Mapping decay: integrating scales of weathering within a GIS

It is possible to develop a stone weathering/degradation database with wide applicability using a geographic information system (GIS) framework to integrate spatially and non-spatially referenced data. Two case studies are provided illustrating the manner in which photographic information relevant to assessing stone degradation may be used within a GIS. A time sequence of old photographs of the Judges Lodgings, Oxford, is located within a relative reference framework and classification of weathering forms undertaken. A single photograph of a wall of the School of Geography in Oxford is located within an absolute spatial reference framework and weathering forms classified. In the latter example, the problems of scale-dependent definitions of weathering forms are examined. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.