Geography and Environmental Planning
Year:2019 | Volume:30 | Issue:1 (73) |Papers Count:8

The formation of rural areas as the initial cores of civilization and activity can be attributed to environmental factors, but the continuity of the economic and social life of villages has faced major challenges over time as a result of the widespread and accelerated transformation of the effects of modernity and unbalanced development planning. Demographic disorders and rural work-force structure, followed by a decline in economic functions, especially in relation to agriculture, are the main identity challenges for the communities and rural areas. The present study investigates the evolution of rural identity in Markazi province with emphasis on demographic structures through using statistical evaluations and modeling. The statistical population consists of all villages with more than twenty households in the two censuses of 1996 and 2011. By extracting all of the same population variables in two time intervals, several demographic indicators for each of these intervals were defined and calculated. After statistical descriptions and evaluation of distribution indices, the modeling of the demographic identity of rural areas of the province in two intervals was done using structural equation based on self-propelled approach. The household dimension, youth level (Wertheim Index), aging rate, kinship ratio, literacy and occupation rate constitute the common indices in both final and valid structural models of both intervals. The comparison of the statistical description and indices pattern coefficient in the structures and variables indicate that the household dimension, youth level of population and literacy rate are important determinants of the demographic characteristics of rural areas in Markazi province in both intervals. In contrast, the aged population at both intervals and much greater in 2011 threatened the structure and the demographic identity. The kinship rate in 1996, with a moderate and rational status had a positive contribution in the population structure of the villages of the province, but in 2011, it has an opposite role and influence.

Soil maps have considerable significance as basic maps in many environmental and natural resources studies. Digital soil maps are based on the relationship between environmental variables and soil properties. The main purpose of this research was to analyze error and uncertainty of digital soil classes predicted at different taxonomic levels of Soil Taxonomy system using an artificial neural network. One hundred and twenty soil profiles were described and sampled based on a regular grid scheme in Shahrekord plain. Two groups of soil properties (qualitative and quantitative) and auxiliary parameters (including geologic map, landform map, landform-phase map, traditional soil map, normalized difference vegetation index, and some derivatives of digital elevation model) were used to estimate soil classes. After preparing the soil properties maps and checking their accuracy, these maps were used along with auxiliary parameters for estimating soil classes using an artificial neural network model in the R software. Finally, the accuracy and uncertainty of the model were evaluated by overall accuracy and confusion index, respectively. Results showed that the entry of more details in the soils classification at the lower levels of the Soil Taxonomy system, while increasing the number of classes, leads to decreasing the overall accuracy and increasing uncertainty. It is noticeable that the artificial neural network model has a good accuracy up to the great group level through the acceptable level of overall accuracy (i. e., 75 %), hence it has a high degree of uncertainty. Therefore, the accuracy of the model could not be effective in its selection trough the modeling process; however, paying attention to its uncertainty is also very important along with the model error. Accordingly, we suggest using the other methods of soft computing for modeling in plain areas or in low relief regions.

Land surface temperature is one of the important parameters in environmental science and urban planning. Human activities, such as land use degradation and urban development, have the effect of increasing the land surface temperature and thus the appearance of thermal islands, and this phenomenon has adverse effects on human health over time. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of land use change on spatiotemporal patterns of land surface temperature and thermal islands in Saqqez city. In this study, images from the years 1989, 1998, 2008, and 2018 were first categorized using the Maximum Likelihood Algorithm in ENVI software. Then, using a Split window algorithm, land surface temperature was extracted in the GIS software. Also NDVI, UHII, and UHIII indices were used to study the spatiotemporal land surface temperature and thermal islands. Also, land surface temperature of the low, medium and high vegetation classes was extracted during the period. The results of the classification accuracy with Kappa coefficient above 80% show the validity of the results. Also, the results of the evaluation of land use changes indicate the increasing trend of water, residential and bare lands areas and the decreasing trend of vegetation. In other words, 3. 68, 38. 43 and 514/02 km, respectively, are the area of water, residential and bare lands areas has been added, and a total of 550/06 km2 has been cut from the vegetation area to the 29-year period. Also, the results of maximum temperature of each land use indicate an increasing trend in temperature in residential and bare lands areas and vegetation during the studied period. According to the results of UHII and UHIII indices, the class with low vegetation has the highest temperature compared to the middle and high vegetation classes and also based on the results of these indicators, the thermal islands occurred in the northeastern parts of the city in 2008 and 2018.

ran is considered as one of the most earthquake-stricken countries in the world and its cities have faced many damage and harms by this natural phenomenon. Iran's establishment on the Himalayan Alpine earthquake belt has caused the occurrence of earthquakes as one of the most hazardous damages in the country. The earthquake hazard in the city of Zarin Shahr is not an exception, according to the building regulations 2800, the fourth edition and the tectonic conditions, and the existence of four main faults and a sub-fault around it at a radius of 150 km and the seismic record in this area during the last thirty nine years. Also, in the process of preparing the zoning map and horizontal hazard acceleration in Zarin Shahr, a probabilistic method of the CRISIS model, one of the most powerful and high-precision software, has been used. Therefore, in this research, we have tried to use modern planning modules such as the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model. The results of this study show that different factors can have different effects on vulnerability and earthquake damage, so that the effects of environmental factors such as distance from fault, soil, and gradient percent are more than other factors. Physical-skeletal factors such as building age, population density, number of building floors, material genus and land use are more effective in earthquake after natural factors. In this research, we tried to use a descriptive-analytical method. After determining the criteria, sub-criteria and options for the vulnerability of the earthquake, using experts' opinion and existing documents, the weight of the criteria was calculated in Expert selection software. And related maps are collected and stored through over-lapping in the Arc Gis software and vulnerable areas of the city Zarin Shahr are identified and analyzed. After drawing up a zone risk map and area vulnerability in Arc Gis software, by using the product of the two generated maps, the final map of Zarin Shahr risk was drawn and the risk of the areas was analyzed in five categories and 4. 30% are at a very low risk, 23. 27% at medium risk and 3. 47% of urban areas are at a high risk.

Human activities control the microclimate of the city and one of the most important effects of it is the urban heat island phenomenon. The heat island affects the quality of urban life, including energy consumption, air and water quality, as well as human health. Ahwaz, on the other hand, is one of the hottest cities in Iran. Therefore, the study of the heat island of Ahwaz and the knowledge of urban microclimate is worthy of consideration. e. For this purpose, in this study, the heat island of Ahwaz metropolitan area was investigated in terms of temporal and spatial variations by using the data of temporal temperature data of the MODIS-Terra and MODIS-Aqua observations from 2002 to 2017. The intensity of the heat island was measured based on the background climate. To this end, after the city boundary was determined by the latest Google Earth imagery. Then, a range, of the size of the city, was determined around the city and was called the non-urban. The temperature that was most common among all the non-urban cells was considered as the temperature of the non-urban. The temperature difference of all the non-urban cells of the city was obtained from the non-urban temperature. The average temperature difference of all cells from the temperature of non-urban was obtained and called the average intensity of the heat/cold island. The results showed that Ahwaz, during the day has a cold island (-2 degrees Centigrade), and at night was a heat island (2. 2 degrees Centigrade). Due to the fact that the Karun river passes through the city, heat island is divided into two parts. The eastern and western parts of the city have more procedural temperatures than the city average. Also, the core of the nightly heat island and the weak parts of the daily cold island are in line with the industrial zone of Ahwaz.

In this research, the relationship between land use and land surface temperature and spatial correlation in Ardebil city using Moran index has been investigated. For this purpose, Landsat 8 satellite imagery (OLI) was used from 2015 to 2018. Initially, the relevant images were taken and the necessary preprocessing was applied. Then the classification was made using the object-oriented method and the nearest neighboring algorithm and the surface temperature was extracted by the algorithm (SW). The results showed that the temperature in the urban areas was 43 ° C and 45 ° C in 2015 and 2018, respectively, due to the absorption of heat and urban pollution. The use of water was 35 ° C in 2015, and 37 ° C in 2018, that eliminates more heat from the water and has a lower temperature. The results also showed a strong relationship between land use and temperature. Finally, Hot Spot Analysis was used for hot and cold clusters of Ardebil thermal islands. The analysis of spatial correlation with global Moron indexes showed that the surface temperature of Ardabil has a spatial structure or, in other words, the surface temperature of the earth is distributed in cluster form. Hot Spot Analysis has been a clear confirmation of the concentration and clustering of the thermal islands of Ardabil in space with increasing period of time.

Tourism industry is intricately linked to the economic, cultural, social, and environmental aspects of human life and has gradually become a means of understanding people's lives, understanding the world around them, and enriching the insights and attitudes of people to the concepts of life. Bojnord city has special conditions for enjoying the benefits of tourism, but so far has not been able to take advantage of these opportunities for sustainable tourism development properly. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to explain the sustainable tourism indicators and to prioritize the tourism elements of Bojnord city, in order to identify and explain effective measures in planning sustainable tourism development. So, this research is descriptive-analytical and based on library and field studies. The software used in this research is SPSS and Expert Choice and the results obtained from them on priority actions, specified the criteria of ‘ creating and highlighting the attraction factor in tourism elements of the city’ , ‘ tourism-stimulating factors’ and ‘ planning and investing in the tourism infrastructure’ , respectively, in terms of their relative weight of 0. 36, 0. 27, and 0. 171. Also, the evaluation of tourism elements of Bojnord shows that in the category of natural elements, Babaaman Park and Esfidan Village with points 0. 104 and 0. 072, Bash-Qarshas Cultural-Amusement Complex, Mofakham Mansion and Mirror House, Sabze Meydan Caravanserai, Husseinieh Jajarmi and local music with 0. 064, 0. 060, 0. 058, 0. 053 and 0. 046 points, respectively, are considered as the basic elements of tourism in Bojnord city in the category of cultural elements, which can provide the basis for the realization of sustainable tourism in the desired context. Eventually, by planning and directing funds and development plans, these elements can be considered as an opportunity for the development and prosperity of sustainable tourism in Bojnord.

The ergs located inside the topographic holes are considered as static ergs. Nevertheless, the conditions for the development and expansion of these ergs are suitable in most of the arid regions of central Iran. The most important of these conditions are low rainfall, dry weather, severe regional and local winds, and the availability of a large amount of fine-grained sedimentary materials. Time series analysis of Landsat satellite images during 1977– 2017 showed that Rig Zarrin has been developed both in terms of surface (about 40 km2) and height (about 4 meters in the middle sections). The results showed that the horizontal and height development of this erg was intermittent. Topography and more importantly, moisture, the two main factors which control the activity of sand dunes. Since 1998, longterm drought has dominated central Iran and Yazd province. Examination of the images during this time period showed a large expansion of sand surface from 2000 to 2017. But, the level of sand has declined dramatically between 1987 and 1993 due to wet period of the province. Therefore, the area of Rig Zarrin is expanded and contracted by the influence of yearly or periodic moisture and drought. Also, in terms of height development, moisture has been the main controlling factor. So, in droughts, the height of the erg sand dunes has significantly increased and in wet years it decreases or reaches a low or minimal level. The existence of complex sand dunes with the height of more than 200 meters in the central parts of the erg shows that the erg becomes the center of thermal low pressure, especially in the warm season, and causes the formation of local convergent winds. Seasonal change in the direction and intensity of the wind has changed the direction and amount of movement of sand dunes, and the change in the displacement patterns of pressure has led to a change in the pattern of migration of the erg.