Knowledge based system for visual impact assessment and

integration of transport infrastructures in the

landscape

Future

The future of this pioneering project depends on consolidating its implantation in consulting companies, integrating it in the current analysis methodology and assessment and extending its use in a regional, national and international framework.

Likewise, the tool needs new funding sources to allow a second phase where many of its task would be automated using computer vision, this way improving its performance and facilitating even more the assessment process.

R&D&I Program

With an initial budget of 237,548.16 euros, Pagus is part of the incentive line started by the autonomic Administration of Andalusia co-financed by the European Union through the ERDF funds for R&D&I projects. The goal of this programme is the creation of knowledge, information and technological support platforms for strategic areas of interests for the regional government, such as logistics, transportation, landscape and mobility, public works and the territorial planning and ordination in the 2011/2013 period.

In addition, this programme aims to find ways of collaboration between the University and the Public Administration, capitalizing the synergism amongst them through a mutual transfer of knowledge and the development of multidisciplinary teams. In the case of this project, environmental, landscape, civil engineering and visual analysis experts from the Public Works Agency of Andalucía and the Center of Landscape and Territorial Studies of Andalucía are collaborating with the Artificial Intelligence department of the Computer Science Engineering School at UNED.

http://paguslvia.wordpress.com paguslvia@gmail.com

@paguslvia

Innovation in visual impact assessment for transport infrastructure integrationThe “Fomento y Vivienda” counseling of Andalusia and the National University of Distance Education (UNED) are working closely in the Pagus project, an innovative software for the visual impact assessment of transport infrastructures.

Pagus, currently undergoing testing, is called to become an effective assessment system that will allow, either the Public Administration or the consulting and builder companies, a preliminary assessment to facilitate the adequacy and integration of linear transport infrastructures in the landscape environment.

Pagus is based in Web Technologies, to facilitate its access and maintenance tasks. Additionally, it will optimize the visual impact assessment and analysis of infrastructures from the point of view of the Public Administration, Landscape Observatories and Consulting Companies.

The Public Administration will be able to incorporate this tool in its environmental studies; its versatility confers a multi-spatial character, with a proposal for any type of actions in terms of infrastructures and not only in linear executions.

Likewise, Pagus will imply a clear progress in the fulfillment of the European Landscape Convention and, at regional level, in the development of the andalusian landscape strategy, Regional Government initiative to incorporate landscape protection to its policies and turn it into an asset for sustaina-ble development.

Pagus is a visual impact assessment tool which completes the actual visual methodology (Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, LVIA), reducing possible mistakes and inter-evaluator subjectivity.

Equally it is configured as a great valuable system for fragility map generation.

Consulting companies will be able to automate their assessment work and propose mitigation measures in the corridor in the planning and execution phases, which avoids conflicts with population or affected groups. Likewise, the tool will ease its use by personnel from these companies.

Once standardized this methodology, the obtained information will endorse and certificate the evaluation. This way, with only one application it will be possible to perform full monitoring of a specific project: from pre-exe-cution images and the environmental fragility analysis to the assessment of the proposed solution, achieving the integration of visual information (viewshed assessment) with territorial information (fragility).

“La Ballestera” road viewpoint (Hornos-Pon-tones road, in Sierra de Segura, Jaén), a referent in road-landscape integration.

Advantages

Web application details for the Visual Impact Assessment over the “Medina-Sidonia” by-pass(Cádiz, Spain).