Scotland's map of relative wildness includes this component layer showing the visual influence of modern artifacts. The dataset uses a 1-256 scale derived from viewshed analysis of buildings, transport infrastructure, pylons, and wind turbines, adapted from a 2008 Cairngorms National Park methodology. It is produced by the Government Digital Service and is best viewed at a national or regional scale.
Use Cases
- Modeling visual pollution for environmental impact assessments based on the described viewshed analysis.
- Prioritizing conservation areas based on the relative wildness score (1-256) indicating lack of built artifacts.
- Planning infrastructure development to minimize visual intrusion based on the 15km and 30km viewshed calculations.
- Academic research into wilderness perception using the methodology adapted from the Cairngorms study.
Strengths
- Methodology is explicitly described, being adapted from a 2008 Wildness Study in the Cairngorms National Park.
- Analysis incorporates multiple feature layers (buildings, transport, pylons, wind turbines) at specified resolutions and distances.
- Output is a standardized relative scale (1-256) facilitating comparative analysis across Scotland.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
- Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Government Digital Service
- Collection Method
- Viewshed analysis up to 15km (30km for wind turbines) using NextMap Digital Surface Model data, re-scaled to a 1-256 index.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Scotland