Contactless monitoring and spatio-temporally modelling variability of selected differing soil characteristics
The project is focused on research of heterogeneity of differing soil characteristics and their dynamics. The unique properties of soil give us a chance to study the relation between the vegetation component of landscape units and soil, with orientation on ecotones and their modelling in the environment of GIS. The so far uninvestigated possibility to qualify and quantify the heterogeneity of differing soil characteristics in landscape structures with the use of geoinformation technologies opens the space for totally new approaches and results.
Modelling of the distribution of differing soil characteristics in relation to the change of vegetation, hydrological, climatic or other conditions of a site will lead to determination of the correlation rate between the changes of edaphic and vegetation properties of a landscape. This will enable selection of suitable effective – less time-demanding and cheaper – methods of spatial heterogeneity prediction.
Partial research objectives are to search for and to test some new approaches to data collection with the application of imaging techniques and sensor networks involving artificial intelligence (neural networks, knowledge bases etc.). The integration of Geographic Information Systems and Artificial Neural Networks offers a mechanism to lower the cost of analysis of landscape characteristic by reducing the amount of time spent interpreting data.
more information: assoc. prof. Vilem Pechanec, Ph.D., Palacky University, vilem.pechanec_(at)upol.cz