Geography and Environmental Planning
Year:2019 | Volume:30 | Issue:3 (75) |Papers Count:11

Forecasting land use changes is an important step in the proper planning and optimal management of human settlements, especially in land use management. Therefore, there are various methods for modeling and forecasting land use changes that, with the knowledge of them, we can predict future changes and implement appropriate planning. Kish Island has undergone many changes in recent decades including population growth, major physical changes and expansion of communication network which have had consequences such as damage and destruction of natural resources and the elimination of these cases has significant costs for the region. Therefore, the management and forecasting of changes in this area seems necessary. The present study aimed to forecast land use changes using satellite imagery over the period of 1992-2018 for the next ten years. ENVI 5. 3 and Terrset software, and CA MARKOV model were used to analyze land use and forecast changes. The results of the forecast maps of the year 2028 showed that 2851 hectares would be for the area of the built-up classes, 6164 hectares for wastelands, 1259 hectares for vegetation areas, and 8403 hectares for water bodies. Comparison of these values with the calculated area in the base year 2018 showed that the areas of vegetation and water bodies decreased by 18 and 57 hectares, respectively. And the areas of built-up classes and wastelands increased by 7 and 69 hectares, respectively.

Zagros Mountains range as the most important face of topography in western Iran can affect the activity of precipitation systems in addition to the effect of orography on the occurrence of precipitation. The objective of this paper is to analyze the enhancing effect of the Zagros Mountains on the Sudanese system. For this purpose, three one-day rainfall samples including December 2, 1999, March 30, 2012, and March 20, 2015 were selected and analyzed using factor analysis among one-day Sudanese rainfall systems during the period from 1996 to 2017. The method used was synoptic analysis of atmospheric parameters and rainfall interpolation model in GIS environment. This study demonstrated that the warm air stream and contact of the Sudanese system with the western and southwestern slopes of Zagros reduced the geo-potential height and formatted a positive vorticity field. Positive vorticity blow to the southeast and inland slopes of Zagros caused upward movements on these slopes. At higher levels of atmosphere, cold air blow in adjacent to warm air blow area of lower levels of atmosphere reduced the geo-potential height of the atmosphere and enhanced the upward movement of the atmosphere. Thus, suitable thermodynamic conditions were provided for the growth and reinforcement of convective clouds and heavy rainfall over the topography surface. In this study, it was found that in all the studied rainfall samples, entrance direction of the system and humidity to region has followed from width and length of wave in middle layer of atmosphere. The results showed that the maximum precipitation was observed in the slopes located in direction of Sudanese rainfall system entrance. Also, precipitation changes on steep slopes of Zagros were also greater than other levels.

This study aims at plotting the Huff curves and designing storm hyetographs in the stations of Izeh, Idonak, Abdolkhan and Ahvaz. A total of 1811 recorded storms in the period 1966-2016 in different seasons were classified into five distinct time groups according to their rainfall duration. The Huff curves were plotted for each class in each of the seasons using the whole set of storms. Results showed that classification of storms led to a better distinction of rainfall pattern in different seasons and durations. In order to compare the time distribution of rainfalls, three indices of S, I, and Q were defined that consider the ratios of non-dimensional cumulative rainfall curves from the 10% probability Huff curve obtained in the 25%, 50%, and 75% of time durations to their corresponding values from the 50% probability Huff curve. The results showed that in the four mentioned stations, the values of S index were greater than I, and both of them were greater than Q. The range of S index varied from 1. 47 (in Idonak station for spring storms having the duration between 12-24 hours) to 9. 63 (in Abdolkhan station for spring storms with the duration of less than 2 hours). Whereas the range of Q index varied from 1. 03 (in Ahvaz station for spring and winter rainfalls having the duration of less than two hours, and in Idonak station for spring storms with the duration of less than two hours) to 1. 44 (in Abdolkhan station for spring storms with the duration of 6-12 hours). The range of I index varied from 1. 07 (in Ahvaz for spring storms with the duration of 2-6 hours) to 2. 12 (in Abdolkhan for winter storms with the duration of less than two hours). For each of the Huff curves, design storm hyetographs were derived and presented using the 50% probability Huff curve.

Monitoring the changes in land surface temperature (LST) caused by seasonal and non-seasonal fluctuations is essential due to its profound impact on the human and natural environment. The use of remote sensing satellite imagery has been extensively considered for the continuous monitoring of LST with its low cost and high speed. In this research, first, three conventional temperature extraction approaches based on Plank’ s law were used to extract LST of surrounded areas of Lake Urmia. Then, using a linear regression and observations of the temperatutre in meteorological stations, LST maps extracted from conventional methods were modified. The results showed that conventional temperature extraction approaches for TM and TIRS sensors of Landsat Satellite had an accuracy of about 4 ° C and 8 ° C, respectively. After modifying LST maps using the linear regression, this accuracy reduced to 1 ° C and 0. 5 ° C for TM and TIRS sensors, respectively. This indicated the proper performance of the regression approach presented in this study for temperature modification.

In many countries, climate is a valuable asset for the tourist, since the climate of the destination is oneof the information tourists need, and tourists plan their itinerary according to the destination's desired climate. Climate is a major factor in the development of the tourism industry, and, considering the importance of the influence of climate factors on tourism planning, determining the indicators oftourism comfort, tourism climate and physiologically equivalent temperature is very important. In the present study, the Kerman province has been zoned monthly using tourism climate indices and physiological equivalent temperature. For this purpose, the indicators were calculated for 12 synoptic stations within the Kerman province during the statistical period of 2003 to 2013. The calculated station results were generalized to the study area in the GIS environment using Inverse DistanceInterpolation method. The results of the Tourism Climate Index (TCI) showed that the best months to travel to Kerman province were April, October, December and March and also the best seasons for tourist attraction were early spring, autumn, and late winter. Also, according to the results of the Physiological Equivalent Temperature Index (PET), the best conditions for traveling to Kerman province were during April, October, November, and March, and the best seasons for touristattractions were early spring and autumn. Based on the results of the studied indices, it can be concluded that considering the conditions of the province and the climatic parameters used in each index, the results of Physiological Equivalent Temperature Index were more consistent with the conditions of Kerman province.

The dynamic and competitive nature of tourism means that staying alive in a competitive world requires the emergence of special interest tourism in hotel industry and tourism marketing. The concept of special interest markets has emerged in recent years and can be said to be the opposite of mass tourism. Special interest markets differentiate tourists and offer activities and services based on their tendency, motivation to travel, and their needs. This study focuses on introduction of themed hotels and follows three major purposes: 1) to identify the suitable themed hotels for investing in Isfahan from the perspective of experts; 2) to investigate the tendency of domestic tourists to accommodate in thematic hotels and 3) to determine the tourists' perspective on the priority of themed hotels. This study was conducted in Isfahan city, Iran, and the data were collected through interview and questionnaire. The qualitative-quantitative method was used in this study and the results illustrated that domestic tourists tend to stay in thematic hotels, and from their point of view, traditional hotels, handicrafts hotels, and hotels that display the historic flourishing area of Isfahan are the top three priorities for accommodation.

Climate change phenomenon is one of the most important challenges of the present century. For this reason, there has been a great deal of research in the field of the environment, agriculture, and factors affecting it in recent decades. In the meantime, understanding farmers' behavior on climate change and understanding their perspective on the future can help to better solve the problem. In this regard, the main purpose of the present study is to identify the professional competencies needed by farmers against climate change. The statistical population of this study included all the agricultural users of the southern basin of Urmia Lake. One hundred and fifty-three individuals were selected as the sample in two stages (cluster sampling and simple random sampling). The main research instrument was a questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts and its reliability was confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The results of climate change analysis showed that during the past three decades, the average temperature and mean maximum temperature in the southern basin of Urmia Lake increased by 1. 8 and 3. 5 ° C, respectively. Also, the mean minimum temperature, mean precipitation, and air humidity decreased by 1. 3 ° C, 10. 3 mm and 5%, respectively. According to the findings of the Borich Model, 29 professional competencies scored higher than 4. In other words, these results indicated the shortage or weakness of individuals in 29 professionals. Therefore, the focus of stakeholders and planners should be on strengthening and upgrading them to tackle climate change. In the meantime, consulting with experts, selecting the irrigation program according to rainfall and temperature data, as well as changing the way the land is prepared for planting have the highest scores compared to the other 29 competencies and are in higher priority for training and empowerment. The results of paired T test showed that there is a significant difference between the desired and the current situations.

During the past two decades, extracting geomorphic indices using digital elevation models in the GIS environment has been addressed as a quick and accurate method to analyze landforms, so that these indices have been used to quickly evaluate the recent tectonic activity in a particular area. The present study aimed to evaluate the active tectonic of salt diapirs located on south-eastern Zagros in Lar region of Fars province, by measuring the hypsometric integral (Hi), basin height (Bh) circularity ratio (Rc), elongation ratio (Re), drainage density (Dd), bifurcation ratio (Rb), mean length of first-order streams (LN1), stream frequency (Fs), alluvial fan’ s width to length ratio (W/L), and the sweep angle (S). First, the study area was extracted using digital elevation model. After calculating the indices in salt diapirs, the results reveal that the best correlation is between the hypsometric parameter and the diapirs area, indicating that the hypsometric integral is a good indicator for classifying age of diapirs. In addition, the mean length of the first-order stream is a good indicator for dividing the diapirs from age viewpoint (youth and old). It was found that the drainage density index, bifurcation ratio, drainage frequency, the indices of the alluvial fans around the diapirs such as the sweep angle, width to length ratio, and slope have no significant relationship with the hypsometric integral and the age of the diapirs. The lack of a significant relationship was due to the complex structure of the salt diapirs and their movements, which disrupted the morphometry of draiange systems of the study area.