Air Photographs Research Articles

English Landscapes and Identities: Investigating Landscape Change from 1500 BC to AD 1086 by Chris Gosden, Chris Green, and the EngLaId Team

Reviewed by: English Landscapes and Identities: Investigating Landscape Change from 1500 BC to AD 1086by Chris Gosden, Chris Green, and the EngLaId Team Hans Renes English Landscapes and Identities: Investigating Landscape Change from 1500 BC to AD 1086. Chris Gosden, Chris Green, and the EngLaId Team. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. Pp. 496, maps, tables, charts, appendices, bibliography, index. $115.00, hardcover, ISBN 978-0-1988-7062-0. The study of the histories of English man-made landscapes has come a long way since the days of O. G. S. Crawford and William G. Hoskins. Following their leads, the interdisciplinary study of landscape history and archaeology (LHA) by archaeologists, historians, geographers, ecologists, and others developed into a popular field and became a discipline on its own with seminars, journals, and a constant flow of books [End Page 105]that appeal to the academic as well as the general reader. The huge growth of available data from commercial development–led archaeology and by the Portable Antiquities Scheme asked for systematic study on a regional and even international scale, facilitated by techniques such as geographical information systems. To cope with such new challenges, the large-scale, interdisciplinary, and long-term research project English Landscapes and Identities (acronym EngLaId) was funded by an ERC Advanced Grant from 2011 to 2016. The project covered an extraordinary long period, from the Middle Bronze Age until the Domesday Book, studied by a team of archaeologists with specializations in different time periods. It is described as a big data project, as it attempted "to synthesize all the major data sets from English archaeology within a digital environment" (v). Within the discipline of archaeology I know of no other project in which big data were used on this scale. Five years after the project was finished, the present, impressive book was published. The first introductory chapter provides the backgrounds of the project, a short but clear historiography, and the main terminology. The other ten chapters are grouped into three main themes: data, broader patterns, and variability. In the first part, the creation of archaeological data is explored. It is fascinating to see the extension of the toolbox during the last century, with air photographs, new dating methods, palynology, statistics, and so on. In chapter 2 the availability and in chapter 3 the dispersion of archaeological data is analyzed. England has long been divided into a highland (gradually the northwestern half) and a lowland zone. The lowland zone has during most of the last millennia been more densely populated and more intensively used, but—as modern development is concentrated in these regions—there is also more development-led archaeology and hence more data. During the two centuries before the Domesday Book, part of the lowland zone, running from south to northeast England, developed to become the grain basket of medieval England, characterized by open fields and villages. It brought a number of authors, among them the ecologist Oliver Rackham, the geographer Brian Roberts, and the archaeologists Stuart Wrathmell and Stephen Rippon, to divide England into three major landscape regions (the mountainous Northwest, the medieval agricultural core of the Central Region, and the densely populated Southeast). Also for the EngLaId-project, these three major [End Page 106]regions were an important starting point. The sample regions and transects for which part of the data are collected cover both the twofold and the threefold division. In the second part, the researchers look for broader patterns, in chapters focusing on ecology, movement, cycles, field systems, and naming. Chapter 4 analyzes the long-term interactions between society and ecology. The text warns against determinism, which is traced within my own discipline of geography (108), yet there are of course complex relations between human society and the physical environment, and they are influenced by changes in both as well as in their interrelations. Within this theme, perhaps more could have been said about the changing demands and perceptions of the physical environment by different and dynamic societies. Later in the same chapter the important question of the chronology of forested and open landscapes is raised, partly by looking at the history of erosion and sedimentation. Although regional variation is huge, the authors conclude...

The case of the braided river that meandered: Bar assemblages as a mechanism for meandering along the pervasively braided Missouri River, USA

Abstract This paper offers a mechanism for meandering in an otherwise braided river and then discusses its general implications for river processes and fluvial deposits. Braided rivers manage to meander without the paired point bars and single-thread channels that are instrumental in developing bends in other meandering rivers. The driving processes for meandering in these braided systems remain enigmatic. The unchannelized and prechannelized Missouri River is an example of a braided meandering river, and it provides an opportunity to gain insight into these processes. This study utilized historical maps, sequential air photos, and surficial geologic maps both to define the processes by which this braided river meanders, and to characterize the deposits produced by these processes. These data show that the Missouri River meanders by building point assemblages instead of point bars. Repeated accretion of midchannel and lateral bars to a common point on the bank forces development of a meander bend around a point assemblage comprising multiple amalgamated compound bars. This differs from single-thread systems, which expand and translate bends around a single compound point bar. Alternating development of point assemblages forces meandering over successions of meander bends. Braided meander loops grow by expansion and translation like single-thread rivers, but they also may contract to produce counterpoint assemblages. Contraction appears to be the more common means of loop abandonment compared to loop cutoff for the braided Missouri River. This differs from single-thread meandering rivers, where contraction is limited, and loop cutoff is consistently the dominant abandonment process. Deposits of the braided meandering Missouri River differ from deposits of single-thread rivers in the rarity of both meander scrolls and single-thread channel fills. Instead, point and counterpoint assemblages comprise fusiform bar elements bound by small filled remnants of anabranch channels. These assemblages are commonly bound by meander cutbank scars. Cutbank scars associated with contraction, however, tend to be composite rather than discrete erosional surfaces, and they do not tend to bind river-scale abandoned channel fills. The braided meandering Missouri River also differs from wandering rivers because wandering rivers meander by building compound bars instead of assemblages, are more gravelly, have less pervasive and much less mobile midchannel bars, and appear to reflect a transitional intermediate pattern instead of a stable hybrid pattern. Braiding and meandering both expend stream power, and both are mechanisms for achieving channel equilibrium. The Missouri River exhibits both of these processes in tandem; thus, meandering and braiding are not mutually exclusive processes. Braided meandering rivers like the Missouri River are less common than either straight-braided or single-thread-meandering rivers, but they are not unique. The long-held distinction of braided versus meandering patterns for rivers thus may be practical but is not definitive.

Map‐making by air photography: 1920

Map‐making by air photography: 1920

Karayolu Projelerinin Tasarımındaki Harita Üretim Tekniklerinin Kalite Fonksiyon Yayılımı Sistematiğinde Araştırılması

Highway projects, assume very important roles in development and progress of a nation. To produce the maps and plans accurately that serves as a base for this kind of transport engineering projects; will also be very important in terms of transport safety, and transport security. In the production of a map or plan; topographic production techniques, air photography using techniques or satellite image using technique that benefit from remote sensing satellites are utilized in general. There are advantages and disadvantages of these techniques comparatively among themselves. On the other hand, the method of quality function deployment that is known in literature as ‘QFD’, is a method that enables the evaluation of project technical criteria and the quality objectives altogether that are expected from a project in the case of a selected certain subject or project. In this study, the necessity of how to review the advantages and disadvantages of map and plan production techniques with QFD technique that serve as a basis for a highway project, are defined with defining the operation stages. In addition, it is also mentioned about how to establish a correlation in QFD technique by receiving the expert opinions for meeting the demands of the companies and organizations for fulfilling their highway projects requirements. However, among one of those three map production methods “remote sensing” is selected as target method, and it is mentioned in the operation stages of the QFD systematic as how to improve this target method in the future by considering the advantages of the other methods.

Draining and filling of ice-dammed lakes at the terminus of surge-type Dań Zhùr (Donjek) Glacier, Yukon, Canada

Recent surges of Dań Zhùr (Donjek) Glacier have formed lakes at the glacier terminus that have drained catastrophically, resulting in hazards to people and infrastructure downstream. Here we use air photos and satellite imagery to describe lake formation, and the timing of filling and draining, since the 1930s. Between the 1930s and late 1980s, lakes were typically small (<0.6 km2), took many years to form after a surge event, and drained slowly as they were displaced by the glacier advancing in the next surge. However, since 1993, the lakes have become larger (>1 km2) and drain rapidly through or under the glacier by breaking a terminal ice dam. For the past two surges, since 2001, the lakes formed during or immediately after a surge in an increasingly larger basin between the Neoglacial maximum moraine and an increasingly smaller maximum terminus extent. Most recently, the 2012–2014 surge created a lake that drained in summer 2017, refilled, and drained again in both summer 2018 and summer 2019. The 2019 lake was 2.2 km2, the largest on record, and drained entirely within 2 days. While a lake is unlikely to form again before the next expected surge in the mid-2020s, future surges of Dań Zhùr Glacier are still likely to create terminal lakes, necessitating continued monitoring for surge activity and lake formation.

A Pilot Study on Remote Sensing and Citizen Science for Archaeological Prospection

Cost-effective techniques for systematic archaeological prospection are essential to improve the efficiency of preventive archaeology and the preservation of cultural heritage. Web Mapping Services, such as Microsoft Bing Maps, provide imagery covering extensive areas at high resolution. These can, in some cases, reveal cropmarks of buried historical structures. Given that archaeological prospection is not generally the priority of most common Web Mapping Services, the conditions under which images are acquired are not always suitable for the appearance of cropmarks. Therefore, their detection is typically serendipitous. This pilot project attempts to assess the potential to use the Microsoft Bing Maps Bird’s Eye service within a crowdsourcing platform to systematically search for archaeological cropmarks in the surroundings of the city of Rome in Italy. On this platform, which is hosted by the company Scifabric (Southampton, UK) and based on PyBossa, an Open Source framework for crowdsourcing, members of the public are invited to interpret oblique air photo tiles of Bing Maps Bird’s Eye. While the project is still on-going, at least one seamless coverage of tiles in the area of interest has been interpreted. For each tile, the Bing Maps Bird’s Eye service provides oblique air photo coverage in up to four possible orientations. As of 5 July 2020, 18,765 of the total 67,014 tasks have been completed. Amongst these completed tasks, positive detections of cropmarks were recorded once for 1447 tasks, twice for 57 tasks, and three or more times for 10 tasks. While many of these detections may be erroneous, some correspond with archaeological cropmarks of buried remains of buildings, roads, aqueducts, and urban areas from the Roman period, as verified by comparison with archaeological survey data. This leads to the conclusion that the Bing Maps Bird’s Eye service contains a wealth of information useful for archaeological prospection, and that to a certain extent citizen researchers could help to mine this information. However, a more thorough analysis would need to be carried out on possible false negatives and biases related to the varying ease of interpretation of residues of different archaeological structures from multiple historical periods. This activity forms the first part of a research project on the systematic prospection of archaeological cropmarks. The ultimate aim is to reach a critical mass of training data through crowdsourcing which can be augmented and used as input to train a machine learning algorithm for automatic detection on a larger scale.

Leading‐edge disequilibrium in alder and spruce populations across the forest–tundra ecotone

AbstractThe distribution and composition of Arctic vegetation are expected to shift with ongoing climate change. Global models generally predict northward shifts in high‐latitude ecotones, and analysis of remote sensing data shows widespread greening and changes in vegetation structure across the circumpolar Arctic. However, there are still uncertainties related to the timing of these shifts and variation among different plant functional types. In this paper, we investigate disequilibrium dynamics of green alder and white spruce in the Tuktoyaktuk Coastal Plain, NWT. We used high‐resolution air photographs captured in the 1970s and 2000s to quantify changes in the distribution and abundance of alder and spruce near their northern limits. We found increases in alder and spruce stem density over time, but no change in their range limits, indicating that both species are affected by leading‐edge disequilibrium. Low stand density and temperature limitation of reproduction along the northern margin likely contributed to observed disequilibrium in both species. We also observed the greatest change in species occupancy within a burned area, suggesting that the increased frequency of fire will play a significant role in the timing and magnitude of near‐term vegetation change.

The Twentieth Century Invention of Ancient Mountains: The Archaeology of Highland Aspromonte

The high mountains of the Mediterranean are often considered as refuges of ancient traditions, particularly of pastoralism and brigandage. Is this image true? This paper reports the first systematic archaeological research on Aspromonte, Southern Calabria. Archaeological, cartographic and air photo evidence suggests that people used the high mountains in all periods from the Neolithic onwards. However, early usage was low-intensity and probably for special purposes such as iron-smelting, charcoal-burning and logging; only in the Classical Greek period was there sustained effort at inhabiting higher areas. The real development of the mountains came in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From the 1920s onwards, there were large-scale, state-fostered projects for economic exploitation of forests, political control of territory, and creation of a recreational landscape. These endeavors tied into modernist ideas of the state, as well as period concepts such as Alpinism and healthy outdoor recreation for city dwellers. Ironically, as soon as these modern efforts made the high mountains accessible, they were assigned a chronotope, and were reimagined as the exemplification of an ancient way of life.

Engineering concept for reclamation on land use of abandoned alluvial tin mine as a solution to achieve sustainable post-mining

Hundreds of abandoned tin mines ponds in Bangka Belitung Province are not reclaimed properly during the post-mining activities. Reclamation in the former mining area ideally is a series of ongoing activities with planned post-mining activities. Planning for reclamation of abandoned tin mines or that has been re-mined by the community is a challenge to represent a concrete manifestation of sustainable management in the Indonesian mining sector to fulfill Government Regulation No. 78/2010 and the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Decree No. 1827/2018. This study purposes are to formulate the concept of the sustainable reclamation for the alluvial tin mines. Studies that have been conducted are to portrait topographic area by using drone, then followed by hydrology and hydrogeological mapping, infiltration and pumping test, shallow drilling and geohazard study. Air photo using drone can be used for topographic mapping. Ground water flows from the upper part area to central low land area which represents a river with low gradient. Three geohazards are identified such as flood, erosion and minor landslide. Based on the identified geohazards, the detail design of building ditch, sediment trap and reshaping landform are prepared carefully for the alluvial environment.

Channel narrowing by inset floodplain formation of the lower Green River in the Canyonlands region, Utah

AbstractThe lower Green River episodically narrowed between the mid-1930s and present day through deposition of new floodplains within a wider channel that had been established and/or maintained during the early twentieth century pluvial period. Comparison of air photos spanning a 74-yr period (1940–2014) and covering a 61 km study area shows that the channel narrowed by 12% from 138 ± 3.4 m to 122 ± 2.1 m. Stratigraphic and sedimentologic analysis and tree ring dating of a floodplain trench corroborates the air photo analysis and suggests that the initial phase of floodplain formation began by the mid-1930s, approximately the same time that the flow regime decreased in total annual and peak annual flow. Tamarisk, a nonnative shrub, began to establish in the 1930s as well. Narrowing from the 1940s to the mid-1980s was insignificant, because floodplain formation was approximately matched by bank erosion. Air photo analysis demonstrates that the most significant episode of narrowing was underway by the late 1980s, and analysis of the trench shows that floodplain formation had begun in the mid-1980s during a multi-year period of low peak annual flow. Air photo analysis shows that mean channel width decreased by ∼7% between 1993 and 2009. A new phase of narrowing may have begun in 2003, based on evidence in the trench. Comparison of field surveys made in 1998 and 2015 in an 8.5 km reach near Fort Bottom suggests that narrowing continues and demonstrates that new floodplain formation has been a very small proportion of the total annual fine sediment flux of the Green River. Vertical accretion of new floodplains near Fort Bottom averaged 2.4 m between 1998 and 2015 but only accounted for ∼1.5% of the estimated fine sediment flux during that period. Flood control by Flaming Gorge Dam after 1962 significantly influenced flow regime, reducing the magnitude of the annual snowmelt flood and increasing the magnitude of base flows. Though narrowing was initiated by changes in flow regime, native and nonnative riparian vegetation promoted floodplain formation and channel narrowing especially through establishment on channel bars and incipient floodplains during years of small annual floods.

A catchment scale assessment of patterns and controls of historic 2D river planform adjustment

The supply, transfer and deposition of sediment from channel headwaters to lowland sinks, is a fundamental process governing upland catchment geomorphology, and can begin to be understood by quantifying 2D river planform adjustments over time. This paper presents a catchment scale methodology to quantify historic patterns of 2D channel planform adjustment and considers geomorphic controls on 2D river stability. The methodology is applied to 18 rivers (total length = 24 km) in the upland headwaters of the previously glaciated Wasdale catchment (45 km2), Lake District, northwest England. Planform adjustments were mapped from historic maps and air photographs over six contiguous time windows covering the last 150 yr. A total of 1048 adjustment and stable reaches were mapped. Over the full period of analysis (1860–2010) 32% (8 km) of the channels studied were adjusting. Contrasts were identified between the geomorphic characteristics (slope, catchment area, unit specific stream power, channel width and valley bottom width) of adjusting and stable reaches. The majority of adjustments mapped were observed in third and fourth order channels in the floodplain valley transfer zone, where the channels were laterally unconfined (mean valley bottom widths of 230 ± 180 m), with low sediment continuity. In contrast, lower order channels were typically confined (mean valley bottom widths of 31 ± 43 m) and showed relative 2D lateral stability. Hence, valley bottom width was found to be important in determining the available space for rivers to adjust. Over the full period of analysis 38% of planform adjustments involved combined processes, for example, as bar and bend adjustments. The study demonstrates the importance of stream network hierarchy in determining spatial patterns of historic planform adjustments at the catchment scale. The methodology developed provides a quantitative assessment of planform adjustment patterns and geomorphic controls, which is needed to support the prioritisation of future river management and restoration.

Adatok a kétegyházi két török-halom tájtörténetéhez

Only a few ancient architectural monuments remain standing in the central region of the Hungarian Great Plain. However, the kurgans’ unique 5000-year-old treasures still exist in this area, with many landscape archaeological, archaeological topography, and landscape ecological survey prospects. Mounds can be found on the banks of no-longer exisiting rivers and at some points of higher altitude areas. The oral tradition of the Great Hungarian Plain marked the man-made, artificial, conical rises in the landscape that are associated with ancient, archaeological periods as mounds. According to their origin, kurgans can be classified as burial sites and sacred points of nomad people in prehistory. The two „Török-halom” kurgans are the biggest burial mounds of the kurgan field near Kétegyháza (Békés County, Hungary) in the Körös-Maros National Park (Kígyósi-puszta). Built by people of the Yamnaya Entity in the Late Copper Age (3000–2700 BC), the northern kurgan and its surface is intact without drastic disturbance, and in the vicinity there are natural sites, especially saline grasslands. Our research team worked on landscape archaeological, landscape historical, and GIS informatical investigations. We made a 3D field model of the kurgan, and created the landscape history and local changes of the last 300 years based on boundary charters, handmade and printed maps, archive, air and orto photos. Due to the botanical survey we made a complete list of the vascular plant species found on the surface of the original northern kurgan. The flora of the earth monument is species-rich. Most species have a generalist loess grassland or ruderal character, though there also occur some valuable species of botanical and nature conservation importance (e.g. Ranunculus illyricus, Rosa rubiginosa, Ononis spinosiformis subsp. semihircina, Stachys germanica, Carthamus lanatus). The southern Török-halom kurgan was mined by the local agricultural cooperative in 1967. Before the full mining of the site an archaeological excavation was carried out on the kurgan, during which the central burial site and three other burials were documented. After the mining only a little part of the bottom remained on the north-west side, which conserved original loess vegetation. In a large-scale project the southern kurgan was rebuilt by the Körös-Maros National Park Directorate in 2011, and its surface has reconstructed loess vegetation. Since no settlements of the nomadic Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age Yamnaya communities have been discovered yet in the Carpathian Basin, the only way to collect more information on these people is through the analysis of their special graves, the burial mounds.

Trends of wetland reclamation in Colombo Metropolitan Region in Sri Lanka and strategies to minimize adverse impact

The disappearance of wetlands in the Colombo Metropolitan Region (CMR) in Sri Lanka is increasing at an alarming rate since the 1980s. Both wetland and urban lands in CMR have become important geographical areas in the country both socio- economically and politically. CMR serves as economic and administrative hubs in the country. This background causes to accumulate population and infrastructure facilities in and around the CMR. Therefore, urban development demands more land for the urbanization process. Reclamation of wetland adjacent to urban areas has become a common solution to the high demand for land in CMR, Sri Lanka. The main objectives of this study are to find the trends of wetland reclamation in CMR and develop effective and efficient strategies to minimize the adverse impact of wetland reclamation process. The primary data was collected from two methods namely, interpretation of air photographs taken in 1959 and satellite images of 1989 and 1918 which appeared on Google Map and field surveys. Secondary data was collected from reviewing literature. Results of this study indicate that, the 63.46% of the wetland in CMR have disappeared during the last 59 years since 1959. The overall wetland reduction rate is higher since 1989. In addition, there is a trend for the disappearance of the wetland extent which is changing spatially and temporally.

ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF THE USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFTS FOR ENVIRONMENT MONITORING

The present article reviews the problems of economic effectiveness of air photography by unmanned aircrafts equipped with photographic systems of low class. The structure and effectiveness of work is shown. Keywords: unmanned aircrafts, economic effectiveness, monitoring, air-photo images.

No treeline advance over the last 50 years in subarctic western and central Canada and the problem of vegetation misclassification in remotely sensed data

ABSTRACTIn this study we examined (1) whether there has been significant tree cover change over the period 1960–2010 in a 960,000 km2 subarctic study region in western and central Canada, and (2) the degree to which Global Forest Change (GFC) tree cover data agree with other datasets. We compared GFC tree cover to cover estimates from air photos (c. 1960), ground-level plot data (c. 1982–84), annotated low-level oblique photographs (c. 2005–09), and air photo footprints on the World Imagery Base Map (c. 2010). Tree cover changes since 1960 varied by physiographic and ecological regions. Afforestation was modest to non-significant depending on the region. We observed no evidence of northward tree migration. An increase in the areal extent of burned forests, mostly in areas south of the forest-tundra, was the largest change detected. We documented systematic discrepancies between our tree cover estimates and GFC data. GFC underestimates of tree cover typically occurred in areas of low tree density. Areas where GFC data overestimated tree cover were common, especially near the northern limits of trees and in areas dominated by dense or tall shrubs. Predictions of climate-driven vegetation response derived solely from remotely sensed data may not be reliable.

The spatial restructuring and determinants of industrial landscape in a mega city under rapid urbanization

we analyzed the evolution of industrial land use in the Shanghai's central city since 1947, with a more detailed analysis of determinants of change in the expanded city area since the economic reform for 2002–2009 and 2009–2016. Relying on land use data extracted from satellite images, air photos, and historic land use maps produced by local experts, we find that industrial land in the central area of Shanghai increased from 1947 to 1993 but declined from 2002 to 2016. The spatial form was transformed from scattered small industrial land pieces interspersed with other types of urban land within the urban core to a polycentric pattern of large patches with greater distances between patches. Using a binary spatial logistic regression on data from 2002 to 2009 and 2009–2016 for an extended area beyond Shanghai's central city, we found that major spatial determinants contributing to the recent conversion of Shanghai's industrial land include land price, the existing industrial land, and the planning policies for both periods and additionally distance to main transport station and economic development level for the period of 2009–2016. Moreover, patches affiliated with different sizes of industrial areas were driven by different sets of spatial determinants. Both large-size patches (>0.1 km2) and small-size patches (<0.05 km2) seem to be very sensitive to all spatial determinants, i.e., distances to major roads and to major station, economic development level, existing industrial land, land price, and planning policy, except economic development level for large patches for 2002–2009 and for small-size patches for 2009–2016. Our study provides valuable insights for planners as it highlighted important variables that land use planning can focus in order to achieve effective industrial land conversion. Our study also offers an example of utilizing different sources of data and methods for analyzing a specific type of urban land use change.

Change, Collective Action, and Cultural Resilience in Páramo Management in Ecuador

This study examines how agricultural frontier expansion and grazing practices develop in the páramos under communal tenure in the northern Ecuadorian Andes and how rules to control them emerge within communal governance. We approach these questions through the lens of collective action and cultural resilience, to understand the evolution of communal governance. We analyze a case study of the Comité de Páramo Ñukanchik Urku, a multicommunal organization created in the 1990s for collective resource management. We use the analytical framework of social–ecological systems (SES) to approach changes of the agricultural frontiers and grazing activities as conservation outcomes resulting from changes in resource units, actors, and governance structures. Through a mixed-method approach combining air photo analysis (years 1956, 1993, and 2008) and qualitative research, we examine spatial patterns of settlement and agricultural frontier expansion, historical grazing practices, and the main elements of current collective páramo management. Our results indicate that: (1) the demarcation of an agreed agricultural frontier as a territorial landmark is a response aiming to control the increase of crops and dwellings at higher elevations, and to limit grazing activities; (2) the authority's legitimation of the Committee and its Board is crucial to develop rules and to enforce them; and (3) legitimation is achieved through conservation knowledge and autonomous decisions to control páramos considered a communal territory. A broader comprehension of the context and history of cultural change is needed to understand the emergence of communal governance of páramos. Cultural-political dimensions are key to the cultural resilience of social systems in SES and to strengthening rules and institutional diversity to manage the commons in Andean communities.

Ocean Beach, Tasmania: A swell-dominated shoreline reaches climate-induced recessional tipping point?

Global sea-level rise since the Nineteenth Century is expected to eventually cause recession of many shores, however most swell-exposed sandy beaches have not yet shown such response. This study analysed a 70-year air photo and beach profile record for swell-dominated Ocean Beach (western Tasmania) to show an abrupt change of long-term shoreline position variability circa 1980, from episodic erosion and accretion since at least 1947 to persistent recession with no recovery up to the present. Dating of back-dune peats exposed in the dune scarp showed that recent shoreline recession exceeds any in the last 1800 years. Investigation of potential causes identified recent-onset sea-level rise (SLR) on a tectonically-stable coast and increasing winds driving increased wave-setup as drivers with sufficient explanatory power to account for the observed changes, although data limitations and residual uncertainties mean additional contributing factors such as interdecadal wave direction changes cannot be ruled out. We hypothesise that Ocean Beach has experienced earlier recession in response to SLR and other climate change effects than many other beaches owing to exposure to a very high-energy storm-dominated wave climate, littoral drift efficiently delivering eroded sand to a large-capacity active sand sink, and low variability in swell-wave directions and inter-annual sea-levels. We hypothesise that sea-level rise with higher onshore wind speeds generating increased wave setup at Ocean Beach since before the 1980s has increased upper beach erosion event frequency until the formerly stable or gaining sand budget reversed to deficit. A major storm or storm cluster abruptly tipped the beach into its current recessional mode when its sand budget was close to deficit. Factors causing an early shoreline response to sea-level rise at this site are applicable more widely as potential indicators of beaches likely to respond earlier than others to climate-induced changes including not only SLR but also wind climate changes.

Analysis and Evaluation of Effectiveness of the Use of Unmanned Aircrafts for Environment Monitoring

The present article reviews the problems of economic effectiveness of air photography by unmanned aircrafts equipped with photographic systems of low class. The structure and effectiveness of work is shown.

Моніторинг стихійних звалищ та ґрунтів на основі аерофотознімання

The purpose. To use innovative approach on the basis of air photography with the help of drone for assessment of areas of soils under spontaneous waste tips; to analyze state and content of spontaneous waste tips, to lead systematization of the gained information. Object of researches — lands of Derhachev region (Kharkiv oblast) under spontaneous waste tips. Methods. Researches were spent by means of drone with camera (Pentax W60) with the following settings: 1/2,3/CCD-matrix, shutter at shooting 1/5-1/320, ISO 50-1600 in regimen Digital SR (5 Mp), regimen of serial shooting. Flight of drone covered subject of inquiry. The flying height was 80–100 m, shooting was made at different conditions of illumination and air cover. For 1 tour of shooting drone took more than 120–200 pictures of one field. Results. They got orthophotoplans of surface of land, in particular under spontaneous waste tips. That made it possible to determine, present and systematize in the form of database spontaneous waste tips of Derhachev region. By results of systematization they calculate of areas of lands (soils) under spontaneous waste tips for determination of areas of alienation of land under them. Conclusions. In territory of Derhachov administrative region 2,5% of lands are under spontaneous waste tips. Practically all of them are in limits of 1 km from edge of human settlement. For spontaneous waste tips use, as a rule, forest belts, pits, gullens or headland