Effect of different factors to natural environment change in Meuse-Rhine Euroregion

RWTH Aachen University Supervisor - Prof. Martin Bangratz WS 23/24

GIS-Box Project

Effect of different factors to natural environment change in Meuse-Rhine Euroregion

Mayu Masuda, Shubhrata Naik

Contents

1.

Introduction a. b. c. d.

2.

Natural element map a.

3.

Water and vegetation change map(2013, 2020)

Different factors a. b. c. d. e. f.

4.

Topic Area Rhythm Question

Urban development/ Built space Mobility Population Industrial Coal mining area Air pollution

Conclusion

Introduction Topic

Basic information from Literature research

Topic: Natural environment Area: Meuse-Rhine Euroregion Rhythm: Year(2006-2020)

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Abundant natural resources ○ Chalk and limestone ○ Gravel ○ Coal ○ Rapid industrialization due to coal mining ○ Gold-dust Cross border area ○ Various transportation

Research question How does the natural environment such as vegetation, water bodies, etc. change over time in response to various causes in Meuse-Rhine Euroregion?

Which part of the region is facing environmental change?

What is the most responsible factor out of population, industrialization, urbanization and mobility?

Research design

Meuse-Rhine Euroregion

Natural environmental change NDVI calculation for vegetation More vegetation in 2013

Vegetation type land use Vegetation and water bodies map 2013

Extracted Vegetation map 2013

Vegetation reduction hotspot area

Less vegetation in 2013

Areas which faced reduction in Vegetation (from 2013 to 2023)

Overlapped vegetation type land use on vegetation reduction areas.

Affected vegetation type- farmland, grass, nature reserve, meadow Vegetation and water bodies map 2023

Extracted Vegetation map 2023

Approximate percentage of reduction in vegetation of each type

Major Possible Factors for the change in natural environment 1. Urban development/ Built space

3. Population

2. Mobility(2023)

Less population

Less Built spaces in 2013

Analysis maps

Mobility Primary Highway All the vehicle path Railway

Population 2016

Extracted built up spaces map 2013 from NDBI

Growth in population

Growth in Built spaces in 2023

Hotspot areas

Extracted built up spaces map 2023 from NDBI

Urban growth hotspot area

Area with more quantity of transportation

Transportation hotspot areas

Population 2023

Population growth hotspot area

Source : Population count data 2023 - https://data.humdata.org/dataset/kontur-population-germany Population count data 2013 - https://data.humdata.org/dataset/worldpop-population-counts-for-netherlands

Other Possible factors

Analysis maps

4. Industrial land use

5. Coal mining area(2016)

Industrial building(2023) Industrial area 2006

Vegetation reduction hotspot area Coal mining area

Industrial building Building

Industrial area

Hotspot areas

2018

6. Air polluted area(2013)

Area with high possibility of air pollution

Vegetation reduction hotspot area

Industrial area buffer zone

Area with exceedings of the daily PM10 limit value

Source (Mining area Map) : to be mentioned in Source page (Air polluted area Map) : edited by Mayu Masuda, source created by Paul Szabo-Müller, , Data: Lanuv, Ircel, Rivum, Province Limburg

Conclusion Conclusion 1

Highlighted areas faced reduction in Vegetation (from 2013 to 2023)

Conclusion 2

Most affected vegetation type is Farmland

Calculation for conclusion 3 Factor

(a) Area of Vegetation loss

(b) Area of overlapping between factor and vegetation loss

Vegetation reduction hotspot area

Vegetation reduction hotspot area Conclusion 3

Approximate percentage of reduction in vegetation of each type

Match = b(m^2) /a(m^2) *100 percentage

Factor affecting mostly for the vegetation loss is Urban development

Urban development

Industrial

Urban growth hotspot area

Approx. 88% match

Population

Industrial areas hotspot area

Approx. 53 % match

Mobility

Population growth hotspot area

Approx. 39 % match

Transportation hotspot areas

Approx. 31% match

Conclusion and Reflection Conclusion 4 Urban development

Most affected area and Least affected area to find out what triggered those several factors, especially urban development Industrial

Population

Mobility

Reflection The mapped data reveals location of most affected region and least affected region.

Mobility concentration Urban growth

Industrialization Huge population growth

Most affected Area

Middle affected Area

Least affected area

Examining the background of most affected region, it becomes apparent that coal mining initiated a phase of rapid industrialization.

Combining the conclusion 3 and Conclusion 4, urban growth, has resulted in substantial vegetation loss.

In summary, We need to always pay attention to the pace of changing environment since it deeply matters to the urban growth which is the primary reason of vegetation loss

Sources

Population count data 2023 : https://data.humdata.org/dataset/kontur-population-germany Population count data 2013 : https://data.humdata.org/dataset/worldpop-population-counts-for-netherlands Air polluted area : Data: Lanuv, Ircel, Rivum, Province Limburg Mining area : Data -Depressions caused by localized subsidence in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany: a link with coal mining?(Geert-Jan Vis, 2020) The Rhenish Coal-Mining Area—Assessing the Transformational Talents and Challenges of a Region in Fundamental Structural Change( Stefan Greiving ,2022)) The prehistoric flint mining complex at Spiennes (Belgium) on the occasion of its discovery 140 years ago In P. Allard, F. Bostyn, F. Giligny & J. Lech, 2008. Flint mining in Prehistoric Europe: Interpreting the archaeological records. European Association of Archaeologists, 12th Annual Meeting, Cracow, Poland, 19th-24th September 2006 (BAR International Series 1891): 41-77(Collet Helene,2006) Industrial map : https://land.copernicus.eu/en/products/corine-land-cover Meuse-Rhine Euroregion -https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/librariesprovider2/country-sites/netherlands/rhn-meuse-rhine-eng.pdf?sfvrsn=1ca625cf_5&download=true EUREGIO IN PRACTICE(2019) : https://euregio-mr.info/euregio-mr-wAssets/img/Dokumente/Neuigkeiten/Euregio-konkret/EN_Euregio-in-practice-Euregio-Meuse-Rhine.pdf https://youregion-emr.eu/prepare/euregio-meuse-rhine/

Thank you

Mayu Masuda, Shubhrata Naik