Use/Cover Change

In this study, we employed Geographical Information Systems and remote sensing techniques to investigate the impact of land‐use/cover change on land surface temperature (LST) in a rapidly urbanisation city, Kunming in south‐west China. Spatial patterns of LST and land use for 1992 and 2006 were derived from Landsat images to examine how LST responded to urban growth. Remote sensing indices were used to quantify land‐use types and employed as explanatory variables in LST modelling. The geographically weighted regression (GWR), a location dependent model, was performed to explore the influences of the spatially varied land‐use conditions on the LST patterns. Results revealed that rapid urbanisation in Kunming altered the local thermal environment, particularly in increasing the LST in the zone surrounding the urban core. Remote sensing indices demonstrated that water and vegetation played an important role in mitigating the urban heat island effect, while built‐up and barren land accounted for the increase in LST. The GWR improved the goodness‐of‐fit for LST modelling and provided insights into the spatially varied relationship between LST and land‐use conditions.     

Monitoring Land‐Cover and Land‐Use Change in a Rapidly Urbanising Coastal Environment: the Maroochy and Mooloolah Rivers Catchments,Southeast Queensland, 1988–1997

Effective catchment monitoring requires an integrative approach for selecting remotely sensed data to monitor land‐cover change. Catchment analyses and monitoring requirements in the Maroochy and Mooloolah River Catchments (south‐east Queensland) were addressed by linking government and community information needs to appropriate scales of remotely sensed data and processing routines. A hybrid image classification approach applied to Landsat Thematic Mapper image data acquired in 1988 and 1997 provided catchment scale land‐cover maps (with accuracies of 73% and 84%). Land‐cover change maps derived from post‐classification comparison provided information on the spatial distribution and type of land‐cover changes between 1988–1997. Land‐cover change was dominated by activities related to urban residential expansion (suburban and rural residential) and agricultural expansion (sugar cane farms). Significant spatial variations in the geometric registration accuracy of the image data sets and classification accuracies produced moderate to low change detection accuracies. However, the framework and community consultation used for selecting and processing data ensured the resource managers and community groups were fully aware of the limitations of the land‐cover change mapping process and that the output images were suitable for incorporating in resource monitoring activities.     

Applying a Systematic Review to Land Use Land Cover Change in Northern Upland Vietnam: The Missing Case of the Borderlands

As Vietnam embraces the market economy, and a number of state policies promote reforestation and rural market integration, land use and land cover (LULC) changes are occurring in the country's northern uplands in increasingly complex and fragmented ways. Yet understandings of the degree and consequences of LULC changes in this diverse agro‐ecological region are incomplete. We conduct a systematic literature review of research reported in academic articles tracing and analysing LULC change in Vietnam's northern regions. We find that these studies have tended to take place away from the most mountainous, northern borderlands. The studies nonetheless highlight a diversity of land use land cover changes caused by numerous causes, making the distinction of overall trends difficult. To complement and extend this body of research, we introduce recent LULC change research we have completed in the mountainous border districts of Lào Cai province, on the Sino‐Vietnamese border. The heterogeneity of causes of LULC change in both the review articles and our case study points to the importance of adapting land use policies to local agro‐ecological and socio‐economic conditions and ethnic diversity, taking into account state–farmer relations, household livelihood decision‐making, and policy implementation at the commune and district levels.     

Study of the Impact of Urban Development on Surface Temperature Using Remote Sensing in Ho Chi Minh City,Southern Vietnam

Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation have resulted in sharp land cover changes. Urban change not only impacts on land cover but also on urban climate. Land surface and atmospheric modifications due to urbanisation generally lead to a modified thermal climate that is warmer than the surrounding, non-urbanised areas. In this research remote sensing technology was used to evaluate urban growth patterns and its thermal characteristics through mapping impervious surfaces and evaluating thermal infrared images. The case study was carried out in the northern part of Ho Chi Minh City, which has experienced accelerated urban development since the late 1980s. Landsat and Aster images were used to calculate variations in urban impervious surfaces from 1989 to 2006. Thermal bands were processed to obtain radiant surface temperatures for investigating the urban heat island effect associated with increasing impervious surfaces, both spatially and temporally. Impacts of urban development on surface temperature were shown by investigating the surface urban heat island effect intensity. The results show that the built-up area in the northern part of Ho Chi Minh City expanded by 6.5 times between 1989 and 2006. Urban development has altered the magnitude and pattern of the surface urban heat island, with the highest land surface temperature cores found in the industrial (greater than 45^oC) and urban areas (within 36^oC and 40^oC). In suburban and rural areas, where agricultural land still remains with full vegetation cover, the land surface temperature is usually lower. Using remote sensing, the impervious surface was extracted with overall accuracy and a Kappa coefficient for all three years greater than 96%, and the retrieved land surface temperatures with variations from in-situ measurements of less than 2^oC. The results presented here indicate that remote sensing can help to spatially monitor urban development and land surface temperature changes over the whole area and over a long period of time.     

Erosion and Nutrient Loss on Sloping Land under Intense Cultivation in Southern Vietnam

To help improve the well‐being of the local people, a joint Vietnamese‐UK team set out to establish a way of estimating soil and nutrient losses under different land management scenarios, using field data extrapolated through remote sensing and GIS, to obtain catchment‐wide estimates of the impact of land cover change. Immigration from remote provinces to the Dong Phu District of Binh Phuóc Province, about 120 km north of Ho Chi Minh City, has led to disruption of soil surface stability on easily eroded clayey sandstones, creating rapid nutrient depletion that affects crop yields and siltation in the channel of the Rach Rat river downstream. The poor farmers of the areas see crop yields drop dramatically after two or three years of cultivation due to the fertility decline. Soil loss varies dramatically between wet season and dry season and with ground cover. Erosion bridge measurements showed a mean loss of 85.2 t ha^?1 y^?1 under cassava saplings with cashew nuts, 43.3 t ha^?1 y^?1 on uncultivated land and 41.7 t ha^?1 y^?1 under mature cassava. The rates of erosion were higher than those reported in many other parts of Vietnam, reflecting the high erodibility of the friable sandy soils on the steep side‐slopes of the Rach Rat catchment. However, although the actual measurements provide better soil loss data than estimates based on the parameters of soil loss equations, a large number of measurement sites is needed to provide adequate coverage of the crop and slope combinations in this dissected terrain for good prediction using GIS and remote sensing.     

Politics Within and Without — The Origins and Development of a Rangelands Landcare Group

The 1990s saw a resurgence of interest in land‐use reform in the arid and semi‐arid rangelands of Australia. Scientists and conservationists called for a reassessment of land use in areas now used for extensive grazing of cattle and sheep. Landcare groups formed by pastoralists were criticised for deflecting resources away from questions of land‐use reform. While Landcare groups in agricultural regions of Australia have been subject to considerable assessment, analysis of rangelands Landcare has tended to revolve around questions of land use to the neglect of analysis of the operation of the groups themselves. Based on a case study of a pastoral Landcare group in the rangelands, the research reported in this paper found that pastoral Landcare in the rangelands has comparable outcomes to Landcare elsewhere in terms of the creation of opportunities for improved communication and learning among landholders. In addition, this group has developed from an emphasis on single‐issue projects towards multi‐faceted projects focussed on social as well as ecological sustainability. The analysis also found that political considerations were significant in the forma‐tion of the group and remained important for some pastoralists at the time of fieldwork. Finally, rangelands Landcare in this case study has provided a vehicle for reformist pastoralists and their associates to work actively towards influencing their peers to acknowledge land management problems and to reflect on their management practices.     

基于机器学习和图像形态学的彩色近代地图数字化——以近代上海地区地表水体信息提取为例

利用科学测绘技术绘制的近代地图作为一类珍贵的历史地理资料,不同程度上反映着过去的地表覆盖情况,数字化则是复原地图所载地表覆盖信息的重要途径。以《华东·上海》地图为例,实现并验证一种基于机器学习和图像形态学的彩色近代地图数字化方法。结果表明,该方法能够充分挖掘地图中的颜色信息和形态结构信息,以半自动方式快速准确地将彩色近代地图中的地表水体信息提取出来。该方法对数字化一类彩色近代地图具有参考价值,有望为精准复原近代以来地表覆盖变迁,深入理解人地关系变化提供数据和方法基础。     

Prospects for the Rural‐Urban Fringe in Australia: Observations from a Brief History of the Landscapes around Sydney and Adelaide

Despite being a major site of recent population growth and, arguably, a key arena for sustainability concerns, the rural‐urban fringe has received relatively little attention in the literature concerning Australian cities and urban policy. To address this shortcoming the authors review post‐World War II efforts to plan the rural‐urban fringes of Sydney and Adelaide and find a number of issues for contemporary policy‐makers. First, the fringe is becoming increasingly complex due to multi‐faceted demographic change, a broadening economic base and demands for better environmental management, all within the context of an evolving understanding of sustainability. Second, water resource management, partly under the auspices of integrated natural resource management, is assuming a much higher priority than in early fringe planning endeavours, which emphasised urban containment, agricultural land protection and landscape conservation. Third, and partly as a consequence of this shift of priorities, there is also evidence of changes to the nature and focus of policy tools used in the fringe, with land management concerns now cutting across traditional land use planning. Finally, and fundamentally, these observations raise questions about how future governance of the fringe should be organised. Together these four themes pose an enthralling series of challenges for policy‐makers for which much more research and discussion are needed.     

Local Knowledge and Economic Realities Affecting Soil Erosion in the Rach Rat Catchment,Vietnam

Several parts of Binh Phuóc Province, southern Vietnam, suffer from degraded soils and vegetation as a result of both natural erosion of weak mud rocks and sandstones and intensive human activity, especially through land clearing for agriculture on unstable slopes, deforestation, and abandonment of poor farmland. The underlying cause of this land degradation has been the farming habits of migrants of varying ethnic groups who have settled in the area since 1980. The indigenous farming knowledge of these people and the role of that knowledge in soil erosion were examined by a series of household surveys. They enabled farming practices to be related to ground cover established from a 2002 Landsat 7 ETM (Enhanced Thematic Mapper), and erosion data from a series of erosion bridge measurements. A GIS (Geographical Information System) approach was piloted as a means of identifying areas vulnerable to erosion. This could then be combined with the understanding of farming practices to reveal the relative roles of farmer behaviour, crop cover, and slope and soil characteristics in the erosion process. Land use, local people's knowledge and economic realities are the main factors, as well as natural conditions, that drive this land degradation.     

Application of Landsat satellite imagery to monitor land‐cover changes at the Athabasca Oil Sands,Alberta, Canada

A major advantage of satellite remote sensing is that the imagery acquired provides a synoptic view of the landscape. Thus, repeat coverage by the satellite on a regular basis permits the detection of changes in land‐cover over time. This study demonstrates the application of remote sensing technology to the monitoring of mining activities at the Athabasca Oil Sands region of Alberta, Canada. First, we describe the techniques used to match a time sequence of Landsat imagery, both spatially and spectrally, to ensure that the spectral changes through time are due to land‐cover variations. A series of spectral trajectories were then extracted to assess changes in land‐cover through time. Secondly, a land‐cover classification was produced from the baseline 1984 imagery and, using historic and future mine extents, the classification was analyzed to determine the proportion of each land‐cover type affected through development. Results of the analysis indicate that since 1984 there has been a larger reduction in mixedwood dense and broadleaf vegetation classes than mixedwood sparse or dense conifer stands in the area. Based on the delineations of mine‐site activity, the area of woodland and wetland habitat subject to development has increased from approximately 2,520 hectare (ha) in 1984 to 32,930 ha in 2005.     

Integrating radar and laser-based remote sensing techniques for monitoring structural deformation of archaeological monuments

Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (GBInSAR) and Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) were purposely integrated to obtain 3D interferometric radar point clouds to facilitate the spatial interpretation of displacements affecting archaeological monuments. The paper describes the procedure to implement this integrated approach in the real-world situations of surveillance of archaeological and built heritage. Targeted tests were carried out on the case study of the Domus Tiberiana sited along the northern side of the Palatino Hill in the central archaeological area of Rome, Italy, and displacements of the monument were monitored over almost one year of acquisition. The GBInSAR – TLS integration provided updated information about the condition of the archaeological structures in relation to their history of instability mechanisms, and did not highlighted a general worsening for the stability of the entire monument. Point-wise and prompt detection of displacement anomalies and/or sudden changes in displacement trends proved the suitability of the method to support early warning procedures, also to evaluate effects on the masonry due to human activities.     

The Measurement by Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) of Disturbance Within the Nasca World Heritage Site

In this paper we report on our use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) as a means of monitoring the Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana World Heritage Site in Peru, where the colossal ground drawings, popularly known as the Nasca Lines, are found. Our research to date indicates that the environment in which the Nasca geoglyphs are found, and the nature of the geoglyphs themselves, are suited perfectly for investigation by SAR. SAR also provides a new and valuable tool for understanding the human activities and natural processes that have damaged the geoglyphs and which, unchecked, will continue to do so in the future. Further, SAR can be used to categorize geoglyphs according to structural differences and similarities in ways that have heretofore not been possible, thereby serving as a basis for a geoglyph catalogue.     

Emprise et déprise de l'agriculture sur le territoire de l'est de l'Ontario de 1826 à 2006: la dimension environnementale

Agricultural land‐cover changes in Eastern Ontario from 1826 to 2006: environmental effects. Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG) counties, Eastern Ontario, are among the first areas in Ontario to welcome settlers. In 1784, they established themselves in a forested land where wetlands are very important. Today, a large part of the wetlands has disappeared, but the landscape is wooded, masking the radical changes that took place over the course of the last two centuries. Analysis of census data from 1826 to 2006 allows the reconstruction of the history of land‐cover changes. It reveals the nature and rates of change for which a first analysis is presented. Four periods are identified. First, agriculture conquers the land and establishes its dominance. A plateau is reached in 1891 as agriculture maintains its supremacy until 1941. Then, as fast as agriculture invaded land, it fades away until 1986 when agricultural land‐cover stops shrinking. The opening of forest for cultivation was relatively slow in SDG because of biophysical and socio‐economical conditions associated with an absence of growth of agricultural population. Deforestation and wetland drainage led to a degradation of agricultural life but resulted in consideration of the environment in agriculture. Today, wooded and agricultural land covers are more balanced and environmental effects less acute.     

Land use change in Northeast China in the twentieth century: a note on sources,methods and patterns

Studies of historical change in cultivated land use in Northeast China have become important in the discussion of food supply safety and the reconstruction of land use/cover changes in China. This paper subjects a number of sources relating to land use change in the three provinces of Northeast China to comparative analysis. The data examined include Russian survey data (1914), data from local and regional Chinese governments during the Republic of China (1931), data from the Japanese Society of Manchuria Railway (SMR) for 1940 and various sets of contemporary Chinese data for the second half of the 20th century. A unified method of reconstructing the data and estimating the rate of cultivated land use change in Northeast China during the 20th century is developed here. A relational model is proposed for this purpose. It establishes a general framework for relating the various sets of data generated in different time periods and indicates ways in which the data have to be calibrated to ensure their comparability. The calibration of the data involves correlation and regression analysis. The results of the comparative analysis show that the area of and rate of change in cultivated land use in Northeast China increased until the last decade of the twentieth century. Increase rates were particularly high between 1914–1931 and 1950–1960.     

From Simplicity to Complexity: The Changing Geography of Land Vulnerability to Degradation in Italy

Although territorial disparities in land quality are commonly observed in Mediterranean‐type ecosystems, how different geographical gradients impact the changing distribution of land vulnerable to degradation over time and space is poorly investigated in southern Europe. The present study assesses the spatial distribution of vulnerable land according to a composite index that describes the degree of land vulnerability to degradation in Italy along eight gradients during two time periods (1960–1990 and 1990–2010), representing distinct socio‐economic and environmental conditions. While the degree of land vulnerability increased at similar paces from 1960 to 1990 and from 1990 to 2010, the spatial distribution of vulnerable land changed considerably. From 1960 to 1990, the area of vulnerable lands increased in coastal areas, lowlands, and areas with moderately high population density, mainly owing to the increased climate aridity. By contrast, peri‐urban areas experienced, especially in northern Italy, the highest vulnerability from 1990 to 2010 owing to increased human pressure on land generating, e.g. land‐use changes. Results indicate that the importance of the gradients shaping the distribution of vulnerable land in Italy is reflected in the (changing) role of climate, vegetation cover, and human pressure as factors predisposing land to degradation. Finally, policy implications of the changing geography of vulnerable land in the Mediterranean region are discussed.     

Facilitating native land reacquisition in the rural USA through collaborative research and Geographic Information Systems

A large proportion of American Indian reservation lands are owned by non‐Indian entities. A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a powerful tool for visualising land tenure changes, and public participation GIS (PPGIS) is one approach for using spatial technologies to facilitate the identification and reacquisition of reservation lands by tribes. While some tribes have successfully harnessed GIS for land management and for systematically identifying lands for reacquisition, others struggle to implement land management systems such as GIS for these purposes. This paper situates PPGIS in relation to other forms of participatory action research and outlines our use of a PPGIS framework to engage undergraduate geography students in the mapping of land tenure status on ten rural Minnesota Indian reservations as part of a collaborative partnership with the Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF). A PPGIS framework allowed us to collaboratively define research goals in response to tribal community needs and provided structure for student work with partner reservations to develop and implement tailored mapping and analysis techniques. Two sets of findings are significant. First, the assembly of a standardised set of maps for American Indian reservations in Minnesota provides a tremendous visual and analytical resource for ILTF and individual tribes to pursue land reacquisition within reservation boundaries. Second, from a PPGIS perspective, we found that working with a coordinating or ‘bridging’ organisation provided key benefits by enabling education of both the student–faculty partners and the individual tribes. The PPGIS model empowered both partners by allowing tribes to harness a powerful technology to assist in visualising land‐based assets and allowing students to contribute to native land reacquisition efforts through application of their GIS skills. This mapping helps facilitate economic and cultural viability in tribal communities by providing an important visual catalogue of existing land‐based assets, in support of future land acquisition and economic development planning.     

Integrating Landsat and Land Systems for Cover Maps in Southern Inland Queensland

Digital analysis of Landsat data is applied to up-dating land cover maps for the Goondiwindi district of southern, inland Queensland. The imagery was paired with climax cover maps obtained from land systems reports with analysis conducted separately for each of three climax cover types (open forest, woodland and open woodland). Computer classification using this approach produced readily interpreted and reliable results. This work demonstrates that Landsat can be used in conjunction with existing, land systems derived maps to produce data that combine the advantages of two approaches to environmental survey, the former being based on current land cover/land use and the latter on the original environment and its land use potential.     

江苏省土地城镇化的空间分异及其主导因素探测

实现新型城镇化战略的重要前提是科学认识土地城镇化的特征及机制,其难点在于识别影响土地城镇化的主导因素以进行针对性调控。基于空间自相关分析、地理探测器等方法,识别江苏省土地城镇化水平的空间分异特征及其主导因素。结果显示：①江苏省的土地城镇化水平为38.90%,呈现出南高北低的梯度分异格局。②土地城镇化水平的热点区、次热点区集中分布在苏南以及苏中的南通市区、泰州市区及其周围县（市）,次冷点区包围着冷点区主要分布苏北的县（市）及苏中的宝应县。③人口集聚类、经济发展类、社会投资类的因素对土地城镇化空间分异影响最为显著;基础设施类、开放水平类的部分因素的对土地城镇化空间分异有一定的解释能力。