Visual characteristics of landscapes and methods for their assessment on GIS (Belogradchik rocks (Bulgaria) as an example)

Abstract

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.