Digital Commons Network^™

The Influence Of Landscape Variation On Landform Categorization, Maia Williams, Werner Kuhn, Marco Painho

Journal of Spatial Information Science

This paper compares the landform vocabularies of residents from two regions in Portugal. Participants described both their own and the other less familiar landscapes in response to video footage of the regions. The results indicate that participants used more detailed vocabularies to describe the known landscape compared to the less familiar study site with detail triggered by individual place recognition. A relationship between landform lexica content and landscape type was observed in the relative placement of detail within each vocabulary. The observed drivers of categorization were the salient features of the landscape (elevation and land cover) and utilitarian motivations (land …

5d: A Gis-Based Approach For Determining And Displaying The Degree Of Operational Difficulty Of Demining, Pierre Lacroix, Rocío Escobar

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Clearance operations highly depend on environmental, geographic and socioeconomic conditions. These conditions make demining easier, more difficult or nearly impossible. This article proposes an analytical method called 5D (Determining and Displaying the Degree of Operational Difficulty of Demining), which classifies degrees of difficulty as low, medium, high or extreme.

A Geospatial Analysis Of Cdc-Funded Hiv Prevention Programs For African Americans In The United States, G. A. Gilliam, Carol L. Hanchette, Kieran J. Fogarty, Deborah A. Gibbs

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Given the increase in HIV/AIDS infection rates among racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, this study was undertaken as part of a larger research effort to examine the distribution of HIV prevention services focusing on African American populations within the United States. Data were gathered via a national survey of community-based organizations (CBOs) funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A geocoded national database was constructed to identify, locate, and map these HIV prevention programs. A total of 1,020 CBOs responded to the survey, yielding a response rate of 70.3%. These CBOs administered a total of …

An Integrated Approach For Developing Adaptation Strategies In Climate Planning: A Case Study Of Vulnerability In Dukes County, Massachusetts, Jonathan Pollak

Master's Theses

Climate Action Plans (CAP’s) are recent innovations in policy that have been catalyzed by a need to adjust the relationship between human activity and the Earth’s climate system. CAP’s often are composed of methods to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in addition to adaptation strategies. Research indicates, however, that many plans focus on mitigation strategies while adaptation policies related to predicted changes caused by climate change are often overlooked. This thesis presents an integrative framework for locating areas that are in need of adaptation strategies through a GIS based decision support system that visualizes vulnerability. It is operationalized through an empirical …

Creating A Pedestrian Level-Of-Service Index For Transit Stops: Evidence From Denver’S Light Rail System, Patrick Gallagher

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Predictive Geospatial Modeling For Archaeological Research And Conservation: Case Studies From The Galisteo Basin, Vermont And Chaco Canyon, Wetherbee Bryan Dorshow

Anthropology ETDs

Geospatial modeling of ancient landscapes for predictive scientific research and hypothesis testing is an important emerging approach in contemporary archaeology. This doctoral dissertation is comprised of three published North American case studies that clearly demonstrate the value of predictive geospatial modeling to address explicit goals of contemporary archaeological research, conservation and cultural resource management. The case studies consist of a GIS-based prioritization analysis of natural and cultural resources conservation value in the Galisteo Basin of north-central New Mexico, an archaeological sensitivity analysis (site-discovery potential) for the state of Vermont, and a predictive model of agricultural potential during the Bonito Phase …

Spatial Discrepancies Between Nhdplus And Lidar-Derived Stream Networks, Nicole Marie Samu

Masters Theses

Many organizations demand that current water resource issues necessitate improved stream network mapping for more accurate and reliable watershed analysis and modeling results, which can ultimately enable better management and policy decisions. Stream network data from the National Hydrography Dataset Plus (NHDPlus) and derived from Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) are each widely accepted to be of superior quality compared to many other conventional datasets. Each dataset indicates potential to improve a wide range of water resource applications; NHDPlus for its high spatial accuracy and functionality, and LIDAR-derived networks for their high resolutions. NHDPlus is publicly available and widely used; …

Gis Collaborations In Saskatchewan: Sgic And The University Of Saskatchewan Library (Accepted Manuscript Version), Jasmine R. Hoover

Library Research and Publications

GIS (Geographic Information System) libraries face challenges at both ends of the spectrum when it comes to acquiring GIS data. On one hand, the increase in popularity of GIS driven by services like Google Earth, Bing maps, and open data has made large amounts of GIS data freely available to users. On the other hand, specialty GIS data products, often needed by researchers, industry, and government, can be so costly that they are impossible for a library to purchase on its own. In situations like the latter, collaborations often provide the solution for acquiring the necessary GIS data. This report …

Agbufferbuilder: A Filter Strip Design Tool For Gis, Surendran Neelakantan, Tom Mueller, Michael G. Dosskey, Todd Kellerman, Eduardo Abel Rienzi

Plant and Soil Sciences Research Tools

AgBufferBuilder is a GIS-based computer program for designing vegetative filter strips around agricultural fields that utilizes terrain analysis to account for spatially non-uniform runoff (Figure 1). The core model is derived from the process-based Vegetative Filter Strip Modeling System (VFSMOD-W). A detailed description of the core model and its development is provided in Dosskey et al. (2011). The GIS program runs with ArcGIS (ESRI, Redlands, CA).

Use Of Environmental Isotope Tracer And Gis Techniques To Estimate Basin Recharge, Abdulganiu A.A. Odunmbaku

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The extensive use of ground water only began with the advances in pumping technology at the early portion of 20th Century. Groundwater provides the majority of fresh water supply for municipal, agricultural and industrial uses, primarily because of little to no treatment it requires. Estimating the volume of groundwater available in a basin is a daunting task, and no accurate measurements can be made. Usually water budgets and simulation models are primarily used to estimate the volume of water in a basin.

Precipitation, land surface cover and subsurface geology are factors that affect recharge; these factors affect percolation which invariably …

Transboundary Political Ecology In The Peru-Brazil Borderlands: Mapping Workshops, Geographic Information, And Socio-Environmental Impacts, David S. Salisbury, A. William Flores De Melo, Pedro Tipula Tipula

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

Development, resource, and settlement frontiers inspired by national policies and global demand continue to expand into the international boundary lands of Amazonia. National policies promote development and conservation projects on lands already inhabited and managed. Regional governments are increasingly frustrated by the inadequate and outdated geographic information available to solve overlapping claims and improve planning in sensitive border regions. The resulting combination of inappropriate policies, contested resources, and poor geographic information in the borderlands create impacts not only for national, regional, and local landscapes and livelihoods but also foreign relations due to transboundary effects. This article uses a transboundary political …

A Discourse On Geospatial Technology Applications In Predictive Analytics And Evidence-Based Decision Support For Disaster Research And Management, Steven Matthew Ward

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Continued population growth and development in vulnerable locations across the world are creating a new geography of hazards and disasters. Increasing storm frequencies coupled with unrelenting efforts to control flooding through structural means will undoubtedly intensify the intersection between flood hazards and humans. Accordingly, the baseline capacity of places to prepare for and rebound from disaster events adequately is negatively impacted. Hurricane Katrina brought this reality to the forefront of disaster science and management in 2005. Concurrent with the increased awareness of evolving hazardscapes has been the identification of deficiencies in how components of disasters are studied and managed. The …

Applying Gis Metrics To Determine Degree Of Glacial Modification In Mountainous Landscapes, Carl Delbert Swanson Ii

All Master's Theses

The ability to quantitatively assess the degree of glaciation in mountainous areas can be a powerful tool in unraveling the evolution of landscapes, and provide key insights in regions where field research is difficult. Here we determine, test, and apply metrics that assess the relative degree of past glacial modification in mountainous landscapes. Results show that slope results can be used to quantitatively assess the degree to which an area is modified by glaciation. In particular, analysis of basins using slope frequency distribution curves and slope vs. elevation plots capture steeper slopes, flatter valley bottoms, cirques, and arêtes of glaciated …