Geostatistical analysis of land cover and use changes in Romanian development regions Cover Image

Analiza geostatistică a modificărilor survenite în acoperirea şi utilizarea terenurilor în România pe regiuni de dezvoltare
Geostatistical analysis of land cover and use changes in Romanian development regions

Author(s): Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor, Ioan Ianoș
Subject(s): Environmental Geography
Published by: INCD URBAN-INCERC
Keywords: geostatistical methods; geodiversity; land use; land cover; GIS; urban dynamic

Summary/Abstract: Accounting for the spatial dimension of geodiversity, CORINE data provide an image of the dynamics of land cover and use at the level of territorial statistical units at county and base administrative-territorial units levels, relevant when quantified at the next hierarchical level (region of development). To meet this need, the current study proposes three methods: the simple analysis of the positioning of modified areas within the regions of development, the determination of their density, and spatial interpolation by ordinary kriging based on total affected area per base administrative-territorial unit. Regardless of the method, the results are similar and suggest that land cover changes are more frequent in the southwest (counties Mehedinţi and Gorj), while land use changes predominate in the Oriental Carpathians (counties Suceava, Harghita, Covasna, Bacău and Neamţ). From a methodological standpoint, the study reveals the superiority of the density analysis to simple overlap, and of the kriging techniques to the other methods, suggesting the high potential of the later for use in geographical research.

  • Issue Year: 3/2012
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 37-44
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Romanian