Abstract
This paper investigates the potential of airborne lidar for recording and monitoring erosion levels in environmentally fragile upland landscapes, using an area of the Brecon Beacons National Park as a case study. Upland areas contain a rich variety of natural and cultural resources that are increasingly endangered through factors such as insensitive land-use practices, improvements in recreational access and climate change. Airborne lidar provides a highly detailed record of microtopography, in this example at a resolution of 0.5 m with a vertical accuracy of c.0.15 m and the ability to differentiate elevation changes to within 1-2 cm. The technique therefore allows the rapid and cost-effective recording of the nature and extent of erosion at a landscape scale, with the results of this analysis recording over 46 kilometres of path erosion within a 3.8 km(2) area. The technique also provides the ability to highlight particular areas of risk, such as extensive braided erosion around path intersections and damage to protected SSSI habitats, providing a snapshot record of erosion at a particular point in time and an invaluable source of information for conservationists and policy-makers. (C) 2009 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 126-134 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal for Nature Conservation |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 May 2010 |
Keywords
- Sustainable land-use
- Erosion
- Conservation management
- Remote sensing
- GIS