Interpretation Of Aerial Photographs Research Articles

The simulation approach to the interpretation of archival aerial photographs

AbstractArchival aerial photographs obtained in the 20th century play a special role in the process of upgrading the register of land and buildings. These photographs are the only resource presenting credible information on the coverage and use of land in a high degree of detail. In this article, particular attention is paid to the aspect of the spectral resolution of archival aerial photographs. Preliminary research was conducted into the assessment of the impact of simulations of new spectral bands with high spatial resolution for archival photographs upon the interpretation process of such data. The proposed simulation method of new bands is based on the integration of archival monochromatic aerial images with archival multispectral satellite imagery. Visual and quantitative comparative analysis of monochromatic imagery and of enhanced images obtained by application of the simulation process was performed. The results of this research unanimously confirmed the improved interpretation possibilities of archival aerial photographs, associated not only with the assignment of colours but also with the reconstruction of spectral information for the arable and afforested land photographed.

Risk of Anthropogenic Cryopeg Formation in Urban Areas in Central Yakutia

Yakutsk, the largest city in the continuous permafrost zone, is used as a case study for examining natural and modified environmental conditions that control the character and intensity of water-logging in the active layer in relation to topography and drainage. Interpretation of aerial photography and satellite imagery was carried out, along with analysis of drilling and long-term hydrogeochemical monitoring data, in order to determine the response of natural landscapes to human impacts and to assess the probability of suprapermafrost cryopeg development with city expansion. The role of vegetation cover in controlling the temperature and moisture regime of the active layer was examined. Results suggest that the neighborhoods with chaotic development patterns and impeded drainage have high risk of cryopeg formation. Puddle water in these areas is characterized by high dissolved-solids levels (2-4 g/dm3). As puddles evaporate, salts settle on the underlying soil surface and then migrate into the active layer, increasing its salinity (up to 1.3%). Suprapermafrost water that forms in these soils has dissolved-solids concentrations as high as 8–10 g/dm3. Continuous supply of dissolved solids and their cryogenic concentration promote the formation of hydrochemical taliks and cryopegs. Remote sensing and mathematical modeling demonstrate that changes to the soil moisture and hydrogeochemical regimes cause forest degradation, which, in turn, promotes deeper seasonal thaw. This provides favorable conditions for the formation of subaerial water-bearing taliks and later anthropogenic cryopegs

Remote sensing of live and dead intertidal oyster reefs using aerial photo interpretation in Northeast Florida

The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, has been classified as a keystone species as well as an ecosystem engineer because of the significant benefits that oysters and oyster reefs provide. Oyster reefs are being recognized as valuable for shoreline protection within coastal areas. The severe loss of oyster reef coverage has encouraged different types of conservation, mapping, monitoring and restoration efforts throughout its native range. Intertidal oyster reefs are an important habitat as well as an important industry in Florida, which makes accurate habitat monitoring a key element of resource management for this species. This project focused on creating a continuous intertidal oyster reef habitat map in northeast Florida. Existing aerial photography was used to identify oyster reef signatures, and map the distribution of intertidal oyster reefs throughout the study region using ArcGIS software. When accuracy assessment was completed, we found the number of observed agreements was 97% of the total observations. This mapping effort represents the first successful attempt at fine-scale oyster reef mapping across the entire northeast Florida region and resulted in a total of 17,953 individual reefs being mapped, with a total reef coverage of 651.86 ha. By using existing aerial photography, this methodology represents a low-cost method for reef mapping, compared to other methods such as drone imagery or field-based mapping. This baseline map of current oyster distribution will serve many functions for management this particular ecosystem. Future changes to reef distribution can be mapped and used to identify potential negative or positive impacts to the habitat.

An assessment of metaheuristic approaches for flood assessment

This study is performed to determine the importance of metaheuristic approaches and their accuracy with respect to the spatial modeling process emphasising on flood phenomena. In this study, four ensemble metaheuristic approaches, including the combinations of ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System) with the genetic algorithm (GA), simulated annealing (SA), imperialist competitive algorithm (ICA), and differential evolution (DE), are used for flood zoning in Dingnan County, China. Based on historical records, aerial photo interpretation, field surveys, and Google Earth, the location of 115 floods are recorded in the study area. Different categorical and continuous factors affecting floods, including the plan curvature, altitude, distance to rivers, slope degree, rainfall, land use, lithology, stream power index, topographic wetness index, soil type, aspect, normalized difference vegetation index, and profile curvature, are identified in the study area and entered in GIS software. Flood susceptibility maps (FSMs) are validated using the ROC curve. The results confirm that the AUCs of the four combined metaheuristic models are larger than 79%. The highest AUC value is obtained for the ANFIS–GA ensemble (0.903), followed by the ANFIS–SA (0.843), ANFIS–DE (0.812), and ANFIS–ICA (0.798). The RMSEs obtained for the training data of the different models are 0.2562 (ANFIS-DE), 0.3121 (ANFIS-GA), 0.3345 (ANFIS-ICA), and 0.3398 (ANFIS-SA). The results of this study show that the proposed ensemble approaches are useful for flood hazard management and land use planning in Dingnan County, China, and other places.

Large-scale mapping and analysis of changes in contemporary landscapes over a 50-year period in the key area "Bogdaia", northwestern Rila Mountains

Maps of contemporary landscapes for 1966, 1980, 1997 and 2016 in key area "Bogdaia" have been made by processing and visual interpretation of historical aerial photographs and recent satellite imagery. The identified changes in the study area show that there is a clear trend of increasing the area of forest landscapes and decreasing the area of grass landscapes which are of secondary origin. For the same period, the transitional forest-shrub landscapes show fluctuations without a clear trend. The restoration of natural forest landscapes is explained by the changed land use and the almost complete lack of grazing in recent years. The process of natural forest landscapes restoration is more active in the coniferous landscape belt and on slopes with northern exposure while in the lower deciduous belt and on slopes with southern exposure component it is slower.

H.T.U. Smith (1965) dune morphology and chronology in central and western Nebraska. The Journal of Geology 73(4): 557–578

Climatic geomorphologists, and eolian geomorphologists in particular, have always been interested in studying dunes to understand and construct past climatic conditions. Smith’s 1965 paper presents an excellent example of a reconnaissance piece of scientific work that set the foundation for (1) using aerial photo-interpretation to provide chronological information about dune fields; (2) the use of eolian processes and landforms as climate change indicators; and (3) extraterrestrial or planetary geomorphology. This article briefly describes Smith’s background, background on Nebraska Sand Hills, and the impact and legacy of Smith’s classic paper.

Deformation characteristics and failure mechanisms of a rainfall-induced complex landslide in Wanzhou County, Three Gorges Reservoir, China

A rainfall-induced complex landslide occurred on April 4, 2013, in Wanzhou County, Three Gorges Reservoir, China. Approximately 1.5 × 106 m3 of earth and rock mass slid over a distance of ~ 30 m, destroying residential buildings and rural roads. We perform a comprehensive assessment of the cause of this landslide using field surveys, borehole drillings, and interpretations of aerial photographs. This landslide exhibited a complex failure mode in which the upper part of the earth slope first deformed and slid along geotechnical interfaces. This then triggered the slide of the lower part of the flysch bedding rock. In this study, the landslide mass was divided into nine separate blocks considering their internal geological features and movements. The study also shows that antecedent rainfall, in association with the geological and morphological features of the steep slope, the presence of weak interlayers, and human interventions such as slope excavations, jointly caused this disaster. This well-observed event study facilitates comprehensive recognition of the deformation characteristics and failure mechanisms of rainfall-induced complex landslides and also provides an insight into landslide hazard mitigation.

Remote sensing techniques applied to geomorphological mapping of rocky coast: the case study of Gallinara Island (Western Liguria, Italy)

ABSTRACTGeomorphological survey and mapping of the emerged and submerged coastal areas, particularly addressed to evaluate sea cliff instability within the assessment of coastal hazard and risk mitigation measures, require high resolution and georeferenced spatial data. Remote sensing techniques fully satisfy these needs and allow to obtain all information in a single short-lived survey campaign. An integrated survey by means of laser scanner and multibeam techniques coupled with aerial photos interpretation has been experienced along the rocky coast of the Gallinara Island (Western Liguria, Italy). The small extent of Gallinara, together with its particular meteo-marine climate conditions, makes the island a noteworthy case study. Multibeam and laser scanner technologies allowed to reconstruct the submerged and emerged rocky coast at high resolution. The accuracy of the 3D surface reconstructed by means of laser scanner used in profiler mode was tested and validated, by comparing with the static laser scanner survey method. The resulting data allowed to obtain significant geological and geomorphological information leading to the definition of rocky cliff stability conditions.

Reactivation of temporarily stabilized ice-cored moraines in front of polythermal glaciers: Gravitational mass movements as the most important geomorphological agents for the redistribution of sediments (a case study from Ebbabreen and Ragnarbreen, Svalbard)

Ice-cored moraine complexes are prominent landforms characteristic of many polythermal glacial landsystems on Svalbard, usually marking their maximum Little Ice Age extent. Despite being often stable over a period ranging from several years to 50–60 years, the abundance of dead-ice makes them potentially unstable in the future. This study aims to: (1) recognize the different processes that contribute to ice-cored moraine degradation; (2) document the spatial distribution of mass wasting sites within ice-cored moraine complexes of Ebbabreen and Ragnarbreen, Svalbard; (3) investigate the relationship between the distribution of mass-movement sites and the topographic properties of the landscape; (4) develop a model of mass-wasting mechanism in a proglacial area. We performed field-based geomorphological mapping combined with the interpretation of aerial photographs (1960, 1990, 2009), high-resolution satellite imagery (2013), UAV-based images (2014), terrestrial photographs (2011–2014), hillshade models and digital elevation models.In 2013, frontal and lateral ice-cored landforms occupied 3.33 km2 of the forelands of Ebbabreen and Ragnarbreen. The total area with an unstable ice-cored moraine condition was 0.57 km2 (127 sites). Debris falls, slides, rolls and flows were the most important processes contributing to the reworking of glacigenic sediments and altering of their properties. Four different morphological site types were identified: (1) near vertical ice-cliffs covered with debris, transformed mainly by dead-ice backwasting as well as debris falls and slides, (2) steep debris slopes with exposed ice-cores dominated by debris slides, (3) gentle sediment-mantled slopes transformed by debris flows, and (4) non-active debris-mantled areas transformed by dead-ice downwasting alone. The spatial and temporal activation of moraines' reworking was for the most part related to local geomorphic conditions (e.g., slope gradient, occurrence of streams, and meltwater channels). Gravitational mass-movements were responsible for the redistribution of debris within the moraine-complex, whereas fluvial transport by meltwater exported sediments outside the Little Ice Age moraines.

THE UTILIZATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR ANALYSIS OF LAND SUITABILITY FOR THE GROWING OF CIPLUKAN (PHYSALIS ANGULATA L.)

Remote sensing data and geographic information systems are widely used for land suitability analysis for crops such as coffee and corn. This study aims to analyze and map suitable land for the plant known locally as ciplukan (Physalis angulata L.). As the cultivation of this plant is expected to be developed by the Institute of Technology of Sumatra, analysis of this type is needed. The parameters used in this study were slope, land use, rainfall and soil type. Information extraction from remote sensing data was carried out via visual interpretation of aerial photography used to create land-cover maps. Shuttle RADAR Topographic Mission (SRTM) data was converted from digital surface model (DSM) to digital terrain model (DTM) to provide elevation information. Land suitability analysis was performed using a scoring method and overlay analysis. The results obtained from the analysis identified several classes of land suitability for Physalis angulata L., categorized as suitable, less suitable, and not suitable. The less suitable class, scored at 9 to 11, comprised a total area of 180.96 ha, while the suitable area, scored at 12, comprised a total area of 49.1 ha.

Bridging theory and implementation – Testing an abstract classification system for practical mapping by field survey and 3D aerial photographic interpretation

ABSTRACTThe abstract classification system Nature in Norway (NiN) has detailed ecological definitions of a high number of ecosystem units, but its applicability in practical vegetation mapping is unknown because it was not designed with a specific mapping method in mind. To investigate this further, two methods for mapping – 3D aerial photographic interpretation of colour infrared photos and field survey – were used to map comparable neighbouring sites of 1 km2 in Hvaler Municipality, south-eastern Norway. The classification accuracy of each method was evaluated using a consensus classification of 160 randomly distributed plots within the study sites. The results showed an overall classification accuracy of 62.5% for 3D aerial photographic interpretation and 82.5% for field survey. However, the accuracy varied for the ecosystem units mapped. The classification accuracy of ecosystem units in acidic, dry and open terrain was similar for both methods, whereas classification accuracy of calcareous units was highest using field survey. The mapping progress using 3D aerial photographic interpretation was more than two times faster than that of field survey. Based on the results, the authors recommend a method combining 3D aerial photographic interpretation and field survey to achieve effectively accurate mapping in practical applications of the NiN system.

Surface rupture and characteristics of a fault associated with the 2011 and 2016 earthquakes in the southern Abukuma Mountains, northeastern Japan, triggered by the Tohoku-Oki earthquake

The 2011 Tohoku-Oki offshore subduction earthquake (Mw 9.0) triggered many normal-type earthquakes inland in northeastern Japan. Among these were two very similar normal-faulting earthquakes in 2011 (Mw 5.8) and 2016 (Mw 5.9), which created surface ruptures along the newly named Mochiyama fault within the southern Abukuma Mountains, northeastern Japan, where no active faults had been previously mapped by interpretation of aerial photographs. We conducted field surveys in this area immediately after both earthquakes, and we performed trench excavations and observations of fault fracture zones after the 2016 event. These activities were complemented by an interferometric synthetic aperture radar analysis that mapped the areas of deformation and locations of surface discontinuities for both events. The combined results document the coseismic behavior of the Mochiyama fault during both events. Subtle tectonic geomorphic features associated with the fault were evident in a lidar digital elevation model of the area, and layered structures of gouge were documented in the field. These lines of evidence indicate repeated activity at shallow crustal levels and the possibility of Quaternary activity. In addition, our trench excavations revealed at least one faulting event before 2011. Our comparison of paleoseismic records on this and two other normal faults in the Abukuma Mountains suggests that great earthquakes in the Japan Trench supercycle of 500–700 years do not consistently trigger ruptures on these faults, and the case of 2011, in which the Tohoku-Oki megathrust earthquake triggered all three faults, is a rare occurrence.

The influence of land use and land cover change on landslide susceptibility: a case study in Zhushan Town, Xuan'en County (Hubei, China)

Abstract. Land use and land cover change can increase or decrease landslide susceptibility (LS) in the mountainous areas. In the hilly and mountainous part of southwestern China, land use and land cover change (LUCC) has taken place in the last decades due to infrastructure development and rapid economic activities. This development and activities can worsen the slope susceptible to sliding due to mostly the cutting of slopes. This study, taking Zhushan Town, Xuan'en County, as the study area, aims to evaluate the influence of land use and land cover change on landslide susceptibility at a regional scale. Spatial distribution of landslides was determined in terms of visual interpretation of aerial photographs and remote sensing images, supported by field surveys. Two types of land use and land cover (LUC) maps, with a time interval covering 21 years (1992–2013), were prepared: the first was obtained by the neural net classification of images acquired in 1992 and the second by the object-oriented classification of images in 2002 and 2013. Landslide-susceptible areas were analyzed using the logistic regression model (LRM) in which six influencing factors were chosen as the landslide susceptibility indices. In addition, the hydrologic analysis method was applied to optimize the partitioning of the terrain. The results indicated that the LUCC in the region was mainly the transformation from the grassland and arable land to the forest land, which is increased by 34.3 %. An increase of 1.9 % is shown in the area where human engineering activities concentrate. The comparison of landslide susceptibility maps among different periods revealed that human engineering activities were the most important factor in increasing LS in this region. Such results emphasize the requirement of a reasonable land use planning activity process.

Distribution and Characteristics of Slope Movements in the Southern Part of Hiroshima Prefecture Caused by the Heavy Rain in Western Japan in July 2018

Record-breaking heavy rainfall in July 2018 caused an extremely large number of slope movements over a broad area of western Japan. We mapped the distribution of slope movements in the southern part of Hiroshima Prefecture through an interpretation of aerial photographs that were acquired after the rainfall by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, and counted a total of 8,497 slope-movement starting points. The widespread distribution of slope movements – from Etajima City of Hiroshima Prefecture to Kasaoka City of Okayama Prefecture – suggests that the heavy rain affected a very large area. The starting points of debris flow during this disaster were commonly close to the crest of mountain ranges. We compared the distribution of slope movements to the 24-hr rainfall accumulation during the heaviest rainfall event to clarify the factors that caused regional difference in slope-movement distribution. We found the area of highest density of the slope movements was consistent with the area receiving a cumulative rainfall of >250 mm. This observation indicated that the position of slope-movement starting points was not related to differences in geology.

Investigating the time evolution of a rural landscape: How historical maps may provide environmental information when processed using a GIS

A rural landscape is the result of the interaction among natural elements and human activities which takes place in time and space. It represents a non-renewable resource that can provide incomparable information on the general state of the environment. The rapid transformations that are taking place in the last century push towards the implementation of monitoring actions able to take into account the various components of the land use, including their concurrent time evolution as well.We performed an analysis of temporal transformations of a rural landscape using an open-source GIS approach that allowed for mainstreaming of the main features of this rural landscape, i.e. land use patterns, naturalness dynamics, landscape diversity and visual quality. These four parameters have been selected since they represent those which most affect the processes at the base of the environmental planning and management of a rural landscape. The survey has been carried out over a period of 138 years, using historical maps, interpretation of aerial photos and implementing digital cartography, that have been retrieved with reference to a study area located in the Basilicata Region (southern Italy), which is considered a territory with an high rural – i.e., both natural and agricultural - landscape value.This methodology has allowed for the examination of the landscape from different points of view, experimenting the performance of a multi-temporal and inter-disciplinary analysis. The main results show – since the landscape has been completely transformed by man in terms of land use – that the areas covered in the past by forest have been transformed into agricultural areas, as opposed to some areas where re-naturalisation processes have taken place. Starting from this first analysis, the implemented methodology, based on a multidisciplinary approach, has enabled to identify the transformations which have greatly influenced the time evolution of the study area. The resulted assessment of land use patterns, landscape diversity, naturalness dynamics and visual quality of this study area, thus enables suitable strategies for the restoration of the local rural ecosystems.

Impact of Anthropogenic Facilities on the Morphodynamic Evolution of an Estuarine System: The Case of Oum Er-Rbia Estuary (Azemmour, Morocco)

The Oum Er-Rbia estuary is located on the Atlantic littoral of Morocco. It undergoes severe clogging due to the sand deposition in its outlet. The current study examined the indicators of the morphodynamic evolution in the littoral system including the Oum Er-Rbia estuary and the neighboring beaches over 1970–2017. The methodology adopted was based on the analysis and the interpretation of aerial photographs and Google Earth images under a GIS environment and field work. The morphodynamic evolution was discussed by taking into account the evolution of hydraulic facilities installed in the watershed area, especially the construction of dams, as well as the dredging works in the Oum Er-Rbia estuary. The results highlight the morphologic evolution estimated in terms of surface units observed in the estuary and the neighboring beaches. The evolution of the littoral system was mainly influenced by the closest dam location and by the dredging works, in addition to the regulation of the river flow by the installation of hydraulic facilities upstream.

Geomorphological mapping based on DEMs and GIS: A review

Abstract. Geomorphology is a scientific discipline dealing with the characteristics, origin, and evolution of landforms. It utilizes topographic data such as spot height information, contour lines on topographic maps, and DEMs (Digital Elevation Models). Topographic data were traditionally obtained by ground surveying, but introduction of aerial photogrammetry in the early 20th century enabled more efficient data acquisition based on remote sensing. In recent years, active remote sensing methods including airborne and terrestrial laser scanning and applications of satellite radar have also been employed, and aerial photogrammetry has become easier and popular thanks to drones and a new photogrammetric method, SfM (Structure from Motion). The resultant topographic data especially raster DEMs are combined with GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to obtain derivatives such as slope and aspect as well as to conduct efficient geomorphological mapping. Resultant maps can depict various topographic characteristics based on surface height and DEM derivatives, and applications of advanced algorithms and some heuristic reasoning permit semi-automated landform classification. This quantitative approach differs from traditional and more qualitative methods to produce landform classification maps using visual interpretation of analogue aerial photographs and topographic maps as well as field observations.For scientific purposes, landforms need to be classified based on not only shape characteristics but also formation processes and ages. Among them, DEMs only represent shape characteristics, and understanding formation processes and ages usually require other data such as properties of surficial deposits observed in the field. However, numerous geomorphological studies indicate relationships between shapes and forming-processes of landforms, and even ages of landforms affect shapes such as a wider distribution of dissected elements within older landforms. Recent introduction of artificial intelligence in geomorphology including machine learning and deep learning may permit us to better understand the relationships of shapes with processes and ages. Establishing such relationships, however, is still highly challenging, and at this moment most geomorphologists think landform classification maps based on the traditional methods are more usable than those from the DEM-based methods. Nevertheless, researchers of some other fields such as civil engineering more appreciate the DEM-based methods because they can be conducted without deep geomorphological knowledge. Therefore, the methods should be developed for interdisciplinary understanding. This paper reviews and discusses such complex situations of geomorphological mapping today in relation to historical development of methodology.

Urban growth (1956-2012) and soil sealing in the metropolitan area of Valencia (Eastern Spain)

The aim of this study is to understand the urban growth dynamics from the mid-1950s to 2012 in the Metropolitan Area of Valencia, eastern Spain, and its impact on soils. The study area is a very interesting example of the many changes in land use and land cover in the landscape of Mediterranean alluvial plains. The analysis of urban growth was based on photo interpretation of aerial photographs and GIS based methodology. At a detailed scale (1:10,000), results show that there has been a highly dynamic process produced by the extent of land developed as urban area. In 1956 only 3,441 hectares (9.3% of the overall study area) were occupied by urban use. In 2012 the total sealed surface was 10,523 hectares, around 30% of the studied area. The increase in built-up areas for the whole period was 206%, representing an average annual rate of 126 ha/yr. In the Metropolitan Area of Valencia much of the land converted to urban use was once highly productive agricultural soils. Around 5,763 ha of soil types with very high and high land capability, mainly Calcaric Fluvisols, were sealed throughout the study period.

Timing of red-edge and shortwave infrared reflectance critical for early stress detection induced by bark beetle (Ips typographus, L.) attack

Forest disturbance in Europe, induced by European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus, L., results in regional-scale dieback. Early stress detection in Norway spruce stands caused by bark beetle infestation at the green attack stage (when trees are yet to show distinct symptoms observable by the human eye) is crucial and can lead to improved forest management and reduced economic losses. This study aims to investigate and understand the dynamics of leaf traits and reflectance of Norway spruce (Picea abies) trees during bark beetle attack. Using high-resolution temporal images from RapidEye and SPOT-5 in parallel with the collection of field data, we examined which spectral regions and leaf traits are affected by infestation over time and how they help the discrimination between healthy and infested plots at the early stage of the attack. To achieve this aim, we used a novel approach by targeting both leaf and canopy level. We measured leaf reflectance spectra and six leaf traits (water content, nitrogen, chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll and stomatal conductance) from 66 (30 plots) healthy and 54 (8 plots) infested trees at three consecutive time measurements in the summer of 2015 in the Bavarian Forest National Park. Concurrently, canopy reflectance and spectral vegetation indices (SVIs) were extracted from the selected plots (30 healthy plots) using seven RapidEye images and six SPOT-5 images. For the infested plots, in addition to the field measured plots (8), canopy spectral reflectance were extracted from the reference infestation data (291 plots) obtained through visual interpretation of high-resolution aerial photographs. Results demonstrated significant differences (p < 0.05) in the studied leaf traits between healthy and infested samples, and these differences increased with the progression of infestation. We found that leaf and canopy reflectance were significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) for the infested trees by bark beetle than the healthy ones in the ‘red edge’ (680–790 nm) and ‘shortwave infrared’ (1110–1490 nm) spectrum throughout the infestation event. Our results further demonstrated that the spectral vegetation indices calculated from the red-edge and SWIR spectral bands, such as NDRE, DSWI, LWCI and NDWI, were able to differentiate between healthy and infested trees earlier than the other SVIs. The new insight offered by these results is that the red-edge and SWIR spectral information from multispectral satellites has the potential to considerably improve monitoring and detection of forest stress and has important implications for European field bark beetle management and future studies.

Geomorphological analysis of wetland distribution on various spatial scales

Abstract. This study introduces some case analyses of wetland distribution on various spatial scales, from nationwide to the area of a wetland group, with a focus on geomorphological feature. Then described the usefulness of GIS analysis in wetland research. The nationwide wetland distribution in Japan showed that wetland density was high at less than 200 m and around 1600–2000 m. Wetlands in mountainous regions were concentrated in snowy Quaternary volcanic regions from the center to the northern part of Japan. This implied snow accumulation and topography of volcanic mountains are important for wetland formation. Secondly, we clarified that wetlands were mainly distributed on the gentle slope of original volcanic surfaces and in landslides in the Hachimantai volcanic groups, in the northern Japan, using 10-m grid DEM and aerial photo interpretation. With the higher-resolution data, it was clear that wetlands were arranged depending on the microtopography of landslides and volcanic surfaces and groundwater. Using data with resolution suitable for the target topographical size and combining the results of multiple spatial scales/resolutions, we can understand the origin of wetlands in more detail.