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.