The Possibilities of Orthophotos Application for Calculation of Ecological Stability Coefficient Purposes

Abstract

Hand in hand with the increasing interest in the environment, this work puts the spotlight on ecological stability itself. The Coefficient of Ecological Stability (CES) indicates a chosen region’s stability level that may be calculated using various methodical instructions. For exact CES determination, it is necessary to divide the area of interest correctly into predefined classes and the division quality has a direct impact on the final CES value precision which presents its informative value. For CES calculations in the past, terrestrial measurements and processing were used. Regarding the new methods of spatial data acquisition such as photogrammetry or remote sensing, there comes the question of the usage of these data for secondary purposes, such as for ecology. This articles goal is to test the use of the images taken by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for CES calculation. The main objective is to highlight the possibility of a UAV to measure CES without terrestrial measurements. The second objective is to compare the actual formulas for CES calculation and to observe the differences between the results from different calculations. Another aim is to show the inconsistency of calculations which lead to legislative unification. The aim is to apply a new method of CES calculation using Geographic Information System (GIS) software and modern methods of data acquisition and to point out the benefits, mainly including the time factor, which is closely related to the terrestrial geodetic measurement, when the CES value is about to be calculated for such a spacious area.