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Climate teleconnections show remote and large-scale relationships between distant points on Earth. Their relations to precipitation are important to monitor and anticipate the anomalies that they can produce in the local climate, such as flood and drought events impacting agriculture, health, and hydropower generation. Climate teleconnections in relation to precipitation have been widely studied. Nevertheless, the spatial association of the teleconnection patterns (i.e. the spatial delineation of regions with teleconnections) has been unattended. Such spatial association allows to characterize how stable (heterogeneity/dependent and statistically significant) is the underlying spatial phenomena for a given pattern. Thus our objective was to characterize the spatial association of climate teleconnection patterns related to precipitation using an exploratory spatial data analysis approach. Global and local indicators of spatial association (Moran’s I and LISA) were used to detect spatial patterns of teleconnections based on TRMM satellite images and climate indices. Moran’s I depicted high positive spatial association for different climate indices, and LISA depicted two types of teleconnections patterns. The homogenous patterns were localized in the Coast and Amazonian regions, meanwhile the disperse patterns had a major presence in the Highlands. The results also showed some areas that, although with moderate to high teleconnection influences, had a random spatial patterns (i.e. non-significant spatial association). Other areas showed both teleconnections and significant spatial association, but with dispersed patterns. This pointed out the need to explore the local underlying features (topography, orientation, wind and micro-climates) that restrict (non-significant spatial association) or reaffirm (disperse patterns) the teleconnection patterns.

To reduce and prevent significant economic flood losses, reliable tools are required to estimate potential river inundation effects. This paper focuses on the estimation of direct damages caused by flooding with different return periods in urban and agricultural areas. A univariable deterministic flood loss model was developed to estimate potential damages, based on water depth. This approach involved assessing the mapping of local flood risks based on the combination of historical inundation marks, land-use and economic data. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether it is possible to use accessible data at the municipality level to assess economic flood losses. For the Santa Barbara River case study, the results reveal that the greatest proportion of damages (approximately 99%) is expected to occur in the urban area. In addition, results showed that the approach is useful for identifying and mapping flooded areas with critical damage. The proposed methodology can be applied to microscale analysis, thereby providing quantitative results for flood risk assessment, the outcomes of which could assist local decision-makers in the prioritization of critical risk areas, and the development of mitigation options and countermeasures. As such, this is the first study to propose and provide an open-access methodology for quantifying flood losses in the inter-Andean region of Ecuador.

This study explores the potential influence of the urban built environment on pedestrian flow in an intermediate Latin American city, Cuenca-Ecuador. Data from samples of 48 street segments were an...

In the Galapagos Islands, where 97% of the territory is protected and ecosystem dynamics are highly vulnerable, timely and accurate information is key for decision making. An appropriate monitoring system must meet two key features: on one hand, being able to capture information in a systematic and regular basis, and on the other hand, to quickly gather information on demand for specific purposes. The lack of such a system for geographic information limits the ability of Galapagos Islands’ institutions to evaluate and act upon environmental threats such as invasive species spread and vegetation degradation. In this context, the use of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for capturing georeferenced images is a promising technology for environmental monitoring and management. This paper explores the potential of UAV images for monitoring degradation of littoral vegetation in Puerto Villamil (Isabela Island, Galapagos, Ecuador). Imagery was captured using two camera types: Red Green Blue (RGB) and Infrarred Red Green (NIR). First, vegetation presence was identified through NDVI. Second, object-based classification was carried out for characterization of vegetation vigor. Results demonstrates the feasibility of UAV technology for base-line studies and monitoring on the amount and vigorousness of littoral vegetation in the Galapagos Islands. It is also showed that UAV images are not only useful for visual interpretation and object delineation, but also to timely produce useful thematic information for environmental management.

Galapagos National Park is iconic for its biodiversity, its role in evolutionary science and as a tourist destination. Over 200,000 tourists visit per year, leading to tension between development and environmental protection. One way to alleviate tourist pressure is to increase visitor understanding for conservation through environmental education, delivered through national park guides and interpretation centres. This study investigated tourist satisfaction with official national park guides and park facilities. A latent class model of nearly 9000 tourists indicated that older women on cruise tours who had planned their trips well in advance were most satisfied with both. Younger men on short, spontaneous land-based visits were more likely not to be satisfied. However, while creating tourist products to satisfy young men could provide short-term economic benefits, such strategies could have long-term disadvantages if they threaten the Galapagos wildlife that gives the islands a competitive advant...

Introduction Approximately 66 million people with disabilities (PWD) live in Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite the important advances in regulations for social inclusion in this region, urban public spaces are not accessible to PWD. In this study, we assess street-level accessibility in the city of Cuenca (Ecuador) to examine the disparities for people with different mobility conditions. Methods We designed and implemented a mobile-based tool to audit street-level accessibility related to two key issues: the compliance level with the national standard for accessibility (NAMF) and the presence and characteristics of obstacles that hinder pedestrian mobility. A set of 214 street segments were audited by volunteers with different mobility conditions (unrestricted, restricted, or impaired). The collected data were analysed to compute accessibility indices (AIs) for each condition ranging from 0 (totally inaccessible) to 1 (totally accessible). AI values were examined to determine the differences among conditions. Results None of the 214 audited street segments fully complied with the NAMF. The AIs were: unrestricted mobility = 0.4, restricted mobility = 0.29, impaired mobility = 0.12. Eighty-three percent of the audited streets were perceived as highly inaccessible by wheelchair users, whereas for individuals with restricted or unrestricted mobility, the rates were 50% and 34%, respectively. Most streets were affected by obstacles that hindered mobility, with curb ramps and driveway ramps having the highest impact on accessibility. Conclusion The urban streets of Cuenca are highly inaccessible, mainly due to their flawed design and the presence of obstacles, creating excluding environments for people with mobility restrictions or impairments. National regulations are failing to tackle all the issues that hinder accessibility and must be revised. Cuenca, together with other intermediate cities in Latin America, must redesign their sidewalks and pedestrian facilities to allow universal accessibility.

Mapping is an important tool for the management of plant invasions. If landscapes are mapped in an appropriate way, results can help managers decide when and where to prioritize their efforts. We mapped vegetation with the aim of providing key information for managers on the extent, density and rates of spread of multiple invasive species across the landscape. Our case study focused on an area of Galapagos National Park that is faced with the challenge of managing multiple plant invasions. We used satellite imagery to produce a spatially-explicit database of plant species densities in the canopy, finding that 92% of the humid highlands had some degree of invasion and 41% of the canopy was comprised of invasive plants. We also calculated the rate of spread of eight invasive species using known introduction dates, finding that species with the most limited dispersal ability had the slowest spread rates while those able to disperse long distances had a range of spread rates. Our results on spread rate fall at the lower end of the range of published spread rates of invasive plants. This is probably because most studies are based on the entire geographic extent, whereas our estimates took plant density into account. A spatial database of plant species densities, such as the one developed in our case study, can be used by managers to decide where to apply management actions and thereby help curtail the spread of current plant invasions. For example, it can be used to identify sites containing several invasive plant species, to find the density of a particular species across the landscape or to locate where native species make up the majority of the canopy. Similar databases could be developed elsewhere to help inform the management of multiple plant invasions over the landscape.

GPS technology is widely used to produce detailed data on the movement of people. Analysing massive amounts of GPS data, however, can be cumbersome. We present a novel approach to processing such data to aid interpretation and understanding of the aggregated movement of visitors in natural recreational areas. It involves the combined analysis of two kinds of movement patterns: ‘Movement Suspension Patterns’ (MSPs) and ‘Generalized Sequential Patterns’ (GSPs). MSPs denote the suspension of movement when walkers stop at a place, and are used to discover places of interest to visitors. GSPs represent the generalized sequence in which the places are visited, regardless of the trajectory followed, and are used to uncover commonalities in the way that people visit the area. Both patterns were analysed in a geographical context to characterise the aggregated flow of people and provide insights into visitors’ preferences and their interactions with the environment. We demonstrate the application of the approach in the Dwingelderveld National Park (The Netherlands).

Since the introduction of Time Geography, the literature has witness a growing interest in representing and understanding human movement and its relationship with the environment. Although recent technology in personal tracking devices brought new potentialities in collecting and representing individual movements, methods to deal with the complexity and dynamism of collective movements are still lacking. This chapter introduces a spatial knowledge representation for the conceptualisation of pedestrian movement as a complex system based on the interactions. Movement interactions are defined and classified to represented global characteristics of the movement as emergent properties other than as a set of individual properties. The devised approach is exemplified through a case study on characterizing visitor behaviour in the Dwingelderveld National Park in The Netherlands.

Supplemental material, Supplemental Material1 for Exploring the influence of road network structure on the spatial behaviour of cyclists using crowdsourced data by Daniel Orellana and Maria L Guerrero in Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science