There is a clear relationship between land cover (LC) and land use (LU). [Author] In fact, many existing LU classifications are based on LC information and vice versa. [Author] In practice, in many instances LC and LU concepts are so closely interrelated that often the meaning of terms becomes interchangeable. [Author] The description of a portion of land includes both LC and LU information (described as the biophysical land components and the human activities that shape and/or modify them). [Author] In a modern and efficient system, one cannot substitute one for the other. [Author] However, the two are and must be well separated concepts. [Author] Therefore, an effective and functional relationship between LC and LU needs to be established formally. [Author] This publication attempts to show this relationship. [Author] The title, and characterization meta-language, is used in this paper to represent the combination of the description of the terms LC and LU. [Author] The land characterization meta-language includes both LC and LU and the bridging relationships between them. [Author] The land characterization meta-language schema follows the premise that an effective and functional LC and LU relationship can be built only with a change of paradigm creating a unified modelling language schema based on the three-way relationship between the biophysical cover, the activities being performed and the functions to which the land is devoted at a point in time. [Author]

Most of the papers of this book were presented in the "IGU-LUCC 2003 Moscow Workshop on Global and Regional Land Use/Cover Changes" and at International Conference "Society and Environment Interaction Under Global and Regional Changes" which was held in Barnaul (Altai), Russia in summer 2003.

This book is a result of the Commission on Land-Use/Cover Change of International Geographical Union summer workshop in 2000 held in Japan and Korea, which focused on comparative case studies of land-use/cover changes.

The International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID) was established in 1991 to promote technology and research in and by developing countries. The purpose of this review is to highlight areas where research and development can improve performance and identify gaps in knowledge. In the face of water shortage the problem of one set of water users cannot be considered in isolation from other users and hence there are a number of cross-discipline issues that must also be addressed.

Extreme Hydrology and Climate Variability: Monitoring, Modelling, Adaptation and Mitigation is a compilation of contributions by experts from around the world who discuss extreme hydrology topics, from monitoring, to modeling and management. With extreme climatic and hydrologic events becoming so frequent, this book is a critical source, adding knowledge to the science of extreme hydrology. Topics covered include hydrometeorology monitoring, climate variability and trends, hydrological variability and trends, landscape dynamics, droughts, flood processes, and extreme events management, adaptation and mitigation. Each of the book's chapters provide background and theoretical foundations followed by approaches used and results of the applied studies. This book will be highly used by water resource managers and extreme event researchers who are interested in understanding the processes and teleconnectivity of large-scale climate dynamics and extreme events, predictability, simulation and intervention measures. - Presents datasets used and methods followed to support the findings included, allowing readers to follow these steps in their own research - Provides variable methodological approaches, thus giving the reader multiple hydrological modeling information to use in their work - Includes a variety of case studies, thus making the context of the book relatable to everyday working situations for those studying extreme hydrology - Discusses extreme event management, including adaption and mitigation

This Encyclopedia of Land Use, Land Cover and Soil Sciences is a component of the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Land is one of our most precious assets. It represents space, provides food and shelter, stores and filters water, and it is a base for urban and industrial development, road construction, leisure and many other social activities. Land is, however not unlimited in extent, and even when it is physically available its use is not necessarily free, either because of natural limitations (too cold, too steep, too wet or too dry, etc.) or because of constraints of access or land tenure. This 7-volume set contains several chapters, each of size 5000-30000 words, with perspectives, applications and extensive illustrations. It carries state-of-the-art knowledge in the fields of Land Use, Land Cover and Soil Sciences and is aimed, by virtue of the several applications, at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.

The five-volume set LNCS 7971-7975 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications, ICCSA 2013, held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in June 2013. Apart from the general track, ICCSA 2013 also include 33 special sessions and workshops, in various areas of computational sciences, ranging from computational science technologies, to specific areas of computational sciences, such as computer graphics and virtual reality. There are 46 papers from the general track, and 202 in special sessions and workshops.