class 2

• Environmental problem solving


  • Requires science- and fact-based technical information on which to base decisions and actions
• Environmental planners


  • They are generally gatekeepers of information and they must be adept at gathering, analysing, interpreting, integrating and presenting information
• In land use context, much of this information is spatial and is best represented in maps and spatial images

  
• Land use and natural resources are often regarded as dynamic because they change over time and space
• Information gathering and assessment

  1. Look at readily available information and general information

  2. Increasing levels of detail
• Rapid assessment


  1. Takes a quick look at problems and available information and moves quickly to initiation

  2. Identifies needs for more detailed analysis to follow (data gap analysis)
• Intermediate and advanced assessment

  1. Increasing levels of detail

  2. More analysis

  3. More sophisticated data products
• Gathering basic data


  1. Maps or remotely sensed information on topography, soils, geology and land use/cover

  2. Wetlands, habitats, and culturally significant areas from field monitoring and/or local knowledge

  
• Analytical studies


  1. Prioritize and interpret data

  2. Aim to make sense of the information
• Leopold matrix


  The best known matrix methodology available for predicting the impact of a project on the environment
• Leopold matrix


  • Allows for the identification of cause-effect relationships through a two dimensional matrix cross-referencing
  • Reflects the activities linked to the project that are supposed to have an impact on man and the environment
  • Reflects the existing environmental and social conditions that could possibly be affected by the project
• Leopold matrix


  Uses a tabular format to organize & quantify the potential impact of human activities on resources of concern
• Leopold matrix


  • Impacts are measured in ordinal scale (e.g. 0 =no impact; 1= minor; 2=moderate; 3=severe impact)
  • Proposed developments are usually accepted when environmental costs are minimal and high socioeconomic benefit
  • Proposed developments are usually rejected when there are more environmental costs
• The Leopold matrix entirely depends on expert judgment
• Modeling


  • Potential powerful technique for quantifying the cause-effect relationships leading to cumulative effects
  • Consists of quantitative predictions based on input data & can compute effect of various scenarios
  • Models are only as reliable as the data which are entered into them
  • Modeling can take the form of mathematical equations describing cumulative processes such as soil erosion
• For meaningful analysis, models requires the end user to have mathematical and statistical knowledge
• Map overlay analysis


  • Allows overlaid layers to be viewed concurrently in one composite map which permits the spatial relationships among the features of the different layers to be recognized
  • Incorporates locational information into cumulative effects analysis & help set the boundaries of the analysis, analyze landscape parameters, and identify areas where effects are or will be greatest
  • GIS has long been recommended as a most powerful tool from which map overlays can be performed
• Advantages of impact identification methods

  • Checklists: simple to understand and use, good for site selection and priority setting
  • Matrices: link action to impact, good method for displaying EIA results
  • Networks: link action to impact, useful in simplified form for checking for second order impacts
  • Overlays: easy to understand, good display method, good siting tool
  • GIS and computer expert systems: excellent for impact identification and analysis, good for 'experimenting'
• Disadvantages of impact identification methods

  • Checklists: do not distinguish between direct and indirect impacts, do not link action and impact, the process of incorporating values can be controversial
  • Matrices: difficult to distinguish direct and indirect impacts, significant potential for double-counting of impacts
  • Networks: can become very complex if used beyond simplified version
  • Overlays: address only direct impacts, do not address impact duration or probability
  • GIS and computer expert systems: heavy reliance on knowledge and data, often complex and expensive
• The GIS capabilities allows us to examine landscapes in ways that would be impossible or nearly impossible with other tools
• Major application of GIS in NRM

  • Change detection
  • Resource assessment
  • Scenario analysis
  • Impact assessment
• Accuracy is the ability of a measurement to describe a landscape feature's true location, size, or condition

  
• Precision relates to the degree of specificity to which a measurement is described, and can also describe the relative consistency among a set of measurements