gvSIG for modeling the Holocene landscape
Our intention was to model the landscapes of the past from data of the present. To achive this we had geomorphological and archaeological field data spanning more than 20 years of work.
We needed to reconstruct the landscape on which the earliest farming communities from the western Mediterranean settled so that from that starting point we could analyze the changes that the introduction of farming techniques meant for the Serpis Valley landscape. It was interesting to analyze not only the phenomena of substitution, decrease or disappearance of species but also their resistance behavior to changes induced by human activity.
Photo interpretation was used in the valleys using both the traditional methodology as well as the recent extension of gvSIG stereoscopic vision.
From the current MDT and using the different levels of fluvial terraces a mask was produced that excluded the eroded landscape areas throughout the Holocene.
Interpolating the resulting areas allowed us to reconstruct the original landscape associated with each level terraces.
- Using SEXTANTE gvSIG allowed us to address the modeling of the landscape that until then was extremely complicated.
- The easiness of access to web services throughgvSIG enabled us to compare our results with indirect sources such as the traditional cattle routes map of the Department of Habitat and Territory.
- The calculation modules of SEXTANTE and its combination with gvSIG geoprocesses allow the establishment of a workflow with external costs (licenses, geodata) equal to zero.
