Keywords
environmental indicators, dpsir, land use, water quality, saone catchment, spatial scale
Start Date
1-7-2012 12:00 AM
Abstract
The stream functioning is closely influenced by land uses, along thestream itself and throughout the catchment. Land uses can be seen as both theexpression of the natural environment and the result of increasing human activities.Land uses generate various (in kind and intensity) pressures (positive or negative)that alter river water quality at different scales of time and space. The objective ofthis research is to conceptualize and quantify the interactions between river waterquality and land use through spatial modelling. Our methodology is based on (i) thedesign of a system of indicators using the DPSIR framework and (ii) thedevelopment of the relevant environmental indicators able to characterize thespatio-temporal evolution of water quality, land uses and their interactions. Themethodology is applied on the Saône River (France). Water quality status ischaracterized by a bioindicator based on invertebrate population. Pressuresindicators were identified during a literature review, and built according to thenature of the land use, their distance to rivers and their location in the watershed.The construction of indicators was limited by the representativeness andhomogeneity of data gathered from national databases. These data weresupplemented by the results of a very high spatial resolution land use mappingwork and a spatio-temporal change detection analysis.
Perceptual Modelling Of Environmental Indicators To Assess Land Uses Impacts On Water Quality
The stream functioning is closely influenced by land uses, along thestream itself and throughout the catchment. Land uses can be seen as both theexpression of the natural environment and the result of increasing human activities.Land uses generate various (in kind and intensity) pressures (positive or negative)that alter river water quality at different scales of time and space. The objective ofthis research is to conceptualize and quantify the interactions between river waterquality and land use through spatial modelling. Our methodology is based on (i) thedesign of a system of indicators using the DPSIR framework and (ii) thedevelopment of the relevant environmental indicators able to characterize thespatio-temporal evolution of water quality, land uses and their interactions. Themethodology is applied on the Saône River (France). Water quality status ischaracterized by a bioindicator based on invertebrate population. Pressuresindicators were identified during a literature review, and built according to thenature of the land use, their distance to rivers and their location in the watershed.The construction of indicators was limited by the representativeness andhomogeneity of data gathered from national databases. These data weresupplemented by the results of a very high spatial resolution land use mappingwork and a spatio-temporal change detection analysis.
