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Analysis And Assessment Of Land Use / Land Cover Impact On Human And Natural Ecosystems In The Salton Sea Watershed, 2013 - 2021, Diego Ramirez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study represents an interdisciplinary analysis of the changing landscape of the Salton Sea Watershed from 2013 to 2021, focusing on land use land cover (LULC) category changes, climatic variations, and socioeconomic factors. The findings of this research show a shift in land cover categories, portrayed by the changes of natural landscapes and vegetative areas into rapidly increasing urbanized expansion and increased impervious surfaces. These changes pose concerns about increased temperature in the region, a decrease in overall water availability and groundwater infiltration, and an increase in pollution. The study explores 10 sub-watersheds within the Salton Sea Watershed basin, focusing …

Analysis Of Interdunal Wetlands And Ecosystem Dynamics Using Uas And Obia In Ludington State Park, Michigan, Claire Gilbert

Masters Theses

The Great Lakes sand dunes are the world's largest freshwater dune complex. There is a functional relationship between coastal wetlands and freshwater sand dune, referred to as interdunal wetlands. Interdunal wetland systems are highly dynamic and change dramatically seasonally and annually. Using geographic information systems (GIS) and unoccupied aerial systems (UAS), this thesis project is focused on understanding the spatial distribution of sparse and dense vegetation, and abiotic influence such as distance to coast, slope, and aspect influence interdunal wetland stability within a Great Lakes shoreline dune system. Object-based image analysis (OBIA) classification results extracted meaningful vegetation densities of growth …

Using Historical Maps For Contaminated Site Identification And Prediction, And Environmental Justice Implications: A Case Study In Grand Rapids, Michigan, Dana Heusinkveld

Masters Theses

As the production of synthetic chemicals has grown in the past centuries to increase production, lower costs, and generally make our lives more convenient, detecting and understanding the environmental impacts of these compounds has lagged significantly behind their mass production and wide-spread use. To combat this trend, sources of these contaminants, especially those that have been removed from the landscape, need to be quickly identified to make mitigation and remediation efforts more effective. In this study, historical Sanborn maps are used to extract and digitize historical site/land use in Grand Rapids during the early 1900s through the practical application of …

Changes In Land Use Land Cover (Lulc), Surface Water Quality And Modelling Surface Discharge In Beaver Creek Watershed, Northeast Tennessee And Southwest Virginia, Tosin James

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beaver Creek is an impaired streams that is not supporting its designated use for recreation due to Escherichia coli (E.coli), and sediment. To address this problem, this thesis was divided into two studies.

The first study explored changes in Land Use Land Cover (LULC), and its impact on surface water quality. Changes in E.coli load between 1997-2001 and 2014-2018 were analyzed. Also, Landsat data of 2001, and 2018 were examined in Terrset 18.31. Mann-Whitney test only showed a significant reduction in E.coli for one site. Negative correlation was established between E.coli load, and Developed LULC, Forest LULC, and …

Identification Of Mined Areas That May Contribute To Water Quality Degradation At Hobet Coal Mine, West Virginia, Brian P. Murphy

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

No abstract provided.

Development Of Digital Bathymetry Maps For Lakes Azuei And Enriquillo Using Sonar And Remote Sensing Techniques, Michael Piasecki, Mahrokh Moknatian, Fred Moshary, Jorge Gonzalez

Publications and Research

This article presents an improved algorithm for optimization and development of a digital bathymetric model (DBM) for Lake Azuei (LA) (Haiti) and Lake Enriquillo (LE) (Dominican Republic) using the ANUDEM method. Both sonar data and contour lines of the lakes’ layout extracted using Landsat imagery were compiled for bathymetry development. We show that the performance of the ANUDEM method was strongly dependent on the density and irregularity of the spatial distribution of the data. Changing the resolution of the output grids and deriving auxiliary topographically corrected contours improved the ANUDEM performance and minimized the systematic errors of the method. Statistical …

Forecasting Urban Expansion In The Seven Lakes Area In San Pablo City, Laguna, The Philippines Using The Land Transformation Model, Anna Laura Quintal, Charlotte Kendra Z. Gotangco, Ma. Aileen Leah G. Guzman

Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Managing urban growth is essential to the conservation of the Seven Lakes ecosystem in San Pablo City, Laguna province in the Philippines. This study simulates potential conversion of agricultural lands to built-up areas using the land transformation model (LTM), which integrates geographical information systems (GIS) and an artificial neural network (ANN). Historical drivers of the expansion of built-up areas are identified and validated through the application of LTM to land cover maps from 1988 to 2015. Identified drivers include distance to roads, distance to trails, distance to the Seven Lakes, distance to existing built-up areas, slopes and population density per …

A Land Use Regression Model For Explaining Spatial Variation In Air Pollution Levels Using A Wind Sector Based Approach, Owen Naughton, Aoife Donnelly, Paul Nolan, Francesco Pilla, Bruce Misstear, Brian Broderick

Articles

Estimating pollutant concentrations at a local and regional scale is essential for good ambient air quality information in environmental and health policy decision making. Here we present a land use regression (LUR) modelling methodology that exploits the high temporal resolution of fixed-site monitoring (FSM) to produce viable air quality maps. The methodology partitions concentration time series from a national FSM network into wind-dependent sectors or “wedges”. A LUR model is derived using predictor variables calculated within the directional wind sectors, and compared against the long-term average concentrations within each sector. This study demonstrates the value of incorporating the relative position …

Shoreline Evolution: Prince George County, Virginia Upper Chippokes Creek, James And Appomattox River Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Christine Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr.

Reports

Prince George County is situated between on the James River between Upper Chippokes Creek and the Appomattox Rivers (Figure 1). Because the County’s shoreline is continually changing, determining where the shoreline was in the past, how far and how fast it is moving, and what factors drive shoreline change will help define where the shoreline will be going in the future. These rates and patterns of shore change along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores will differ through time as winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments.

The purpose of this report is to …

Bathymetric Survey For Lakes Azuei And Enriquillo, Hispaniola, Michael Piasecki, Mahrokh Moknatian, Fred Moshary, Joseph Cleto, Yolanda Leon, Jorge Gonzalez, Daniel Comarazamy

Publications and Research

The two largest lakes on the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola, Lake Azuei in Haiti and Lake Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic, have experienced dramatic growth and surface area expansion over the past few years leading to severe flooding and loss of arable land around the lake perimeters. In order to better understand the reasons for this unprecedented rate of expansion and the resulting consequences a multi-disciplinary team comprised of researchers from Haiti, the DR, and the US have embarked on an extensive data collecting and hydrologic and climatological modeling campaign. While the sensor deployment entails stations that measure climatological data …

Comparison Of Terrain Indices And Landform Classification Procedures In Low-Relief Agricultural Fields, Derek A. Evans, Karl W. J. Williard, Jon E. Schoonover

Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources

Landforms control the spatial distribution of numerous factors associated with agronomy and water quality. Although curvature and slope are the fundamental surface derivatives used in landform classification procedures, methodologies for landform classifications have been performed with other terrain indices including the topographic position index (TPI) and the convergence index (CI). The objectives of this study are to compare plan curvature, the convergence index, profile curvature, and the topographic position index at various scales to determine which better identifies the spatial variability of soil phosphorus (P) within three low relief agricultural fields in central Illinois and to compare how two methods …

Fairfax County Shoreline Management Plan, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, Marcia Berman, Tamia Rudnicky, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen

Reports

Much of the Fairfax County’s tidal shoreline is suitable for a “Living Shoreline” approach to shoreline management. The Commonwealth of Virginia has adopted policy stating that Living Shorelines are the preferred alternative for erosion control along tidal waters in Virginia (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/ legp504.exe?111+ful+CHAP0885+pdf). The policy defines a Living Shoreline as …”a shoreline management practice that provides erosion control and water quality benefits; protects, restores or enhances natural shoreline habitat; and maintains coastal processes through the strategic placement of plants, stone, sand fill, and other structural and organic materials.” The key to effective implementation of this policy at the local level is …

Gis Analysis Of Brownfield Sites In The City Of Minneapolis, Shreya Vaidya

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Brownfield sites have many negative ramifications on a local area which includes loss of economy, decline in land use value and potential hazard to human health and the environment. Despite the efforts on redeveloping brownfields, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) claims that over 10,000 known contaminated or potentially contaminated sites remain across Minnesota and thousands are likely to exist but have not been identified and recorded. The objectives of this study are to map the brownfield sites in Minneapolis based on the information provided by the regulatory sources and to categorize and analyze all the sites on the basis of …

No More Hidden Secrets: Human Rights Violations And Remote Sensing, Tommy O'Connell, Stephen Young

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Aim: This study used both high resolution and medium resolution satellite imagery to test three semi-automated remote sensing methods, in an attempt to identify useful tools to support eye-witness testimony and reports on human rights violations. As huts are routinely burned down during attacks on a village, particularly in Sudan, the number of huts and villages burned can be used to corroborate on-the-ground reports.

Methods: Three remote sensing methods (Supervised Classification, Change Detection, and Feature Extraction) were performed on imagery from both before the attacks in February 2006 and after the attacks to examine any useful trends that could be …

Shoreline Evolution: Northampton County, Virginia Chesapeake Bay Shoreline 2013, Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr.

Reports

Northampton County is situated along Virginia’s Eastern Shore (Figure 1). Because the County’s shoreline is continually changing, determining where the shoreline was in the past, how far and how fast it is moving, and what factors drive shoreline change will help define the shoreline’s future movement. These rates and patterns of shore change along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores will differ through time as winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments. The purpose of this report is to document how the Chesapeake Bay shoreline of Northampton County has evolved since 1938. Aerial imagery …

Lynnhaven River Shoreline Management Plan, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, Mary C. Cox, Marcia Berman, Tamia Rudnicky, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen

Reports

The shores of Lynnhaven River are fairly sheltered coasts. In addition, much of the shoreline has existing hardened shore protection. However, much of Lynnhaven River’s shoreline is suitable for a “Living Shoreline” approach to shore-line management. The Commonwealth of Virginia has adopted policy stating that Living Shorelines are the preferred alternative for erosion control along tidal waters in Virginia (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?111+ful+CHAP0885+pdf). The policy defines a Living Shoreline as …”a shoreline management practice that provides erosion control and water quality benefits; protects, restores or enhances natural shoreline habitat; and
maintains coastal processes through the strategic placement of plants, stone, sand …

Westmoreland County Shoreline Management Plan, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, Mary C. Cox, Marcia Berman, Tamia Rudnicky, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen

Reports

With approximately 85 percent of the Chesapeake Bay shoreline privately owned, a critical need exists to increase awareness of erosion potential and the choices available for shore stabilization that maintains ecosystem services at the land-water interface. The National Academy of Science recently published a report that spotlights the necessity of developing a shoreline management framework (NRC, 2007). It suggests that improving awareness of the choices available for erosion control, considering cumulative consequences of erosion mitigation approaches, and improving shoreline management planning are key elements to minimizing adverse environmental impacts associated with mitigating shore erosion.

Shoreline Evolution: City Of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Chesapeake Bay, Lynnhaven River, Broad Bay, And Atlantic Ocean Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Christine Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Mary C. Cox

Reports

The City of Virginia Beach is situated along both the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay (Figure 1). Through time, the City’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future.Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments.
The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of the City of Virginia Beach has evolved since 1937. Aerial imagery was taken for …

Shoreline Evolution: Westmoreland County, Virginia Potomac River And Rappahannock River Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Christine Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Mary C. Cox

Reports

Westmoreland County is situated along the Potomac River and Rappahannock River. Through time, the County’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future. Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments. The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of Westmoreland County has evolved since 1937. Aerial imagery was taken for most of the Bay region beginning that year …

Shoreline Evolution: Lancaster County, Virginia Rappahannock River And Chesapeake Bay Shorelines 2012, Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Mary C. Cox

Reports

ancaster County is situated along the Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay (Figure 1). The County has 330 miles of tidal shoreline (Lancaster, 2007). Through time, the County’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future. Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments. The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of Lancaster County has evolved since 1937. Aerial …

Shoreline Evolution: Prince William County, Virginia Potomac River, Occoquan Bay, And Occoquan River Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Christine Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Mary C. Cox

Reports

Prince William County is situated along the Potomac River (Figure 1). Through time, the County’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future. Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments.

The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of Prince William County has evolved since 1937. Aerial imagery was taken for most of the Bay region beginning that …

Assessing Flood Inundation Mapping With The Use Of A Dem And Gis Along The Missouri River At Sioux City, Iowa, Kathryn A. Pfaffle

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

There are various methods that are used to predict flood inundation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided inundation maps for the 2011 Missouri River flood event that did not utilized aerial photo imagery. This study assesses the suitability of using a digital elevation model (DEM) in combination with aerial photo imagery within a geographic information system to predict flood inundation mapping along the Missouri River in Sioux City, Iowa. GPS data was collected during the height of this flood event in order to validate the positional accuracy of the DEM. Using the GPS receiver’s accuracy standards to determine the …

Distribution Of Trace Elements In Cumberland River Basin Reservoir Sediments, Laura Mahoney Benneyworth

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nashville District, maintains ten reservoirs in the Cumberland River Basin in Kentucky and Tennessee, and has been monitoring sediment chemistry in the reservoirs since 1994. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the sediment data collected from the reservoirs from 1994 to 2010 to determine if there are any spatial patterns of the trace elements: arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, and zinc. The results indicated that trace element levels were consistent with national baseline concentrations measured by the U.S. Geological Survey. Center Hill reservoir had the greatest number of trace …

Shoreline Evolution: Surry County, Virginia James River Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr.

Reports

Surry County is situated on the southern shore of the James River (Figure 1). The County has 168 miles of shoreline along the James River, Upper Chippokes Creek and Grays Creek. Through time, the County’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future . Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments.

The purpose of this report is to document how the shore …

Shoreline Evolution: City Of Poquoson, Virginia Poquoson River, Chesapeake Bay, And Back River Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Kevin P. O'Brien, Christine Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr.

Reports

The purpose of this data report is to document how the shore zone of Poquoson has evolved since 1937. Aerial imagery was taken for most of the Bay region beginning that year, and can be used to assess the geomorphic nature of shore change. Aerial imagery shows how the coast has changed, how beaches, dunes, bars, and spits have grown or decayed, how barriers have breached, how inlets have changed course, and how one shore type has displaced another or has not changed at all. Shore change is a natural process but, quite often, the impacts of man through shore …

Watershed Forest Management Information System (Wfmis), Yl Zhang, Pk Barten

Environmental Conservation Faculty Publication Series

Maintenance of a sustainable clean water supply is critical for our future. However, watershed degradation is a common phenomenon around the world that leads to poor water quality. In order to protect water resources, the Watershed Forest Management Information System (WFMIS), was developed as an extension of ArcGIS® and is described in this paper. There are three submodels to address nonpoint source pollution mitigation, road system management, and silvicultural operations, respectively. The Watershed Management Priority Indices (WMPI) is a zoning approach to prioritize critical areas for conservation and restoration management. It meets the critical need to spatially differentiate land cover …

Gloucester County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Harry Berquist, Sharon Killeen, Carl Hershner, Karinna Nunez, Karen Reay, Tamia Rudnicky, Daniel Schatt, Dave Weiss

Reports

This shoreline inventory is developed as a tool for assessing conditions along the tidal shoreline in the Gloucester County. Field data were collected between August and November 1998. Conditions are reported for three zones within the immediate riparian river area: riparian land use, bank and buffers, and the shoreline. A series of maps and tabular data are published to illustrate and quantify results of an extensive shoreline survey. Shorelines of the Poropotank, York, Severn, Ware, North and Piankatank rivers as well as creeks and small tributaries were surveyed for this inventory. Sections were coded using remote sensing techniques because the …

King George, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Harry Berquist, Sharon Killeen, Carl Hershner, Karinna Nunez, Karen Reay, Tamia Rudnicky, Daniel E. Schatt, David Weiss

Reports

No abstract provided.