THE ANALYSIS OF THE LAYOUT OF THE AREAL PHENOMENA USING THE IMAGE ANALYSIS

H. Klimczak, K. Galant

Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformatics, Poland

hklimczak@kgf.ar.wroc.pl

The character of distribution of a phenomenon may be reconigzed by the image analysis of its spatial layout on a map. Comparing to a priori defined patterns, which are specified based upon the accepted criteria of classification is one of the methods. In the paper the research has been carried out on the chosen areal phenomena occuring in Lower Silesia. The proposed analysis requires discretization of an areal image to a binary form (0,1). This has been achieved by imposing the grid of basic units of appropiately chosen size onto the examined area. The studies are performed in 9-unit modules of basic units of various sizes. The size of a basic unit is specified referring to the spatial character of the researched phenomena. The patterns are determined using several methods that primilary take into account the compactness of units in which a phenomenon occurs in a module. The types of studied phenomena (land cover, soils) are automatically defined in the program - which is a proprietary solution - that classifies a binary image. The spatial distribution of image types is presented in the form of cartographic models. The maps of types enable to perform multivariant analysis of layout of a phenomenon in a geographical space. The frequency of occurence of these particular types of images on the researched area is the main factor in assessing spatial structure of the phenomenon. Moreover, based upon the outcomes, it has been estimated a correlation among the examined phenomena. The spatial analyses presented in the paper a play significant role in assessing the structure of components of the environment, contribute to a better reconigtion of the reality, and offer the possibilities to improve the environment which has been degraded.