Volume 39 (2020): Issue 3 (September 2020)

In sprawling urban areas, geoheritage is suppressed into limited niches. Potential geosites are highly vulnerable and could disappear completely during construction, or their integrity could be irreversibly modified. Here, we create an inventory of urban geoheritage for Clermont-Ferrand in France, recording more than 50 sites using the French national workflow. The results of the quantitative assessment have been used to differentiate between geosites (high scientific value) and geodiversity sites (limited scientific significance, important additional values). Finally, we discuss some important considerations on urban geoconservation, such as geotouristic itineraries or customized management strategies for each site and the whole city.

Reflectance variability in mountainous regions caused by steep slopes can decrease the accuracy of landcover mapping. Topographic correction aims to reduce this effect, and various techniques have been proposed to conduct such correction on satellite imagery. This paper presents the initial results of five different topographic correction techniques applied to LAPAN-A3 multispectral images, namely cosine correction, improved cosine correction, Minnaert correction, modified Minnaert correction and two-stage normalization. The widely-available ALOS World 3D 30 meter DEM was employed, with the evaluation made in a mountainous area in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, located in an ancient volcanic region, with slopes ranging from 0 to 60 degrees. The slope aspect was almost equally distributed in all directions. Visual and statistical analysis was conducted before and after the topographic correction to evaluate the results. Standard deviation (SD) and the coefficient variation (CV) were calculated; the results show that the topographic corrections were able to reduce the effect of shadows and relief. Minnaert correction proved to be the best method in terms of visual appearance and spectral variability reduction.

Appropriate landfill site selection for disposal of solid waste is a very complicated assignment, as it needs multicriteria analysis of various parameters. In this study, we have used QGIS for identification of alternative landfill site in Gurugram district, a satellite city of New Delhi. Various criteria are analysed for selecting the landfill sites. Weight and rank are assigned to the criterion such as road networks, presence of water bodies, residential locations, and depth of the underground water table by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Five possible landfill sites have been identified for solid waste disposal based upon the AHP method analysis and overlay analysis in GIS tool in Gurugram district. The methodology used in this paper is very efficient for performing multicriteria analysis and can be generalised for selecting landfill sites in other areas with similar demographics.

Nakhon Sawan Province is located in Upper Central Thailand, where the Chao Phraya River, the vital river of Thailand, begins. According to the distribution of the archaeological sites, the related geological features were divided into two groups by geodiversity scope: (1) hydrological sites - Chao Phraya river, Bueng Boraphet lake, (2) speleological sites - Tham Phet-Tham Thong cave and Khoa Nor mountain. The hydrological sites are the primary water resources of local people since many hundred years, including transportation, agriculture, and fishery, so there are many archaeological sites around there. In addition, the speleological sites are covered with limestones intruded by the granitic rocks, which has caused ore deposition in the form of skarn. The evidence of antiquities in the archaeological site near speleological sites suggests that ancient people discovered and produced their ores, notably iron in the studied area. Based on inventory, characterization, classification, and assessment methods, this preliminary geoarchaeology study can support Nakhon Sawan to promote geotourism for sustainability by their stunning geological features, fantastic nature as well as beautiful culture, both past and present.

This study considers solid planets at about 300 K and an inert atmosphere having no interaction with associated radiation. Processes considered include transfer of energy from the surface skin to underlying layers depending on thermal properties. Temperatures of the surface depend on the rates of transfer of energy between soil layers. The atmosphere is warmed at base by contact with the surface, convection and turbulence distributing higher temperatures through the air. Comparisons between theoretical and measured temperatures show a close similarity. Mean planetary temperatures are calculated, depending on thermal parameters and the intensity of light/radiation from the particular solar system.

The Lagos Lagoon is under increased pressure from growth in human population, growing demands for natural resources, human activities, and socioeconomic factors. The degree of these activities and the impacts are directly proportional to urban expansion and growth. In the light of this situation, the objectives of this study were: (i) to estimate through satellite imagery analysis the extent of changes in the Lagos Lagoon environment for the periods 1984, 2002, 2013 and 2019 using Landsat-derived data on land cover, Land Surface Temperature (LST), Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI); and (ii) to evaluate the relationship between the derived data and determine their relative influence on the lagoon environment. The derived data were subjected to descriptive statistics, and relationships were explored using Pearson's correlation and regression analysis. The effect of land cover on LST was measured using the Contribution Index and a trend analysis was carried out. From the results, the mean LSTs for the four years were 22.68°C (1984), 24.34°C (2002), 26.46°C (2013) and 28.40°C (2019). Generally, the mean LSTs is in opposite trend with the mean NDVIs and EVIs as associated with their dominant land cover type. The strongest positive correlations were observed between NDVI and EVI while NDVI had the closest fit with LST in the regression. Built-up areas have the highest contributions to LST while vegetation had a cooling influence. The depletion in vegetative cover has compromised the biodiversity of this environment and efforts are required to reverse this trend.

The main issue of the study was to determine the importance of the climate factor for migration flows in Russia, as well as its impact on the intraregional level. The article also discusses the possible prospects that global warming may bring to Siberia. According to the results, the climate factor does not have a crucial influence on the decision to relocate in Russia, but it remains one of the most important, along with economic, social and political factors. At the regional level, the climate factor is less important than the agglomeration factor and others. The impact of global warming has now affected the overall increase in temperatures in Siberia, which is not yet sufficient to generate additional migration flows.

The purpose of the article is to present the concept of using social media (SM) as data sources and communication tools, useful at the various stages of planning, implementing and monitoring the effects of tourism development on a local level. The first part discusses the stages of planning, then presents the characteristics of SM, along with a discussion of the issues presented in the literature to this date. The next part presents data sources and methods of research on SM and functions that they can perform in tourism. The concept presented, on the one hand, reviews the perspectives of practical use of SM as a communication tool and source of data and, on the other hand, the challenges related to the need to further deepen research on tourism planning methods that are adequate to the continuously changing environment.

Iran, being located in arid and semi-arid regions, faces an increase in human demand for water, and the global climate change has led to the excessive use of groundwater. China, India and Iran were ranked from first to third, respectively, in excessive groundwater consumption in 2005. The effects of effective parameters on groundwater recharge such as precipitation, surface recharge and well water harvesting in the Karvan aquifer are assessed. Groundwater flow models have typically been and are being adopted since the beginning of this millennium to better manage groundwater resources. The decrease in groundwater level and the potential environmental hazards thereof have made the researchers here to apply the Groundwater Modelling System (GMS software) in 3D in the subject area. This modelling is calibrated and validated for 86 months at steady and unsteady states. In this study, six scenarios are defined as both an increase and a decrease of 30% in precipitation, both an increase and a decrease of 30% in surface recharge, an increase of 10% in well water harvesting and a decrease of 30% in well water harvesting. The best scenario is selected for the subject area water management.