Geographica Pannonica Vol.24-4
July 23, 2026Geographica Pannonica Vol.24-2
July 23, 2026Geographica Pannonica - Volume 24, Issue 3
Volume 24, Issue 3 content (click on a plus button for more):
SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATIONS OF TROPOSPHERIC NITROGEN DIOXIDE IN TURKEY BASED ON SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING
Authors: Doğukan Doğu Yavaşlı
Abstract: The satellite observations of NO2 acquire the total tropospheric column over an area while the current ground observations lack spatial and temporal coverage. In this study the Dutch Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) NO2 (DOMINO) data product v2.0 for 2004 – 2019 period was used to analyze the spatial and temporal variations of NO2 in Turkey. Considering the seasonality characteristics of NO2, we have used pixel based Seasonal Kendall (S-K) test to investigate the trend of the change. The highest values of NO2 has been found at the metropolitan areas and perimeter of the high capacity power plants in the observed period. The monthly average concentrations of NO2 are higher in winter months due to the higher demand of heating and power usage. The S-K trend test results indicate a statistically negative trend at the largest cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. However statistically significant positive trend has been found in some areas and Syrian border provinces in particular. Our results show that there is an abrupt change by 2011 in the tropospheric NO2 concentrations, same period when the first Syrian refugees have arrived after the political disorder. The dramatic change at the emission landscape of the NO2 in the region can be explained by changes in population concentration due to political circumstances.
Keywords: NO2; OMI; DOMINO data; Seasonal Kendall; Turkey
Article info:
Received: February 29, 2020 | Revised: May 14, 2020 | Accepted: May 25, 2020
INVESTIGATING MICROMETEOROLOGICAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SALINE STEPPE, FOREST-STEPPE AND FOREST ENVIRONMENTS IN NORTHERN SERBIA DURING A CLEAR AND SUNNY AUTUMN DAY
Authors: Dragan D. Milošević, Jelena Dunjić, Vladimir Stojanović
Abstract: Saline habitats of the Pannonian plain are specific regarding their extraordinary biodiversity with many endemic species, yet they are among the most threatened European communities with limited spatial distribution. These habitats are present in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in the north of Serbia, in the area of Srednja Mostonga, and they are in the procedure of protection as the II category protected area – “region of exceptional characteristics”. Great variety of rare and endemic species makes this area interesting for recreational and educational activities. In this paper we investigate micrometeorological and outdoor thermal comfort conditions in different natural environments at the area of Srednja Mostonga. This is the first micrometeorological field measurement study conducted in this region. Measurements were performed during the daytime of a sunny autumn day in 2019. The results showed that daytime air temperature was up to 3.4 °C lower in forest compared to steppe, while relative humidity was up to 5-6% higher in forest than in steppe with up to 3.2 m/s lower wind speeds in forest than in steppe area. Micrometeorological values were similar between forest-steppe and steppe. However, the outdoor thermal comfort conditions expressed via Humidex showed that ‘some discomfort’ was most often observed in forest-steppe during 27% of measurement time, followed with 13% of ‘some discomfort’ observed in steppe and only 1% of ‘some discomfort’ was observed in forest. Accordingly, during the warmest daytime hours outdoor activities could be performed in forest, while early morning and evening hours could be spent in steppe and forest-steppe areas of Srednja Mostonga.
Keywords: temperature; humidity; Humidex; saline steppe; forest-steppe; forest; Serbia
Article info:
Received: March 28, 2020 | Revised: July 07, 2020 | Accepted: July 24, 2020
REGIONAL INEQUALITIES IN THE VISEGRAD GROUP COUNTRIES, SERBIA AND CROATIA
Authors: Radoslav Klamár, Ján Kozoň, Monika Ivanová
Abstract: The paper discusses the evaluation of regional inequalities in the V4 countries, Serbia and Croatia. The gross birth rate, the unemployment rate, the average monthly gross earnings, the gross domestic product per capita in purchasing power parity and dwellings completed per 1000 inhabitants were selected as a set of evaluation indicators and, to determine the level of regional inequalities the Gini Coefficient and the Coefficient of Variation in two variants were used – in all the counties as well as after excluding the capital cities. The integrated indicator of socio-economic status based on the above-specified indicators revealed the prevailing dichotomy of the prosperous west vs. the problematic east in the majority of the countries, the most significantly in Slovakia. This country together with Hungary recorded (mainly thanks to the significant effect of the capital city) the most significant inequalities while the less significant ones were in the Czech Republic, Serbia and Croatia. The strong effect caused by the capital city was confirmed almost in all the countries except for Poland. The level of the dependence between the socio-economic status of the countries and the level of their inequalities was confirmed only partially.
Keywords: Croatia; regional inequalities; Serbia; socio-economic status; Visegrad Group countries; west-east dichotomy
Article info:
Received: April 07, 2020 | Revised: May 26, 2020 | Accepted: May 27, 2020
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE URBAN SPRAWL IN THE SUBURBAN ZONE OF NITRA. AN ANALYSIS BASED ON LANDCOVER DATA
Authors: Tamás Hardi, Gabriela Repaská, Ján Veselovský, Katarína Vilinová
Abstract: One of the most important territorial processes in the highly urbanised continent of Europe is suburbanisation, urban sprawl which occurs in a gradual manner over long periods and is not perceived as dramatic. Nevertheless the built-up urban areas and the urban lifestyle occupy step by step the periurban territories. Urban sprawl affects the essential environmental, economic and social functions of the impacted settlements. In the last decades these processes reached the less urbanised Central European region, leading to very fast and less planned changes in its settlement system. The research deals with these processes in the Central European non-metropolitan areas, around regional centres, and with their environmental impacts. The aim of this paper is, based on theoretical and empirical knowledge, to point out to spatial patterns of urban sprawl and suburbanisation in functional urban areas (FUA). This paper examines the urban sprawl and its impacts in Slovakia in the case of Nitra Functional Urban Area, in the agglomeration of an economically growing regional centre. The research is based on standard geographical methods including field research. Desktop and field empirical researches were conducted, with different methods such us GIS analysis of land use change. The analysis shows then to what extent cities and urban areas grow, from which one can conclude to how landscape surrounding the urban residential areas has changed, how the proportion of non-permeable surfaces increased, basically influencing the runoff of precipitation. The data demonstrate, moreover, how artificial patches and barriers fragment landscape more and more, endangering thereby biodiversity and decreasing green surfaces. The examination covers the 2000-2018 period, using the CORINE CLC 2000, 2006, 2012 and 2018 databases. Thereby the authors are able to examine changes in a longer period of almost two decades, and three internal periods. All this is compared to the demographic changes of the urban area of Nitra as well, in order to see to what extent the change in the number of population contributes to the transformation of land cover and thereby to environmental impacts. The characteristic features of Nitra and its hinterland within this are analysed, then the Nitra FUA and within that the suburban zone is examined in detail. Nitra and its area feature high enlargement dynamics looking at the whole of the period, compared to other FUAs. It is typical almost everywhere that the enlargement of areas surrounding cities is more intensive than the growth of the city itself, which demonstrates general suburbanisation.
Keywords: Suburbanisation; urban sprawl; land cover change; environmental impact; Slovakia; Nitra
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Received: March 04, 2020 | Revised: May 27, 2020 | Accepted: July 08, 2020
RESCALING SMART DESTINATIONS – THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF SMART GEOSPATIAL SERVICES DURING AND AFTER COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Authors: Bojan Radojević, Lazar Lazić, Marija Cimbaljević
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed numerous, lasting adverse effects on the global tourism industry. At the same time, it exposed the competitive advantages that existing smart tourism infrastructure could provide for addressing urgent health issues and providing meaningful smart services. This paper initially provides examples of smart geospatial services based on COVID-19 pandemic-related data, such as algorithms for measuring social distancing through CCTV and proximity contract tracing protocols and applications. Indeed, smart destinations, as an evolutionary step of smart cities, very quickly became a practical and research framework in various other disciplines, from leisure and service-oriented to technical and geospatial domains. However, various technologies employed and interests of different stockholders create a constant need for rescaling of smart data to facilitate their usability in providing optimized smart tourism services. One of the pressing concerns is the functional alignment of geospatial data with tourism-related data. Thus, we aim to pinpoint the growing importance of smart geospatial services, by pointing to the main downturn of the current smart destination issue with geospatial data resolutions, and, by building upon the relations of the geospatial layer of data with the tourism-specific layer. To this end, we pinpoint two further research directions – reinvestigating spatial and temporal resolution as a core of data smartness and the need for contextual (tourism-oriented) scaling of smart technology. This could be of keen interest in post-pandemic tourism, where smart geospatial services will be of pressing concern, but also it still an issue to be resolved in further smart destination development.
Keywords: smart tourism destination; smart tourism; service optimization; spatial optimization; COVID-19
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Received: August 17, 2020 | Revised: September 10, 2020 | Accepted: September 11, 2020
THE PERCEIVED VALUE IN ECOTOURISM RELATED TO SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY: A STUDY FROM COSTA RICA
Authors: Mauricio Carvache-Franco, Allan Perez-Orozco, Orly Carvache-Franco, Ana Gabriela Víquez-Paniagua, Wilmer Carvache-Franco
Abstract: Ecotourism allows activities in contact with nature in protected natural areas to contribute to environmental care. This study seeks to establish the dimensions of perceived value in ecotourism and analyze its relationship with satisfaction and loyalty. It was an in situ research carried out in two protected areas of Costa Rica: Arenal National Park and Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge. The sample consisted of 310 surveys for domestic and foreign tourists. The data were interpreted through a factorial analysis to identify the dimensions that make up the perceived value. Also, Spearman’s correlation technique and the stepwise multiple regression method were used to find the relationships among the variables. The findings show that there are three dimensions of perceived value: economic-functional, emotional, and social. Overall satisfaction and loyalty had a high average score, and the dimensions found are significantly and positively related to overall satisfaction. The “economic-functional value” dimension has a greater influence on overall satisfaction, and the “emotional value” dimension is the most significant predictor of the intentions to return, recommend, and say positive things about the ecotourism destination.
Keywords: ecotourism; perceived value; satisfaction; loyalty; Costa Rica
Article info:
Received: February 04, 2020 | Revised: September 09, 2020 | Accepted: September 11, 2020