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Using landscape archaeology methods, field survey, remote sensing, and the analysis of historical aerial photographs, a distinct landscape has been documented in the town of Obrovac, Zadar County, Croatia. This landscape consists of material remains of various military structures from World War II, constituting the defence and occupation system of the town of Obrovac by the armed Italian. These material remains of military structures represent a highly significant material presence in the landscape. The research results presented in this study represent the types of fortifications used by the Italian army during World War II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing availability of unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS, also referred to as drones) has led to their use in taking vertical aerial photographs at relatively small spatial scales. These photographs can be used to measure the distances between objects appearing in the photographs. However, relief displacement can cause an object above or below ground level to appear at a point in a vertical aerial photograph that is not directly in-line with the object's actual location, causing a measurement error. A UAS was used in this study as a photographed airborne object because its location and altitude could be controlled. We were interested in predicting the horizontal distance of the UAS's appearance from the centre of a vertical aerial photograph. Predictions of the location of the photographed UAS's appearance in vertical aerial photographs over both level and sloped surfaces matched measured appearance distances within 0.06–0.48 m. This study shows that the relief displacement formulas typically used to compute the height of a vertical structure appearing in a vertical aerial photograph can additionally be used to compute the actual location of an airborne object (e.g., a flying UAS, bird, bat) if the object's altitude is known or can be estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses archival resources to investigate the material remains of tank warfare at Bullecourt. During the Battle of Arras, tanks were used to assist the British 1917 Spring Offensive. The first assault at Bullecourt was a complete disaster and in addition to the high infantry casualties, the majority of the tanks employed were destroyed on the battlefield. The action of the tanks, their routes and final positions in the landscape has often been neglected because accurate sources are limited. This article incorporates tankography viz. combining unit war diaries, contemporary historical aerial and ground photographs, and soldier's testimonies to determine the spatial distribution and possible sites for locating material remains of the derelict tanks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elizabeth Moore, an esteemed professor in the Department of the History of Art and Archaeology at SOAS University of London, has sadly passed away. She was widely recognized for her expertise in Southeast Asian art and archaeology and had been a valued member of the editorial board of Indonesia and the Malay World for over three decades. Moore's research primarily focused on Southeast Asia, with a particular emphasis on Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia. Her extensive knowledge encompassed both mainland and maritime regions of the area. Through her publications and teaching, Moore made significant contributions to the field, and she generously donated around 150 objects to SOAS, which are now part of the Teaching and Handling Collection. The text serves as an obituary for Elizabeth Howard Moore, a highly respected scholar and educator in the field of Southeast Asian art and archaeology. The author shares their personal experience as a student in Moore's course and commends her dedication to active engagement and open dialogue. Moore's impact on the study and teaching of Southeast Asia is emphasized, as well as her comprehensive approach to understanding the region's heritage and culture. The author expresses their sorrow at her passing and acknowledges the support and contributions of Moore's family, friends, colleagues, and students in writing the obituary. [Extracted from the article]

Only at Cape Surprise, central Transantarctic Mountains, is there exposed stratigraphic evidence for major offset along the range front, which marks a major boundary in Antarctica. Several faults parallel to the range front have been identified in the Devonian to Triassic Gondwana strata in the hinterland. Analysis of the stratigraphy based on field observations and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) aerial photographs, in conjunction with USGS topographic sheets and satellite-derived elevation measurements, suggests an array of faults with varying orientations and displacements. Fault offsets range up to an estimated 850 metres. No additional range-parallel faults have been identified and no clear pattern of faulting is evident in the hinterland of the frontal escarpment. Faulting may date from the time of slow uplift during the Cretaceous as well as the more rapid Cenozoic uplift of the range. Only a few faults in the hinterland can be allied with the fontal fault system. Cenozoic uplift and associated denudation was accompanied by glaciation of Antarctica, which is documented by Sirius Group strata. These deposits, which pre-date today's polar landscape, are older than mid Miocene, and in part may date from the earliest stages of warm-based glaciation in the early Oligocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a 1:15,000 geomorphological map of the Maladeta massif in the Central Pyrenees. Our methodology includes fieldwork, the analysis of aerial photographs from 1956 to 2015, and the use of drone flights from 2020 to 2023. The study area consists mainly of granodiorite but also has outcrops of limestone, shales, and quartzites at lower elevations. The landscape of the Maladeta massif is primarily shaped by glacial and periglacial processes, with fluvial, karstic, and hillslope dynamics manifesting in the lower regions. The assessment of moraine thickness has facilitated the determination of maximum glacier thickness during the Little Ice Age (LIA) and has shown that there is no correlation between ice thickness and glacier extent. After the LIA, the massif experienced a continuous glacier retreat. Currently, only 21.4% of the glacier area observed in 1956 remains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 2012, aerial photographs of the Vaal River, South Africa, showed differences in water colour on either side of the Lethabo Weir. Water upstream of the weir was muddy brown, while water downstream was olive-green. Physical and chemical analyses indicated water quality differences upstream and downstream from the weir; furthermore, microscopic examination of water samples revealed that the colour difference were the result of different types of phytoplankton blooms. The upstream section was dominated by cryptophytes and green algae, while the downstream section experienced a cyanobacterial bloom dominated by Microcystis aeruginosa. The same phenomenon was again observed regularly between 2012 and 2022, and routine monitoring of the phytoplankton assemblage likewise indicated differences in the phytoplankton community composition upstream and downstream of the weir. The upstream section was characterised by various eukaryotic algae; in contrast, frequent and intensive cyanobacteria blooms occurred in the downstream section. Multivariate analyses showed a correlation between the different phytoplankton assemblages and physico-chemical properties of the river water. Many freshwater cyanobacteria and algae taxa are problematic: Microcystis and Dolichospermum produce potent cyanotoxins; flagellated green algae, cryptomonads and dinoflagellates produce substances that cause bad tastes and odours, plus the cells can cause floc disruption during drinking water treatment processes; and certain filamentous green algae and diatoms are known for clogging filters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forces that drove the birth of Kwun Tong new town in Hong Kong are not comprehensively understood. Previous historical narratives have magnified the impact of industrialization or laissez-faire liberalism. This article looks at the formation of Kwun Tong new town from the perspective of migration and employment, and reveals that employment acted as a catalyst to resettlement. The production of space theory and investigation of British colonial archival documents, proposal maps, and aerial photographs reveal that new town planning unfolded relative to spatial coding in Ngau Tau Kok and urban practice in Shek Kip Mei, showing historical continuity. The social and political dynamics of immigrants and how they interactively influenced the built-environment and resettlement are highlighted in this article. Under morphological analysis, critical changes in urban form provide other angles from which to understand how the new town was shaped. In addition, morphological analysis provides a spatial dialectics, filling the research gap of town planning in Hong Kong in the 1950s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses three different representations (aerial photograph, map, photograph) to shed light on how environmental imaginaries of the desert systematically created a "wasteland" that enabled an architecture of exploitation and extraction in which the histories, characteristics, and narratives of Saudi Arabia were replaced. Organized in chronological order, the images were produced in connection with US geologist Karl Saben Twitchell's desire to extract resources from Saudi Arabia through his role as the Saudi King's confidant and US expert. Here, representation and extraction allowed Twitchell and his company, Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate, to frame the landscape as a "regime of emptiness" that enabled the systematic transformation of the Saudi desert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notes 1 See C. Dauphin, 2021.'On the Mediaeval and Ottoman Syro-Jordanian Hajj Roads to Mecca: The Pilgrim camps in their Landscapes', PEQ Grant reports, I PEQ i 153.2, 156-59. 2 For instance, J 11/1 with a diameter of 420 m and J 11/2 with a diameter of 215 m in Azraq. "Sacred Landscapes": The Umayyad Syro-Jordanian Hajj Roads to Mecca and their Pilgrim Camps (PEF 2020 Grant) and towards final publication of the Umayyad Syro-Jordanian Hajj Roads to Mecca and their Pilgrim Camps: Mapping "Sacred Landscapes" (PEF 2021 Grant) The only possible location for a camp of pilgrims intending to travel southwest to Mecca would have been between mountain and sea, and with direct access to the road unfurling along the Red Sea coast towards Yanbu and inland to Mecca. [Extracted from the article]

This paper reports on new research into the previously poorly-documented post-medieval sarsen stone industry of southern England. Two significant centres of the trade are explored using complimentary methodologies. In Buckinghamshire, where a major quarry has been lost to redevelopment, archaeological features are mapped from historical aerial photographs and other remotely-sensed data. In Wiltshire, analytical earthworks survey at two quarries records different stone-working practices. The interpretation goes beyond a conventional industrial archaeological focus on commodity production, to examine the complexity of the relationships between people, materials and technology in three different taskscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last 3 ka, different human communities occupied the Bay of Cádiz (SW Spain), including Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, Medieval and Modern settlements. Traces of such historical occupations have been recognized along the bay from a geoarchaeological point of view. Some of them bear a palaeogeographical interest related to the historical location of the shoreline. At the same time, Holocene sedimentary units and geomorphological elements identified along the bay can be interpreted as evidences of its morphological evolution. The objective of the present paper is to represent all the available data about archaeological sites and geomorphology in the northern Bay of Cádiz, with the aim of combining both sources of data for elaborating a simple proposal of landscape evolution during the last 3 millennia. The base for mapping was multiple, from historical aerial photographs to satellite imagery and a digital terrain model with a maximum resolution of 0.35 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research presents a set of geomorphological and geoheritage evidence from the Piana Crixia Natural Park, located in the northwest part of Italy. The Natural Park, which covers an area of just under 8 km2, was established for the conservation and enhancement of two geosites: the Piana Crixia mushroom, a 15 m high earth pyramid shaped in conglomerates representing an example of runoff erosion, and badlands landforms that crop out in the area, representing a regional uniqueness and characterize a landscape defined the ‘Langhe of Liguria’. The methodology includes bibliographic research, aerial photographs, fieldwork and analysis of the data provided by the Park’s archives. The main maps were realized by combining lithological and geomorphological data with geoheritage elements and information about hiking and tourism. The 1:10,000 map represents the main area of the Piana Crixia Natural Park, while the 1:3000 map was designed to characterize the Piana Crixia mushroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first extensive high-resolution glacial geomorphic map west of the Andean Cordillera in southernmost Chile (52.8–53.1°S, 73.0–73.9°W). The map extends over 1565 km² and is based on high-resolution satellite images and aerial photographs. At selected locations, the remotely mapped geomorphology was corroborated by field observations. The study area is dominated by glacial erosional landforms (77%) over depositional landforms (23%), with published submarine depositional landforms having been included (e.g. moraines). Glacial drift, kettle kame topography and lateral and frontal moraines form the primary depositional landforms and sediment associations. Glacial cirques, wide U-shaped valleys, whalebacks, roches moutonnées and scoured bedrock characterize most of the mapped area. The spatial distribution of whalebacks and roches moutonnées in the study area indicates a lack of lithological control on their formation and a warm-based, dynamic ice velocity and thickness regime during Patagonian Ice Sheet cover and retreat during the last glacial cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a geomorphological map of Breiðamerkursandur, the outwash plain and foreland of Breiðamerkurjökull, an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull ice cap, Southeast Iceland. We trace the glacial retreat of the glacier snout since its historical late nineteenth century Little Ice Age (LIA) maximum extent and the concomitant development of the glacial drainage pathways. Since the outlet began retreating from its LIA terminal position, a 120 km2 area of foreland has been exposed. The mapped geomorphology is a supplementary continuation of previous surveys in the 20th century, which highlighted the geomorphology and ice margin for the years 1945, 1965 and 1998. Since the 1998 landsystem map, Breiðamerkurjökull has retreated a further 0.6–4.0 km and 29 km2 has been exposed. This new map was prepared with the use of remote sensing, LiDAR DEM, a range of oblique aerial photographs and satellite images, written documents, in-field survey measurements and refined landform classifications to more accurately trace the position of the retreating snout and its outlet streams over the last 130 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archival aerial photographs are among the most common, voluminous, and frequently used collections in map and geography libraries because of the unique and important spatial information that they contain. They are, however, an underutilized resource because they are challenging to work with and due to misconceptions about their quality. Therefore, developing efficient workflows to convert archival aerial photographs into research-quality digital spatial data is an important next step in making them accessible to a broad range of potential users. The present study tested three software to georeference, orthorectify, and mosaic 15 digitized archival photographs. Using positional accuracy and aesthetics of output mosaics as measures of software performance, all three completed the task impressively well. Output image spatial resolution and positional accuracy were found to be comparable to common public-domain contemporary aerial photography datasets like those produced by the National Agricultural Imagery Program. We also assessed software ease of use by geospatial professionals who were not trained photogrammetrists and found all three to be accessible with care and training resources. The software tools to efficiently convert archival aerial photographs into research-quality digital spatial data have finally matured to the point where collection managers can reasonably consider collection scale conversion projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estuaries are complicated systems to manage effectively, requiring the monitoring of robust environmental indicators to assess health and detect changes. Routine estuarine monitoring programmes in New Zealand have only existed for 30 years at most, but estuaries have been significantly affected by anthropogenic pressures for at least 100 years. We reconstructed long term changes in indicators of estuarine health using historical information from sediment cores and aerial photographs, and combined this information with recent monitoring data. This study is focused on four estuaries in the Waikato region of New Zealand, but the findings are likely applicable elsewhere. Sediment accumulation rates increased by orders of magnitude c. 100 years ago, but mangrove forests only started to rapidly expand c. 50 years ago, which coincided with the intensification of agriculture and urban development, and resultant declines in freshwater quality. Over the past 20 years, state of the environment monitoring shows declines in benthic health at most monitoring sites, as well as continuing sediment accumulation and mangrove expansion in some places. This adds to the weight of evidence that environmental management has not been sufficient to safeguard estuarine health and demonstrates the magnitude of change in these systems over the past 100 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive alien species are regarded as the second greatest threat to biodiversity globally. Yet, at a local scale their effects may vary, underlying the requirement for more local-scale studies across taxa and settings. Here we consider the effects of an alien invasive tree (Acacia dealbata, 5–8 m tall) on avifaunal numbers, richness and diversity in A. dealbata patches of three sizes relative to adjacent montane grasslands. Analysis of historical aerial photographs showed that A. dealbata first occurred in the area in the late 1930s/early 1940s and has continued to spread, despite some efforts by the landowner to keep it in check. It now covers approximately 11% of the site. This has provided habitat for a number of bird species more characteristic of wooded vegetation types. The number, richness and diversity of birds were greater in A. dealbata patches than the adjacent grasslands of equivalent size. These measures increased with increasing patch size, but more rapidly for A. dealbata patches than grassland ones. Only six of the 48 species of birds recorded were common between the two vegetation types. The most common feeding guild in the A. dealbata patches was insectivores, whereas in the grasslands it was omnivores. Although the invasion of A. dealbata has added to the habitat diversity of the area, thereby facilitating increased avifaunal diversity, if it continues to spread, then the populations and perhaps richness of grassland birds are likely to be negatively affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation cover estimates for trees, shrub-grass mosaics, and grassland and bare ground, were quantified in the savanna-woodland of Bwabwata National Park, north-east Namibia. Changes in woody cover were analysed using repeat photographs in combination with aerial photographs and recent satellite imagery taken between 1996 and 2019. Cover estimates for each vegetation type were obtained using object-based classification techniques and a non-parametric random forest classifier algorithm in eCognition Trimble software. Results show that over the two decades under investigation (1996–2019), trees declined (−10.6%), and the shrub-grass mosaic vegetation type increased (8.1%) across the park. The largest decline in trees occurred in the western land use areas (−36%), which also experienced the greatest increase in the shrub-grass mosaic (17%), when compared with areas in the east (11%). Variation of woody cover estimates is attributed to different seasonal fire management practices in the east versus the west of the park. The fire history (2000–2018) revealed that late dry season fires were frequent in the west, whereas in the east, early dry season fires were frequent. The stages of encroachment recorded in this study have consequences for biodiversity, people's livelihoods, and tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Le Port de Guerre de Kition: edited by Olivier Callot, Sabine Fourrier and Marguerite Yon, Lyon, France, Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée Éditions, 2022, 336pp., 170 illustrations (some colour), ISBN 978-2356680761 The division into sections, chapters and shorter and coherent sub-chapters makes it easier for the reader to locate any information needed (especially useful in the publication of an excavation that inevitably contains a lot of data). Kition-Bamboula - the first is the name of the ancient city, the second the modern name of the excavation site - is located in the outskirts of Larnaca, on the southern coast of Cyprus. [Extracted from the article]

Lantana camara is primarily a bird-dispersed invasive plant species that has spread quickly across South Africa in disturbed areas. We re-examined the distribution of Lantana at Rodger and Twine's (2002) study site (R&T) in a highly grazed communal area and an adjacent conserved area in 2019. R&T found that Lantana was more common in the communal area than in the conserved area. Glyphosate herbicide was sprayed to suppress Lantana from 2016 to 2019 in the conserved area only. We re-examined the bird-dispersal hypothesis by surveying subcanopy and intercanopy environments. We found more Lantana in the subcanopy than in the intercanopy. There were more Lantana plants in the conserved area, but there were virtually none in the communal area. Most concerning was the apparent resprouting of Lantana despite herbicide application. We used sequential aerial photographs and found that there has been an increase in woody cover in the conservation area since 2013, which may exacerbate the problem with this invasive plant. We conclude that it is not communal grazing per se that causes the encroachment of Lantana, and that it has more do with the woody cover of native plants, as concluded by R&T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional landscape photographs reaching back until the second half of the nineteenth century represent a valuable image source for the study of long-term landscape change. Due to the oblique perspective and the lack of geographical reference, landscape photographs are hardly used for quantitative research. In this study, oblique landscape photographs from the Norwegian landscape monitoring program are georeferenced using the WSL Monoplotting Tool with the aim of evaluating the accuracy of point and polygon features. In addition, the study shows how the resolution of the chosen digital terrain model and other factors affect accuracy. Points mapped on the landscape photograph had a mean displacement of 1.52 m from their location on a corresponding aerial photograph, while mapped areas deviated on average 5.6% in size. The resolution of the DTM, the placement of GCPs and the angle of incidence were identified as relevant factors to achieve accurate geospatial data. An example on forest expansion at the abandoned mountain farm Flysetra in Mid-Norway demonstrates how repeat photography facilitates the georectification process in the absence of reliable ground control points (GCPs) in very old photographs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of field surveys, bibliographic research and multitemporal analysis of historical maps, aerial photographs and satellite images in a GIS environment, allowed the current and past geomorphological features of the old city of Alessandria and its surrounding areas, NW Italy, to be identified and mapped. Their analysis provided an overview of the geomorphological evolution of the city that is strictly related to the historical vicissitudes occurred since the Middle Ages. Nowadays, the most representative landforms and deposits characterizing the urban landscape result from human interventions and are associated with ancient military facilities and infrastructures, a historical man-made channel network no longer recognizable, the Tanaro riverbed channelization, and the urban sprawl occurred from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards. This study represents a useful tool for urban planning and management and for raising the citizens' awareness of the urban-landscape geomorphological features and evolution, and therefore the geo-hydrological risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the multitemporal landslide inventory map prepared for the urban areas of Motta Montecorvino and Volturino, two municipalities located in the Southern Apennines (Apulia Region, Italy). These territories show a high propensity to landslides of different types and magnitude, which periodically interfere with the anthropic structures and infrastructures. For the study area, the spatial and temporal distribution of landslides is detected for the period between 1954 and 2003, through the visual interpretation of multiple sets of black and white digital stereoscopic aerial photographs at different scales. The analysis reveals locally high frequency of landslide occurrence and built-up areas on existing landslides, either on the body or on the crown areas. In particular, we show that over the years new residential areas were developed despite the presence of large old mass movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge of flood-induced ground effects and flood-water dynamics is a crucial issue for hydro-geomorphic hazards assessment and mapping, and thus for river management and land use planning. This paper and the related 1:15,000 map illustrate the lower Orba River (NW Italy) and its adjacent floodplain geomorphic response to the 21–22 October 2019 extreme flood. This was estimated to be a 500-years flood and caused severe damage to cultivated fields, structures, and infrastructures. The research is based on extensive post-flood field surveys, ante- and post-flood GNSS surveys, and aerial photographs interpretation. Intense in-channel sediment mobilization, bank retreats, and channelization structures collapses were surveyed. Furthermore, alluvial gullies, overbank deposits, crevasse splays, and surficial-erosion evidences were mapped over the floodplain, along with the flooded area (17.65 km2) and the flood-water features. A specific legend developed for flood-related and anthropogenic elements mapping in a typical lowland agricultural landscape with regulated rivers is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the outcomes of the geomorphological investigation and mapping carried out within the Cinque Terre National Park (38 km2), an outstanding example of a human-modified landscape. Over the centuries, the natural landscape of Cinque Terre has been almost completely modified by slope terracing for agricultural purposes. Extensive field surveys, topographic maps examination and aerial photographs interpretation have led to the production, within a GIS environment, of a new geomorphological map at 1:18,000 scale which outlines the main genesis and related landforms and deposits: (i) gravity-induced features, (ii) fluvial and runoff features, (iii) coastal features and (iv) anthropogenic features. Special attention has been given to the mapping of terraced slopes, which at present are extremely vulnerable to gravity-driven processes and running water because of extensive farmland abandonment. The output map is a fundamental basis for future activities of hazard assessment and zonation and the definition of land management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the anthropogenic landforms of the alluvial-coastal plain of Rapallo (Eastern Liguria, NW Italy). Since the second half of the nineteenth-century Rapallo experienced a progressive urban sprawl that became particularly intense after the Second World War and severely modified the former landforms. The identification and mapping of morphological changes was performed through a multi-temporal comparison of historical and recent maps and aerial photographs, an analysis of geo-thematic maps and urban planning documents, an interpretation of stratigraphic data from boreholes, and a field survey activity. The main anthropogenic interventions that shaped the urban landscape of Rapallo were riverbed diversions and channelization, excavations, fillings, and embankments construction along the shoreline. These elements highlight the relevant extent of the human imprint on the pristine environment. Furthermore, the identified anthropogenic geomorphological features, combined with the local physiographic and climatic features, increased flood and sea storm hazards and risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal communities, land covers, and intertidal habitats are vulnerable receptors of erosion, flooding or both in combination. This vulnerability is likely to increase with sea level rise and greater storminess over future decadal-scale time periods. The accurate, rapid, and wide-scale determination of shoreline position, and its migration, is therefore imperative for future coastal risk adaptation and management. This paper develops and applies an automated tool, VEdge_Detector, to extract the coastal vegetation line from high spatial resolution (Planet's 3 to 5 m) remote-sensing imagery, training a very deep convolutional neural network (holistically nested edge detection), to predict sequential vegetation line locations on annual to decadal timescales. Red, green, and near-infrared (RG-NIR) was found to be the optimum image spectral band combination during neural network training and validation. The VEdge_Detector outputs were compared with vegetation lines derived from ground-referenced positional measurements and manually digitized aerial photographs, which were used to ascertain a mean distance error of <6 m (two image pixels) and >84% producer accuracy (PA) at six out of the seven sites. Extracting vegetation lines from Planet imagery of the rapidly retreating cliffed coastline at Covehithe, Suffolk, United Kingdom, has identified a landward retreat rate >3 m year−1 (2010–2020). Plausible vegetation lines were successfully retrieved from images in The Netherlands and Australia, which were not used to train the neural network, although significant areas of exposed rocky coastline proved to be less well recovered by VEdge_Detector. The method therefore promises the possibility of generalizing to estimate retreat of sandy coastlines from Planet imagery in otherwise data-poor areas, which lack ground-referenced measurements. Vegetation line outputs derived from VEdge_Detector are produced rapidly and efficiently compared to more traditional non-automated methods. These outputs also have the potential to inform upon a range of future coastal risk management decisions, incorporating future shoreline change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Over the last 130 years, the landscapes of northern Iceland's fishing villages have experienced repeated reconfigurations based on changing technology, cultural developments, and ecological shifts. However, the interconnected nature of these changes and their role in enabling industrial success have not been systematically assessed. This project aimed to evaluate the ecological and cultural histories of the herring industry of northern Iceland vis-à-vis the built environments in Siglufjörður in order to understand how changes in the built environment facilitated resiliency or increased vulnerability in the adaptive cycle through the spatial and temporal analyses of maps and aerial photographs of the landscape. This paper utilises an adaptive cycle framework to better understand how communities responded to disruptions in the fishing industry. Understanding the relationship between the built environment and the adaptive cycles of industrial communities can help illuminate the factors that cause settlements to succeed or fail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obtaining near real-time road features is very important in emergent situations like flood and geological disaster cases. Remote sensing images with very high spatial resolution usually have many details in land use and land cover, which complicate the detection and extraction of road features. In this paper, we propose a deep residual deconvolutional network (Deep ResDCLnet), to extract road features from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images. This proposed network is based on the deep neural network from SegNet architecture, the rich skip connection in a residual bottleneck, and the direct relationship among intermediate feature maps from the pixel deconvolution algorithm. It can improve the performance of a supervised learning model by differentiating and extracting complex road features on aerial photographs and UAV imagery. The proposed network is evaluated with the standard public Massachusetts road dataset and the UAV dataset collected alongside Yangtze River, and is compared with four state-of-art network architectures. The results show that the Deep ResDCLnet outperforms all four networks in terms of extraction accuracy, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the network in road extraction from very high spatial resolution imagery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The I khan i s of the Mediaeval route and the 16th-18th century forts (the focus of previous Jordanian and British I Hajj i scholars) of the Ottoman road were examined and photographed. Besides investigating the first Umayyad I Hajj i road and its camps, our aim is to conduct GIS statistical and spatial analyses of all the camps (Fig. And proclaim to the people the I Hajj i [pilgrimage]; they will come to you on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every distant pass, that they may witness benefits for themselves and mention the name of Allah on known days over what He has provided for them of [sacrificial] animals. [Extracted from the article]

Boulders in the ablation areas of Alpine valley glaciers were found to not travel along with the ice in a passive manner only. Many show an additional but smaller component of movement towards the south. We investigate this phenomenon and its governing processes using field observations and measurements from terrestrial and aerial photographs of glaciers in the Swiss Alps. We found that large boulders can migrate from their medial moraine due to cyclic formation of classical glacier tables and also a similar process that produces ice tails. The main driving factors behind boulder migration are the size (and shape) of the boulder, ablation, radiation, and surface slope. On glaciers roughly oriented to the east or west, these processes result in a sorting of boulders from the supraglacial moraine towards the southern side, i.e. towards the sun. Future studies complementing our approach using a differential global positioning system should be able to better distinguish between the velocity components of ice flow and boulder migration, determine the precise azimuth of the latter, and investigate the potential influence on photogrammetric feature tracking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a large scale (1:10,000) geomorphological map of Favignana Island, in which landforms were recognized and genetically categorized based on analysis of stereoscopic aerial photographs and freely available satellite images, complimented by a few validation tests performed in the field. The map was created following the guidelines of the Italian Geomorphological Working Group for landforms symbolic representation. This includes an immediate visual differentiationof the genetic character and the state of activity of landforms. Favignana, belonging to the Egadi Archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea (SW Italy), is a mid-sized (ca. 20 km²) mostly carbonatic island. The marine protected area surrounding the island represents the main attraction for tourists. Through this map, it was possible to highlight the richness and diversity, in terms of abundance and peculiarity of landforms, that characterizes the Island. This peculiarity makes of Favignana an excellent candidate for the exploitation of its geoheritage for touristic purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide inventories provide the knowledge basis for many geomorphological applications and also planning and emergency management. Detailed landslide inventories should also be prepared where pre-existing inventories are available, as knowledge updates. In this paper, we present a new geomorphological landslide inventory for an area of the High Agri Valley, Southern Italian Apennines. The map was prepared through systematic interpretation of historical aerial photographs testing extensive use of anaglyph glasses in StereoPhoto Maker freeware. A total of 2124 landslides were classified based on the type of movement, estimated depth, estimated relative age and three levels of uncertainty, providing landslide attributes and map constraints useful for land planning and hazard studies. The map also documents the relationships between landslides and fluvial landforms of different generations, recording important information to investigate the geomorphological evolution of the area further. We expect that landslide mapping in similar environments will benefit from the workflow here presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this work is to conduct a detailed mapping of the Héðinsdalsjökull foreland, northern Iceland (65°39'N, 18°55'W). This cirque currently shows a variety of glacial and periglacial landforms derived from a complex deglaciation. Mapping was performed combining traditional hand-drawn and digital mapping. A hand-drawn sketch was georeferenced in ArcMap 10.7.1, supported on an aerial photograph (year 2000). Its vectorization, symbolization and final design were done in the computer-aided design (CAD) software MicroStation Connect. Complementary high-resolution Digital Surface Models were obtained from historical aerial photographs and ground-view field photographs through the application of Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry. To improve the topographic expression of the geomorphological map, a photorealistic 3D view has been generated. The final map highlights the complexity of the foreland and the coexistence existence of a range of different units and landforms. The map will ease future studies on the transformation of receding glaciers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetlands are increasingly exposed to human activities, resulting in degradation. As the wetland degrades, it loses functionality. In South Africa, wetlands can play an important water-regulating role. This study aims to establish the ecological condition of a historically utilised wetland on the Lions River floodplain in the uMngeni catchment, to provide a guide for the planning and implementation of rehabilitation interventions. A comprehensive assessment of the wetland's structure was undertaken in 2014, using vegetation and soil parameters, mapped and compared with changes in landuse on the wetland from historical aerial photographs. The study concluded that the wetland's ecological condition had declined, as a result of historical cultivation and commercial forestry. The wetland vegetation present is still generally aligned with the prevailing hydro-edaphic gradient and soil water regime; however, some areas of the wetland showed a mismatch in the soil water indicators and vegetation wetness indicators (the level of wetness based on vegetation being higher than that showed by the soil), suggesting localised drying out. A moderately high abundance of ruderal indigenous and invasive alien species in 61% of the wetland, particularly the drier areas of the wetland, contributed to the altered ecological condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional map library full of map drawers, aerial photographs, atlases and globes has evolved to include computer terminals and data collection equipment. Library patrons are accessing maps and geospatial data digitally. As the library has changed, so has the role of the map librarian. Historically, specialized coursework for map librarianship has been minimal in graduate library science programs. To effectively support library users of geographic information system (GIS), education is needed in this field, as well. A survey was distributed to map librarians via email listserv with a goal of observing trends in job duties and educational backgrounds of today's map librarians. The views of 67 responding map librarians regarding training, professional development and the direction of map librarianship as a profession were also collected. The resulting data show a strong need for training opportunities for work with paper maps as well as GIS data and software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Who owns the sky" is not a new question but a persistent one. For more than three centuries it emerges as a social, legal, technological, and geopolitical problem. Indeed, the aerial is not something that is simply above our heads but an element that fluctuates in and out of the body. And while the air and the body are inseparable, the aerial has been turned directly against the body in various ways since the beginning of the 20th century. This paper explores the unsettled frontiers of the fly-zone, looking into the interrelated occupations, exploitations, and democratizations of the aerial. It sketches the emergence of the state/corporate no-fly zone (NFZ) through the emergence of small-scale civilian drones, which developed into a sophisticated industry that negotiates new forms of state power to technology corporations. This new configuration of aerial control and management complicates the established, state-imposed, regulatory NFZ and suggests the development of a new techno-cultural assemblage of spatial closures through the air. Against this backdrop, I discuss two case-studies of aerial resistance through the use of do-it-yourself (DIY) aerial-photography in Israel/Palestine. I show how DIY tactics and tools offer a distinctive kind of evocation and provocation that challenge the conceptual and material boundaries of the NFZ and direct the attention to the ruptured links between the aerial and the human body. Finally, I discuss how DIY aerial-photography is also a particular kind of testimony and a methodological mediation that allows questioning the very premise of knowledge production through technosocial, activist engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions surrounding the emergence of highly mobile nomadic pastoralism and the origins of the associated Scythian material culture have a long history in Eurasian steppe archaeology, but advances in knowledge have been hindered by a lack of data. Here we present new findings on the Early Iron Age royal burial mound Tunnug 1 in Tuva. While the site belongs to the same cultural tradition as Arzhan 1, the conceptual roots of the funerary ritual architecture can be traced to precursors in the Mongun Taiga culture and the Mongolian deer stone khirigsuur complex. The clay architecture uncovered at Tunnug 1 does not find any regional comparisons and possibly hints towards a western Central Asian contribution to the formation of the earliest Scythian horizon. Our research demonstrates the value of a multi-disciplinary approach to documenting monumental earthen architecture, including technical approaches (satellite imagery, aerial photographs, 3D models, digital elevation models, geophysics, and radiocarbon dating) with an analysis of construction material and associated finds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is generally known as the most accurate and primary source providing the 3D structure of forest canopy model (CHM) information; however, in many countries, it is not updated as needed for continuous forest management planning due to its high costs. Image-based point clouds derived from airborne stereo aerial photographs, space-borne stereo very high-resolution WorldView-2, and TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement (TanDEM-X) can also be used for the generation of the CHM. In this study, we compared the performance of three types of 3D data, i.e. stereo aerial photographs, stereo very high-resolution WorldView-2, and TanDEM-X for the retrieval of forest CHM. Digital surface models (DSMs) generated from image-based point clouds produced from stereo aerial photographs and stereo WorldView-2 using image-matching algorithms and from TanDEM-X data using interferometry. Finally, three types of CHMs generated by subtracting ALS-based digital terrain model (DTM) from the above three DSMs. Plot-level heights and density metrics extracted from the CHMs and regressed with the field-based Lorey's mean, and maximum height. Stereo aerial photographic CHM showed the most accurate results with root-mean-square error (RMSE) = 1.71 m, followed by high-resolution stereo WorldView-2 with RMSE = 2.04 m, and TanDEM-X with RMSE = 2.13 m, respectively. Also, for maximum height, we obtained higher accuracy for image-based point clouds with RMSE = 2.33 m, followed by high-resolution stereo WorldView-2 with RMSE = 2.71 m, and TanDEM-X with RMSE = 2.81 m, respectively. Our overall finding indicated that stereo aerial photography is the most accurate option followed by stereo very high-resolution WorldView-2 and TanDEM-X data for estimating forest heights. The study shares valuable information for the generation and regular update of forest structure information in the presence of pre-existing ALS DTM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we present a geomorphological map of the 'Canale di Pirro' polje, located in the central part of Apulia region, Southern Italy, among the most interesting karst landforms in the Mediterranean Basin. This area is characterized by a remarkable underground system of caves, where the so-called 'Inghiottitoio di Masseria Rotolo' reaches a depth of 324 m, thus being the deepest known cave in Apulia. The polje is bounded on both sides by tectonically controlled ridges, showing an overall length of some 12 km. The map of the area is produced starting from the interpretation of aerial photographs, the integration of the digital elevation model analysis and field surveys, in order to obtain a correct distribution of landforms and fluvial processes. Furthermore, karst depressions, conical hills, erosional gullies, alluvial fans and tectonic structures have been also identified and reported in the map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately identified trees can serve as a basis of estimating forest variables through the individual tree-based approach. Increasing richness of remote sensing data also provides opportunities to explore the potential uses of various types of data sources. This study adopted three widely used remote sensing data, including airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR), unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photography and traditional digital aerial photos (DAP), and aimed to investigate their potentials on estimating tree heights and extracting individual tree information in four forested sites in Hong Kong with different tree compositions. Image-based point clouds were generated through photogrammetry. Local maxima and region growing methods were adopted to identify treetops and delineate tree crowns, respectively, with different fixed and variable window size settings. Tree heights obtained from remote sensing datasets resulted in correlation coefficients (r) = 0.58–0.94 and root-mean-square errors (RMSE) = 1.33–3.78 m compared to field-measured values and similar levels of correspondences among the datasets. Point cloud characteristics were highlighted through point-based and profile-based analysis. The highest F-scores for treetop detections in each site ranged from 0.53 to 0.69 with variations caused by different window sizes and data sources. Matched rates of reference trees were positively correlated (r = 0.19–0.49) with geometric properties including diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height, crown area, and distance to the nearest neighbour. No single remote sensing dataset was clearly superior in all methodologies in this study, but unique properties were demonstrated in terms of both data acquisitions and analysis. Knowledge and testing on both characteristics of study areas and data sources were important when deciding the best window size parameters. Heterogeneity of forest environment could be a major factor hindering the delineation performance with further influences on plot-level difference and tree-level detectability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A landslide inventory is indispensable for determination of landslide susceptibility, hazard, risk assessment and disaster mitigation strategies. These inventories were traditionally developed using manual digitization of remote sensing images and aerial photographs, and pixel-based image classification. Recently, Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) supersedes visual interpretation and pixel-based methods. OBIA utilizes spectral, textural, contextual, morphological and topographical information in remote sensing images. However, OBIA-based landslide detection methods are often designed for specific areas and remote sensing dataset. The aim of this study is to evaluate the transferability of three published OBIA landslide detection methods for semi-automated landslide detection in the Himalaya mountainous region of northern Pakistan. A SPOT-6 multi-spectral image with Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derivatives, i.e. slope, aspect, hill-shade, relief, elevation and stream network are used for landslide detection using eCognition developer software. The three published methods scale parameters for image segmentation and parameter thresholds are evaluated first. It is observed that the aforementioned methods are not directly applicable to our study area and remote sensing datasets. Therefore, an alternate (proposed) method is developed for semi-automated landslide detection. Accuracy assessment of the selected methods and proposed method is assessed by Precision, Recall and F1 measures. Using the proposed method, a total of 357 landslides are detected with 91.46% Precision, 93.31% Recall and 92.38% F1 measure accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late prehistoric and early historic communal hunting sites along the southwestern mountainous margins of the Great Basin, United Sates, include timber-built corral-traps estimated to be only a few hundred years old. In most of these, no animal bones or direct evidence for the targeted species were found in the corrals. Our goals were to characterize and reconstruct past use of these sites, and we chose two distinct case studies, Anchorite Pass and Excelsior. We provide high-resolution documentation of the sites and their archaeological components, using nearly 10,000 aerial photographs as the basis for 3D modeling. We specifically address construction characteristics which include the incorporation of living trees and felling juniper timbers by fire. Drawing on limited ethnographic sources and current seasonal routes of local mule deer herds, we suggest the two sites were used for seasonal trapping of such herds. Forest fires and modern construction severely endanger such vulnerable sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Venezuela will soon become the first Andean country to lose all of its glaciers, as the "eternal snows" of the Sierra Nevada de Mérida (SNM) disappear. Although documentation of glacier retreat in Venezuela commenced over a century ago, an updated reconstruction at sufficient spatial resolution is warranted. Our objectives were to (a) produce detailed multitemporal maps of glacier cover in the SNM since 1952 and revise historical estimates for 1910 and (b) document changes in cover and rates of glacier retreat of the last Venezuelan glacier at Humboldt Peak. We integrated multiple information sources, including topographic/geomorphic evidence, high-resolution aerial photographs, satellite images, historical maps, panoramic photos, and field observations. We present 1:5,000 maps of glacier cover between 1952 and 2019 and revise the maps of 1910. In Venezuela, glacial area has decreased 98 percent between 1952 and 2019 (from 2.317 km² to 0.046 km²). Glacier retreat rates increased after 1998, with a maximum of -16.9 percent year-1 between 2016 and 2019. These new maps should provide an essential tool for biophysical, ecological, and historical studies and a key reference for promoting awareness on climate change in the tropical Andes, where glaciers are intimately linked with cultural identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monitoring of morphologic changes in high-mountain environments is an important, but complex task. Terrestrial as well as airborne laser scanning (TLS and ALS) and digital photogrammetry (DP) using Unnamed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) can determine recent variations. In contrast, changes that occurred 20 or more years ago, need generally the application of DP and historic aerial photograph. We compared these four geomatic techniques and the resulting digital elevation models (DEM) that ranged over a 70-year time span (1946–2016). The accuracy of the different models and also the effect of different cell size were analysed. The accuracy analysis of the resulting DEMs shows important drawbacks, when historic aerial photographs are used. In these DEMs, the error in elevation can be important and a detailed analysis of morphologic changes is limited. Nowadays, the combination of DP and UAV is the technique with best cost-benefit ratio, although TLS could reveal similar precision. However, the application of TLS is restrained by the complex morphology and the presence of vegetation, which produce many shadows. Finally, the erosion rate was determined in our catchment. The resulting values range between 0.06 and 0.16 m3/m2/y, which coincides rather well with data observed in other studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]