《A GIS model for mapping spatial patterns and distribution of wild land in Scotland 》.pdf

Landscape and Urban Planning 104 (2012) 395–409 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Landscape and Urban Planning j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. elsev /locate/lan durbplan A GIS model for mapping spatial patterns and distribution of wild land in Scotland Steve Carver a,∗ , Alexis Comber b , Rob McMorran c , Steve Nutter a a School of Geography, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK b Department of Geography, University of Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK c Centrefor Mountain Studies, Perth College UHI, PH1 2NX, UK a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: This paper presents a robust and repeatable method for mapping wildness in support of decisions about Received 27 May 2011 planning, policy and management in protected landscapes. This is based around the application of high Received in revised form resolution data and GIS models to map four attributes of wildness: perceived naturalness of land cover, 18 November 2011 absence of modern human artefacts in the landscape, rugged and challenging nature of the terrain, and Accepted 22 November 2011 remoteness from mechanised access. These are combined using multi-criteria evaluation and fuzzy meth- Available online 17 December 2011 ods to determine spatial patterns and variability in wild land quality. The approach is demonstrated and tested for the two national parks in Scotland: the Cairngorms National Park and the