New approaches for wilderness perception mapping: A case study from Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland

• Main Author: Tims, Willem, 1985-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Landfræði; Vatnajökulsþjóðgarður; Kortlagning; Óbyggðir; Vatnajökull; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/18738

The Icelandic Central Highland is by many considered to be one of the last remaining wilderness areas in Europe. However, rapidly increasing tourism as well as the construction of hydro- and geothermal power production plants are causing increasing pressure on the highland. Knowledge about the location of remaining wilderness is therefore essential to avoid further declining of natural areas of this type in Iceland. This study examines the use of new data and methodology to map wilderness perception attributes in a Geographical Information System, using Vatnajökull National Park as a case study. Web-shared geotagged photographs taken by tourists are used to assess the opportunity for solitude; road appearance and traffic intensities are used to map apparent naturalness; and mobile phone coverage data to assess primitiveness. Viewshed analyses and remoteness models are furthermore used to complement the overall wilderness perception map. The results indicate that geotagged photos provide useful data as they show visitor patterns unlike any other type of data hitherto used for wilderness assessment. Traffic intensities and visibility of roads are further considered to provide a better estimation on the impact of roads on wilderness than solely using proximity to different road types. Mobile phone coverage data indicates areas of self-reliance in a wilderness environment. It is concluded that the new data types examined in this study add valuable information to previous wilderness mapping, providing more detail to areas of perceived solitude, naturalness, primitiveness, and remoteness, and are therefore of important use for management and planning purposes. Síðastliðna áratugi hefur sífellt meira verið gengið á óbyggð víðerni hálendisins og spila aukin ásókn ferðamanna ásamt auknum virkjanaframkvæmdum þar stærstu hlutverkin. Þekking á staðsetningu núverandi óbyggðra víðerna er því mikilvæg svo unnt sé að sporna við áframhaldandi skerðingu þeirra. Þessi rannsókn felst í prófun nýrra gagna og aðferða til að ...