The observed landscape: map of visible landscape values in the province of Enna (Italy)

Abstract

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The value of a landscape is an important issue for landscape protection planning, as different rules or land-use limitations can be defined according to the intensity of values that are visible from certain positions. Viewshed analysis is often used in landscape evaluation, classifying an area by its degree of visibility. This approach however may be not able to consider the value of landscape features that can be observed, as it is only based on terrain morphology features. A landscape assessment methodology is proposed here, by integrating both viewshed analysis and landscape values assessment. In the first part of the work, a viewshed is calculated from a set of viewpoints of panoramic roads. The landscape value is then assessed, using different available thematic layers that are overlaid with GIS geoprocessing tools. Finally, an index of visible landscape values is calculated, through the overlay of the viewshed and landscape value rasters previously obtained. The study area is the province of Enna in Sicily (Italy), where landscape protection is a relevant issue due to the importance, as well as the number, of cultural and natural elements. The resulting visibility map of landscape values is a useful tool to find appropriate policies for landscape protection and design plans.