A method for estimating changes in the visibility of land cover

An inventory of resources that includes the contribution made by land cover to the visual landscape can be used in monitoring and assessing the impacts of change in land cover on the visual landscape of an area. A method is presented for assessing the visual resources of the landscape as applied to a case study area in the western part of the proposed Cairngorm National Park in Scotland. The method is based upon measuring the extent of the land from which different land cover types may be visible, on a cell-by-cell basis, using high resolution Digital Elevation Models combined with interpreted land cover data as inputs. The results show a reduction in the overall contribution of scattered, natural woodland to the visual landscape, and an increase in the visual contribution of plantation woodland at the expense of heather moorland. The geographical distribution of the changes in visibility of land cover types is shown and the potential of the method for providing a spatial context for expressing the results of landscape preference modelling is discussed.