Exploitation of groundwater and frequent failure of monsoons has produced rapid water table depletion in present days. Rainwater is discharged as surface runoff without replenishing the groundwater table. Identification of potential zones for groundwater recharge has become an important event to replenish the groundwater resources. The recharge potential is governed by various features of surface, subsurface and hydrometeorological parameters. Remote sensing technique is found to be very effective tool for the integration of various features of these factors.

The structure of land estates and farm-sizes are the basis of a competitive agricultural production, hence these questions belong to the evergreen themes both of theory and practice also on international level. In Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs), the change ofpolitical and economic regime virtually tore into the agriculture in beginning of 1990s, destroying the existing structure of land estates by the privatization, restitutions or restoration of ownership rights resulting in fragmentation of land ownership.

A negotiation support system (NSS) was developed to solve groundwater conflicts that arose during land-use management. It was set up in cooperation with the stakeholders involved to provide information on the impact of land use, e.g., agriculture, nature (forested areas), recreation, and urban areas, on the quality of both infiltrating and abstracted groundwater. This NSS combined simulation programs that calculate (1) the concentrations of nitrate in shallow groundwater for each land-use area and (2) the transport of nitrate in the groundwater-saturated zone.

Investment in natural capital restoration is increasing as a response to the widespread ecological degradation of dryland forests. However, finding efficient mechanisms to promote restoration among private landowners is a significant challenge for policy makers with limited financial resources. Furthermore, few attempts have been made to evaluate the costs and benefits of restoration interventions even though this information is relevant to orient decision making.

In this thesis we demonstrate some methods to integrate biophysical data with socio-economic variables with applications in agricultural land use analysis. Part of Nizamabad District of Andhra Pradesh State in India is considered for developing and testing the methods developed. First the study area is stratified as a pre-field work exercise for a focused land use analysis.

Direct applications of remote sensing thermal infrared (TIR) data in landscape ecological research are rare due to limitations in the sensors, calibration, and difficulty in interpretation. Currently there is a general lack of methodology for examining the relationship between land surface temperatures (LST) derived from TIR data and landscape patterns extracted from optical sensors. A separation of landscapes into values directly related to their scale and signature is a key step.

The Queensland Koala Phascolarctos cinereus and possum harvests were regulated from 1906-1927 and 1906-1936, respectively. Before that, there was an uncontrolled harvest. Historical data from the harvest period were analysed to gain information on P. cinereus and possum (mainly Trichosurus vulpecula) population ecology and status. P. cinereusi> numbers peaked in southern Queensland around the turn of the century or in the first decade of the 20th century.

Although the designation of greenbelts around cities has been a common practice for several decades, some greenbelts have not been successfully protected from development. To explore the forces driving the construction of greenbelts, this paper examines how past land use and land cover decisions and current socioeconomic factors have affected the development of the artificial greenbelt zone in China’s Shanghai metropolitan area. Using aerial photographs from 1994, 2005, and 2010, we find that the area of afforested greenbelt was generally related to past land use/cover decisions.

Within the framework of IWRM, a major concern in the humid tropics is the effects of ‘global warming' on the storm rainfall-runoff hydrology of both forests and converted forest lands. Further how such effects need to be incorporated within adaptive, forest-water-land management. But since the mid- 20th century, dramatic changes in land- use (LU) and land cover (LC) have also occurred which have led to rapid rates of deforestation and an expansion of land--forest degradation.

This study aims to evaluate different methods of integrating optical and multipolarized radar data for land use and land cover (LULC) mapping in an agricultural frontier region in the Central Brazilian Amazon, which requires continuous monitoring due to the increasing human intervention. The evaluation is performed using different sets of fused and combined data.

A large number of mathematical models have been developed for supporting optimization of land-use allocation; however, few of them simultaneously consider land suitability (e.g., physical features and spatial information) and various uncertainties existing in many factors (e.g., land availabilities, land demands, land-use patterns, and ecological requirements). This paper incorporates geographic information system (GIS) technology into interval-probabilistic programming (IPP) for land-use planning management (IPP-LUPM).