Volume 38 (2019): Issue 1 (March 2019)

This article concerns the use of remote sensing methods to assess the potential of tourism and recreation of lakes by using unmanned aerial vehicles as a tool that offers new measurement possibilities in such difficult areas to research as river and lake systems. For the purpose of the study, air surveys over three lakes used for tourism and recreation purposes were planned and carried out. These were the following lakes: Swarzędzkie, Wolsztyńskie and Zbąszyńskie located in western Poland. The photos were taken with a RGB and a multispectral cameras. On the basis of calculated orthophotomaps and digital surface models, anthropogenic and natural values were assessed. The examples of the research show the versatile possibilities of using drones dependent on the type sensor used. Remote sensing performed from the deck of an unmanned aircraft is widely used in the study of lakes and is an alternative to existing land and water research methods.

Existing resources of population data, provided by national censuses in the form of areal aggregates, have usually insufficient resolution for many practical applications. Dasymetric modelling has been a standard technique to disaggregate census aggregates into finer grids. Although dasymetric modelling of population distribution is well-established, most literature focuses on proposing new variants of the technique, while only few are devoted to developing broad-scale population grids that could be used for real-life applications. This paper reviews literature on construction of broad-scale population grids using dasymetric modelling. It also describes an R implementation of fully automated framework to calculate such grids from aggregated data provided by national censuses. The presented implementation has been used to produce high resolution, multi-year comparable, U.S.-wide population datasets that are the part of the SocScape (Social Landscape) project.

The European Union’s Water Framework Directive introduced a new approach to the system of water management in Europe by nominating the river basin district as the basic unit in water management. While its transboundary character aims to better manage natural resources, its design and implementation carries several challenges due to its weak integration of various bordering effects related to administrative boundaries that strongly affect the directives’ implementation. Based on a comparative document based case study of two river basin districts – the International Oder River Basin District (IORBD) and the International Torne River Basin District (ITRBD) – the paper scrutinizes the effects on the implementation processes of the directive and aims to draw attention to identify the differences that derive from various socio-spatial settings during the first cycles of water management plans from 2009 to 2015. By thematically comparing biophysical characteristics, cross-border cooperation, cultural and administrative bordering processes the study displays a mismatch between the directives aims for transboundary governance and the actual governance processes which are hampered by a variety of conflicting bordering processes.

The article presents a geotourism valorisation of selected quarries located in different mountainous regions in southern Poland, diverse in geological and tectonic terms. The regions of Kłodzko (with quarries Kletno I, Krzyżnik, Sinica, Czarne Urwisko, Szczytna Zamek) and of Cieszyn Foothills (quarries Na Jasieniowej, Na Mołczynie, Grota na Rudowie, Nad Kalembianką, Ondraszkowa Dziura) were proposed as a case study. The survey describes the most exposed disused quarries of marble, gneiss, sandstone, teschenites and Cieszyn limestone of high natural and cultural significance. As a result of the geotourist valorisation, the analysed geological objects were given point score under various criteria (educational value, scientific value, visual value, location/accessibility value, cultural value, geo-infrastructural value and the value of legal protection). It was found that the discussed quarries reveal high natural and educational value, and they are very significant in education and promotion of geologically attractive areas.

The study concentrated on social attitudes towards landscape heritage and the how the place of living was perceived in the context of the transformation of the rural landscape that is currently taking place. The following question was formulated: Are individuals’ approaches to landscape and their attachment to their place of living essential in terms of landscaping and future landscape changes? The research revealed that individual perceptions of rurality and the historical traditional rural landscape (HTRL) varied in different groups of interviewees. Nevertheless, observing the loss of the landscape’s beauty was a traumatic experience, and destructive changes to the landscape were difficult to accept for most of individuals who had spent their lives in the countryside and who felt a strong sense of patrimony. Conversely, the HTRL presented a less important value to other respondents, thus the destruction they observed of the local heritage induced less painful feelings in them. Overall, the results suggest that it is one’s personal interest that will ultimately decide about his/her preservation of the HTRL in the nearest future.

Scientific research and student education aimed at preparing students to practice their profession under the conditions of civilization and technological changes play a special role in geography teaching. It is important to be aware of the impact of key competences which are necessary for every person to function in the modern world and are needed for self-fulfilment, personal development, social integration, flexible adaptation to any changes and which determine the success in adult life. Proper development of such skills contributes to the correct interpretation of natural and socio-economic phenomena and processes. The aim of the article is to present and discuss research work and teaching activities pursued by the Department of Geography Didactics and Ecological Education at the Faculty of Geographical and Geological Sciences of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, aimed at the use by students of various educational concepts and the resulting key competences necessary for their future work. Students also have the opportunity to develop soft competences, such as communication, courage of expression, self-esteem or responsibility for the group, to which employers have paid special attention in recent years. Therefore, comprehensive preparation of the student requires the implementation of specific educational concepts. The most important ones include bilingual education; CLIL, inquiry based science education (IBSE), project method, fieldwork, geographical educational trails, participation, as well as the use of geoinformation technologies, GIS and ICT.

Lubelskie voivodeship has been standing out from other Polish administrative regions because of its agricultural function that has been shaped for centuries. Food and agricultural products originating in this region are seen as healthy, ecological and tradition-based. These resources have been noticed and used by the local government for building the regional brand and for promoting it. The main aim of this paper was to present the level of Polish people’s familiarity with lubelskie culinary heritage. Research findings obtained by means of the preliminary study and the diagnostic poll prove initiatives that have been undertaken to be effective. Inhabitants of other voivodeships do recognise lubelskie voivodeship and its culinary tradition, furthermore, a great majority know regional products from lubelskie. A development of tourism based on such a heritage is therefore an opportunity to make lubelskie voivodeship’s tourist offer more attractive. The offer may also become an important component for creating the brand.

The delimitation of landscape units can be helpful in the preparation of studies related to landscape protection and landscaping. The aim of this article is to propose the modification of the method of local landscape delimitation developed for the landscape audit for the needs of protected areas. The comparison of two methods of delimitation indicates that the same area can be assigned to different landscape types and subtypes. The proposed modification of the method of landscape unit delimitation allows a more detailed reflection of the landscape and its links to the administrative boundaries of administrative communities.

Through the tabular morphology of northwestern part of the Middle-Atlas in Morocco, numerous uncovered monogenetic volcanoes arise structured of pyroclastic product layers and lava flows. Our fieldwork results witness a wide-ranging volcanic shape spectrum, as cones, maars, tuff-rings, and cone-maar mixes, generally associated with a later lava flow discharge that could develop many surfaces and appearances. There are withal sundry eruptive products such as pahoehoe lava, scoria, tuff, lapilli, peperites, base-surges, bombs, etc. This monogenetic volcanic field of practically 1000 km² offers remarkable eruptive landforms, referred to as the largest, and the youngest volcanic field in Morocco, which consists of a large area within the Ifrane National Park. This fieldwork study provides a renewed volcanic geomorphological classification table and GIS data to be used by a wide public range for both educational and geo-touristic interest and access effectively to such a high-mountain natural museum. In the event that these volcanic structures were appropriately dealt with, the high educational scientific content and the notable touristic vocation would almost certainly create business openings and new financial wages for neighborhood populaces. This work focuses to share our outcomes and emphases the scientific value about the monogenetic volcanic field around the tabular Middle-Atlas in Morocco.

Historical and archival sources are of cardinal importance in landscape research addressing the processes and course of landscape changes in European regions. The Franziscean cadastre from the 19^th century is among the most widely used historical sources in Central Europe. We identified 1440 records, finally providing 104 articles reporting the use of the Franziscean cadastre for in-depth analyses in order to identify (i) the practice of the cadastral data processing, (ii) purpose and spatial extent of the study, (iii) use of complementary sources and (iv) particular land use/land cover classes under study. We have found the increasing attention towards the Franziscean cadastre as a source for landscape research reflected by the doubling number of records in the past decade with majority of the case studies located in Czechia (79), followed by Austria (9) and Italy (3). We have identified the trends in the use in landscape trajectory research and application to hydrology, agriculture and forestry. As regards the data processing, several issues connected with the methodology or design of the records were found (e.g. geographic information system processing description and data source specification). We further problematize the suitability of the supplementary data used and conclude our review with a set of recommendations to contribute to the discussion on the methodology of landscape reconstruction with historical datasets.

The paper assesses the development of land use and a road network from 1836 to 2016 in the Hodonín region (Czech Republic). The aim of the article is to verify relationship between the road construction and land use changes in their vicinity. The intensity of land use change processes between adjacent periods was calculated at various distances from roads. ESRI’s geographic information systems and geostatistics were used. This helped in assessing significance of impact of road vicinity on land use changes. The time interval of periods for comparison varied between 25 and 80 years due to availability of historical sources. In each period about 20% of the region was affected by land use changes. After the roads were built, there was an increase in the intensity of land use changes in their vicinity. It has been proofed that presence of a road can be considered one of the driving forces of long-term land use changes in this region. This so-called technological driving force impacted mainly urbanisation and other anthropogenic processes, agricultural intensification and grassing. Its significance is gradually increasing due to urbanisation, industrialisation, motorization and the rising mobility. Our results from the Hodonín region indicate that urbanisation and other anthropogenic processes have the closest relationship with the distance from major roads.

A systematic investigation has been conducted in several selected geosites in Songkhla Province (Southern Thailand) including inventory, characterization, classification, assessment, and evaluation to study their potentials for geoheritage, geotourism, and geoconservation. A list of geosites have been established for this study, consisting of Songkhla Lagoon/Lake, Samila Beach, Tone Nga Chang (Elephant’s Tusk) Waterfall, Khao Rup Chang (Dragon and Elephant) Cave, and Khao Daeng Hot Spring. Characterization of all these sites have showed that most of the sites have unique and interesting landforms (geomorphological sites), except only a hot spring site (hydrogeological site). The geosites have features of small to large scales (tens meter to larger than 10 km). Qualitative and quantitative assessments have been carried out based on geoheritage values (scientific & educational, aesthetic, recreational, cultural, etc.), with the state/provincial to national levels of significance. Geoconservation efforts should be conducted in all these sites for some purposes, such as research and education as well as geotourism in the province and the region.

Over the past decades, detailed surveys of the Pacific Ocean atoll islands show no sign of drowning because of accelerated sea-level rise. Data reveal that no atoll lost land area, 88.6% of islands were either stable or increased in area, and only 11.4% of islands contracted. The Pacific Atolls are not being inundated because the sea level is rising much less than was thought. The average relative rate of rise and acceleration of the 29 long-term-trend (LTT) tide gauges of Japan, Oceania and West Coast of North America, are both negative, −0.02139 mm yr⁻¹ and −0.00007 mm yr⁻² respectively. Since the start of the 1900s, the sea levels of the Pacific Ocean have been remarkably stable.