Geomorphology at WorkAuthor(s): Peter DownsSource: Area, Vol. 26, No. 2 (Jun., 1994), pp. 180-181Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20003421 .

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180 IBG Annual Conference

implications for measuring biphysical variables. He stressed the need for complementary experimental and theoretical work and outlined some of the results of a French-Anglo collaborative experiment on the remote sensing of crop canopy variables. In the final paper of the first module, Mike Steven (Nottingham) moved on to consider the potential of satellite sensor data for predicting crop yield on an operational basis. Some of the problems of using remote sensing in agriculture were highlighted and current work in which SPOT, Landsat

TM and ERS-1 data will be used to predict UK sugar beet yield on a region-by-region basis. The potential saving for British Sugar, the sole purchase of UK sugar beet, far outweighs the cost of data acquisition and analysis.

The next presentation by Paul Curran (Southampton) described some recent advances in imaging spectrometry with results from an experiment in Florida in which nitrogen and lignin concentrations in a forest plantation were estimated from remotely sensed data. Obtaining foliage samples from the upper branches of the trees proved to be difficult but the use of a shotgun provided an effective and presumably random sampling technique. The ecological theme was taken up by Jim Petch (Manchester Metropolitan) who outlined the potential of remote sensing as a data source for work in landscape ecology. He described experiments undertaken in a range of environments and showed how land cover maps, derived from remotely sensing data can also provide key input for habitat models.

Andrew Millington (Leicester) and his co-authors Kevin White (Reading) and Nick Drake (King's College, London), focused on geomorphological applications of remote sensing in dryland areas. The paper showed the key role that remote sensing has to play in monitoring remote and inaccessible areas and how different sensors provide a range of useful geomor phological information. In the next paper, Sean Quegan (Sheffield) described some recent advances in understanding Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery and presented the results of recent work undertaken with multi-polarisation SAR. He also showed examples of the application of SAR interferometry, a new technique in which centimetre-scale changes in the surface can be detected in multi-date imagery.

In the final paper Arnold Dekker (Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Tim Malthus (Wolverhampton) described their work on measuring water quality in the Netherlands. The work focused on the estimation of phytoplankton concentration in a series of lakes which varies from a drinking water reservoir to a lake containing a green algal soup. They showed how a modelling approach, based on the absorption and scattering of the water constituents, allowed physically-based predictive equations to be developed for imaging spectrometer data.

Overall the meeting was extremely well attended with around 70 participants, some with standing room only. The meeting brought together some of Europe's leading remote sensing scientists all of whom provided high-quality presentations on a wide range of topics. The

meeting was a second successful joint venture with the Remote Sensing Society and could perhaps become a regular feature of the Annual Conference. The papers from the session will be published as a book later this year.

Mark Danson University of Salford

Geomorphology at Work For second year there was an applied theme to the BGRG's day at the IBG. ' Geomorphology at work ' focused heavily on applied and applicable approaches to river management problems but also included examples of geomorphological contributions to ground management and, importantly, a first session of ' scene setting' presentations. All this, and the interruption of

Colin Thorne's (Nottingham) closing address staged in mid-afternoon for the benefit of BBC's Countryfile cameras, value indeed ...

The day began with a perceptive keynote address by Gordon Wolman (John Hopkins) who suggested that ' Geomorphology at work ' should be re-defined in terms of ' Geomorphologist

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IBG Annual Conference 181

at play' in which case categories would include pure play (fundamental research), conse quences of pure play (applications), future play (the applicability of current research) and playmates (the need for interdisciplinary approaches to environmental management problems). Several significant points were made: first, geomorphologists are here primarily to play (a nice dream anyway!); second, ' work' problems are often at or beyond the frontiers of geomor phological knowledge and thus require special creativity in their solutions; and third, applications are therefore likely to require new information thus turning about the conven tional notion of pure research leading to application . .. an increasingly common cry. By way of illustration of ' Geomorphology at work', Marker and Lee (Department of Environment and Rendel Geotechnics) documented how the first decade of geomorphological involvement in land-use planning has established the need for an integrated involvement at all stages of the planning process. Brookes (NRA Thames) provided a similar account for fluvial geomorphol ogy in river management and concluded on the need for the BGRG to contemplate setting up professional qualifications for consulting geomorphologists.

In the second session, Moore and Lee (Rendel Geotechnics) explained how geomorphology contributes to the management of the highly unstable Isle of Wight Undercliff, a timely account considering the massive slide soon after ... perhaps the slope stability model of Collinson (King's) and Anderson (Bristol) could be applied to this problem as well as in West Malaysia! One requirement for a professional status might involve the defining standard approaches to management applications. In the case of ground management, approaches might be based on Brunsden et al's (King's and others) method for investigations in relation to the terminal and portal of the Channel Tunnel, or on Thompson's (Travers Morgan) suggestion for more detailed geomorphological appraisals for the benefit of highway engineering.

The first four river management presentations exemplified management requirements directing research goals. Mosselman (Delft Hydraulics) and Green and Thorne (Halcrows and Nottingham) focused on remote sensing techniques and mathematical models in modelling large-scale channel changes in the Jamuna and Gorai rivers (respectively) of Bangladesh.

Downs (Nottingham) detailed a probabilistic approach for determining natural and human influences on river channel adjustments in the Thames basin and Simon (US Geological Survey) outlined field techniques designed to interpret the changes in disturbed alluvial channels according to a six-stage model of recovery. Returning us to the contribution of play to work, the investigation by Gilvear et al (Stirling) on two low recurrence interval floods on the River Tay should help locate points of greatest bank instability and thus direct future

management strategies. The final three speakers illustrated methods for use in river management applications. Wharton (QMW, London) described how the Channel-Geometry method could rapidly provide hydrological data as a background to geomorphological appraisals of ungauged catchments. Sear and Newson (Southampton and Newcastle) showed how geomorphology might contribute to river maintenance operations using a sediment budget-based approach and Riddle and Fuller (Babtie Dobbie) exemplified geomorphological application in relation to the maintenance of the Spey Bay.

A day, then, of varied but complimentary concerns including example applications, applicable research, methods for enabling application and the future agenda for application thanks are due to the organising committee. When the proceedings are published (texts by

Easter please) comparisons with ' applied geomorphology' texts of the last twenty years should convince geomorphologists of the growing frequency and importance of their contribution to environmental management.

Peter Downs University of Nottingham

Managing the earth's surface: science and policy This symposium brought the BGRG and the ERG together to consider relationships between science and policy aspects of environmental problems, in an attempt to bridge the gap between

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