porting 
id GIS 
ing the 
ility to 
d from 
and to 
agery. 
ation. 
ation. 
S (in 
'S in 
om a 
9 - 
=" 
-— A 
  
Cendrero, Antonio 
  
COMPUTER ASSISSTED METHODS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS ON 
GEOMORPHOLOGICAL RESOURCES; APPLICATION TO A CASE STUDY IN NORTHERN 
SPAIN. 
Alberto GONZ LEZ-D(EEZ*, Juan REMONDO**,, Viola Maria BRUSCHI**, Almudena DE LA 
PEDRAJA***, Victoria RIVAS****, C sar OTERO*****, Antonio CENDRERO** 
*Universit degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Italy 
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra 
gonzalea@mail.unimo.it 
** Universidad de Cantabria, Spain 
CITIMAC, Facultad de Ciencias 
remondo@ccaix3.unican.es 
bruschiv@ccaix3.unican.es 
cendrera@ccaix3.unican.es 
*%% TTC, the Netherlands 
delapedraja@itc.nl 
***# Universidad de Cantabria, Spain 
Departamento de Geograf a, Urbanismo y Ordenaci n del Territorio 
rivasv(@ccaix3.unican.es 
x*** Universidad de Cantabria, Spain 
Departamento de Ingenier a Geogr fica y T cnicas de Expresi n Gr fica 
oteroc(@ccaix3.unican.es 
Working Group TC VII - 8 
KEY WORDS: Evaluation, Geosphere/biosphere, GIS, Land use/Land cover, Resources, Spatial databases. 
ABSTRACT 
The present contribution makes a proposal for the quantitative characterization of different types of consumable and 
non-consumable geomorphological resources, as a basis for impact assessment. These resources can be quite diverse in 
their nature, including for instance raw or construction materials, soils, sites of geomorphological interest or landscape 
resources. Accordingly, impacts can be expressed in quite different terms: lost monetary value in the case of 
resources with market value; lost productivity in the case of soils or geomorphological units which support productive 
ecosystems; area or population affected by losses in landscape quality; by means of non-dimensional numerical 
indices in the case of both landscape quality or sites of scientific, educational or recreational value. 
Through a GIS, computer maps and associated databases can be prepared for the different types of geomorphological 
resources. The databases should include information on those parameters used for the characterization of each resource 
type. The computer overlay of proposed actions (road, railway, urban development, etc.) and resource maps enables the 
assessment of impacts, selection of least impacting alternatives and so on. The method proposed has been applied to 
assess the impacts of motorway construction in nothern Spain. Parameters used for describing existing resources, maps 
and databases, models for impact assessment and results obtained are presented. 
1 INTRODUCTION 
Gomorphological resources and assets are important for humankind because they fulfill a significant role with respect 
to some basic environmental functions, namely source of resources, support of activities and provider of services. 
(SCOPE, 1995; Cendrero, 1997). These resources are quite varied; they can be grouped into the following categories. 
(Rivas et al., 1997). 
Consumable resources ( Source ): They include geomorphological deposits which can be used as raw, construction 
or energy materials, (clay, sand and gravel). These resources are widely exploited and have well known market values. 
  
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000. 243