Abstract
Taiwan has rich natural landscapes, but the sensitive geology and concentrated rainfall have resulted in frequent sediment hazards. Thus, various stream control works are established in watersheds to secure midstream and downstream citizens’ lives and properties. Taking care of slope safety and natural landscapes has become a primary issue for soil and water conservation engineering. The scenic preference beauty estimation method (SBE) in psychophysics, which was proposed by Daniel and Boster in 1976, is utilized herein to evaluate the scenic aesthetics of stream control engineering in watersheds. It aims to discuss various landscape factors (water body, vegetation) in the aesthetic preference and differences of various artificial structures in a watershed under people’s psychology. First, pictures and images related to soil and water conservation engineering are collected, and an in-situ investigation is performed to determine the pictures and images for discussion and design of the relevant questionnaire. The scenic aesthetics evaluation results are standardized with RMRATE, a computer program for analyzing rating judgments, of the United States Department of Agriculture, and then transformed into SBE values to compare the difference of various engineering structures in scenic aesthetics. The results reveal that flowing waterscape elements and the coverage of vegetation on the surrounding artificial structure volume in images present positive effects on the public overall scenic aesthetics. This study is expected to provide engineering designers with reference for considering a design integrating engineering structure with natural landscapes.
Highlights
Soil and water conservation refers to controlling water and soil loss, protecting, improving, and legally applying slopeland water and soil resources, and maintaining and enhancing land productivity for thoroughly developing the economic and social benefits of water and soil resources [1].In addition to establishing the comprehensive technology development of a good ecological environment, soil and water conservation continuously promotes the ecological engineering concept of stream control, emphasizes flexible techniques and the research and development of materials, stresses on the balance of engineering and the natural environment, and conserving or recovering the natural environment of streams as much as possible to maintain biodiversity [2].Taiwan has rich natural landscapes, which in addition to ecological diversity, offer the possibilities of stress relief and relaxation
Taking care of the slopeland safety and the natural landscapes has become a primary issue for soil and water conservation engineering
The scenic aesthetics evaluation results are standardized with RMRATE of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and transformed to the scenic beauty estimation method (SBE) to study the difference of various engineering structures in scenic aesthetics
Summary
Soil and water conservation refers to controlling water and soil loss, protecting, improving, and legally applying slopeland water and soil resources, and maintaining and enhancing land productivity for thoroughly developing the economic and social benefits of water and soil resources [1].In addition to establishing the comprehensive technology development of a good ecological environment, soil and water conservation continuously promotes the ecological engineering concept of stream control, emphasizes flexible techniques and the research and development of materials, stresses on the balance of engineering and the natural environment, and conserving or recovering the natural environment of streams as much as possible to maintain biodiversity [2].Taiwan has rich natural landscapes, which in addition to ecological diversity, offer the possibilities of stress relief and relaxation. Water 2018, 10, 407 conservation engineering structures have been established at appropriate locations on the slopeland to secure midstream and downstream citizens’ lives and properties as well as public construction safety [3]. The establishment of such structures often changes natural landscapes to affect the original ecological and psychological functions [4]. Taking care of the slopeland safety and the natural landscapes has become a primary issue for soil and water conservation engineering
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