| Abstract: |
Typical viewshed analysis models the visibility of a feature against the topography of the surrounding landscape. The result is a representation of the impact that relief has on line-of-sight, but the result also ignores many of the other factors that have an equally significant affect on visibility. A 2007 environmental assessment for a proposed Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment (AFCEE) wind turbine at the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Cape Cod MA extended terrain-based viewshed analysis by incorporating distance, land cover, and human development into a more comprehensive analysis of the turbine's potential visibility. Using the Sinclair-Thomas distance classification, concentric bands were added to account for the impact that scale, movement, and proximity have on the viewer. 2001 land cover data from the National Land Cover Database were analyzed against the visible areas of the initial terrain analysis to show the extent to which human development, forest cover, and seasonal impacts have on visibility. By going beyond the affects of terrain alone, the completed analysis represents the complex interaction between numerous visibility factors and is more consistent with the experience a user might expect in the real world. |