Representative Landscapes in the Forested Area of Canada

Canada is a large nation with forested ecosystems that occupy over 60% of the national land base, and knowledge of the patterns of Canada’s land cover is important to proper environmental management of this vast resource. To this end, a circa 2000 Landsat-derived land cover map of the forested ecosystems of Canada has created a new window into understanding the composition and configuration of land cover patterns in forested Canada. Strategies for summarizing such large expanses of land cover are increasingly important, as land managers work to study and preserve distinctive areas, as well as to identify representative examples of current land-cover and land-use assemblages. Meanwhile, the development of extremely efficient clustering algorithms has become increasingly important in the world of computer science, in which billions of pieces of information on the internet are continually sifted for meaning for a vast variety of applications. One recently developed clustering algorithm quickly groups large numbers of items of any type in a given data set while simultaneously selecting a representative—or “exemplar”—from each cluster. In this context, the availability of both advanced data processing methods and a nationally available set of landscape metrics presents an opportunity to identify sets of representative landscapes to better understand landscape pattern, variation, and distribution across the forested area of Canada. In this research, we first identify and provide context for a small, interpretable set of exemplar landscapes that objectively represent land cover in each of Canada’s ten forested ecozones. Then, we demonstrate how this approach can be used to identify flagship and satellite long-term study areas inside and outside protected areas in the province of Ontario. These applications aid our understanding of Canada’s forest while augmenting its management toolbox, and may signal a broad range of applications for this versatile approach

Solar Mirrors in Agricultural Lands: a Case in Central Italy

The work undertakes the booming sprawl of photovoltaic solar modules on arable lands. In the Marche Region, such a change has come about with an exponential pace in terms of surfaces – so fast that permission to install new facilities is no longer granted with ease. The situation on the field is not known. Spatial patterns as well as farmers’ opinions are under investigation. Is this evidence of a new trend in the reallocation of resources? Or is it merely the eve of a new underrated dynamic? Solar technology isin any case a new promising frontier for the future of agriculture. The Seminar's aim is to investigate and reflect in depth- with specific interventions, on the positive and negative effects and impacts that can be caused by the introduction in the landscape of renewable energy plants. The European Union in the last years has adopted policies for increasing the amount of energy produced with renewable sources also by introducing research incentives related to the technology and installation of the plants

Archeologie en de inrichting van de open ruimte: gedaan met flirten, nu serieus!

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The Characterisation of “Living” Landscapes: The Role of Mixed Descriptors and Volunteering Geographic Information

Over the last decade the need for public bodies to characterise the vitality and degree of sustainability of their territories is well acknowledged. Still it remains unclear how to integrate the different categories of values of our daily life places in a comprehensive way in order to develop appropriate and well balanced policies. An experimental case has been designed to provide novel sets of indicators by integrating information extracted from custom maps, spatial descriptors of land use and land cover and socio-economic indicators. In order to fully grasp the character of a living place, the nuances of less tangible aspects should be also understood. To do so, the results developed during first steps have been subsequently refined by incorporating relevant volunteering geographical information available on Google Earth® platform