Browsing by Author "Murayama, Yuji"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    City profile:
    (Cities, 2013-02) Estoque, Ronald C.; Murayama, Yuji
    Baguio, planned as a convalescent-cum-recreational center and a highland refuge by American colonizers, has evolved into a highly-urbanized regional center. The availability of essential urban services and facilities has helped transform the settlement into the summer capital of the country, a major educational and tourist center, the seat of the regional government and, in recent years, an emerging industrial and health service center north of Metro Manila. Congestion arising from rapid population growth and uncontrolled urban expansion are exerting pressure on the city's amenities, resources and the natural environment. This profile traces the city's evolution as a hill station to a highly urbanized regional center, and discusses and analyses its plans for future development. Systematic planning, cooperation and good governance are crucial to address the many challenges that the city faces, and to allow for its sustainable development in the future.
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    Examining the potential impact of land use/cover changes on the ecosystem services of Baguio city, the Philippines:
    (Applied Geography, 2012) Estoque, Ronald C.; Murayama, Yuji
    The main purpose of this study is to examine the potential impacts of the past and future land use/cover (LUC) changes on the ecosystem services of Baguio city, the Philippines, and discuss their implications for policy development and implementation. Remote sensing-derived LUC maps for 1988, 1998 and 2009, along with GEOMOD, a Geographic Information Systems-based LUC change model, and ecosystem service value (ESV) coefficients were used to facilitate the analysis. The results revealed a decrease in the ESV of Baguio for the past 21 years (1988-2009), of which a substantial amount was due to loss of forest cover. Consequently, the human-to-ESV (H-ESV) ratio has decreased over the years. The scenario-based LUC change analysis revealed that if the urban LUC change pattern continues, the total ESV and the H-ESV ratio will also continue to decrease in 2020, especially if the forest cover is not fully protected and conserved. Geospatial tools and techniques facilitate exploratory analysis critical to the understanding of the potential impacts of future LUC changes under different scenarios. Our results highlighted that under the great pressure of urbanization, there is a need to strengthen the proper implementation of policies in order to maintain and improve ecosystem services. Although there are limitations to the estimated ESVs of Baguio to be taken into account in future studies, the magnitude of the estimated changes in the LUC is substantial. Thus, it may still be possible to draw general inferences about the effect of the perceived LUC changes on the estimated ESVs.
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    Landscape pattern and ecosystem service value changes:
    (Elsevier B.V., 2013) Estoque, Ronald C.; Murayama, Yuji
    This study analyzes the dynamics of the socio-ecological system of Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines, in order to derive meaningful information for use in planning its sustainable development. Remote sensing data and geographic information systems techniques, in conjunction with spatial metrics and socio-economic information, were used to facilitate the analysis. The spatial and socio-economic components of Baguio's rapid urbanization over the past 21 years (1988-2009) were the major factors that contributed to dramatic changes in the setting's natural landscape, as indicated by an almost threefold increase in its built-up area, at the expense of other land-use/land-cover classes. Its rapid growth has seen the city's population exceed its designed ceiling of 25,000 people by a factor of at least twelve. Such landscape changes and population growth have resulted in a substantial decrease in the overall annual ecosystem service value (ESV) of Baguio of approximately 60%. The human-to-ESV ratio in the city has also decreased over this same period, from 1:31 (US$/year) in 1988 to just 1:7 in 2009. Although Baguio has enjoyed economic, political and social prominence for more than a century, its rapid population growth and urban expansion are now exerting pressure on its natural landscape, jeopardizing the environmental sustainability of this highly valued hill station. This study offers important insights to all, but especially those in fast-urbanizing regions, as Baguio's case offers learning experience valuable for achieving more successful landscape and urban planning. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
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    Prioritizing areas for rehabilitation by monitoring change in barangay-based vegetation cover
    (MDPI AG, 2012) Estoque, Ronald C.; Estoque, Ria S.; Murayama, Yuji
    Analysis of spatial and temporal changes of vegetation cover using remote sensing (RS) technology, in conjunction with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), is becoming increasingly important in environmental conservation. The objective of this study was to use RS data and GIS techniques to assess the vegetation cover in 1989 and 2009, in the barangays (smallest administrative units) of the city of San Fernando, La Union, the Philippines, for planning vegetation rehabilitation. Landsat images were used to prepare both the 1989 and 2009 land cover maps, which were then used to detect changes in the vegetation cover for the barangays. In addition to conventional accuracy assessment parameters such as; proportion correct, and standard Kappa index of agreement, two other parameters; quantity, and allocation disagreements were used to assess the accuracy of the land cover classification. Results revealed that there were gains and losses of vegetation cover in most of the barangays, but overall vegetation cover increased by 11% (around 625 ha) based on the original extent of 1989. Those barangays that showed substantial net losses in vegetation cover need to be prioritised for rehabilitation planning. As exemplified in this study, the collection, processing and analysis of relevant RS and GIS information, can facilitate priority-setting in the planning of environmental rehabilitation and conservation by the local government at both city and barangay levels.
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    Remotely sensed tree canopy cover-based indicators for monitoring global sustainability and environmental initiatives
    (IOP Publishing Ltd, 2021) Estoque, Ronald C.; Johnson, Brian A.; Gao, Yan; Dasgupta, Rajarshi; Ooba, Makoto; Togawa, Takuya; Hijioka, Yasuaki; Murayama, Yuji; Gavina, Lilito D.; Lasco, Rodel D.; Nakamura, Shogo
    With the intensifying challenges of global environmental change, sustainability, and biodiversity conservation, the monitoring of the world's remaining forests has become more important than ever. Today, Earth observation technologies, particularly remote sensing, are at the forefront of forest cover monitoring worldwide. Given the current conceptual understanding of what a forest is, canopy cover threshold values are used to map forest cover from remote sensing imagery and produce categorical data products such as forest/non-forest (F/NF) maps. However, multi-temporal categorical map products have important limitations because they inadequately represent the actual status of forest landscapes and the trajectories of forest cover changes as a result of the thresholding effect. Here, we examined the potential of using remotely sensed tree canopy cover (TCC) datasets, which are continuous data products, to complement F/NF maps for forest cover monitoring. We developed a conceptual analytical framework for forest cover monitoring using both types of data products and applied it to the forests of Southeast Asia. We conclude that TCC datasets and the statistics derived from them can be used to complement the information provided by categorical F/NF maps. TCC-based indicators (i.e. losses, gains, and net changes) can help in monitoring not only deforestation but also forest degradation and forest cover enhancement, all of which are highly relevant to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other global forest cover monitoring-related initiatives. We recommend that future research should focus on the production, application, and evaluation of TCC datasets to advance the current understanding of how accurately these products can capture changes in forest landscapes across space and time. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.
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    Spatio-temporal urban land use/cover change analysis in a hill station:
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2011) Estoque, Ronald C.; Murayama, Yuji
    This study explores the spatial and temporal characteristics of land use/cover (LUC) changes in Baguio city, the only American hill station in Asia and the summer capital of the Philippines. Remote sensing (RS) satellite images were used to develop the 1988, 1998, and 2009 LUC maps of the city in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) platform. Results reveal that the city has undergone a major physical landscape transformation for the last 21 years as indicated by a rapid built-up area expansion and substantial changes in its other land uses/covers. This study also analyzes the spatial pattern of urban growth in Baguio city. Furthermore, it presents insights in planning for the future sustainable urbanization of this highly valued city. © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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    Suitability Analysis for Beekeeping Sites Integrating GIS & MCE Techniques
    (Medwell Journals, 2010) Estoque, Ronald C.; Murayama, Yuji
    The study evaluates the suitability of the Province of La Union, Philippines, for beekeeping using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) techniques. It presents an empirical method involving GIS, stakeholder and expert participation, database creation and management, spatial and multi-criteria analysis, and validation. The final suitability map was validated through correlation analysis using existing beekeeping projects, honey-yield data, and calculated suitability values. Results showed a relatively high correlation between the suitability index and honey yield, indicating reliability of the model and its output. The study may serve as a basis for evaluating other areas for beekeeping and for future studies.