Distances

Land Usev21.00 credits/fixed

Responsible:Niccolò Calandri

Distances — Geographic Features and Settlements Near the Site

Overview

This indicator analyses the proximity of the site to key geographic and infrastructural features within a 10 km radius. Distance assessment is essential for understanding the territorial context of the monitored site, identifying potential environmental impacts, ecological connectivity with water bodies, and relationships with urban settlements.

Analysed elements are grouped by type:

Natural water bodies — sea, lakes, natural rivers
Artificial water bodies — canals, artificial watercourses
Settlements — cities and urban areas

Connectivity between ecosystems and water resources is a critical factor for biodiversity (Pringle, 2003). Proximity to watercourses influences water availability, riparian species composition, and overall habitat quality.

Calculation Methodology

Distances are calculated from the polygon edge (not centroid) to geographic features within 10 km:

Geocoding — polygon coordinates are projected to the local UTM system for accurate metric calculations
Overpass API query (OpenStreetMap) — search for lakes, rivers, canals and settlements within 10 km
Marine Regions API (VLIZ) — search for distance to the nearest sea
Distance calculation — minimum distance from polygon edge to the nearest edge of each element (edge-to-edge geometry)
Classification — elements are grouped by distance bands (0–1 km, 1–3 km, 3–5 km, 5–10 km)
Watercourse separation — distinction between natural (tag waterway=river) and artificial (tag waterway=canal, waterway=ditch) watercourses

Data Sources

Code	Name	Provider	Type	Coverage
`WRD_OSMXX_99`	OpenStreetMap	OpenStreetMap Foundation	Vector database	Global
`WRD_MRGNS_99`	Marine Regions	VLIZ (Flanders Marine Institute)	Geospatial database	Global

Version History

Version	Change Description
v0	First version — distances calculated from site centroid
v1	Distances calculated from polygon edge (no longer from centre), UTM coordinates
v2 (current)	Separation of natural and artificial watercourses

Technical Notes

Distances are calculated in UTM coordinates for metric accuracy
Results depend on OpenStreetMap data completeness for the analysed area
For coastal areas, distance to sea is calculated via the Marine Regions dataset

References

Pringle, C. (2003). "What is hydrologic connectivity and why is it ecologically important?". Hydrological Processes, 17(13), 2685–2689.
Haklay, M., Weber, P. (2008). "OpenStreetMap: User-Generated Street Maps". IEEE Pervasive Computing, 7(4), 12–18.

Data Sources & References

Sources

WRD_MRGNS_99WRD_OSMXX_99

Methodology

Distance from site edge to geographic features within 10 km: sea, lakes, rivers, canals and cities. Data from OpenStreetMap (Overpass API) and Marine Regions. Distances are calculated from the polygon edge (not centroid) in UTM coordinates. Natural watercourses are shown separately from artificial ones.