Geological and scenic values of locations are the non-living curiosities that can be preserved and popularized a lot easier using the institutional background of geotourism, such as geoparks. UNESCO Global Geoparks Network is responsible for protecting and fostering natural, scenic and cultural values and especially geosites that are the exciting visible physical elements. Our goal was to quantify the geotourism potential around Csopak, a scenic village in the Balaton Uplands giving home for the headquarter of the Bakony-Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark. After designating 216 potential geosites using topographic and geological maps, we applied two assessment models: the Geosite Assessment Model (GAM) and the Modified Geosite Assessment Model (M-GAM). GAM has been applied with good results in Hungary on different areas, but M-GAM has not been used before. As M-GAM involves tourists into the process counting with their opinion, it may give a more realistic view of the geosites. The two methods produced different but comparable final values of geotourism potential counted from the Main Value and Additional Value scores. We discovered that the proportion of the difference of these values carries major information. The ratio of ΔAV/ΔMV used as linear functions and depicted on diagrams can derive which values are more important for the visitors. From this result we can draw conclusions about the future development trends: scientific or infrastructural values should be more effectively fostered. Using our results, geosites can be handled and developed as visitors expect it.

Geodiversity is the variety of natural elements that are excluded from biodiversity, such as: geological, geomorphological, and soil features including their properties, systems, and relationships. Geodiversity assessment measures these features, emphasising the characteristics and physical fragility of the examined areas. In this study, a quantitative methodology has been applied in Bakony–Balaton UGGp, Hungary. The Geopark’s area was divided into 2 × 2 km cells in which geodiversity indices were calculated using various data: maps, spatial databases, and elevation models. However, data sources differ significantly in each country: thematic information may not be entirely public or does not have the appropriate scale and complexity. We proposed to use universal data—geomorphons and a watercourse network—derived from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) to calculate geomorphological diversity. Making a balance between the base materials was also an aim of this research. As sources with different data densities are used, some abiotic elements may be overrepresented, while others seem to have less significance. The normalisation of thematic layers solves this problem: it gives a proportion to each sub-element and creates a balanced index. By applying worldwide accessible digital base data and statistical standardization methods, abiotic nature quantification may open new perspectives in geoconservation.

The aesthetic beauty of a landscape is an integral value reflected in artistic inspiration. Science, in contrast, tries to quantify the landscape using various methods. Of these, geodiversity indices have been found to be a useful approach, and this geomorphological diversity is characterized through derivatives made from digital terrain models (DTM). While these methods are useful, they have a drawback that the value of some landscape features may be underestimated if they have regular forms. For example, the aesthetic and scientific attractiveness of our study area, the Chaîne des Puys (Auvergne, France), a UNESCO World Heritage site, is strongly related to the distinctive small volcanoes, but despite being an outstanding element of the landscape, the scoria cones do not stand out well in geodiversity indices. This is because they have almost symmetrical conical forms and regular slopes that score low in the available geodiversity methods. We explore this problem and investigate how to overcome the low geodiversity performance of these distinctive landscape elements. We propose a modified approach for scoria cones using the normal input layers but adapted to the cone geometry. The modified indices are easy to compute and consider the uniformity and symmetry of larger landscape elements that form scientifically integral and aesthetically vital components of the landscape. The method is applicable to the tens of thousands of small monogenetic volcanoes in the hundreds of volcanic fields around the world, and could be extended to other volcanic features, such as domes. It would be possible to use the method to study larger volcanoes, as they often share and replicate the small-scale monogenetic morphology considered here.

Geodiversity and geosite assessments precede geoheritage and geotourism utilization. The process first determines the geodiversity value of an area (based on geoscientific attributions) and then the geotourism potential of the available sites. As a result, significant geosites can be identified, which are the bases for protection and tourism. During geosite assessment, scientific and infrastructural aspects are essential because spectacular sites and landscapes carrying intrinsic or visible values generate interest among tourists and professionals. In this study, a quantitative workflow to determine the geodiversity index over an area, evaluate geosites and monitor significant ones is presented. The study area is the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark, where no quantitative assessment was conducted previously. A GIS-based geodiversity analysis identified the most diverse areas which gave the basis for the geosite assessment done in a ‘geodiverse’ subregion of the geopark. The most important nine of the 75 identified potential geosites were chosen to examine the spatial variance of the assessment. By continuous monitoring, we got an image of what the visitors liked or did not like there. In this way, we were able to monitor the various opinions of geotourists to present unique development strategies for each of them. A connection between the location of geosites and the spatial distribution of geodiversity values was also determined by analysing and visualizing the connection between geodiversity and geosite assessment results.

Geosite assessment evaluates the suitability of spectacular and scientifically important abiotic natural objects for geoheritage and geotourism purposes. Various quantitative and qualitative assessment methodologies have usually reflected an expert’s opinion or groups of experts so far. As geosites are increasingly becoming tourist destinations, there is also a growing emphasis on visitor feedback. Therefore, the expert’s approach is not always the best way to evaluate a geosite with a role in tourism. The Modified Geosite Assessment Model (M-GAM) quantitative method incorporates non-experts’ opinions in the evaluation. Based on it, we have developed a visitor query system and collected visitor data from 2018 to 2022 for 14 geosites in the Bakony–Balaton UNESCO Global Geopark, Hungary. A total number of 1072 fills over four years, and the M-GAM indicators made it possible to identify the main benefits of continuous visitor involvement in geosite assessment. These are 1) realising the current state (scientific-infrastructural strengths and weaknesses) of distinct geosites from the visitors’ point of view, 2) detecting possible changes in tourist attitude with continuous monitoring, 3) most importantly giving hints for geosite managers on whether and how to develop local infrastructure, the communication and promotion of a particular site. Due to the emphasis on continuous data collection, the method used and presented here is referred to as the Monitoring Geosite Assessment Model (Mo-GAM). Despite the time-consuming work and sometimes statistically small number of responses collected per site, this monitoring methodology can track the physical condition, infrastructural attributions, and the level of science dissemination at geosites.

Today, integration into automated systems has become a priority in the development of remote sensing sensors carried on drones. For this purpose, the primary task is to achieve real-time data processing. Increasing sensor resolution, fast data capture and the simultaneous use of multiple sensors is one direction of development. However, this poses challenges on the data processing side due to the increasing amount of data. Our study intends to investigate how the running time and accuracy of commonly used image classification algorithms evolve using Altum Micasense multispectral and thermal acquisition data with GSD = 2 cm spatial resolution. The running times were examined for two PC configurations, with a 4 GB and 8 GB DRAM capacity, respectively, as these parameters are closer to the memory of NRT microcomputers and laptops, which can be applied “out of the lab”. During the accuracy assessment, we compared the accuracy %, the Kappa index value and the area ratio of correct pixels. According to our results, in the case of plant cover, the Spectral Angles Mapper (SAM) method achieved the best accuracy among the validated classification solutions. In contrast, the Minimum Distance (MD) method achieved the best accuracy on water surface. In terms of temporality, the best results were obtained with the individually constructed decision tree classification. Thus, it is worth developing these two directions into real-time data processing solutions.