Urban morphology started to take place as an organized field of knowledge at the end of the nineteenth century (Whitehand, 2007: 1). Regarding the variety of forces that shape cities, it is natural to accept this field of knowledge as an interdisciplinary field. Urban morphology is briefly defined as:The study of the form of cities over the time (Scheer, 2002: 106).The field that studies the process of city building and its products (Moudon, 1998: 141).The study of the physical (or built) fabric of urban form, and the people and processes shaping it (Jones and Larkham, 1991: 55).Focusing on the positive revaluation of the urban fabric through different routes, three schools in Europe began to elaborate theories for the understanding of built environment and the relation between its elements. These schools are briefly discussed below…

Pollen morphology of four taxa of the genusCarpinus growing in Iran was examined, using light (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The main aim of this study is to determine the pollen morphology of this genus in Iran and finding the pollen characteristics. The pollen grains are triporate, tetraporate and pentaporate and more or less subprolate. The shape of pores are more or less circular, the surface sculpture of exine is irregularly cone-shaped and the apex is pointed. C. orientalis Miller subsp. macrocarpa (Willk.) Browicz and C. betulus var. parvahave the largest and smallest pollen size (mean=35.18 ± 3.96 9m) and (mean=24.95 ± 0.18 9m), respectively.

Introduction Geomorphologists use different models to illustrate topography and geomorphic features. One of these common models is to use hillshading, as an effective tool to detect and represent morphological shape of the terrain. This model applys a light source to make a contrast between bright sections and the parts that fall in the shadows. Many researchers have worked on the hillshade modelling. Some of them work on the azimuthal and zenithal angle of light source illumination on the earth surfaces. Others focussed on the direction and the gradient of the earth and their effect on the quality of the shadows and bright areas representations. In this research new concepts called optical morphology is introduced which is considerred as a set of methods, models and technics for representing geomorphologic and topographic features more accurate and visible. We have employed 14 terrain curvature models and also 6 models for azimuthal and zenithal angle adjustmernt. For running these models, Digital Surface Model (DSM) extracted from ALOS satellite data was used on Iran diverse geomorphological landforms. Then, these models were scripted by python and Graphical User Interface (GUI)using Python Tkinter library. A GIS-Based toolkit named Optical Morphology was prepared to calculate all introduced models in the form of raster file format. Finally, numerical analysis, including statistical, morphological, directional and contrast analysis, were run for all the model outputs. The performances and some general applications of these models are described in the field of geomorphology. Materials and methods In this research, Digital Surface Model published by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with a spatial resolution, near 23m, has been used for the purpose. The data were obtained from ALOS satellite image. The database is based on the global 3-D topographical DSM, which is currently the most accurate elevation data on the global scale. Several hill-shade modeling is used to enhance terrain feature’ s representation. For this purpose, Python programming is used to prepare all these models. The main local terrain descriptors such as slope and aspect have also been used to enhance terrain morphology appearance. The 6 models were run based on changes of azimuthal and zenithal angles of light source position. The models for azimuthal and zenithal analysis are including Aspect Frequency Distribution Analysis (AFDA), Un-weighted Multi-Directional Light Source (UMDLS), Weighed Multi-Directional Light Source (WMDLS), Vertical Light Source Illumination (VLSI), Slope Shading Model (SSM), and Sinusoidal Light Source Fluctuation (SLSF). The 14 models run according to the terrain curvatures are including Profile Curvature Shading Model (PCSM), Tangential Curvature Shading Model (TCSM), Plan Curvature Shading Model (PCSM), Un-sphericity Curvature Shading Model (UCSM), Mean Curvature Shading Model (MCSM), Differential Curvature Shading Model (DCSM), Maximal Curvature Shading Model (MaCSM), Minimal Curvature Shading Model (MiCSM), Horizontal Excess Curvature Shading Model (HECSM), Vertical Excess Curvature Shading Model (VECSM), Total Gaussian Curvature Shading Model (TGCSM), Total Accumulation Curvature Shading Model (TACSM), Flowlines Curvature Shading Model (FCSM), and Total Ring Curvature Shading Model (TRCSM). All these models are programmed using python (V. 2. 7 and Tkinter for GUI programming). Results and discussion In this research, optical morphology of terrain has been performmed using basic geographic information system concepts. The python programming has been used to execute different hillshade models. Some topographical factors such as terrain slope and aspect have been considered with regards to light source directions (Azimuthal and zenithal directions). In general, 20 different shading models have been programmed for calculating optical morphology and prepared as GIS toolkit named Optical Morphology. This tool is able to uses Digital Elevation Model as an input to analyze its raster structure and then store results as an ASCII file format. Finally, we have explained results, applications, advantages and disadvantages of these models. Conclusion Light source direction modeling combined with the geomorphological attributes is a powerful tool to more accurately recognize and detect landforms and could help geomorphologist in different field of studies. In this research, optical morphology modeling was done using Python programming language to enhance representation of the geomorphological terrain features. The results of these efforts are abstracted in the GIS-based toolkit which is applicable in the quantitative geomorphology area. These models have different approaches against local topographic properties, local conditions of each place and shading properties. Some geomorphological factors such as slope and aspect, topographic characteristics, terrain curvatures and, pixel distribution are effective and suitable in running and performing and adjusting the models.

Fraxinus L. is one of the 24 genera in Oleaceae family and comprises 43 species that are distributed in northern hemisphere. Two species: F. excelsior L. and F. angustifolia Vahl. are reported from Iran. These species are very similar on the basis of morphological characteristics which make their identification difficult. In order to overcome the ambiguity of these two species and their subspecific ranks, morphological and micromorphological traits of the species in 55 populations were studied. Forty nine qualitative and quantitative morphological characteristics were studied. Phenetic analysis was carried out using SPSS ver.16 software and phenogram of the species considering morphological characters were plotted. Furthermore, PCA analysis was carried out and the most variable characters were determined. Factor analysis revealed the color of adaxial and abaxial surfaces of leaflets, color of winter buds, type of inflorescence, shape of fruit and its tip, and margin of leaflets are the most effective separating characters.According to descriptive analysis, three factors including the type of inflorescence, color of winter bud and shape of the margin serration of the leaflets are the most important ones. Micromorphological studies using scanning electron microscope, revealed two types of trichomes: acicular and capitate. Pollen grains in all specimens are monad and tricolpate. An identification key was prepared using morphological and micromorphological features.

Carpinus is a genus of the family Betulaceae that comprises 42 species worldwide. Moreover, more than a third of total Caspian forests are occupied by C. betulus and it has an important role in slope stabilizing. C. orientalis, commonly known as oriental hornbeam, is a small tree or often shrub, rarely over 10 m tall, and a major pioneer species on slopes in shallow humus-poor or rocky soils. This species is distributed from southeastern Europe to the north of Iran, from west to easternmost of the Hyrcanian forest. Due to their peculiar and beautiful fruit cluster, some hornbeams are used as important ornamental plants. Taxonomy of this genus has always been problematic in Iran and the number of species ranges from 2 to 4 in different taxonomic literature. In the current study, we applied morphometric (PCA and cluster analyses) and molecular (ITS region) approaches to delineate the species boundary of the genus in Iran. Thirty-six quantitative and qualitative characters were used for morphological analyses. The PCA plot of morphological data divided the studied population into three groups. However, the cluster analysis revealed two major groups. Moreover, Iranian species of the genus Carpinus formed two distinct clades in the molecular analyses. The results of the present study showed that there are two Carpinus species in Iran, including C. betulus and C. orientalis with two subspecies and C. schuschaensis is introduced as a synonym for C. orientalis subsp. macrocarpa. In addition, the intraspecific morphological diversity has blurred species boundaries.