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dc.contributor.authorTomczyk, Aleksandra M.
dc.contributor.authorEwertowski, Marek W.
dc.contributor.authorCreany, Noah
dc.contributor.authorMurguzur, Francisco Javier Ancin
dc.contributor.authorMonz, Christopher
dc.date.accessioned2023-10-31T08:29:06Z
dc.date.available2023-10-31T08:29:06Z
dc.date.issued2023-09-04
dc.description.abstractRecreational trails are a vital element of protected natural areas (PNAs) infrastructure, which enables visitors to travel through and engage in various activities such as hiking, biking, horse riding. Degradation of trails adversely affects the natural environment as well as the safety and comfort of visitors. As the role of many PNAs is to protect the natural environment and to provide recreational opportunities, the need to obtain accurate information about the condition of the trails and the direction of their transformation is evident. Spatial characteristics of trails can be very heterogenic even within a single park, and this heterogeneity hinders our understanding of different types of direct human impacts across the landscape. Therefore, there is a need for a tool allowing for mapping large portions of trail networks within a reasonable time to get a full picture of trail conditions in space and their change through time. In this paper, we present a protocol for high-resolution mapping and monitoring of recreational trail conditions using UAV surveys, Structure-from-Motion (SfM) data processing and geographic information systems (GIS) analysis to derive spatially coherent information about indicators of trail degradation and associated trail characteristics, e.g., by detailed mapping of trail width, and incision. We tested the approach in three dramatically different settings: (1) Two trails studied in Orange County (California, USA) were characterized by mean width of 0.6 m and 2.8 m and mean incision of 0.05 m and 0.3 m, respectively – in this case study we demonstrated a strong correlation between ground-based and UAV-based surveys of trail width and incision; (2) Valle de Cocora (Colombia) hiking and horse-riding trails were characterized by mean width of 0.5 m and 1.2 m respectively, and incision which occurred on 28% of hiking and 87% horse-riding trail – this case study indicated good agreement between object-based classification and manual delineation of the trail tread; (3) in Rainbow Mountain (Peru) mean width was 1.8 m for hiking, 15.6 m for horseriding trail and 23.6 m for the multi-use trail. Presented case studies enabled us to verify the broad applicability of the proposed workflow.en_US
dc.identifier.citationTomczyk, Ewertowski, Creany, Murguzur, Monz. The application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys and GIS to the analysis and monitoring of recreational trail conditions. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. 2023;123en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 2189194
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.jag.2023.103474
dc.identifier.issn1569-8432
dc.identifier.issn1872-826X
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/31655
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherElsevieren_US
dc.relation.journalInternational Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2023 The Author(s)en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_US
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)en_US
dc.titleThe application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys and GIS to the analysis and monitoring of recreational trail conditionsen_US
dc.type.versionpublishedVersionen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)