Using computer graphics for assessing the aesthetic value of large-scale rural landscapes

The changes in land-use, e.g. afforestation of former agricultural land, or forest management practices, will have an important impact on landscape. E fficient and inexpensive tools are therefore needed in planning for the vis ualization of future landscape changes. Computer graphics and image-capture techniques can be used to illustrate the present and future states of the sites for the decision-makers. This study examines differences in viewer re sponse to 28 mm panoramic photographs representing 16 rural landscapes and to computer graphic drawings representing the same landscapes. The scenic b eauty of the landscapes was assessed first from photographs produced from f our original pictures by image-capture technology, with the open agricultur al landscape becoming gradually afforested in three;stages. The evaluations were then made from computer line graphics illustrations. Scenic beauty wa s evaluated by using pairwise comparison techniques. The presentation forma t had little effect on the ratings of the landscapes. The results indicate that the illustration method based on computer line graphics can be recomme nded for assessing the scenic impact of proposed management actions in dist ant sceneries.