Viewsheds and Recreation Demand: Approaches for Capturing Visual Qualities of the Landscape Post-Fire

Abstract: Spatial data metrics are commonly used to capture environmental quality for recreation and visitation studies. Spatial data and tools, such as viewshed analysis, provide methods to incorporate spatial attributes into nonmarket valuation studies of consumer preferences, like portraying changes in visual-sensory qualities (e.g., from wildfires). We review the use of viewsheds in the nonmarket valuation literature and summarize insights from viewshed-based studies in other disciplines. We offer a conceptual framework for how to incorporate viewsheds into recreation demand studies, including to capture post-fire landscape changes. We discuss recent innovations in methods and data and identify avenues for future research.

摘要：空间数据指标常被应用于休闲与游览研究中，用于表征环境质量。空间数据及视域分析（viewshed analysis）等工具，可将空间属性纳入消费者偏好的非市场价值评估研究，例如呈现野火引发的视觉感知品质变化。本文梳理了视域分析在非市场价值评估领域文献中的应用现状，并总结了其他学科中基于视域分析的研究洞见。本文提出了将视域分析纳入休闲需求研究的概念框架，其中涵盖了用于捕捉火灾后景观变化的研究维度。此外，本文还探讨了当前方法与数据领域的最新创新，并指明了未来的研究方向。