Over the last few decades, many researchers have produced landslide susceptibility maps using different techniques including the probability method (frequency ratio), the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), bivariate, multivariate, logistics regression, fuzzy logic and artificial neural network In addition, a number of parameters such as lithology, slope, aspect, land cover, elevation, distance to stream, drainage density, distance to lineament, seismicity, and distance to road are recommended to analyze the mechanism of landslides.

Lithology is an important characteristic of the terrestrial surface, whose properties influence chemical weathering rates. Specifically non-silicate minerals may contribute significantly to the weathering derived fluxes from silicate-dominated lithological classes. The Japanese Archipelago consists of predominantly silicate-dominated lithologies with a high proportion of volcanics.

The frequency and extent of human‐induced land‐cover changes is escalating worldwide. Recurrent turnover of land‐cover types will affect ecosystems over and above major, one‐time changes (eg deforestation). Here, we show how a deeper appreciation of the temporal dynamics of land‐cover change is needed to understand its effects on ecosystems.

Atmospheric correction of high spatial resolution (10–30 m pixel sizes) satellite imagery for use in large-area land-cover monitoring is difficult due to the lack of aerosol optical depth (AOD) estimates made coincident with image acquisition. We present a methodology to determine the upper and lower bounds of AOD estimates that allow the subsequent calculation of a biophysical variable of interest to a pre-determined precision. Knowledge of that range can be used to identify an appropriate method for estimating AOD.

Event based rainfall-runoff simulation is very important in water resources management. In this paper, an integrated watershed model considering important hydrological processes has been presented for the event based runoff simulation. Green–Ampt–Mein–Larson model has been used for the estimation of infiltration. For runoff estimation, kinematic wave equations are solved for a channel network using finite-element method. Remotely sensed data have been used for evaluating land use/land cover data.

Despite being recognized as a key baseline dataset for many applications, especially those relating to biogeochemical cycles, land cover products in their current form are limiting. Typically they lack the thematic detail necessary for driving the models that depend upon them. This study has demonstrated the ability to produce a highly detailed (both spatially and thematically) land cover/land use dataset over Russia – by combining existing datasets into a hybrid information system.

Numerous land-cover change detection techniques have been developed with varying opinions about their appropriateness and success. Decisions on the selection of the most suitable change detection method is often influenced by the study region landscape complexity and the type of data used for analysis. For different climatic areas, the method that suits best the seasonal land-cover change identification remains uncertain.

We developed a global, 30-m resolution dataset of percent tree cover by rescaling the 250-m MOderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Vegetation Continuous Fields (VCF) Tree Cover layer using circa- 2000 and 2005 Landsat images, incorporating the MODIS Cropland Layer to improve accuracy in agricultural areas. Resulting Landsat-based estimates maintained consistency with the MODIS VCF in both epochs (RMSE =8.6% in 2000 and 11.9% in 2005), but showed improved accuracy in agricultural areas and increased discrimination of small forest patches.

Sand dunes encroachment is a challenge that faces land development in North African countries. Movement of these dunes threatens cultivated lands, roads, and urban settlements. Geographic information system (GIS) provides a tool for cartographic modeling of risk of sand dunes encroachment. This study modeled the potential risk of sand dunes encroachment related to their terrain characteristics in the Western Desert of Egypt. The Food and Agricultural Organization's land cover map of Egypt derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper was used to locate the sand dunes bodies.

PURPOSE: The peri-urban region to the south east of Madrid contains a mixture of housing, manufacturing industry and farming, some of which disperse metals, in particular cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc, into the soil. We have mapped the concentrations of these elements and identified the major influences on their distributions. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We sampled the topsoil at 125 sites across 1,050� km² of peri-urban land to the south east of the city on two grids, one nested inside the other. At each site, we measured the current contents of the four trace elements in the soil.

This article examines the transition from shifting cultivation to rubber production for a study area in northern Laos PDR using an agent-based model of land-cover change. A primary objective of the model was to assess changes in household-level inequality with the transition from shifting cultivation to rubber adoption. A secondary objective was to develop explanations for the rate of rubber adoption in the study area.

Green spaces considered natural remnants in urban environments play a key role in promoting environmental quality and forming a sustainable city. Nowadays, development of urban spaces has taken a hasty growth. In the meanwhile, the natural green spaces are severely damaged. The current study aims at investigating the trend of changes in green space of Tabriz City, the second large industrial city in Iran, on the basis of landscape ecology principles. In order to prepare the land-cover maps, Landsat TM and IRS LISS-III of the years 1989 and 2006 were applied.