Paweł B. Dąbek

The use of terrestrial laser scanning in monitoring and analyses of erosion phenomena in natural and anthropogenically transformed areas

Abstract Implementation of terrestrial laser scanning creates new opportunities in the analysis of processes occurring in the environment. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) enables fast, precise mapping of land relief and dimensions of technical structures. TLS allows moving from traditional methods, such as point measurement, to differential analyses of a relief model. TLS allows accurate analyses of land relief changes and erosion phenomena, both in terms of the processes intensity and range, and the initial and intensifying events. The paper presents the authors’ experiment with the use of the TLS technology in erosion processes monitoring and analyses. The authors present the methodology of using TLS which contributed to the acquisition of reliable results by providing optimal conditions for the research. The paper shows the effects of laser scanning in order to analyse the intensity of soil erosion in mountainous forest area with a large number of measurement stations, which resulted in a dense points cloud. Differential model method allowed to evaluate erosion phenomena in the form of rills resulting from surface flushing, which is impossible to assess by traditional methods of erosion measurements. In the paper, we showed the necessity to choose the proper coordinate system (object or scanner) for the analysis of the landslide, depending on structure and direction of the soil masses movement. The application of the object coordinate system showed greater erosion phenomena range (ca 12%) on buttress stabilizing landslide and ca 44% on natural landslide, in which the application of the object coordinate system increases the number of observations by 40%.

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Moisture Condition in Soil-Plant Environmet using Spectral Data and GIS Tools

The studies on agricultural droughts require long-term atmospheric, hydrological and meteorological data. On the other hand, today, the possibilities of using spectral data in environmental studies are indicated. The development of remote sensing techniques, increasing the spectral and spatial resolution of data allows using remote sensing data in the study of water content in the environment. The paper presents the results of the analysis of moisture content of soil-plant environment in the lowland areas of river valley using the spectral data from Sentinel-2. The analyses were conducted between February and November 2016. The spectral data were used to calculate the Normalize Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) which provided the information about the moisture content of the soil-plant environment. The analyses were performed only on grasslands, on 22 objects located in the research area in the Oder river valley between Malczyce and Brzeg Dolny, Poland. The NDVI values were correlated with the hydrological and meteorological parameters. The analyses showed spatial and temporal variability of the moisture conditions in the soil-plant environment showed by the NDVI variability and existence some relationships between the climatic and spectral indices characterizing the moisture content in the environment.

ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL CHANGES IN GROUNDWATER RETENTION FOR THE ODER VALLEY IN THE MALCZYCE REGION

The paper presents the analysis of spatial changes of groundwater retention for a part of the Oder valley situated below the barrage in Brzeg Dolny. For the analysis of selected monthly average elevations of the groundwater table of the selected measuring points (32 piezometers) located in the area described, and 7 gauges on the Oder river, Średzka Woda, Jeziorka and Nowy Rów. The change of groundwater retention is presented in spatial terms for vegetation periods of years: 2010, 2011 and 2012. The database was made interpolating the groundwater table elevation for the area in question. On this basis, differences between ordinates the groundwater table were calculated. The next step was to obtain the spatial distribution of groundwater retention states and its analysis. The results show significant changes in the states of groundwater retention on the selected portion of the valley in the individual growing seasons. According to formation of changes in status of groundwater retention relative to the distance from the Odra river was analysed.

EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF LAND USE CHANGES ON THE OUTFLOW FORMATION FROM LOCAL MICROCATCHMENT OF THE WUELS ARBORETUM AREA IN PAWŁOWICE

In the paper the impact of land use changes localised in catchment of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences (WUELS) arboretum in Pawłowice near Wrocław on outflow from local micro-catchment was analysed. The study results show necessity for solutions that allow increasing the efficiency of rainwater management discharged from the sealed surfaces in the arboretum area. In this study the selected investments that are planning to improve water condition of forest habitat and to decrease flood risk of lower localised area were characterised. The planned investments include the development of various forms of small scale retention taking into account the aspect of improving water quality.