Visual characteristics of landscapes are important factors for the assessment of tourist and recreational potential of territories. At present, a number of methodological approaches are applied to assess the visual characteristics of landscapes. They can be divided into traditional, associated exclusively with field research, and innovative, which is based on remote sensing data (RSD) of high spatial resolution and GIS technologies. Field assessment of the visual quality of landscapes utilizes a system of numerous elementary indicators to minimize subjectivity of assessment. They are conducted within separate areas or touristic routes. In its turn, modern GIS and high quality of remote sensing data allow assessing of most indicators of the visual quality of landscapes for any observation point on the entire territory. The main task of our research is to verify the results of automated processing of ultra-high resolution aerial photographs obtained from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by field observations on a touristic route. The research was carried out on the territory of the “Belogradchik Rocks” Geopark (North-West Bulgaria). In our study, we estimated 4 out of 28 aesthetic indicators—the amount of mountain peaks visible from a site, the amount of mountain peaks on the skyline, the percentage of the forest-covered area, and the amount of open spaces in the wooded landscape. The obtained results confirmed that our approach allows calculating these aesthetic indicators at an accuracy level comparable to field observations.
A comparative analysis of the original methods of modeling urban greenhouse gas emissions caused by communal and transport sectors was carried out. These methods provide information at the level of urban-planning areas limited by the elements of the transport network and characterized by relatively similar buildings. These methods make possible to calculate greenhouse gas emissions from sources of the public sector, such as electricity and heat generation, gas burning for domestic needs. Calculation of emissions from sources of the transport sector includes differentiation by individual street segments. The described methods correspond to different accuracy levels including: the transition from aggregated values to the amount of emissions of individual areas of the city (downscaling); calculations using energy standards; calculations using actual energy consumption data. The considered methods have been tested on the example of the city of Nur-Sultan, that is one of the largest in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The calculation results are close to the actual values of Nur-Sultan's emission. The advantages and disadvantages of the considered methods are described. The factors leading to inaccurate results are considered. It was confirmed that the considered methods can be used for planning climate policy measures, since they allow to identify areas of the city and fields of activity that make the maximum contribution to the formation of greenhouse gas emissions. The considered methods are significant of for the cities of the former Soviet Union, which are characterized by the absence of developed systems for monitoring greenhouse gas emissions, is described, and it becomes necessary to calculate greenhouse gas emissions using indirect sources.
The article describes the assessment of the areas and spatial distribution of adjoining green spaces as one of the most vulnerable and low studied kind of green spaces in cities. Usually gardening near the residential houses is not legally regulated is being destroyed during the implementation of urban renovation projects. The characteristics of adjoining green spaces were assessed for the city of Nur-Sultan, where, on the one hand, natural properties make green spaces vulnerable, and on the other hand, the acquisition of capital functions increases the value for the urban environment. A large-scale assessment, carried out using unmanned aerial vehicles, has demonstrated its high efficiency in assessing the vertical and horizontal structure of adjacent green spaces and other elements of the city. As a result of aerial imagery sessions for representative key points, a series of orthophotomaps with the horizontal resolution of 3–4 cm and digital terrain models with a horizontal resolution of 3 cm and a vertical resolution of about 4 cm were obtained. These products provided possibility to identify 12 historically established morphotypes of urban buildings, characterized by different levels and types of adjacent landscaping. Using a three-dimensional model of green cover, the average size of the biomass and the density of biomass per 1 m2 of the area in the selected morphotypes of the building were calculated. Territorial differences of adjoining green spaces in the different morphotypes depend on the period of construction, distance from the river, types of the building and urban planning standards typical for the period of the morphotype forming. Losses of the adjoining green spaces during the implementation of the renovation program according to the modern General Plan, excluding restoration, for the city of Nur-Sultan, will be mor than 11.5 % (+/-3.5 %) of the city’s tree cover.
Visual characteristics of landscapes are important factors for the assessment of tourist and recreational potential of territories. At present, a number of methodological approaches are applied to assess the visual characteristics of landscapes. They can be divided into traditional, associated exclusively with field research, and innovative, which is based on remote sensing data (RSD) of high spatial resolution and GIS technologies. Field assessment of the visual quality of landscapes utilizes a system of numerous elementary indicators to minimize subjectivity of assessment. They are conducted within separate areas or touristic routes. In its turn, modern GIS and high quality of remote sensing data allow assessing of most indicators of the visual quality of landscapes for any observation point on the entire territory. The main task of our research is to verify the results of automated processing of ultra-high resolution aerial photographs obtained from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) by field observations on a touristic route. The research was carried out on the territory of the “Belogradchik Rocks” Geopark (North-West Bulgaria). In our study, we estimated 4 out of 28 aesthetic indicators—the amount of mountain peaks visible from a site, the amount of mountain peaks on the skyline, the percentage of the forest-covered area, and the amount of open spaces in the wooded landscape. The obtained results confirmed that our approach allows calculating these aesthetic indicators at an accuracy level comparable to field observations.
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