Geospatial Analysis of Land Use Dynamics Using Historical Maps and Gis Techniques. Case Study of Rădăuți, Romania

Abstract

Historical reconstruction of land-use and land cover dynamic often require comparing maps derived from different sources. Geographic information systems allow the extraction and quantitative analysis of information from historical maps. This study refers to the diachronic analysis of land use dynamics in the geographical area of Rădăuți municipality, territorial-administrative unit located in the northeastern part of Suceava county, Romania. The analysis is based on the use of geospatial techniques in extracting information from historical maps, for emphasizing the land cover and land use dynamic from a spatial and temporal point of view. The cartographic and statistic analysis is based on the identification of a variety of land use categories: croplands, woodlands, water bodies, artificial surfaces, degraded and unproductive lands. Selection of historical maps at a large scale (Austrian cadastral maps, scale 1:2 880; the topographical plans, scale 1:5 000 and ortophotos, scale 1:5 000, updated with aerial images using Terra Incognita 2.41 software) allows a detalied analysis on the land use dynamics in the above-mentioned area. Complementary, temporal dyanamic of the land use categories is highlighted by the choice of some benchmark years, i.e. 1856, 1978 and 2015 corresponding to a different historical, geographic, social and economic context. The results obtained emphasize the territorial distribution and the dynamic of land use categories conditioned by natural and socioeconomic driving factors which influenced with different frequency and intensity during of 159 years. The analysis revealed that the urban landscape has been very dynamic, displaying significant changes in most type of land use, most notably in the case of urban built-up, which emphasize substantial increases, from 134,93 hectares in 1856 to 773,42 hectares in 2015. The analysis of land use dynamic is very useful for planners, because it can argue the best decisions regarding sustainable development of urban areas.

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