OGUCHI Takashi

Professor, Division of Spatial Information Analysis

Further information is available at http://oguchaylab.csis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

Oguchi, T., Jarvie, H. P. and Neal, C. (2000): River water quality in the Humber Catchment: An introduction using GIS-based mapping and analysis. The Science of the Total Environment, 251/252, 9-26.

The regional water quality of the Humber catchment was mapped for key inorganic chemical determinands using a GIS system and an extensive Environment Agency and LOIS monitoring database. The resultant maps revealed the major factors affecting the general characteristics of regional water quality. Sewage inputs from industrial and domestic sources account for the high concentration of many determinands in urban areas. The concentrations of particulate components increase in tidal zones because of sediment trapping and tidal re-suspension effects. Some determinands also exhibit localized high concentrations related to coal mine drainage, soil pollution caused by past ore mining, bedrock geology, the agricultural use of fertilizers and the ingression of seawater into the estuary.

Oguchi, T. (2002): Geomorphology and GIS in Japan: background and characteristics. GeoJournal, in press.

Japanese geomorphology has historically adopted methods and concepts from research in western countries and applied them to landforms in Japan and the flow of information has, in the past, been very much unidirectional. This situation is becoming more balanced, with increasing activity of Japanese geomorphologists within the international research arena. Accordingly, many sub-fields of geomorphology in Japan are now making important contributions at the international scale. However, GIS applications in Japanese geomorphology have been more limited, at a time of rapid expansion of GIS in geomorphology within western countries. Although in some countries, technical and financial limitations might inhibit GIS popularization; this explanation cannot be applied to Japan, given the high level of technological resources within the country. It is suggested here that there are certain historical and cultural aspects of Japanese society, which may have contributed to delayed GIS propagation within Japan.