Vol. 24 (2025)

2025

Publication date: 05.12.2025

Licence: CC BY 4.0

Editorial team

Editor-in-Chief Anna Szafarczyk

Secretary Rafał Gawałkiewicz

Honorary Editor-in-Chief Celso Augusto Guimarães Santos

Language Editor Aleksandra Wagner

Editor Stanisław Szombara

Editor Katarzyna Baran-Gurgul

Issue content

Spatial distribution and conservation strategy of the Adansonia digitata L. in the conditions of climate change and parasitism by Analeptes trifasciata F. in Togo

Akoda Kossi Amevivi, Wouyo Atakpama, Kourouma Koura, Nounagnon Gérard Gouwakinnou, Komlan Batawila, Jean Cossi Ganglo

Geoinformatica Polonica, Vol. 24 (2025), 2025, pp. 7-23

https://doi.org/10.4467/21995923GP.25.001.22856

Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) is a multiple-use species of high socio-economic importance in tropical Africa. It faces anthropogenic, climatic and parasitic pressures that are likely to affect its sustainability. This study provides new elements for more effective baobab management in the context of climate and global change in Togo. Specifically, it aims to: (i) determine the impact of climate change on the spatial distribution of A. digitata and A. trifasciata, and (ii) identify priority areas for the conservation and sustainable use of A. digitata co-products in the face of climate change and parasitism in Togo. The algorithm based on the maximum entropy of the baobab was developed in order to model potential habitats. Modelling was based on 17 environmental variables and occurrences of A. digitata and its parasite, Analeptes trifasciata in West Africa. The algorithm of maximum entropy (MaxEnt) was used. Forecasts were performed for SSP 126 and SSP 585 scenarios. Habitats were prioritised for conservation by combining current and future models using Zonation software. Currently, A. digitata and to A. trifasciata are predicted to occupy about 80.1 % and 91 % of the Togolese territory, respectively. By 2055, about 50 % of the highly favourable habitat for A. digitata will have been lost due to unfavourable habitat. This decline is greater in the SSP 585 scenario than SSP 126 scenario. It is recommended to implement an integrated pest management strategy and to introduce A. digitata in the most favourable areas, considering the spatial distribution of the parasite. Conservation of A. digitata must take into account areas suitable for its growth, development and reproduction. In situ conservation in agroforestry systems and home gardens should be promoted for the sustainable use of A. digitata by-products in Togo.

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Emerging trends in GIS and remote sensing technologies for environmental monitoring: innovations, applications, and future directions

Anna Szafarczyk, Okechukwu Ebuka Agbasi

Geoinformatica Polonica, Vol. 24 (2025), 2025, pp. 25-41

https://doi.org/10.4467/21995923GP.25.002.22857

The escalating challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and urban expansion have amplified the need for reliable, high-resolution, and timely environmental data. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) technologies have become indispensable tools for environmental monitoring, enabling the systematic collection, analysis, and visualization of spatial data across diverse ecosystems. This review synthesizes recent innovations in GIS and RS that are transforming environmental surveillance and decision-making. Key developments include the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) for enhanced image classification, cloud-based platforms like Google Earth Engine (GEE) for scalable analysis, and the increasing use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and hyperspectral sensors for high-resolution monitoring. Furthermore, the convergence of geospatial analytics with big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and participatory approaches such as citizen science is expanding the accessibility and impact of environmental data. Case studies from Africa, Asia, and global initiatives highlight practical applications in land use change detection, water resource assessment, hazard risk mapping, urban heat island analysis, and biodiversity conservation. While the potential of these tools is vast, persistent challenges include data interoperability, technical capacity gaps, policy integration barriers, and ethical concerns related to surveillance and data equity. This review calls for greater investment in open-source tools, interdisciplinary collaboration, and inclusive data governance to realize the full potential of GIS and RS in achieving environmental resilience and sustainability. Future directions emphasise real-time monitoring, ethical frameworks, and the democratisation of spatial intelligence.

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Algorithmization of the description the relationship to the local space in daily life – social experience

Anna Marta Barańska, Konrad Eckes

Geoinformatica Polonica, Vol. 24 (2025), 2025, pp. 43-50

https://doi.org/10.4467/21995923GP.25.003.22858

In daily life there are many relationships between human being and the local space. A typical feature of the state register (cadastre) is stability in time. But in other relationships to the local space – the role of time can be crucial.
In this paper the task of defining the relationships to the space in a formal way was undertaken. The method of making the conditions (facts) for the selected examples of relations was applied, and then the procedures (algorithms) were carried out, building the relationships to the local space, making it active for an individual or a group.
As examples, at first the relationships to 2D objects was presented, regarding the addressed fragment of the local space and the defined time when the relationship is active. Then the hierarchic structure of the space was taken into account by dividing it into smaller final units using a developed address recorded in the set of base conditions.
A reverse case was discussed – hierarchic increase of the area in subsequent steps of the procedure of defining the relationships between the activity and space. In this case the access to the subsequent larger and larger areas is the function of the eligibilities of individuals or social groups to the subsequent stage of extending the area up to its final maximal form. Such relationships take place in industrial companies, where the gradation of eligibilities is a form of protecting the production details.
Another relationship to the space is the relationship of the individual or group to linear objects, for example to the network of roads and marked trails. The example of the relationship to the network of trails and the complex case of the relationship, regarding additional conditions were presented.
The next section developing direct relationships to multistep relationships is discussed. It extends the feature only for the sequence of pedestrian movements combined with the traffic. In this case two relationships occur: the relationship to a spatial object and relationship to a linear object (the route of the vehicle).
In almost all the cases the time factor plays an important role in the relation to space, which is defined as one of the conditions in the set of base facts.
The contemporary time is the era of digitalisation of data and processes. The space we live, is a unique good. This good should be managed in a sustainable way Hence the need to explore, analyse and formalise various relationships to the space.

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Hazard evaluation of mining terrain based on horizontal strain survey

Paweł Sopata

Geoinformatica Polonica, Vol. 24 (2025), 2025, pp. 51-60

https://doi.org/10.4467/21995923GP.25.004.22859

This paper presents a case study focused on the measurement of horizontal deformations occurring above an active coal seam extraction site in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. The investigation of ground surface deformation effects was carried out along a randomly selected 48-meter test section located above a mining panel. Within the defined segment, the deformation index values were determined using measurements based on varying base lengths, ranging from 1 to 24 meters. The primary objective of the study was to identify the actual magnitudes of horizontal deformations that developed within these bases during the course of the deformation process. The main source of data consisted of measurements of distances between permanently stabilized survey points positioned at 1-meter intervals along the observation line. These measurements were obtained using a specially designed and constructed instrument. The values of the deformation index, depending on the length of the measurement base, resulted in significant differences in the assessment of surface stability and potential hazard within the same area. The horizontal deformations determined from 6-meter and standard 24-meter bases did not fully capture the actual deformation hazard affecting the ground surface. The presented case study demonstrates an irregular spatial distribution of horizontal deformations within bases of 6 meters and longer. The maximum deformation index values recorded over shorter segments considerably exceeded the averaged values, leading to changes in the evaluation of the mining area’s deformation risk at the study site.

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Mapping the environmental footprint of urbanization in Tirana district through NDVI change analysis (2000–2025)

Medjon Hysenaj, Dritan Rustja

Geoinformatica Polonica, Vol. 24 (2025), 2025, pp. 61-69

https://doi.org/10.4467/21995923GP.25.005.22860

Rapid urbanization has significantly transformed the landscape of Tirana County over the past three decades, reducing natural vegetation and altering land cover composition. This study employs multi-temporal Landsat imagery and the Google Earth Engine platform to quantify vegetation change between 2000 and 2025 through the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis. Summer season composites were generated for both years to minimize phenological effects, and NDVI differencing was used to identify areas of significant greenness loss. Additional analysis of the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) allowed the distinction between vegetation decline caused by urban expansion and other land degradation processes. Results indicate a marked decrease in vegetated areas within the Tirana metropolitan region, primarily in the western and southern zones, where built-up surfaces have expanded. In contrast, higher-elevation zones toward Dajti Mountain retained stable vegetation cover. The findings demonstrate the value of cloud-based remote-sensing tools for long-term environmental monitoring and provide evidence of the spatial footprint of urban growth in Albania’s fastest-developing county.

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Urban biodiversity, ecosystem services and the effects of climate change in urban environments: a bibliometric review

Akim Oladokoun, Fousséni Folega, Bertrand Nero, Djibril Konate, Madjouma Kanda, Kpérkouma Wala, Komlan Batawila

Geoinformatica Polonica, Vol. 24 (2025), 2025, pp. 71-87

https://doi.org/10.4467/21995923GP.25.006.22861

Urban biodiversity, although often underestimated, plays a key role in providing vital ecosystem services such as climate regulation, air purification and others. However, anthropogenic pressures, including rapid urbanization and land use changes, exacerbate the effects of climate change, and seriously threaten these services. This bibliometric review aims to analyze research conducted between 1990 and 2024 on urban biodiversity assessment and management, ecosystem services, and the impacts of climate change. The Publish or Perish 8 (PoPe) software is used because of its information and its flexibility of use for the different analyses, which are processed with the Excel 2013 software. Out of 1,644 publications with PoPe, 345 are select after clearance and subsequently analyze. The year 2017 marks the most prolific year of publication of articles for the mixing of concepts: “biodiversity”, “ecosystem services”, “urban dynamics” and “climate change”. From 1990 to 1996, we noted a low rate of articles according to these concepts throughout the world and it was in 2019 and 2020 that scientific research gained momentum in the Asian continent (128 publications) and more precisely in China (22.33 %) and India (7.86 %). Through these publications (articles, books, conferences and others), the publisher having been cited the most is Elsevier (17,359 citations). From the sampled publications, researchers in the assessment and management of biodiversity (33.41 %), the mapping and modeling of ecosystem services (27.27 %) as well as the dynamics of land use in urban areas (21.13 %) and the impacts of climate change (18.19 %) used various methods. These different methodological approaches were chosen based on the objective and year of the research, the availability of resources and the reliability of the results. This review has a capital importance in the sense that it provides a range of information regarding urban ecology.

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AI-driven hazard monitoring in Albania: combining CLIP, image segmentation, and Web GIS for floods, fires, and deforestation

Medjon Hysenaj

Geoinformatica Polonica, Vol. 24 (2025), 2025, pp. 89-98

https://doi.org/10.4467/21995923GP.25.007.22862

Albania is increasingly exposed to natural and anthropogenic hazards, including recurrent floods in the Shkodra basin, forest fires in mountainous protected areas, and ongoing deforestation linked to land-use change. Effective monitoring of these processes is challenged by fragmented datasets, delayed reporting, and the limited integration of advanced analytical methods into operational geoinformation systems. This article proposes a hybrid AI-GIS pipeline that combines semantic image classification with quantitative geospatial analysis to support hazard detection and management.
The approach integrates the Contrastive Language–Image Pretraining (CLIP) model for zero-shot classification of hazard-related imagery with pixel-level segmentation and spectral indices derived from remote sensing data. CLIP enables the automatic labeling of images and tiles according to natural language prompts such as “flooded farmland”, “burned forest” or “deforested hillside” providing semantic context without the need for retraining. Segmentation methods and indices, including NDWI for floods, NDVI for vegetation loss, and dNBR for burn severity, are then applied to quantify the spatial extent of affected areas. The resulting outputs are structured in a PostGIS database, where hazard layers and attributes are stored and linked to spatial queries. A Web GIS environment built with Leaflet provides interactive visualization, dashboards, and temporal comparisons for end users.
Three scenarios are presented: flood extent mapping in Shkodra, wildfire impact in Lurë National Park, and deforestation monitoring in Tropoja. Results demonstrate that the integration of semantic classification and quantitative extraction enhances both the interpretability and accuracy of hazard assessments. The framework highlights the potential of combining AI and GIS technologies to create scalable, reproducible, and policy-relevant observatories for environmental risk monitoring in Albania.

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Słowa kluczowe: Adansonia digitata L., Analeptes trifasciata F., habitat, sustainable management, Togo, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), Environmental Monitoring, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Sustainable Development, algorithmization of the description the relationship to the local space, formal records of relationships, base conditions (facts), procedures of developing relationships, horizontal strains, terrain surface deformation, buildings hazard, mining area categories, Google Earth Engine (GEE), Landsat time-series, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), urban expansion, vegetation loss, urban biodiversity, bibliometric review, ecosystem services, dynamics, Togo, CLIP, Image Segmentation, Satellite Imagery, Environmental Hazards, Web GIS

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