2016 THIRD EUROPEAN SCGIS CONFERENCE ”Geoinformation technologies for natural and cultural heritage conservation”

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

ABSTRACT BOOK SOFIA, BULGARIA 11-12 OCTOBER 2016

THIRD EUROPEAN SCGIS CONFERENCE Geoinformation technologies for natural and cultural heritage conservation 11-12 October 2016, Sofia CONFERENCE PROGRAM INTRODUCTION

The Third European SCGIS Conference is a joint initiative of the Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS) Chapter Bulgaria, Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS) Chapter Slovenia, Space Research and Technology Institute – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Anton Melik Geographical Institute of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, ESRI Bulgaria and Bulgarian Geographical Society. The main idea of this event is to invite researchers and professionals from various scientific fields dealing with the conservation issues through geoinformation technologies, to promote the conservation idea and to popularize the Society for Conservation GIS (www.scgis.org). CONFERENCE TOPICS

Some of the images and graphics used in the scheme are downloaded free of charge fromFreeVector.com under Creative commons attribution license with authors BSGStudioand Vector Graphics.

ORGANIZING AND SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Chairmen: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vanya Stamenova SCGIS Bulgaria & SRTI-BAS Res. Fell. Dr. Rok Ciglič SCGIS Slovenia & ZRC SAZU Vice-Chairmen: Assistant Dr. Stefan Stamenov SCGIS Bulgaria & SRTI-BAS Members: Miglena Kuzmanova ESRI Bulgaria Res. Fell. Dr. Mateja Breg Valjavec ZRC SAZU Nadezhda Kecheva SCGIS Bulgaria & NIAM-BAS Assoc. Prof. Dr. Stoyan Nedkov BGS Assist. Natalia Stankova SRTI-BAS Tsveta Srebrova SRTI-BAS SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vanya Stamenova, Space Research and Technology Institute- BAS, SCGIS Bulgaria Dr. Healy Hamilton, SCGIS and NatureServe, USA Res. Fell. Dr. Rok Ciglič, Anton Melik Geographical Institute ZRC SAZU, SCGIS Slovenia Dr. Nicola Masini, CNR-IBAM, Italy Dr. Rosa Lasaponara CNR- IMAA, Italy Prof. Eng. Claudio Parente, University of Naples “Parthenope”, Italy Assistant Dr. Stefan Stamenov, Space Research and Technology Institute- BAS, SCGIS Bulgaria Res. Fell. Dr. Mateja Breg Valjavec, Anton Melik Geographical Institute ZRC SAZU, SCGIS Slovenia Nadezhda Kecheva, National Institute of Archaeology with Museum-BAS, SCGIS Bulgaria Assist. Prof. Dr. Iva Ivanova, Space Research and Technology Institute- BAS, Bulgaria Dr. Florentina Popescu, West University of Timisoara, Romania Lect. univ. dr. Florina-Minodora Ardelean, West University of Timisoara, Romania Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lachezar Filchev, Space Research and Technology Institute- BAS, Bulgaria Dr. Ivan Radevski, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Macedonia CONFERENCE VENUE The conference opening, plenary and technical sessions will take place in the Great Hall of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on 11th of October 2016, from 10:00 to 12:30. The thematic sessions of the Third European SCGIS Conference “Geoinformation technologies for natural and cultural heritage conservation” will be held at Park Hotel Moskva in Sofia, Bulgaria on 11th and 12th of October 2016. CONFERENCE ORGANISERS:

SCGIS SCGIS ESRI Bulgaria Space Research GIAM ZRC Bulgarian Chapter Chapter and Technology SAZU Geographical Bulgaria Slovenia Institute - BAS Society www.scgisbg.org https://www.scgis www.esribulgaria.com www.space.bas.bg http://giam.zrc http://geography.bg .org/chapters/pag -sazu.si es/slovenia

Tuesday, October 11, 2016 Venue: Great Hall of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

10:00 to 10:30 Registration Opening and Plenary Session 10:30 to 11:50 Welcome Speech Society for Conservation GIS 10:30 to 10:40 Stefan Stamenov SCGIS Chapter Bulgaria Space Research and Technology Institute – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences – history and activities 10:40 to 10:50 Georgi Sotirov Space research and technology institute – Bulgarian academy of sciences Anton Melik Geographical Institute, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts 10:50 to 11:00 Rok Ciglič Anton Melik Geographical Institute ZRC SAZU

“Space School” Initiative – a way to space and geoscience 11:00 to 11:10 Vanya Stamenova, Stefan Stamenov Space research and technology institute – Bulgarian academy of sciences Bulgarian Astronautical Society ESRI Bulgaria 11:10 to 11:20 Serguey Shishov ESRI Bulgaria Ltd.

GEONET: The ESRI Community 11:20 to 11:30 Stefan Stamenov SCGIS Chapter Bulgaria

Remote Sensing in Europe: The EARSeL perspective 11:30 to 11:40 Vanya Stamenova Space research and technology institute – Bulgarian academy of sciences EUROGEO: a European association interacting with policy 11:40 to 11:50 while promoting Geography Stelian Dimitrov, Sofia University Technical session – ESRI Bulgaria Advanced analysis tools and techniques in ArcGIS 10.4 for natural and cultural 11:50 to 12:30 heritage conservation Dimitar Koritarov, ESRI Bulgaria Ltd.

12:30 to 14:00 Lunch break

Tuesday, October 11, 2016 Venue: Park Hotel Moskva

GIS-based Conservation of Natural Heritage sites and Natural Resources

14:00 to 15:15 (Sub-topics: GIS for protected areas, Remote sensing and GIS of Natura 2000 habitat types, GIS for biodiversity conservation) Overlapping of onshore oil activities and biodiversity in Italy: spatialising the guidelines for the Environmental Impact Assessment in “Val d’Agri” Concession, Basilicata, South of Italy 14:00 to 14:15 Alberto Diantini, Daniele Codato, Eugenio Salvatore Pappalardo, Francesco Ferrarese, Federico Gianoli, Massimo De Marchi University of Padova, Italy GIS based landscape ecology analyses of Nature Park Bulgarka 14:15 to 14:30 Stoyan Nedkov National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography – BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria OpenStreetMap for National Parks Oleg Seliverstov, Ievgeniia Luchnykova 14:30 to 14:45 Kharkiv National University Department of Physical Geography and Cartography, Ukraine Remote sensing for Natura 2000 habitats - mapping and monitoring 14:45 to 15:00 Stefan Genchev National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography – BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria NDVI changes and their relationships with climatic parameters for the south- eastern part of Bulgaria 15:00 to 15:15 Roumen Nedkov, Emiliya Velizarova, Ibrahim Molla, Mariana Zaharinova Space research and technology institute – Bulgarian academy of sciences Forest Research Institute – BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria 15:15 to 15:30 Coffee Break

GIS-based Conservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage 15:30 to 16:00 (POSTER SESSION) Short poster presentations and Discussions Data layer for protection of cultural heritage – designed landscapes Marketa Flekalova, Hana Matejkova, Ondrej Sestak, Lenka Trpakova

Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Horticulture, Department of Landscape Planning, Czech Republic Historical reconstruction of the battle for Normandy Klara Čevka University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Floodplain analysis for different return periods of rivers Vardar in Tikvesh valley (Republic of Macedonia)

Ivan Radevski, Svemir Gorin Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Skopje, Macedonia Contemporary Landscapes in the Downstream of the River Vrana. Plain Landscapes

Velimira Stoyanova National Instititute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography – BAS, Sofia,

Bulgaria

Tracing landscape changes in Panagyurishte ore region Hristo Nikolov, Denitsa Borisova Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria Actual state of Poda Protected Area using SAR data Iva Ivanova, Roumen Nedkov, Mariana Zaharinova, Natalia Stankova Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria Избор на обекти при създаването на геопространствена информационна система за популяризиране на природното и културното наследство по трансграничната долина на р. Струма

Галина Безинска, Пенка Кастрева, Иван Дреновски, Христина Цонева, Красимир Стоянов Югозападен университет „Неофит Рилски”, Благоевград, България 16:00 to 17:00 GIS-based Conservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage GIS-Modelling of Landscape Aesthetic Properties to Cultural Heritage Site Restoration 16:00 to 16:15 Eugeny Kolbowsky, Uliana Medovocova Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation Combining GIS and eDNA to assess the groundwater habitat of black Proteus in Slovenia 16:15 to 16:30 Magdalena Năpăruș-Aljančič, Špela Gorički, David Stanković, Matjaž Kuntner, Gregor Aljančič Tular Cave Laboratory, Society for Cave Biology, Kranj, Slovenia 16:30 to 16:45 Seagrass Mapping Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques Mojca Poklar Harpha Sea, d.o.o. Koper, Slovenia 16:45 to 17:00 Landslides monitoring near Kranevo by means of InSAR Mila Atanasova, Hristo Nikolov Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

Wednesday, October 12, 2016 Venue: Park Hotel Moskva GIS-based Conservation of Natural Heritage sites and Natural Resources 10:00 to 10:45 (Sub-topics: Landscape diversity; Land use change, climate change, human footprint; GIS in landscape studies Can the Environmental Evaluation Be Objective? Mapping Anthropogenic Influence in Bucegi Natural Park, Romania 10:00 to 10:15 Bogdan Olariu University of Bucharest Faculty of Geography, Romania Bucegi mountains between development of new ski areas and preservation of natural heritage – analysis of snow related parameters in the context of climate 10:15 to 10:30 change Florentina Popescu, Florina Ardelean, Mircea Voiculescu West University of Timisoara, Romania

Man-made relief: anthropogenic impact on natural earth surface 10:30 to 10:45 Vanya Stamenova, Stefan Stamenov Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria 10:45 to 11:00 Coffee Break Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage Sites using GIS 11:00 to 12:45 (Sub-topics: Field survey and data collection in archaeology; Landscape studies over time: spatial-temporal modelling, GIS as a tool for archaeological sites’ documentation; UAV applications for cultural heritage; Virtual GIS and mapping tools) Learning Environment for GIScience in the era of flying robot Massimo De Marchi, Eugenio Salvatore Pappalardo, Daniele Codato, Alberto 11:00 to 11:15 Diantini, Federico Gianoli University of Padova, Italy Troesmis (RO): a case study on archaeological field survey, data collection and data management for a Roman, Late Antique and Byzantine site and its 11:15 to 11:30 surroundings Cristina-Georgeta Alexandrescu Institutul de Arheologie Vasile Parvan, Romanian Academy Landscape Palimpsest Area Modelling: The Case of Mediterranean Basin 11:30 to 11:45 Oxana Klimanova, Eugeny Kolbowsky Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation GIS analysis in cultural landscape protection. Example from Czech Republic 11:45 to 12:00 Jozef Sedláček, Alena Salašová Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic Kabiyuk Project: exploration and conservation of archaeological site using remote sensing methods and GIS technologies 12:00 to 12:15 Stefan Stamenov; Vanya Stamenova Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria The archaeological potential of Varghis Gorges karst (Perșani Mountains - Romania). Preliminary stages in a Geographic Information System. 12:15 to 12:30 George Murătoreanu, Roxana Cuculici, Daniel Vereș, Marian Cosac, Alexandru Radu, Dan Lucian Buzea Valahia University of Targoviste, Romania Two PPGIS methods for urban landscape adjustment 12:30 to 12:45 Zbigniew Zwolinski, Piotr Jankowski, Michal Czepkiewicz, Marek Mlodkowski Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland 12:45 to 14:00 Lunch break GIS-based Conservation of Natural Heritage sites and Natural Resources 14:00 to 14:45 (Sub-topics: GIS in landscape studies GIS-based method for assessment of ecodiversity through geodiversity and biodiversity 14:00 to 14:15 Zbigniew Zwolinski, Janina Borysiak, Alicja Najwer, Joanna Gudowicz, Malgorzata Mazurek Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland GIS analysis of landscape diversity in Slovenia Rok Ciglič, Drago Perko 14:15 to 14:30 Anton Melik Geographical Institute, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia

Yasunization of the Earth: from the case of Amazon basin towards a world atlas of unburnable carbon Daniele Codato, Salvatore E. Pappalardo, Serena Caldart, Alessandro Marcozzi, 14:30 to 14:45 Roberto Saitta, Maura Zanatta, Alberto Diantini, Francesco Ferrarese, Federico Gianoli, Massimo De Marchi University of Padova, Italy 14:45 to 15:00 Coffee Break GIS-based Conservation of Natural Heritage sites and Natural Resources 15:00 to 16:00 (Sub-topics: GIS in landscape studies) GIS-analysis for Landscape and Watershed Modelling at regional level 15:00 to 15:15 Eugeny Kolbowsky, Oxana Klimanova Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation NPP Trends in Carpatho-Balkan-Dinaric Region and Part of Southern Italy during 2000- 2014 15:15 to 15:30 George Letchov Agricultural University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria 15:30 to 15:45 Using a GIS web-based tool to map and assess ecosystems and their services in a very high biological and cultural area: the case of Alto Mayo watershed (Peru) Daniele Codato, Mark Mulligan, Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo, Francesco Ferrarese, Massimo De Marchi University of Padova, Italy King’s College London, UK 15:45 to 16:00 Designing a thematical geodatabase for assessment of forest landscapes status Lachezar Filchev Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria 16:00 to 16:15 Conference closing Thursday, October 13, 2016

10:00 to 14:00 Cultural tour in Sofia

Technical session

ADVANCED ANALYSIS TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES IN ARCGIS 10.4 FOR NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION

Dimitar Koritarov, Product manager at ESRI Bulgaria ESRI Bulgaria; 1407 Sofia, 35 Nikola Vaptsarov Blvd.; T (+359 2) 806 59 69 | (+359 2) 962 63 65; F (+359 2) 962 63 65; [email protected]

The latest release of ArcGIS platform brings new and improved visualization capabilities in combination with enhanced apps that transform the way users interpret GEO data to understand relationships, patterns, and trends. In this context, the paper will discuss the advanced analysis tools and techniques for spatial, network, 3D, and image analysis in the most recent version of ArcGIS - ArcGIS 10.4.1. Topics will cover working with raster data, parallel view of 2D and 3D analysis data, data cleaning and data migration tools. Special role in the paper will have the raster analysis and the newest capabilities to obtain accurate output information like Stereo Analyst for ArcGIS. New LIDAR data management tools will be presented. Modern concepts will be discussed for using analysis in geoprocessing tools and web services. The web-based GIS is widely used for cultural heritage management and nature preservation worldwide. That`s why the paper will present the strengths of using the new Smart Mapping concepts and capabilities for fast and comprehensive online on-the-fly mapping and advanced rule- based visualization. The paper will cover the enhanced functionalities of ArcGIS Maps for Office that let users make better, more informed decisions immediately. A subject of discussion will be the revolutionary desktop application ArcGIS Earth - an interactive 3D globe viewer that allows everyone to visualize, explore, and understand spatial data. In addition to this, the paper will present Esri’s Drone2Map for ArcGIS. The software incorporates advanced photogrammetry tools and workflows to collect high-resolution measurements for the entire area of interest, providing decision makers with actionable information for planning and construction. At the end of the day you will be familiar with the advanced analysis tools and techniques in the ArcGIS platform that provide a range of benefits in the field of conservation.

GIS-based Conservation of Natural Heritage sites and natural resources

Overlapping of onshore oil activities and biodiversity in Italy: spatialising the guidelines for the Environmental Impact Assessment in “Val d’Agri” Concession, Basilicata, South of Italy Alberto Diantini, Daniele Codato, Eugenio Salvatore Pappalardo, Francesco Ferrarese, Federico Gianoli, Massimo De Marchi University of Padova

Among the human activities characterized by higher negative effects on biodiversity conservation, there is the hydrocarbons extraction, with all the connected phases. The production of hydrocarbons, in fact, can lead to a wide range of effects on ecosystems including contamination of soil, water and air pollution, deforestation and habitat fragmentation. In Italy there are few analysis about the relationship between oil extraction and environment and biodiversity, so this research provides an evaluation of the main Italian onshore oil activities (“Val d’Agri” Concession, in Basilicata, South of Italy) through two steps: development of Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines and the spatialization of oil operation and biodiversity through the analysis of oil operation in relation to Natura 2000 network. The research presents the development of new guidelines providing a significant contribution to identification and management of adverse impacts in continental areas characterized by high biodiversity. The guidelines focus on the life cycle project of oil activities, the impacts and the possible mitigations, in the framework of Environmental Impact Assessment. Tuned guidelines are then tested and spatialized in the case study showing the level of pressure on biodiversity due to oil operation.

GIS-based method for assessment of ecodiversity through geodiversity and biodiversity Zbigniew Zwolinski, Janina Borysiak, Alicja Najwer, Joanna Gudowicz, Malgorzata Mazurek Institute of Geoecology and Geoinformation, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland

The paper presents the ecological diversity of Dębnica River catchment, which can be considered as representative for the post-glacial areas in Poland. Studies were conducted at the level of landscape type. It was assumed that the type of landscape is a complex of microlandscapes. Single microlandscape is a basic module of ecological heterogeneity expressing spatial and functional pattern of ecosystems and subecosystems. Thus microlandscape is a spatial unit with highly homogeneous internal structure. The Dębnica River catchment is divided into microlandscapes based on the abiotic and biotic criteria. Among the abiotic criteria taken into account the following components: landforms, deposits and soils, water conditions, as well as land cover and land use. These criteria were used to isolate Hydrological Response Units, and subsequently for creation of a geodiversity map. Among the biotic criteria taken into account: the potential natural vegetation and real vegetation. The result is a map of biodiversity. For the delimitation of microlandscapes we used thematic maps, as well as the results of a field mapping. The largest surface structure in the analyzed river basin is anthropogenic, seminatural agricultural microlandscape characterized by mown fallow lands on the undulating moraine built by glacial tills, habitat Deschampsioflexuosae-Fagetum, dominated by the hull vegetation meadow Molinio- Arrhenatheretea. The second type of microlandscape is a natural forest microlandscape on the sand, gravel and boulder clays within end moraines, habitat Deschampsio-Fagetum involving habitat Melicouniflorae-Fagetum. Large surface part is natural forest microlandscape on the outwash plains built by fluvio-glacial sands and gravels, within the limits of the West Pomeranian potential biochore variety Calamagrostioarundinaceae-Quercetumpetraeae, where the vegetation is a real degenerative- regenerative form of acidophilus oak. In conclusion, the presentation indicated a wide application of this method of ecodiversity assessment on the basis of spatial diversity of microlandscapes in the structural and functional analysis.

Two PPGIS methods for urban landscape adjustment Zbigniew Zwolinski, Piotr Jankowski, Michal Czepkiewicz, Marek Mlodkowski Institute of Geoecology and Geoinformation, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland

Environmental sustainability largely depends on the intentions and requests of the local community. The paper presents two methods of public opinion research in the context of planning green areas in the city. The two online PPGIS applications involved a geoquestionnaire and a geodiscussion. Geo- questionnaire is an online questionnaire coupled with an interactive map facilitating data collection of two types: object descriptions linked to geographical features, and descriptions without an explicit spatial reference. In geoquestionnaire the geographical features are sketched by participants or selected from an interactive map. The features may be sketched as points, lines, or polygons. Depending on the geoquestionnaire design, sketching or selecting a geographical feature may trigger one or more questions pertinent to feature’s location. Geo-discussion is a Web application tool, consisting of two integrated modules: an online structured discussion forum and an interactive map with rich geographical context. The discussion forum is linked with an interactive map allowing to annotate map objects with discussion contributions. The discussion forum has several functionalities allowing to: add new idea and georeference it on the map by sketching a point, a line, or a polygon; comment on ideas offered by other participants; subscribe to interesting posts and threads; like or dislike posts made by participants; add attachments including photos and documents and georeference them; locate post footprints on the map; sort posts by date or popularity (number of comments); run text searches. Using the map module, participants can: measure distances and surfaces; search by address; toggle between different map layers (satellite view, street map view); switch off/on layers including a draft version of land use plan; filter objects from a selected area; obtain detailed information about land use plan. Geoquestionnaire and geodiscussion applications were used to collect the preferences of Poznan residents in regard to the future land use organization.

GIS analysis of landscape diversity in Slovenia Rok Ciglič, Drago Perko Anton Melik Geographical Institute, Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia

Landscape and its elements can be analyzed in different ways using spatial data and geoinformation tools. Based on the results of analyses experts can provide information (usually maps) to users for further spatial planning. Namely, maps of different landscape elements (e.g. relief, climate, and vegetation) showing environmental data (e.g. slope, altitude, temperature, and vegetation indices) and generalized maps of landscape types showing areas with similar characteristics can help us to get an overview of the local environment. Methods for landscape analysis – including classification – should constantly develop since there are newer data and faster computer algorithms available. In this paper we test landscape classification with geographical information system in a very diverse environment. Slovenia has diverse natural regions and therefore different natural characteristics. It is expected that landscape classification in a diverse country is a complicated task. We present some results of projects dealing with landscape analysis. In the first part we present some results of a project, in which we analyzed the diversity of natural landscape for the area of Slovenia. With several maps of natural elements we defined the most diverse areas in the country. We called them landscape hotspots – areas with greater diversity of natural elements. On the other hand the areas with low landscape diversity were marked as landscape coldspots. In the second part of the paper we present landscape classification of an area that is partially marked as a hotspot and partially as a coldspot. We tested different approaches to determine landscape types with computer methods in order to produce landscape classification map as objective as possible. The selected test area is in the Gorenjska region, NW Slovenia. The most distinctive types there are Alpine mountains and Alpine plains. However, more specific landscape types can be recognized.

Bucegi Mountains between development of new ski areas and preservation of natural heritage – analysis of snow related parameters in the context of climate change Florentina Popescu, Florina Ardelean, Mircea Voiculescu West University of Timisoara, Romania

The Bucegi Mountains and the Prahova Valley host the most renowned ski resorts in Romania. Thus local stakeholders will try to develop the existing ski resorts or build new ones in the area benefiting from the already acknowledged brand “Prahova Valley”. Development projects have already chosen different sites based on infrastructure proximity, geomorphologic features, land ownership, and on climatic data, but restricted to a very short acquisition period (10 years or less). Recent climatic changes related to an observed decrease in the snow cover and snow depth in mountain areas require a more detailed analysis of local climate and more importantly of its trend, so that decisions can be made regarding the benefits of such an investment in the present climatic setting. In this context, meteorological data sets belonging to different weather stations within the Bucegi Mountains with more than 50 years of observation have been processed. And for certain key parameters such as snow cover and, snow depth they have been modelled and compared with the NDSI (Normalized Difference Snow Index) resulted from processing Landsat satellite images with different acquisition dates throughout one winter season. Results show that most of the proposed sites would not be viable in a medium term plan, even with snow cannons involved. Moreover a conflict situation arises between development and conservation, for most of these areas are part of the Bucegi Natural Park and thus it is important that these should be preserved for other more durable activities, even tourist ones if they belong to green tourism.

Contemporary Landscapes in the Downstream of the River Vrana. Plain Landscapes Velimira Stoyanova National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography – BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

In this study the spatial distribution of landscape features is analyzed and the contemporary landscapes in the downstream of the Vrana River. The research work is based on the integration of traditional methods for landscape investigation and mapping. The layers are generated in ArcGIS (ESRI, 2015). The main diagnostic criterion for the separation of the unit class landscapes is the macrorelief (Velchev et al., 1992; Popov, 1998). For the territory of Bulgaria there are two classes of landscapes - respectively mountain and plain - piedmont according Velchev et al. (1992) and mountain and plain according to Popov (1998). The territory of the survey area falls within the plain - foothill landscapes (Velchev et al., 1992). For the purpose of our study we have divided the territory into three classes - plain, plateau and low mountain. Another different leading criteria are used for separation of the next classification units landscapes as follows: for subclass - the predominant type of relief according to the morphosculptural features (Nikolaev, 1979): erosion, denudating, karst, etc.; for type - hydroclimate conditions (Velchev et al., 1992; Popov, 1998): moderate semi-humid and hydromorphic/subhydromorphic; for subtype - the nature of the plant formations according to hydroclimate conditions: landscapes with dominant hygrophytic, xeromezophytic and mesophytic plant communities; for genus - the contemporary relief formating processes and the type of the migration of erosion substances: accumulation, eluvial – denudation, denudationally - gravity, karst and eluvial – accumulation; for subgenus - lithology of surface rocks: alluvial formations, carbonate rocks and alternations of cemented carbonate rocks and without carbonate; for species - soil characteristics and for subspecies - dominant vegetation.

NDVI changes and their relationships with climatic parameters for the south-eastern part of Bulgaria Roumen Nedkov2, Emiliya Velizarova1, Ibrahim Molla1, Mariana Zaharinova2 1) Forest Research Institute – BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria 2) Space Research and Technology Institute – BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been successfully used for vegetation dynamics monitoring and evaluating vegetation responses to climatic changes and natural disasters at different scales. NDVI sequences covering the south-eastern part of Bulgaria in relation to temperature and precipitation during the month of August for the time period of 2003 to 2015 have been collected and compared in order to assess the area and time period for forest fire risk occurrence. The images from Landsat 5 (TM), Landsat 7 (ETM+) and Landsat 8 (OLI) was used for the NDVI calculation. The datasets consisting of monthly mean temperature and monthly precipitation data were collected for two regional stations. The studied area was affected by two forest fires in year 2008 and year 2013, respectively. Negative NDVI trends were documented for this time period for both studied regions – Svilengrad and Haskovo - with coefficients equal to - 0.025 and -0.038, respectively. A more pronounced decrease in the NDVI values were observed immediately after the forest fires that occurred in August 2008 and August 2013. The NDVI trends for this month exhibited significant correlations with the mean temperature and weak or no with precipitation recorded during the same periods. The NDVI–temperature correlation was found to be stronger for both regions. Different vegetation types showed distinct spatial responses to climatic changes.

Floodplain analysis for different return periods of rivers Vardar in Tikvesh valley (Republic of Macedonia) Ivan Radevski, Svemir Gorin Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Skopje, Macedonia

Floodplain analysis is usually used in hydrology for calculating the possibility of high water stage features. Floods are treated like a human problem. In the concrete case was taken maximum annual stage data for a period of 34 hydrologic years (1971/72-2004/05) for Gauge station “Demir Kapija” on River Vardar and Boshava. The analysis is created using some probability distributions like Normal, Pearson distribution type III, Gumbel distribution, Log-Pearson distribution type III and Lognormal distribution. Calculated results from the water stage frequency analysis are treated with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and χ2 test for obtaining best fitting distribution with empirical Weibull formula. The frequency distributions results were plotted on probability paper and compared with empirical Weibull points besides the statistical testing. The best fitting distribution is Lognormal. Maximum theoretical stages of best fitting distribution for different return periods were mapped on the rivers Vardar and Boshava banks in Tikvesh Valley. The map presents all flooded areas in treating territory for different return periods.

Man-made relief: anthropogenic impact on natural earth surface Vanya Stamenova, Stefan Stamenov Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

Intensive human activity reshape the Earth surface. The anthropogenic changes of the relief violates the course of natural processes, transform the natural earth surface and creates new artificial landforms. This paper presents a concept for anthropogenic /man-made/ relief, focused on its origin specifics, significance and influence over nature and human activities.

Tracing landscape changes in Panagyurishte ore region Hristo Nikolov, Denitsa Borisova Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

Open pit mining areas in Europe are responsible for 8333 km2 according to Corine 2006 data. In this paper we focus our research on the change of landscape in the one of the most exploited mining regions of Bulgaria – Panagyurishte ore region. We investigate the impact of the mining industry in this specific region since it is exploited starting in the early 60-ties of the last century. In our previous research we traced the changes of the environment at small scale investigating specific open pit mine and one of the conclusions was that an extensive study encompassing the whole region is needed. In this case we are focused on the developments in the taking place in larger area and the impact this specific has on the land cover/land use. We expect that the results from this study can be used for better planning at regional level. Main source of data used throughout this research are multichannel data from TM/ETM+/OLI instruments and this choice was based on the two essential for this study requirements – repeatability of the data and derived products and the open access to them. For verification of the results additional data from other sources were also used – in-situ measurements made by the team at specific points of interest, digital orthophotos, DEMs, etc.

Landslides monitoring near Kranevo by means of InSAR Mila Atanasova1, Hristo Nikolov2 1) National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography- BAS, Bulgaria 2) Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

The InSAR method provides fast and accurate means for detecting even Earth’s small movements of magnitude several centimeters which is particularly suitable for landslides monitoring. The information obtained by this technique is based on interferograms resulting from phase data processing contained in two images from different dates over the same region. One advantage of this method is that it can combine data from different SAR instruments using same wavelength thus providing larger time coverage for one and the same area. Based on this time series data conclusions can be made regarding the speed of movement of the land for several time epochs. Compared to field checks and measurements, the InSAR interferograms obtained from satellite-based instruments, cover larger areas thus offering cost effective manner for monitoring this natural phenomena. The motivation behind this research was twofold – first to provide high quality information with regard to continuous monitoring of the site under study and second to make use of freely accessible data from Sentinel-1 SAR mission by ESA. Other goal that was achieved throughout this study was that, as our expectations were, we could detect small horizontal movements regardless the short time period between the two images used for interferograms creation (in this case the first image was dated Nov 2015 and the second one was dated Jan2016). The results obtained provide solid grounds to make reliable forecast with regard to further progress of the landslides processes in the studied area although the data used are from relatively short time period (less than one year). For the zone investigated the detected movements are of magnitude of 1.5 to 2cm. Those data will be overlaid with a map for the susceptibility landslides map for the same region and with map of land cover/land use.

Actual State of Poda Protected Area Using SAR Data Iva Ivanova, Roumen Nedkov, Mariana Zaharinova, Natalia Stankova Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

Poda Protected Area is a marshy wetland, which is a part of the Bourgas-Mandra firth, located at the seacoast. Management of the vegetation and the reedbeds is needed to preserve the area as a key

site for the Black Sea coast and the country. In this paper the actual state of Poda Protected Area is shown using combinations of satellite in optical and SAR data for the period of three different seasons of the year (winter, spring and summer). Value of NDVI for each season was calculated. The aim of the study is to create new approaches, data-processing methods for analyses. The results show spatial distribution of vegetation NDVI and water in Poda Protected Area.

Yasunization of the Earth: from the case of Amazon basin towards a world atlas of unburnable carbon Daniele Codato, Salvatore E. Pappalardo, Serena Caldart, Alessandro Marcozzi, Roberto Saitta, Maura Zanatta, Alberto Diantini, Francesco Ferrarese, Federico Gianoli, Massimo De Marchi University of Padova, Italy

Climate change represents the greatest challenge for current and future generations as part of the paradigmatic metaphor of sustainability. This is more and more claimed in the political, social and scientific spheres, such as in the article published by McGlade and Ekins in Nature in January 2015, where they argue that implementation of effective climate policies would require that around 80% of coal, 50% of gas and 30% of oil reserves remain untapped. Despite these scientific efforts of quantification of unburnable carbon, criteria for choosing spatially which reserves must remain underground have not been addressed in relation to implementation of effective policies for avoiding emissions. For instance in western Amazon, one of the most cultural and biological diverse area in the world, Finer (et al, 2015) shows that oil & gas blocks cover 733414 km2 and are in expansion since 2008, aside from 35 confirmed or suspected untapped hydrocarbon discoveries along the area. In this work, we present a new starting research project that aims: 1) to map, at global scale, on- shore hydrocarbon reserves which overlap and/or impact on biologically and culturally high sensitive areas; 2) identify unburnable carbon areas. Methodology involves the structuring of an open source GeoDatabase collecting all the ecological, anthropic, productive, economic and infrastructural data; the performing of an integrated spatially explicit Multicriteria Analysis in Geographical Information System environment. We focus on the analysis carried out in the countries that are part of Amazon basin, showing the data collection, validation, systematization, and GIS analysis processes. The first results indicate several overlaps between hydrocarbon production sectors and very high ecological and cultural areas, highlighting the role that tropical forest Ecosystem Services may play in exchange of unburnable oil.

Using a GIS web-based tool to map and assess ecosystems and their services in a very high biological and cultural area: the case of Alto Mayo watershed (Peru) Daniele Codato1, Mark Mulligan2, Salvatore Eugenio Pappalardo1, Francesco Ferrarese1, Massimo De Marchi1 1) University of Padova, Italy 2) King’s College London, UK

Mapping and assessing pressures and threats on ecosystems and the spatial distribution of their services are even more important in decision making processes for conservation planning and natural resource management. To support decision makings, different ES policy support system tools are at present developed, involving a variety of models, data sources, processes and output. Hence, we carried out a research project in an Andes-Amazon area of Peru, called Alto Mayo, where several anthropic pressures and conservation projects overlap on a high biological and cultural diversity area. We focused on the use and validation of Costing Nature, an ES web-based tool developed by King’s College London. Input data and models used by this tool were validated and used to perform a 2013 baseline of the area, comparing and integrating with the data, information and knowledge about Alto Mayo

provided by different local sources, field surveys and decision makers. Output maps, their possible suitability to this Andes-Amazon context, their relationships with Protected Areas and the usefulness to policy makers are evaluated for some ecosystem services such as water provisioning, carbon storage and sequestration, conservation priority, current pressures on Alto Mayo ecosystems.

GIS-analysis for Landscape and Watershed Modelling at Regional Level Eugeny Kolbowsky, Oxana Klimanova Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation

The article describes the experience of landscape sites (geotopes) and elementary watersheds modeling with the ARCMAP tools for determination of valuable forests in poorly studied areas. The authors substantiate the possibility and expediency of simultaneous use of two different matrices which represents various properties of land cover - geostationary landscape sites matrix and geodynamic river basins matrix. Biodiversity is determined by the landscape heterogeneity. Landscape units can be obtained via geomorphometry-and-landform tools in GIS software. Elementary river basin is functional unit of the landscape, providing its integrity with the transfer of matter and energy. Hydrological tools in GIS can implement the watershed modeling. Modeling involves a number of consecutive and interconnected operations. Primary geomorphology modeling includes altitude levels, slope, aspect, plan and profile curvature, topographic index, height above the river, flow direction, flow accumulation, stream raster. Secondary geomorphology modeling is a combination of primary rasters to obtain landscape sites matrix. Vegetation cover modeling consist of spatial imagery unsupervised classification for the generation of spectrally different vegetation classes. The final step - calculation of integrated (geotops and vegetation classes) diversity via Zonal statistic tool. The river basins with the highest potential level of biodiversity may be proposed for protection as one of the High Conservation Value Forests (HCVFs) categories.

Seagrass Mapping Using GIS and Remote Sensing Techniques Mojca Poklar Harpha Sea, d.o.o. Koper, Slovenia

The paper presents a new perspective on the study of the spatial distribution of seagrass beds. Due to their sensitivity to coastal hydrodynamics, sediment transport, changes in nutrient content and human activities in their environment, seagrasses are a good indirect indicator of the sea water quality. Therefore monitoring their distribution and characteristics is essential in determining the characteristics of sea water and thus maintaining a good quality state of the sea, but it requires a carefully detailed methodology, which includes acquisition of data on distribution of seagrass beds and their mapping. On the case of the Gulf of Semedela we performed mapping of seagrass beds using remote sensing techniques in completion with the method of direct sampling with an underwater camera. The starting point for the research was data from multi-beam sonar and aerial photographs. All data was imported into a unified database and then processed with the software package ESRI ArcGIS. On multi-beam sonar data we performed a spatial analysis of the depths and slopes, while on aerial photographs and photographs from underwater camera we performed different methods for image classification. In this way we obtained data on the distribution and characteristics of seagrass beds. Since the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) determines cyclical monitoring of distribution of seagrass beds, the effective mapping of seagrass beds is a very topical problem that our research largely solved. For this study we presented the most appropriate ways, computer programs and tools for data capturing, data processing and data display. This research has shown that it is possible to use modern technologies and GIS techniques to reach new and more useful results in the field of use of GIS and cartographic methods for marine conservation.

Designing a Thematical Geodatabase for Assessment of Forest Landscapes Status Lachezar Filchev Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

The combination of anthropogenic loading, natural disasters, and climate change exert more and more pressure and transform the forest landscapes. The study of the dynamics of the processes and phenomena in the forests on a landscape level is essential, both in terms of tracking changes and defining measures and modeling of future changes in the local, regional and global levels. For this purpose was created a thematically distributed geo-database for assessment of forest landscapes. To achieve the objective are set out the following tasks: 1) Planning and acquisition of Bistrishko Branishte test sites (People’s Park Vitosha) and Parangalica (Nature Park Rila) of selected satellites with medium spatial resolution (CHRIS/PROBA, EO-1 Hyperion/, Radarsat-2). 2) Collection of data on bio-physical (leaf index) field and laboratory spectrometric measurement and land parameters of forest landscapes. 3) Creation of digital models of natural features (geology, geomorphology, hydro-climatic, biogeographical) and maps of land cover. The proposed geo- database will be used for spatial analysis and assessment of the state of forest landscapes.

GIS based landscape ecology analyses of Nature Park Bulgarka Stoyan Nedkov National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography – BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

Understanding the spatial structure of the areas with preserved nature is important for the support of their habitat function, which provides ecosystem values the maintenance of biological and genetic diversity. The main objectives of the paper are to identify and inventory land use/land cover in Bulgarka Nature Park, to map land use/land cover in the park, and to analyze the landscape pattern in the park. The study uses satellite images and ortophoto maps interpretation and GIS analysis tools to determine the main land cover classes, to evaluate their conservation value and the spatial structure of the habitats in Bulgarka Nature Park. A GIS database of the landscapes in the area was created and different landscape metrics were used to evaluate the spatial structure of the habitats and land cover classes with high conservation values. The results can be used to evaluate the level of threat to the habitat ecosystem services and further to contribute to the improvement of the environmental security.

OpenStreetMap for National Parks Oleg Seliverstov, Ievgeniia Luchnykova Kharkiv National University Department of Physical Geography and Cartography, Ukraine

We have been studying and accumulating experience with OSM for protected area’s management since 2010. In projects for updag base maps of Kharkov Forest Park, Mezin NP, Gomolshanskiy NP and Dvurechansky NPs work was done by several professionals without using tools for online- coordination. Basemap that was updated by Slobozhanskiy NP as part of a multi-user distributed project, during which was tested cooperation model of both local and remote participants of OSM community (representatives of the National Park, students and teachers) and Kharkiv University. Basemaps and navigation maps that have been created in the framework of implemented projects were successfully used by employees and visitors of the NP. Based on the OSM-data a variety of options for basic and navigation maps are automatically created, updated and distributed for use in GIS, image editors and navigators. There are opportunities to connect existing map services, as well as to download maps in vector and raster file form, or to assemble maps and publish custom maps. Motivated community members can develop a basic coverage of protected areas, and regardless of their spatial location they can remotely perform some type of work that do not require a physical presence (e.g. vectorization, analysis of feedback forms, integration of existing data sets). In

cooperation with the OSM-community professionals of National Park are able to create and maintain up to date POI’s database, which is important for park visitors. Now OSM-communities members have logically focused on the development of regional centers and major transport routes outside the cities. This leads to a lack of detailed base maps of areas with low population density. Thus, protected area specialists, as members OSM-community, have more opportunities in organization of controlled process of base map creation in compliance with all quality requirements.

Can the Environmental Evaluation Be Objective? Mapping Anthropogenic Influence in Bucegi Natural Park, Romania Bogdan Olariu University of Bucharest Faculty of Geography, Romania

Finding an objective solution in evaluating the environmental state can still bring many difficulties to any specialist nowadays. In the attempt to interrogate and decipher nature, one could easily pass out many important details that could otherwise influence his work. The anthropogenic influence is the expression of the actual environmental state which indicates the level of change from the initial state, expressed in quantifiable data. The aim of the study is to determine a more objective method in order to evaluate the environmental state of a natural protected area. The Bucegi Natural Park was chosen as a case study because it presents almost all types of impact factors, from chaotic tourist traffic, track extension and waste disposal, up to illegal hunting and construction expansion inside the park’s limits. The methodology implied field data collection regarding environmental problems or incompatibilities, cartographic material and satellite imagery (Sentinel 2 images) processing, GIS analysis and finally data validation. In order to evaluate the anthropogenic influence, a variation of the InVEST model was used, together with an expert opinion based methodology to raise the objectiveness in score deriving. Several impact factors were used for the analysis, such as constructions, roads, tracks, sheepfolds, utilities, traffic, affected vegetation, soil erosion, pollution, resources exploitation and illegal hunting. The results revealed a map with quantifiable data regarding the level of anthropogenic influence in the protected area. The results were statistically validated with random points and using ground truth data extracted from the orthophotos and field observations. This study is important for developing new methods in evaluating and monitoring protected areas, but in order to quantify the state of the nature with more objectiveness, more studies have to be carried out in the environmental analysis.

Combining GIS and eDNA to assess the groundwater habitat of black Proteus in Slovenia Magdalena Năpăruș-Aljančič1, Špela Gorički1, David Stanković1,2, Matjaž Kuntner3, Gregor Aljančič1 1) Tular Cave Laboratory, Society for Cave Biology, Kranj; 2) Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy; 3) Institute of Biology, SRZ-SAZU, Ljubljana

Many of the fast growing socio-economic problems arise from unsustainable use of natural resources. The rapid decline of groundwater fauna is not merely a pressing conservation problem, it is a challenge that Slovenia has to confront: protection and sustainable use of karst groundwater. One such case is the aquatic cave habitat of an enigmatic amphibian, the olm - Proteus anguinus, a global symbol of subterranean biodiversity. In 1986, a unique dark population was discovered within a single cave system of less than 30 km2 in SE Slovenia and described as Proteus anguinusparkelj. This most distinct and rare of all Proteus populations is highly endangered; even a small local pollution could have a devastating impact on the entire population, and also destroy the overlapping regional drinking water supply. The main threats for black Proteus relate to agriculture (overuse of pesticides and fertilisers), waste disposed

from industry and unregulated sewage management and renewable energy production (contaminated biogas slurry used as fertilizer in intensive agriculture). Since the habitat of black Proteus is inaccessible to man, we developed an environmental DNA- based assay of spring water samples to test for its presence. We detected black Proteus eDNA at five new sites. We use GIS both to draw the new habitat area of the black Proteus and to analyze pollution trends within its habitat (1987 vs. 2014). Our GIS analysis showed high increase of pollutants (especially nitrates and phosphates), overpassing dramatically the values measured almost 30 years ago. The use of eDNA in conjunction with GIS results in a powerful tool to assess distribution of black Proteus and its present conservation status. Moreover, our research will contribute to establishment of the urgently needed monitoring scheme for the black Proteus, and will better guide future management of karstic groundwater resources.

Remote sensing for Natura 2000 habitats - mapping and monitoring Stefan Genchev National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography – BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

Scientific studies on natural habitats of Natura 2000 plays an important role in the European Union countries over the last decade. In this connection it is necessary that current and constant spatial data is available to the stakeholders. Such data can be provided by remote sensing, which can achieve accurate and repeatable quantitative and qualitative characteristics of natural habitats. This is necessary for their mapping and it will be useful for their monitoring. The main objective of this study is mapping the biophysical components of selected representative sites of Natura 2000 by using remote sensing data. For the study areas are chosen the protected sites "Dragoman" and "Rayanovtsi" which possess a rich set of biophysical components. In respect with the requirements for regular monitoring of the processes occurring in the protected NATURA 2000 areas it is necessary to track the status of a number of bio-components. This process requires monitoring and mapping of the changes and the bio-components recovering inside the protected areas. For this purpose in the study were applied modern scientific methods in the field of remote sensing classification and segmentation of objects of the land cover such as Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA). For the monitoring of the spatial changes and the state of the representative test habitats the topographic maps and satellite images from different periods were used. In the presented material will be discussed both opportunities and challenges in the application of remote sensing methods for the area of interest.

Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage Sites using GIS

Data layer for protection of cultural heritage – designed landscapes Marketa Flekalova, Hana Matejkova, Ondrej Sestak, Lenka Trpakova Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

Designed landscapes are a specific type of cultural landscapes, with a particular idea in their design. Their characteristics still influence the quality of space and its organization. Some are well known and protected (State Heritage Preservation Act), but mostly they are still not identified. Nevertheless they are cultural, historical and urbanistic values and as such protected in processes of spatial planning and development according to Czech Republic’s Building Act (183/2006). Therefore we aim to create a data layer of potentially designed landscapes (identified in available old map works) to be used in Planning Analytical Materials. ArcGIS is used to analyze the maps and create the data layer. To verify the composition structure indicated in historical maps we use digital terrain model with depicted hillshade. In GIS environment the schematic representations of particular design landscapes are made (vectorization of composition points, lines and areas) with a

basic description in attribute table (type and character of composition). The so far results are 12 designed landscapes identified in Müller’s maps (1716-1720) and 255 designed landscapes identified in maps of 1st Military Survey (1764-1768). We expect to finish the analyses of 2nd and 3rd Military Survey in August 2016. Analyzing just the maps may lead to misinterpretation, the results should be verified in archive documents and terrain mapping. That shall be done in each case of spatial development separately, just now there is a need to draw attention of municipalities to these pieces of heritage and the need of their protection. Acknowledgements - The paper “Data layer for protection of cultural heritage – designed landscapes” is supported by the Internal Grant Agency of FH MENDELU: 14/2016/591 Creation of database of potential historical designed landscapes, based on maps of II. and III. Military Survey.

Learning Environment for GIScience in the era of flying robot Massimo De Marchi, Eugenio Salvatore Pappalardo, Daniele Codato, Alberto Diantini, Federico Gianoli University of Padova, Italy

The increasing availability of geographic information and the rapid development of new technologies for the management of geographic data (from drones, to WebGIS, to Mobile-GIS) require the updating, the reorganization and the development of decision-making processes in many sectors of the economy, public administration and the non-profit. At the same time Universities are challenged in providing suitable learning environment for updating and building appropriated skills. With the academic year 2015/2016 the University of Padua has launched the new Master di secondo livello on "GIScience and Unmanned System for the integrated management of the territory and the natural resources - with majors" (Professional Master). The master sees the collaboration of five departments, firms operating on GISciences and drones, NGO. The master offers 4 academic paths: Production and management of geo-information; GIScience for environmental conflict management and participation on public decision making; Cartography and GIS for green infrastructures; Geoinformation and new technologies for sustainable agriculture. With a first group of 25 people the Master started in March 2016 so we can share the first results participant observation of this initiative considering the complex context for GIScience and geography in Italy.

Troesmis (RO): a case study on archaeological field survey, data collection and data management for a Roman, Late Antique and Byzantine site and its surroundings Cristina-Georgeta Alexandrescu Institutul de Arheologie Vasile Parvan, Romanian Academy

Troesmis is one of the main ancient sites on the Lower Danube, located between todays localities Măcin and Turcoaia (Tulcea county). In the area are attested, both by written and archaeological sources, a Getic settlement, a Roman legionary fortress, a Roman municipium, as well as Late Roman and Byzantine fortifications and settlements. The history of the site is the very testimony for the strategic position of its location, as frontier point and settlement with urban character. The area is known today as one of the Natura 2000 sites and part of the National Park Măcin Mountains. All this heritage and potential is still problematic to systematically document and investigate and especially to manage. Steps towards a suitable management strategy, especially from the point of view of the historical and archaeological heritage, have been made since 2010 through three successive projects dealing with the archaeology and history of the site and lately (since 2015) with the natural resources and changes of the landscape during the centuries. The paper will present the used methods and technologies for the archaeological field survey (GIS, UAV, LiDAR, geomagnetic prospections) and the conclusions on the archaeological survey activities. This case study is, for the time being, a milestone in the multidisciplinary, cost-effective and mainly

non-invasive investigation of an ancient site and its surroundings. Further it offers the tools for further similar approaches in the archaeological investigation and inventarisation and conservation of cultural heritage.

Landscape Palimpsest Area Modelling: The Case of Mediterranean Basin Oxana Klimanova, Eugeny Kolbowsky Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation

The Mediterranean basin is rather isolated area with unique richness of cultural heritage sites. All of them reflect long – term cultural and land use changes associated with different regional civilization. In our research the combination of data about historical heritage sites and civilization areas was made via GIS-mapping and modelling. The analysis of World Heritage Database permits classify 190 sites of Mediterranean Basin into eight cultural landscape categories – rock paintings, remains of ancient settlements, architecture monuments, monasteries and castles, temples and necropolis, historical city centers, nature use systems, cultural landscapes. Eight civilization époque were defined – prehistorically, ancient, antique, early medieval, late medieval, modern age, recent time. Each type of civilization change corresponds to the territory where cultural landscapes of various eras are superimposed and forms an area of landscape palimpsest. The areas of two- and three-layer palimpsests are formed under the relevant type of civilization change, i.e. two or three civilizations. It is known that the Ancient Rome civilization became the first to cover the whole territory of the Mediterranean. In peripheral parts of the region its cultural landscapes did not inherit and practically didn't include the earlier elements. Moreover, it was these landscapes that became a basis for the later landscape palimpsests. As a rule the most complex palimpsests are typical for the areas of the most ancient development, namely the south of the Balkan Peninsula, the North Africa, the south of the Iberian Peninsula, the Aegean coast of Asia Minor and Levant. The resulting map and data also represent a significant tool for future comparative studies focusing on unraveling the relationship between the formation lengths of historical records and the “civilization” time-scale in which past cultural landscapes were framed.

GIS analysis in cultural landscape protection. Example from Czech Republic Jozef Sedláček, Alena Salašová Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic

UNESCO considers cultural landscapes as a part of world heritage and recognize three main categories: designed, organically evolved and associative. Protection of designed cultural landscape gained in recent years much attention in Czech Republic, proved by establishment of 24 protected areas of cultural landscape. In order to keep these areas, development of specific tools is necessary. Paper describes methods of impact assessment of cultural landscape in which GIS plays a crucial role. Part of the method is a visual analysis using viewshed tool and digital surface model considering the distance and mass of assessed object. The technique deals with implementation of distance and angle size of an object in viewer’s eye as a function of viewshed. The big object in distance has same angle size as relatively small object which is near. The second part deals with so called geo-verified photomontage, which is a technique securing proper photomontage of the proposed object. The technique is based on the proper placement of the proposed object as well as the well-positioned observation point from which the photograph for visualization is taken. These first tool is necessary to scope of assessment, the second technique is necessary to present the findings. Both techniques were tested in Lednice-Valtice Area, an UNESCO heritage site in 2015. The method which uses both techniques has been approved as a standard method by Ministry of Culture of Czech Republic.

Historical reconstruction of the battle for Normandy Klara Čevka University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

In this article I am going to present the influence of geomorphology on the military tactics used in the first part of the operation Overlord. Before my research begins, it is important to understand the basic features of coastal geomorphology as well as the reason behind the allies' choice of location for the invasion. My first hypothesis was that the invasion of Normandy has a strong correlation with the military tactics used. My second hypothesis was that the allies decided to invade German forces specifically in Normandy, because of its geographical characteristics. I wanted to confirm or deny my hypotheses with a quantitative analysis by using GIS. The expectation is for the new map to clearly show the correlation between the data collected on location and the geoprocessed data from military situation maps. After thorough analysis there should be plenty of strong pieces of evidence that will either confirm or deny my hypotheses. Concerning the second hypothesis, we will find out if Normandy was the best decision for invasion. This will either provide strong support for the generals' decision to invade the area or, according to geographical data, provide a better result and location somewhere else.

Kabiyuk Project: exploration and conservation of archaeological site using remote sensing methods and GIS technologies Stefan Stamenov; Vanya Stamenova Space Research and Technology Institute –BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria

The presented abstract reveals the achievements in a project implementation focused on the application of non-destructive methods for study of the National Historical and Archaeological Reserve “Kabiyuk” in Bulgaria. The purpose of the paper is to present the application of remote sensing methods and GIS technologies as a tool for digital documentation of the exploration and conservation of Kabiyuk archaeological reserve.

The archaeological potential of Varghis Gorges karst (Perșani Mountains - Romania). Preliminary stages in a Geographic Information System. George Murătoreanu, Roxana Cuculici, Daniel Vereș, Marian Cosac, Alexandru Radu, Dan Lucian Buzea Valahia University of Targoviste, Romania

Vârghișului Gorges represent the main karst area of Perșani Mountains, situated in their north extremity, at the boundary of Harghita Mountains. In the karst surface have been identified over 130 caves encased on 4 levels of karstification. The archaeological researches, which started in 1911, and have been going on in certain stages up to the present moment, have resulted in the discovery of several occupational stages from the Paleolithic up to the modern period. In this material, starting from the studies published up until the present and from the research campaigns realized between 2014 and 2015, we present the main stages that we have achieved and that we take into consideration in the creation of a geographical informational system in which to integrate the geographic and archaeological data which refer to the caves from Vârghișului Gorges. The main intent of this step is the attainment of a detailed data base which would contain characteristics of the caves, from the geographical point of view (location, height, state of preservation, the orientation of the cave entrance, the thickness and characteristics of the deposit from the cave, morphometry of the cave and so on) and from the archaeological point of view (the existence or the non-existence of traces of habitation, the periods of habitation, the continuity of the habitation and so on). All these will allow us in the future to identify a general model of selection of the caves from this area by the Paleolithic communities and eventually its extension to the Carpathian caves.

GIS-based Conservation of Natural and Cultural Heritage

GIS-Modelling of Landscape Aesthetic Properties to Cultural Heritage Site Restoration Eugeny Kolbowsky, Uliana Medovocova Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russian Federation

Restoration of historic traditional landscapes, are becoming more common elsewhere, brought to life two not an alternative practice: special package of measures for the reconstruction and maintenance of landscape ("management plans for territories") and assessing the acceptability of impacts on the aesthetic properties of the landscape (so called «Landscape Visual Impact Assessment»). The development of management plans for areas associated with a defining of landscape target condition which includes the features of the «reference» sample. The search for such features is carried out within the reconstruction of landscape history using geographic information systems and old maps. Implementation of Visual Impact Assessment requires a preliminary modeling of the structure of visual space relative to inside observers, collecting of photographic images, to identify the role of individual components in shaping landscape scenes, as well as the definition the visual deformations, changing unfavorable aesthetic qualities of landscape. An unwanted change of aesthetic properties can occur as a result of new acts of economic development, and as a result of «wilderning» (revegetation) of cultural landscape. Construction of three-dimensional computer model of cultural landscape in combination with the step-by-step parameterization of various aspects of expected changes allows objectifying the whole process of assessment the validity of impact on aesthetic qualities and, also uses it to solve the conflict issues of development in the territories with high historical, cultural value and natural beauty.

Избор на обекти при създаването на геопространствена информационна система за популяризиране на природното и културното наследство по трансграничната долина на р. Струма Галина Безинска1, Пенка Кастрева1, Иван Дреновски1, Христина Цонева2, Красимир Стоянов1 Югозападен университет „Неофит Рилски”, Благоевград, България

Изследването и картирането на обектите на природното и културното наследство (ПКН) е залегнало като една от приоритетните теми по програмата INSPIRE. Тя има за цел не само локализирането им върху земната повърхност, а също така и подробното описание на техните характеристики. Промотирането на обектите на природното и културното наследство за туристически цели е една от основните задачи за регионалното развитие на България, с особен акцент в трансграничните райони и обособен инвестиционен приоритет по програмите INTERREG. За подпомагане на качественото и навременно изпълнение на тези задачи е добре да се изготви класификация на обектите на ПКН и въз основа на ясни критерии те да бъдат отнесени към една или друга категория. Този доклад има за цел да предложи: 1) създаване на приложна класификация на обектите на ПКН за туристически цели; 2) предлагане на критерии за избор на обекти на ПКН с туристически потенциал; 3) изготвяне на индикативен примерен списък на обектите на ПКН, отговарящи на съответните критерии, в изследваната територия. За изпълнение на поставените по-горе задачи са използвани различни методи, като преглед и обстоен анализ на литературни и нормативни източници, както и картографски метод на изследване чрез използване на съвременни технологии, каквито са географските информационни системи (ГИС). Като резултат от изследването е съставен предварителен неокончателен списък на туристически атрактивните обекти на ПКН, които следва да се въведат в една бъдеща геоинформационна система.

NPP Trends in Carpatho-Balkan-Dinaric Region and Part of Southern Italy during the Last 15 Years (2000- 2014) George Letchov Agricultural University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

This paper studies the NPP, NPP anomaly and NPP trends of terrestrial ecosystems over the territory of Carpathian-Balkan-Dinaric region and part of Southern Italy, natural sub-regions and vegetation biomes using MODIS MOD17 annual/1km Gross Primary Production (GPP) and Net Primary Production (NPP) data sets for 2000-2014. Per-pixel analyses of MODIS time series was performed to study productivity and to detect long-term trends (2000-2014) in NPP. The mean NPP is 0.633 ± 0.010kgCm-2.yr-1. Over the past 15 years (2000- 2014) there are two periods in which the NPP of terrestrial ecosystems is suppressed: 2000-2003 and 2007-2012 (with exception of 2010 and 2011, when NPP is less than or close to the average value). The most severe is the drought in 2012, which affects 929215km2 or 76% of the territory. Over 39% of the territory NPP anomaly is greater than 1.5σ. During the studied period positive and negative anomalies in NPP are of the same magnitude and, therefore, offset each other, which explains the absence of a trend in NPP over the region. Therefore, in the past 15 years the Carpatho-Balkan-Dinaric region and South Italy does not contribute to NPP changes at regional and global scale. Over 13.30% of the studied area, mostly located in the southeastern parts ot the region there is a significant positive trend in NPP (p ≤ 0.05).

NOTES