Gayana 68(2) supl. t.I. Proc. : 142-143, 2004 ISSN 0717-652X

LABORATORY OF GEOMATICS AND APPLIED INFORMATICS CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES EULA-CHILE UNIVERSITY OF CONCEPCION

P. Debels, M. Aguayo & C. Vega

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

The Laboratory of Geomatics and Applied Informatics of the Centre for Environmental Sciences EULA-CHILE was initially created in 1990 in the framework of a project financed by the Italian Cooperation Agency, which was oriented towards the study of the Biobío River Basin and the adjacent coastal area. At that time, the main objective of the laboratory was to provide support to this project through the preparation and delivery of thematic cartography and products derived from GIS analysis. The Laboratory was modernized in 1997, with the financial and logistic aid from the Flemish Cooperation Agency VVOB (Belgium). Today, it provides spatial data products to the Centre's different Research Units (Aquatic Systems, Environmental Engineering, Territorial Planning) and is actively participating in a big number of research and technical assistance projects.

SERVICES

Cartography: digitalization, data editing and processing for the preparation of thematic maps, plotting services

GIS analysis: spatial-temporal-thematic analysis of data layers, multivariate analysis, spatially distributed modelling of hydrology, erosion, water quality, urban development scenarios, etc.

Analysis of Remote Sensing data: analysis of aerial photographs and satellite imagery for the study and management of natural resources (land use, forest fragmentation)

GPS service: data acquisition, data processing (differential correction) and data transformation & export

Data base development: development of georeferenced data bases based on official census data, data from monitoring campaigns and data derived from GIS analysis

Application development: development of Graphical User Interfaces for linking data bases and mathematical models to standard GIS software packages

Education and training: development of GIS courses and seminars for biology faculty, EULA postgraduate school, private companies and public services

An example of Research and Technical Assistance Activities

Since its creation, the Laboratory has provided services to a considerable number of internal and external research and technical assistance projects. Some of the most important activities are described below:

· Spatially Distributed Modelling of Rainfall-Runoff Processes using Meteorological and Hydrological Time Series, Digital Elevation Models, Soil Maps and Remotely Sensed Land Cover Data

· Spatially Distributed Modelling of Erosion Processes using Meteorological, Hydrological and Water Quality Time Series, Digital Elevation Models, Soil Maps and Remotely Sensed Land Cover Data

· Spatially Distributed Modelling of Pesticide Losses from a Watershed with mixed Agricultural and Forestry Land Use, based on Meteorological, Hydrological and Water Quality Time Series, Digital Elevation Models, Soil Maps and Remotely Sensed Land Cover Data

· Study of Land Cover Changes and its Consequence on the Fragmentation of Native Forests in the Biobío Region using Multitemporal LANDSAT TM Imagery

· Preliminary Analysis of Morphological Changes in the Lower Biobío River based on Multitemporal LANDSAT TM Imagery, using Density Slicing

· Development of a Georeferenced Data Base for Integrated Management of the Chillán River Basin

· Development of Aquamodel, a Bidimensional Water Quality Model for the Biobío River with ArcView GUI

· Inventory of Land Property Rights in the Area for Indigenous Development: "Upper Biobío Basin"

· Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing as Tools for Territorial Planning

· MultiCriteria Evaluation using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for Protected Natural Areas Planning.

· Modeling Factors affecting Land Use Change in the Rural-Urban Interface. Spatial Analysis of Urban Growth of Cities in Central Chile (Chillan and Los Angeles).

^*Studies financed by: Italian Cooperation Agency CICS, Flemish Cooperation Agency VVOB, Dirección de Investigación de la Universidad de Concepción DIUC, Comisión Europea (EC-6th FP), Servicio Agrícola Ganadero SAG Chile, Bienes Nacionales Chile