Author(s)

A. Tsouchlaraki & G. Achilleos

Abstract

The idea of a location where waste is disposed causes prejudice to the residents and the visitors of the surrounding area, no matter how strictly the sanitary specifications are observed. Everyone realizes that most of these projects are necessary for regional planning and development, however no one wants these projects to be constructed near him/ her, especially when these projects are visible and cause negative visual impacts that are permanent or present for a long period. The selection of possible locations for an S.L.S. is based on technical and financial criteria. GIS technology provides many useful tools to the planners of such projects, which help them to take into consideration all the necessary criteria and parameters in order to take their final allocation decision. This paper presents the development of a process which was implemented in the design phase of an S.L.S. in Polygyros in the area of Chalkidiki, aiming to determine the viewshed before and after the activity is arranged, and to compare the viewshed to the prevailing land use of the area, in order to draw conclusions on the significance of the potential visual impacts. Viewshed analysis maps are created, presenting the spatial distribution of the visual impacts and therefore playing the role of a decision support tool. Keywords: visual impacts, viewshed analysis, GIS, Sanitary Landfill Site. 1 Introduction When designing a Sanitary Landfill Site (SLS) we take for granted, right from the beginning, the fact that it will have a negative impact on the area of deployment. The refusal from the part of the future neighbours with regard to the

Keywords

visual impacts, viewshed analysis, GIS, Sanitary Landfill Site.