The Impact of Biometeorological Conditions on the Perception of Landscape

The effect of seasonality and weather conditions on human perception of the urban-rural transitional landscape

Landscape perception research into the impact of seasonally changing landscape characteristics with the simultaneous influence of the weather are rare. Therefore, eye-tracking metrics were calculated (fixation and saccades) for the whole tested landscape, while its areas of interest (AOIs) were established based on clustering methods. Moreover, the gaze pattern was analysed using the Voronoi cells method. To identify significant differences in landscape perception according to various weather and seasonality, nonparametric tests were applied. The significant influence of weather/seasonality and their synergistic influence is noticed. The results indicate a rather complex influence of the types of weather in warmer and cooler seasons. Regardless of the weather type, seasonal changes cause greater visual span and shorter fixations in the warmer season. The fixations and saccades are shorter in the warmer season in two AOI's during positive weather, but are longer in negative weather during the colder season in most AOI's. The main reasons for the influence of weather and seasonality on the visual perception include seasonal changes in the landscape, resulting in the appearance of the landscape from more urban to natural and vice versa (phenological changes) as well as lighting changes (due to seasonality and type of weather).

How Does the Experience of Forest Recreation Spaces in Different Seasons Affect the Physical and Mental Recovery of Users?

BACKGROUND

In recent years, increasing attention has been given to the recovery effect of the forest environment on physical and mental health. Therefore, providing users with a high-quality forest landscape space is a very important research topic for forest landscape designers and forest resource managers.

MAIN PURPOSE

From the perspective of different seasons, this study explores the differences in landscape perceptions and physical and mental recovery of users when they experience different forest recreation spaces and the interactions between them.

METHODS

First, this study used virtual reality video experience and questionnaires for participants. Then, the paired-samples t test, one-way ANOVA and the independent-samples t test were used for statistical analysis. Finally, we also used structural equation models to analyze the relationship between landscape perception and recovery.

MAIN RESULTS

(1) The restoration effect and perception of forest recreation spaces on people are influenced by space types and seasonal factors. (2) People's restoration from forest environments is a gradual process from spatial cognition to emotional response. (3) The perception of the natural attributes and form of the recreation space plays a key role in the restorative effect of the environment to people, while the natural form is more important in spring than autumn. Based on the above conclusions, we suggest that the characteristic factors of the landscape environment and their different restoration effects for users in different dimensions should be considered when planning forest recreation space.

Study of Different Vegetation Types in Green Space Landscape Preference: Comparison of Environmental Perception in Winter and Summer

Through field perception in winter and summer, people’s preferences for vegetation types in green spaces with various structures (single-layer woodland, tree-shrub-grass composite woodland, tree-grass composite woodland, and single-layer grassland) and concrete and asphalt sites (areas) without plants are evaluated. The results show the following: (1) There are significant differences in landscape preference between the two seasons, and the environmental perception preference score for landscapes in summer is higher. (2) The preference score for the vegetation types in green spaces was single-layer woodland > tree-shrub-grass composite woodland > tree-grass composite woodland > single-layer grassland > concrete and asphalt sites (areas). The preference score for the single-layer woodland landscape in winter was significantly higher than that in summer. (3) The preferences of participants to carry out activities vary by season and the magnitude of thermal comfort; notably, rest and communication activities in green spaces with high thermal comfort, such as tree-shrub-grass composite woodland and single-layer woodland areas, are preferred in summer, and physical activities in the single-layer woodland landscape are preferred in winter. (4) Regardless of which environmental perception method is adopted, landscape preferences did not significantly differ by sex or professional background. Based on the above results, the two seasonal perception methods cannot replace each other. Therefore, the types of activities should be carefully selected to be appropriate for the specific vegetation types in green spaces and season in which they will occur, and the green space should be reasonably planned according to the thermal comfort of the vegetation types to provide a scientific basis for evaluating landscape perception and preferences in the future.