This study aimed to map water features using a Landsat image rather than traditional land cover. We involved the original bands, spectral indices and principal components (PCs) of a principal component analysis (PCA) as input data, and performed random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM) classification with water, saturated soil and non-water categories. The aim was to compare the efficiency of the results based on various input data. Original bands provided 93% overall accuracy (OA) and bands 4–5–7 were the most informative in this analysis. Except for MNDWI (modified normalized differenced water index, with 98% OA), the performance of all water indices was between 60 and 70% (OA). The PCA-based approach conducted on the original bands resulted in the most accurate identification of all classes (with only 1% error in the case of water bodies). We therefore show that both water bodies and saturated soils can be identified successfully using this approach.

Wind erosion is one of the most important land degradation processes in Hungary in the areas with low yearly precipitation values. The total land area suffering from wind erosion is approximately 10,000 km2, 10 per cent of the country area. Observations and discussions on wind erosion and its negative impacts in Hungary started in the last century. Since the 1950s, scientists investigated wind erosion processes and its role in the evolution of alluvial fans in an integrative way, including laboratory measurements and field observations with respect to the stabilization and utilization of soils in agricultural areas. Since the late 2000s, there is an increasing demand worldwide to characterize the role of climate change and human activities in triggering land degradation processes. Studies have been conducted to investigate the mechanics, causes and control techniques related to wind erosion applying laboratory and field wind tunnel simulation tests and field observations. Some encouraging achievements have been made. In this paper we summarize the main research results of wind erosion research, and put forward some perspectives and suggestions on the problems of wind erosion research and control practices in Hungary.

Climate change is one of the most important issues of anthropogenic activities. The increasing drought conditions can cause water shortage and heat waves and can influence the agricultural production or the water supply of cities. The Carpathian region is also affected by this phenomenon; thus, we aimed at identifying the tendencies between 1960 and 2010 applying the CarpatClim (CC) database. We calculated the trends for each grid point of CC, plotted the results on maps, and applied statistical analysis on annual and seasonal level. We revealed that monthly average temperature, maximum temperature and evapotranspiration had similar patterns and had positive trends in all seasons except autumn. Precipitation also had a positive trend, but it had negative values in winter. The geospatial analysis disclosed an increasing trend from West to East and from north to west. A simple binary approach (value of 1 above the upper quartile in case of temperature and evapotranspiration, value of 1 below the lower quartile; 0 for the rest of the data) helped to identify the most sensitive areas where all the involved climatic variables exceeded the threshold: Western Hungary and Eastern Croatia. Results can help to prepare possible mitigation strategies to climate change and both landowners and planners can draw the conclusions.

The refining of polluted soils by heavy elements is one of the most important environmental policies in industrialized and developing countries. Using adsorbents is a suitable procedure for the immobilization of heavy metals in polluted soils. This study aimed to assess the immobilization of Cadmium (Cd) in polluted calcareous soil affected by the application of organic and inorganic amendments including Biochar (from grape pruning residues) and natural Zeolite and their interaction under wheat cultivation. The treatments used in this study were two amendments of Zeolite and Biochar (from grape pruning wastes) at three levels (0, 1, and 4%) and three levels of Cd contamination (0, 75, and 150 mg/kg soil). A 16-week incubation period was considered for the homogenization of the amendments in soil and wheat was grown according to the standards procedure. At the end of incubation, different fractions of Cd including residual, exchangeable, bonded to organic matter, bonded to carbonate and bonded to iron and manganese. Also available Cd by DTPA and EDTA methods and 1000-grain weight of wheat were measured. The results showed that the highest amount of Cd bound to organic matter was obtained in 4% Biochar treatment to 15 mg/kg. The highest and lowest amounts of Cd extracted with DTPA were obtained in the control one (92 mg/kg) and the level of 4% Biochar (67 mg/kg), respectively. The results showed that increasing the amount of Biochar and Zeolite amendments increased the weight of 1000 grains of wheat in all treatments. According to the results of the study, the use of Biochar and Zeolite reduced the amount of Cd extracted by DTPA ( 82.436 mg/kg) and EDTA (115.605 mg/kg). Finally, the results showed that the use of Biochar and Zeolite has reduced active Cd and its mobility in the soil due to increasing organic and carbonate fractions. Combining biochar and zeolite in soil remediation efforts can enhance their effectiveness in reducing the concentration and mobility of active Cd. The biochar provides a stable carbon matrix for long-term immobilization of Cd, while the zeolite offers additional adsorption capacity and ion-exchange capabilities. This synergistic effect can lead to improved soil quality and reduced environmental risks associated with Cd contamination.

Landscape aesthetic research that emerged from the second half of the 20th century has become increasingly appreciated and popular in the last few decades. There are two main reasons for this. On the one hand, it was recognized the role of landscape aesthetics in land use and environmental planning, management and conservation. On the other hand, its definition among Cultural Ecosystem Services has made it clear that landscape aesthetics has significant impact on human well-being and there is a need to examine it in the concept of Ecosystem Services and, in particular, Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES). The mapping of landscape aesthetics is mostly based on the exclusive evaluation of objective, biophysical landscape factors. The aim of the research was to create the landscape aesthetic map of Hungary with a novel method based on human perception. For this, a questionnaire survey and a GIS approach were used. In order to better understand the role of factors influencing the aesthetic value of the landscape, value maps separately for land cover and elevation that are decisive for the landscape experience were prepared. To validate the results of the maps, and contribute a better understanding of the interrelationship between CES, a certain tourism product was chosen, and the connection between landscape aesthetics and the offer of rural tourism was examined in Hungary and in the Danube Bend priority tourism development area. Our findings show that there is a difference in the results of the objective (GIS-based) and subjective (questionnaire-based) assessment of landscape aesthetic value with the more important role of elevation in the latter. According to our tourism product-based analysis, which represents a niche approach in its kind, landscape values are higher in the areas with rural accommodation. At the same time, based on the results of the Danube Bend region, it can also be concluded that elevation and land cover together are crucial factors in landscapes considered to be the most valuable in aesthetic terms. The most direct practical application of our research is to orientate further tourism development of the new Danube Bend area designated in 2017.