Geographies

Preventive geohazard assessment in heritage landscapes presents a methodological challenge, as environmental processes rarely operate within clearly bounded states. Instead, they evolve gradually across space and time and are often only partially observable. Conventional cumulative indices based on linear aggregation and fixed classification thresholds provide operational clarity but may suppress gradual activation, interaction effects, and uncertainty that are critical for preventive heritage management. This study develops a fuzzy geohazard assessment approach that extends cumulative hazard modeling through graded representation and uncertainty-aware aggregation. Environmental variables are represented as spatial fuzzy sets, allowing hazard conditions to be expressed as degrees of activation rather than discrete classes. Hazard-specific activation is derived through rule-based fuzzy inference, while cumulative geohazard conditions are synthesized using a weighted fuzzy γ aggregation operator that balances conjunctive behavior with precautionary disjunctive amplification. The approach is implemented within a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment and demonstrated in Parrhasian Heritage Park, a mountainous heritage landscape in Southern Greece. Results show that cumulative geohazard patterns respond systematically to variations in the precautionary parameter γ, enhancing transitional zones where multiple hazards coexist at moderate activation levels while preserving spatial continuity. Sensitivity analysis indicates that cumulative activation patterns remain structurally stable under moderate variations in membership calibration, supporting preventive GIS-based decision making. Full article

Disaster risk reduction and management are essential for sustainable development in territories highly exposed and vulnerable to natural hazards. Recent disasters in the Canary Islands have highlighted the importance of proactive preparedness and systemic approaches to risk management, emphasizing the need to better understand existing barriers to disaster risk reduction (DRR). This study develops an analysis of risk governance within the current planning instruments in the Canary Islands, the island of Tenerife, and the municipality of Candelaria. The research examines the integration of DRR across strategic, territorial, urban, and emergency planning at the regional, insular, and municipal levels. The findings identify key challenges and opportunities for integrating DRR within existing planning frameworks, highlighting both the potential and the limitations of current instruments as cross-cutting tools for building more resilient territories. While Tenerife has a relatively solid administrative and planning structure that could support a more systemic vision of risk, sectoral fragmentation and coordination gaps remain. Overall, the study contributes to the ongoing discussion on advancing risk governance from a systemic perspective at the local level. The challenges identified delineate the boundaries and directions for improvement, offering a valuable contribution to the existing body of knowledge. Full article

Multi-temporal orbital satellite imagery is an alternative for measuring behavioral patterns or trends in different physiognomies through vegetation indices (VIs) and Spectral Linear Mixture Models (SLMMs). In this study, time series of Landsat 7/8/9 and Sentinel-2 have been used to classify a considerable quantity of areas spread over the São Paulo state from 2021 to 2024. Because the large amount of samples considered in our analysis, self-organizing maps (SOMs) have been applied as a convenient method to group similar satellite image time series samples with respect to a certain vegetation index or green vegetation fraction (VEG). Since every dataset area belongs to different types of physiognomies, each cluster has been labeled according to the plurality technique. Additionally, we obtained the mean spectral behavior of the VIs and VEG in the 2021–2024 seasonal cycle of all samples. The results showed similar variations from the rainy to the dry season for most of the physiognomies. On the other hand, this research indicates that the proposed method for classification the Brazilian areas spread over the São Paulo state is consistently good, obtaining the best performance (quantization error) associated with Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series samples. Full article

Nighttime light (NTL) satellite data provide an effective proxy for analyzing urbanization, tourism development, industrial activity, and population dynamics. Based on these premises, the present study investigates the spatiotemporal behavior of Nighttime Light Dynamics across 107 Italian provinces from 2014 to 2022 using VIIRS Day/Night Band composites processed in Google Earth Engine (GEE). A comprehensive framework combining descriptive statistics, seasonal analysis, correlation assessment, time-series clustering, and Emerging Hotspot Analysis (EHA) was applied to characterize spatial patterns, temporal trends, and joint spatiotemporal dynamics. The results reveal pronounced spatial heterogeneity, with higher and more stable Nighttime Light Dynamics concentrated in Northern and Central Italy, while Southern regions exhibit lower intensity and greater temporal variability. Seasonal analysis shows that summer contributes more strongly to intra-annual Nighttime Light Dynamics dispersion, whereas winter illumination patterns are rather uniform. A strongly positive relationship between Nighttime Light Dynamics and population density was observed at national and regional scales (R² = 0.71), confirming the reliability of Nighttime Light Dynamics as an honest demographic proxy. Time-series clustering and EHA further identify central locations, stable urban cores, transitional regions, and areas experiencing intensifying (or diminishing) illumination trends. Overall, the study highlights the value of integrating spatiotemporal analytics with Nighttime Light Dynamics data to support evidence-based regional planning and sustainable development strategies aimed at addressing spatial inequalities across Italy and, more generally, advanced economies. Full article

This study analyzes the locational characteristics of temples and shrines within the Namerigawa River basin in Kamakura, focusing on the characteristic landform known as “yatsu valleys”. While previous studies on Kamakura have examined historical and tourism-related aspects, few have investigated the spatial relationship between religious sites and geography. Using GIS-based national land numerical data and field surveys, this research classified 56 temples and shrines by environmental type, historical period, and religious sect. Results indicate that a significant number were built in the yatsu valleys, especially during the Kamakura period. Many yatsu valleys’ names reflect historical temple associations, even if the original structures no longer exist. Furthermore, temporal patterns show shifts in dominant sects, such as the Jodo-Shu and Nichiren-Shu, after 1260. Spatial analysis reveals a concentration of temples near specific watersheds and water networks, particularly where water access is optimal. This study contributes a geographical perspective to the field of historical and religious site research in Kamakura and underscores the need for comparative studies in other watersheds to deepen understanding of temple and shrine distribution across the region. Full article

Global gridded population datasets are widely used in urban analysis, risk assessment, and sustainability monitoring, including the calculation of indicators for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite their broad use, their behaviour at local scales in shrinking cities remains insufficiently understood. This study evaluates three global population datasets—WorldPop, GHS-POP, and GPWv4—in seven Croatian city cores using official census data as reference. Croatia represents a relevant case due to long-term population decline combined with relatively stable built-up extents. Population estimates were compared at the city-core level for the period 2001–2021, and spatial differences between datasets were examined using pixel-level residuals, built-up intensity metrics, and land-cover stratification. The results show that WorldPop and GHS-POP achieve similar accuracy in city-total estimates, with relative errors generally ranging between about 2% and 10%, but differ systematically in their spatial allocation of population. GHS-POP concentrates population within built-up areas, while WorldPop redistributes a substantial share into non-built-up land-cover classes, exceeding GHS-POP by approximately 290,000 inhabitants outside built-up areas, whereas GHS-POP concentrates over one million additional inhabitants within built-up zones. GPWv4 often shows the smallest city-level errors but produces spatially uniform population surfaces that limit its suitability for intra-urban analysis. The findings highlight that model choice can strongly influence spatial indicators used in SDG-related and sustainability assessments, highlighting the need for context-specific evaluation of global population datasets in shrinking urban environments. Full article

The Alborz Mountain range, serving as the strategic water tower of the Iranian Plateau, is experiencing the accelerating impacts of climate change. Given the critical role of snow reserves in this region for water security, understanding the mechanisms of snow degradation in response to warming is essential. Aiming to investigate the divergent responses of snow cover and snow depth to extreme temperature indices, this study analyzes a 23-year time series (2001–2023) of ERA5-Land data and MODIS imagery across 11 elevation bands. To this end, trends and correlations among the Warm Spell Duration Index (WSDI), the Percentage of Warm Days (TX90p), the Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI), and Average Snow Depth (ASD) were assessed using the Modified Mann–Kendall (MMK) test, Generalized Linear Modeling (GLM), and Spearman’s rank correlation. The findings reveal elevational heterogeneity in the snow regime of the Alborz. Notably, the decline in spatial snow cover (NDSI) is primarily concentrated in the mid-elevation transition zone (2000 to 3000 m), whereas the reduction in snow depth (ASD) is a widespread phenomenon, observed even at high altitudes above 4000 m. A key innovation of this research is demonstrating the dominant role of heat frequency over heat duration; GLM results indicate that the TX90p index (frequency of warm days) has a much stronger negative correlation with the degradation of snow resources than WSDI. These results confirm the transition of the Alborz hydrological system toward instability, the upward shift in the snowline in the transition zone, and the invisible thinning of the snowpack at higher elevations. Full article

Metro Manila, one of the world’s most densely populated megacities, is highly vulnerable to sea-level rise because of its low-lying deltaic location, frequent tropical cyclones, and rapid anthropogenic subsidence caused mainly by groundwater extraction. This study brings together historical tide-gauge records from the Port of Manila (PSMSL) with the Sixth Assessment Report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR6) projections under Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, adding in vertical land motion (VLM) and sea-level fingerprints to work out local relative sea-level (RSL) changes. Assuming a constant subsidence rate, cumulative VLM reaches ~0.785 m by 2100 and ~1.289 m by 2150. When you factor in climatic contributions (amplified 10–20% by fingerprints, especially under high-emission scenarios thanks to far-field Antarctic ice-loss effects in the western Pacific), projected RSL ranges from 1.09–1.42 m (SSP1-2.6) to 1.51–2.00 m (SSP5-8.5) by 2100, and from 1.70–2.28 m to 2.41–3.54 m by 2150. Results show that 7.95–11.15 km² (1.2–1.8% of land area under SSP5-8.5) could face permanent inundation, mostly in Malabon (~18%), Navotas (~20%), and Manila (~7%). Our conservative estimates (permanent ocean-connected flooding, excluding existing aquaculture areas) come in much lower than earlier mid-century projections of up to a 30% area affected. All this will worsen chronic tidal flooding, erosion, saltwater intrusion, and risks to millions in low-lying districts. We urgently need integrated adaptation, better groundwater regulation, and a mix of nature-based and engineered solutions. Full article

The article will focus on the concept of eco-hotel, ecotourism, the criteria for the creation of an eco-hotel and, subsequently, the certifications valid in Europe specifically in the Visegrád Group countries. The analysis of the Visegrád Group (V4) countries focuses on the ecolabel and comparison of certified and non-certified hotels. With the increasing number of ecolabels on the market, many hotels are trying to adapt to this growing trend. However, it is very important to expose the misleading advertising in the field of “being eco”. Tourists are often misled by the so-called “greenwashing”, which is an increasingly big problem. This negative phenomenon needs to be eliminated, and hoteliers should be motivated to create an environmentally friendly environment in the context of sustainable tourism development. Full article

The proliferation of marine data presents both an opportunity for ocean governance and a challenge, contributing to fragmentation across disciplines, institutions, and sectors. Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure (MSDI) stands out as a major framework for integrating marine information. However, an integrated synthesis that combines quantitative mapping of publication patterns with qualitative analysis of thematic evolution remains absent. This study employs a two-step approach combining systematic review and bibliometric analysis of Scopus-indexed literature (2000–2024). Based on a focused corpus of 20 publications rigorously screened for explicit MSDI relevance, we examine publication trends, collaboration patterns, thematic structures, and evolutionary trajectories. Results indicate accelerating scholarly interest in MSDI, with European institutions contributing 75% of the analysed publications. Policy frameworks such as the INSPIRE Directive (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) emerge as key drivers of research activity. Temporal analysis of this corpus suggests a tentative five-phase evolution in MSDI research: (1) foundational technical standardisation, (2) governance model implementation, (3) semantic interoperability enhancement, (4) policy integration, and (5) advanced applications incorporating FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) principles and Artificial Intelligence (AI). These phases, derived from systematic coding of thematic focus across publications, represent observed patterns within the analysed literature rather than definitive stages. This paper concludes that MSDI is moving toward a more socio-technical approach that requires the consideration of a technical-focused tool in present-day ocean governance. Future work should combine semantic AI, decentralised architectures, polycentric governance models, and impact assessment frameworks to align MSDI development with the objectives of equity, inclusion, and sustainability. Full article

The San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina archipelago, located in the Colombian Caribbean, hosts diverse ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, and beaches, all of which are increasingly threatened by human activities. This research proposes a spatial analysis of ecological risk that integrates ecosystem vulnerability and anthropogenic pressures associated with land-use change to promote sustainable risk management. The vulnerability of island ecosystems was assessed by analyzing changes in cover across multiple time periods. At the same time, risks from anthropogenic pressures were determined based on marine protected area zoning and land-use planning regulations. Results show contrasting patterns: while several mangrove and beach sectors remained relatively stable, mangrove loss reached up to 65% in Providencia, and seagrass ecosystems experienced severe degradation, including a complete loss (100%) in western San Andrés. Risk maps indicate that the highest risk levels are consistently associated with Special Use Zones, where tourism infrastructure, navigation, and port activities are permitted. These findings highlight the importance of ecosystem-based risk management and adaptive governance in reducing anthropogenic pressures and preserving island ecosystem health. Full article

Winter tourism is increasingly influenced by changing socio-demographic dynamics, climate change, and evolving leisure preferences. While prior research has examined winter tourist motivations, sustainability strategies and climate change adoption, less attention has been paid to differences between urban and rural residents in their attitudes toward domestic winter leisure tourism. This study addresses this gap by exploring variations in participation patterns, service evaluations, and overall tourism experiences among urban and rural Bulgarian residents. Drawing on a quantitative survey of urban and rural residents (n = 1003), the research systematizes the general characteristics of domestic winter leisure tourism practices and evaluates key tourism service dimensions, including accessibility, accommodation, pricing, infrastructure, and environmental quality. Descriptive statistics and inferential analyses were applied to identify statistically significant differences between groups. The findings reveal distinct behavioural and perceptual patterns: urban residents demonstrate higher participation frequency and place greater emphasis on service quality and diversified amenities, whereas rural residents show stronger sensitivity to pricing and accessibility factors. Differences are also observed in the overall evaluation of the tourism experience, reflecting structural and socio-economic disparities. The study contributes to winter tourism literature by integrating spatial residence into the analysis of domestic tourism demand and experience assessment. The results provide practical implications for destination managers and policymakers seeking to design differentiated marketing strategies and improve service provision in line with the needs of diverse domestic segments. Full article

This study examines the propagation from meteorological to hydrological drought across representative river basins in Bulgaria, focusing on temporal and spatial characteristics of the process. Monthly precipitation and streamflow data for 1964–2023 were used to calculate the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI-1 to SPI-12) and the Streamflow Drought Index (SDI-1). The results indicate an increase in drought frequency and severity during 1994–2023 compared to 1964–1993, particularly at longer accumulation scales (SPI-6 to SPI-12). The strongest relationships between meteorological and hydrological drought are observed at multi-seasonal scales (SPI-3 to SPI-6), while clear seasonal differences are identified between the cold (November–April) and warm (May–October) half-years. Conditional probability analysis shows a common propagation lag of 7–9 months across the studied basins. At the same time, once critical precipitation deficits are reached, hydrological drought may develop at short lags of 0–1 month, indicating a rapid system response under severe conditions. Marked regional differences are observed. The middle and lower Struma basin shows the highest drought-transition probabilities (>50%), whereas the Tundzha basin appears more buffered due to reservoir regulation and hydrogeological conditions. The results highlight that drought propagation depends on accumulation time, seasonal regime, and basin characteristics, and they support the need for basin-specific and proactive water management under changing climate conditions. Full article

Community land management plays an important role in wildfire-prone landscapes in Mediterranean Europe. However, in Portugal, information on the spatial extent and boundaries of community land remains fragmented across multiple institutions. This study addresses a critical but often overlooked issue in wildfire management: the fragmentation of institutional data on community land boundaries in mainland Portugal and its direct implications for forest fire risk management, planning, and accountability. We harmonized georeferenced datasets from various government and public institutions, applying multi-institutional spatial integration supported by legal land use criteria using the Land Use Land Cover map 2018 (LULC2018). The resulting national map represents the first fully harmonized spatial assessment of community land (baldios) in mainland Portugal. Our results show that baldios currently occupy approximately 595 thousand hectares, significantly exceeding official estimates. Of this total, around 74% are under partial forest regime law, and approximately 76% are classified as having a high or very high wildfire hazard. This means that three out of every four hectares of baldios in mainland Portugal are structurally susceptible to extreme wildfire conditions. Beyond improving cartographic data, the study’s findings demonstrate how the lack of land registry weakens the institutional foundations for community-based wildfire management. Without a functional, legally validated national map of community land boundaries, responsibilities, co-management mechanisms, and prevention measures remain spatially inconsistent. Full article

Increasing frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events, together with altered soil saturation dynamics, have significantly increased the occurrence of shallow landslides. These processes are closely linked to climate change and increasingly affect mountainous and hilly regions worldwide, where rainfall-induced pore pressure variations and transient infiltration govern slope instability. Despite growing recognition of climate-driven slope failures, most conventional geomechanical analyses still rely on static assumptions and simplified boundary conditions, which are insufficient to capture the pronounced temporal variability of hydro-climatic forcing. To address this gap, this study introduces a conceptual and methodological framework for a proactive landslide cadaster, developed within the Climate Adaptive Resilience Evaluation (CARE) framework. Rather than serving as a static inventory of past events, the proposed cadaster functions as a structured, updatable repository of climate–geomechanical parameters that directly support advanced landslide analyses. The core innovation lies in the formalization of the climate–geomechanical interface, which enables the transformation of climatic and hydrological variables into parameters directly applicable in geomechanical modeling. These parameters encompass climatic, hydrological, geomechanical, and thermo-hydraulic processes and are assigned to spatially referenced locations, complemented by documented landslide occurrences. Their spatial distribution forms a network of reference points that allows interpolation, continuous updating, and reuse across multiple analyses. In this way, the cadaster becomes a proactive, process-based data infrastructure, serving as the foundational input for scenario-based landslide susceptibility, hazard, and risk assessments within the CARE analytical workflow. The conceptual framework is illustrated through an example from Slovenia, focusing on the Visole area near Maribor, where selected data types and workflow steps are presented for demonstration purposes. Full article

Catastrophic disturbances pose significant challenges to remote sensing because landscapes can change rapidly, while access for field validation is limited, making it difficult to consistently track the spatiotemporal dynamics of discrete land-surface types. Building on the metaphor of the “ecosystem as an organism” and the individualistic perspective on ecosystems, each surface type is treated as a spectrally coherent entity whose identity must remain comparable over time despite changing conditions. To achieve this comparability, a Procrustes-based framework is introduced to align multi-index feature spaces from different dates to a common archetype, enabling cross-date classification within a commensurable coordinate system. Since Procrustes alignment requires a stable reference, the concept of core pixels (centroid-typical samples in feature space) is extended to spatially grounded anchor pixels that are invariant in both spectral and geographic space, thereby representing the persistent “organismal” structure of the landscape. Regression-based evaluation indicates that the Procrustes–anchor workflow improves classification fidelity and produces a clearer, more interpretable transition matrix of type changes, facilitating the separation of systematic transient dynamics from noisy reassignments. The resulting discrete habitat maps are independently validated using field geobotanical vegetation types, providing an ecological basis for the classified surface-type dynamics under catastrophic conditions. Full article

Tornadoes pose growing threats to both communities and the built environment, yet few studies have quantified how spatial characteristics of the built environment interact with social and economic factors while influencing tornado impacts. This paper introduces an integrated metric that combines tornado risk and exposure to evaluate localized disaster impact. Focusing on Florida’s Panhandle, we examine how housing density and affordability, network connectivity, and urban form efficiency, together with demographic and socioeconomic attributes, shape tornado impacts at the U.S. census block group (CBG) level. To address spatial autocorrelation and non-stationarity, five statistical models were compared, including both global and local spatial regressions. The findings indicate that multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) most effectively captures the spatial heterogeneity of tornado impacts. Built-environment and affordability factors show clear spatial heterogeneity— smart location indexand housing cost burden (h_ami) are positively associated with tornado impact in CBGs near Tallahassee and parts of Pensacola—suggesting amplified impacts in location-efficient urban areas where exposure is concentrated and affordability stress may limit preparedness and recovery. In contrast, network density is negatively associated with the impact of key clusters, consistent with the idea that denser, more redundant road networks can reduce canopy-weighted disruption by providing alternative routes for emergency access and restoration. Overall, these findings can inform our understanding of how the built environment influences tornado exposure, offering critical insights for planners and policymakers seeking to strengthen communities against tornadoes. Full article

This study evaluates the costs and benefits of participatory forest management (PFM) versus non-participatory forest management based on the perceptions and involvement of local communities in the Kilombero Valley Ramsar site, Tanzania. The area hosts ecologically significant wetlands managed through different regimes: forests managed by local communities under PFM and protected areas controlled by national authorities. Using data collected through focus groups, key interviews, household surveys, and direct observations in two villages—Siginali (PFM) and Kilama (non-participatory)—this research explores perceptions of two different forest management approaches. The results revealed: (i) a generally low awareness and participation in forest management activities in both villages; (ii) restrictions on forest resource access, essential for local livelihoods, were common and often poorly accepted in the two villages; (iii) neither approach alleviates poverty, instead, strict regulations have worsened livelihoods by eliminating traditional income sources; (iv) forced participation in patrols and fire control was also noted as an unfair burden without direct compensation; and (v) the “fortress” model is perceived as more effective at improving forest health and stopping illegal activity due to stricter patrols. The study concludes that while PFM supports forest sustainability, it needs enhanced local engagement, benefit-sharing mechanisms, and complementary income-generating initiatives such as ecotourism to sustainably balance conservation and community welfare. Full article

This study aims to investigate the relationship between basin hydrology and estuarine processes such as dynamics that influence salinity and water quality in the Shatt Al-Arab River, southern Iraq. Extensive samplings were conducted at 25 sites along the river course over one hydrological year. Runoff estimates were obtained using the soil conservation service–curve number (SCS-CN) model. During winter, peak rainfall (76.8 mm month⁻¹) and runoff (12.38 mm month⁻¹) promote the shortest salt wedge extension (8 km) and the highest water quality (median water quality index (WQI) = 22). In contrast, during fall, minimal rainfall (6.51 mm month⁻¹) and runoff (0.14 mm month⁻¹) result in a salt wedge extension of 109 km and the lowest water quality (median WQI = 250). Strong correlations between rainfall–runoff estimates, salt wedge extension, and water quality parameters demonstrate that water quality status can be predicted using hydrological inputs alone. Thus, this study introduces a novel quantification of the flushing influence required to maintain the Shatt Al-Arab River’s ecological health. A strong (r² = 0.87) significant (p < 0.05) negative correlation was detected between the runoff coefficient (a proxy indicator of catchment wetness) and the standard deviation of WQI. Such a negative correlation implies that hydrological flushing fosters water quality stability. Principal component analysis (PCA) further revealed how natural and anthropogenic sources contribute to water quality. The findings illustrate how seasonal hydrological variability control mixing processes, salt wedge propagation, and water quality in estuarine-influenced river systems, presenting a framework adaptable to similar systems worldwide. Full article