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Noise annoyance reactions in the population due to wind farms are related to visual as well as noise-related impacts of the farms. Improved understanding of these effects may support the planning of better accepted wind farms. Recently, tools for visualization and auralization of wind farms have been developed that allow mutually studying audio-visual effects on annoyance. The objective of this study was to investigate the audio-visual effects of different wind turbine noise situations on short-term noise annoyance in a psychophysical laboratory experiment, considering serial position effects (simple order and differential carryover effects). A set of 24 audio-visual situations covering a range of acoustical characteristics (sound pressure level, periodic amplitude modulation) and visual settings (landscape with visible wind turbine, landscape only, grey background) was created. The factorial design of the experiment allowed separating audio-visual effects from serial position effects on noise annoyance. Both visual and acoustical characteristics were found to affect noise annoyance, besides the participants’ attitude towards wind farms. Sound pressure level and amplitude modulation increased annoyance, the presence of a visualized landscape decreased annoyance, and the visibility of a wind turbine increased annoyance. While simple order effects could be eliminated by counterbalancing, the initial visual setting strongly affected the annoyance ratings of the subsequent settings. Due to this differential carryover effect, visual effects could be assessed reliably only as long as the participants saw the initial visual setting. Therefore, the presentation order of audio-visual stimuli should be carefully considered in experimental studies and in participatory landscape planning.

Finding the “right” sites for developing renewable energy systems (RES) is one of the major challenges in planning strategies for energy transitions. The visibility aspects of such infrastructure are important factors that explain local opposition. Classical visibility and viewshed analyses of RES disregard people’s perceptions and estimations of new infrastructure. To address this void, we demonstrate an approach that combines rated visual landscape qualities with measured visual features. In doing so, we established visual stimuli with systematically controlled visual impact scenarios featuring the use of renewables in different landscape types. The study investigated how ratings of landscape qualities are affected by landscape changes stemming from RES. We also identified measurable visual features that might help to operationalize landscape qualities. Finally, we intended to improve the understand of how rated landscape qualities lead to preferences for different RES visual impact scenarios. Our results showed that rated coherence is strongly influenced by renewable energy infrastructure, whereas complexity ratings are affected mainly by variations in landscape types. These findings let us to conclude that the visual understanding and visual connectedness between energy systems and surrounding landscapes are core drivers of people’s visual preferences for landscapes altered with RES. Considering landscape qualities within impact assessments of RES can augment our grasp of how the visual character of a landscape changes through renewable energy infrastructure., Landscape and Urban Planning, 209, ISSN:0169-2046, ISSN:1872-6062

Urban green spaces offer multiple ecosystem services (ES), which provide a variety of benefits to human well-being. Yet in urban planning they are not taken into account systematically. Recently new tools have been developed integrating ES into procedural modeling and visualization to raise stakeholder awareness for the explicit ES trade-offs that have to be made. These tools yet do not allow fast and comprehensive integration of ES provision in urban environments. In this paper we show how urban green space typologies can be linked to ES provision for facilitating collaboration between stakeholders of different backgrounds. Based on a generic typology green spaces were mapped and linked with information on potentially provided ES and their parameters. Further, pattern designs of the green space types were described with a form-based code. Both the map of green space types and the pattern designs were integrated into the parametric modeling and visualization chain of Esri CityEngine resulting in 3D visualizations of the green space patterns and correlating ES indicators. The green space typology allows for integrating different kinds of knowledge from both science and practice communities. The procedural model enables rapid interactive visualization of urban patterns and calculation of simple indicator values on the provision of ES. The simple approach for mapping green space types with low data requirements and the generic green space design patterns allow for transferability to other places and application to large areas. The developed approach is simple and fast yet comprehensive to communicate the vital importance of all green space types within the urban environment.

The perception of the visual landscape impact is a significant factor explaining the public’s acceptance of energy infrastructure developments. Yet, there is lack of knowledge how people perceive and accept power lines in certain landscape types and in combination with wind turbines, a required setting to achieve goals of the energy turnaround. The goal of this work was to demonstrate how 3D point cloud visualizations could be used for an eye tracking study to systematically investigate the perception of landscape scenarios with power lines. 3D visualizations of near-natural and urban landscapes were prepared based on data from airborne and terrestrial laser scanning. These scenes were altered with varying amounts of the respective infrastructure, and they provided the stimuli in a laboratory experiment with 49 participants. Eye tracking and questionnaires served for measuring the participants’ responses. The results show that the point cloud-based simulations offered suitable stimuli for the eye tracking study. Particularly for the analysis of guided perceptions, the approach fostered an understanding of disturbing landscape elements. A comparative in situ eye tracking study is recommended to further evaluate the quality of the point cloud simulations, whether they produce similar responses as in the real world., Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 3 (2), ISSN:2414-4088

Forests provide a variety of ecosystem goods and services to society, which often have the typical characteristics of a public good: non-excludability and non-rivalry. One of these services is avalanche protection of forests. A monetary valuation of this service would be helpful to provide efficient and effective protection to the local population. We present the results of a case study from the Swiss Alps, where we determined the willingness to pay for avalanche protection based on a choice experiment combined with virtual reality visualizations. Furthermore, we compare these results with the costs of alternative technical measures for natural hazard mitigation as well as with the results of a risk-based evaluation. We conclude that the willingness to pay for avalanche protection of forests is about the same range as the collective risk related to a 300-years avalanche event and within a range similar to the per-household costs of alternative measures. However, willingness to pay is substantially higher than the costs of silvicultural measures to maintain protection forest. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Forest avalanche protection – methods and results of a willingness-to-pay analysis Forests provide a variety of ecosystem goods and services to society. One of these services, avalanche protection, has the typical characteristics of a public good: non-excludability and non-rivalry. A monetary valuation of this service would be helpful to provide efficient and effective protection to the local population. We present the results of a case study from the Swiss Alps, where we determined the willingness to pay for avalanche protection based on a choice experiment combined with a risk-based evaluation and computer-based visualization techniques. Furthermore, we compare these results with the costs of alternative technical measures for natural hazard mitigation. We conclude that the willingness to pay for avalanche protection is higher than the costs of temporary measures, such as wooden stems and grilles, but lower than more costly long-term solutions like steel bridges or nets. Silvicultural measures to maintain the protection forest are by far the most cost-efficient way to prevent people from avalanches, provided that the forest's vulnerability to heavy storm events can be reduced.

Communication and information are central aspects in participatory spatial planning. This study analyzes the effectiveness of current 3D landscape visualizations in communicating the required spatial information. The focus was on measuring 3D visualizations' effectiveness in participatory planning processes according to the level of various supporting functions for, for example, information processing or achieving the objectives of different planning phases. The effectiveness of abstract and realistic 3D visualization types was tested in case studies using qualitative social – empirical research methods. In order to provide a systematic overview of the results, a portfolio analysis was carried out. The benefit of the visualization types for different planning tasks and their quality of representing the required planning content were evaluated. The results show that the different strengths of both abstract and realistic 3D visualization types are required in participatory workshops. They are especially efficient at motivating stakeholders and enlarging the information base. However, until now they have proved to be less suitable for the development of new ideas and decision making. In particular, the realistic visualization type was ranked as very attractive for the purpose of evaluation, but the representation of the required spatial information needed enhancement. On the basis of the portfolio, focusing further research on optimizing the 3D visualization types for analysis and evaluation tasks is suggested.

This paper presents a transdisciplinary multiple-case study, set in Switzerland, that was part of the European Fifth Framework Program project VISULANDs—Visualization Tools for Public Participation in Managing Landscape Change (2003–2005). The project sought production of new visualization tools enabling public participation in landscape management. In cooperation with workshop participants, researchers constructed three-dimensional (3-D) landscape visualizations to represent various scenarios of landscape change. The planning objective was to develop sustainable solutions for landscape-related planning problems in tourism, agriculture, and forestry. Two of the case studies produced implemented results. The research objective was to analyze the effectiveness of landscape visualization as a tool in transdisciplinary workshops with external researchers and local stakeholders. The research illustrates how the interactive construction of different types of landscape visualization may contribute to solutions for planning problems on local to regional scales through transdisciplinary knowledge construction, dialogue, and consensus building.

Public landscape impact assessment of renewable energy installations is crucial for their acceptance. Thus, a sound assessment basis is crucial in the implementation process. For valuing landscape perception, the visual sense is the dominant human sensory component. However, the visual sense provides only partial information about our environment. Especially when it comes to wind farm assessments, noise produced by the rotating turbine blades is another major impact factor. Therefore, an integrated visual and acoustic assessment of wind farm projects is needed to allow lay people to perceive their impact adequately. This paper presents an approach of linking spatially referenced auralizations to a GIS-based virtual 3D landscape model. We demonstrate how to utilize a game engine for 3D visualization of wind parks, using geodata as a modeling basis. In particular, the controlling and recording of specific parameters in the game engine is shown in order to establish a link to the acoustical model. The resulting prototype has high potential to complement conventional tools for an improved public impact assessment of wind farms. ISSN:2220-9964

Many urban regions are exposed to rapid growth, leading to vast changes in land use with diverse ecological, socio-economic, and aesthetical impacts. Regional scenarios are suitable for identifying possible urban development patterns. However, one challenge of scenario construction is integrating the knowledge of both science and practice for a better understanding of the complex interactions between impact factors in the urban fabric. The objective of this research is to enhance process design for a collaborative scenario analysis in the context of urban development. The scenarios are constructed for a case study of the Limmattal region, a suburban agglomeration close to Zurich, Switzerland, and we demonstrate a functional structure for science–practice collaboration within the process of scenario building. The types of communication between science and practice are systematically varied, which leads to four consistent scenarios for 2030. Our analyses of regional system dynamics reveal the most important feedback loop among five impact factors within the region, which allows for a better understanding of the systemic interactions in regional transformation. This process design shows the potential to support knowledge integration in research processes involving science and practice, and assists informed planning strategies for urban transformation.