Digital Commons Network^™

Study Of Potential Risk Of Dengue Disease Outbreak In Sri Lanka Using Gis And Statistical Modelling, Sumith Pathirana, Masato Kawabata, Rohitha Goonatilake

Adjunct Associate Professor Sumith Pathirana

The increasing incidence of dengue fever has become a priority health issue for Sri Lanka. Recent dengue outbreaks in Sri Lanka show two trends: yearly increase of total number of dengue incidence and increasing dengue outbreaks outside the endemic urbanised areas in the south and the west. Identification of factors responsible for dengue outbreaks and the mapping of potential risk areas in Sri Lanka are long overdue. This study examines the association between weekly rainfall patterns and dengue outbreaks in the western province between 2000 and 2004. Methods: The study develops a model to quantitatively assess the relationship between rainfall …

The Our Florida Reefs Coastal Use Survey: An Online Survey To Support Stakeholder Management Recommendations For Southeast Florida, Amanda Rose Costaregni

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral reefs are an important resource world-wide. Unfortunately, coral reef conditions are declining in many areas due to both global and local stressors. The objective of this study was to survey stakeholders in southeast Florida to better understand reef use in the region. Stakeholders spatially identified where and how often they conducted their activities. These data were compiled and analyzed in GIS to determine spatial use patterns. Both location and intensity of use were analyzed to determine which areas may be under greater stress from recreational activities. It was found that reef use was not evenly distributed in the region …

Spatial Pattern Analysis Of Agricultural Soil Properties Using Gis, Corrin Jared Mccarn

Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural soil properties exhibit variation over field plot scales that can ultimately effect the yield. This study performs multiple spatial pattern analyses in order to design spatially dependent regression models to better understand the interaction between these soil properties. The Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and Calcium-Magnesium Ratio (CaMgR) are analyzed with respect to Calcium, Magnesium, and soil moisture values. The CEC and CaMgR are then used to determine impact on the yield values present for the field. Results of this study show a significant measure of model parsimony (0.979) for the Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model of the CEC with …

Lancaster County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Kory Angstadt, David Stanhope, Christine Tombleson, Karen Duhring, Alexander D. Renaud, Robert Isdell, Pamela Braff, Benjamin P. Weissman, Carl Hershner

Reports

The data inventory developed for the Shoreline Inventory is based on a three tiered shoreline assessment approach. This assessment characterizes conditions that can be observed from a small boat navigating along the shoreline or by using observations made remotely at the desktop using high resolution imagery. The three tiered shoreline assessment approach divides the shorezone into three regions:

• the immediate riparian zone, evaluated for land use

• the bank, evaluated for height, cover and natural protection

• the shoreline, describing the presence of shoreline structures for shore protection and recreational purposes.

The 2015 Inventory for Lancaster County was generated using on-screen, digitizing …

City Of Portsmouth, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Kory Angstadt, Karen Duhring, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The data inventory developed for the Shoreline Inventory is based on a three tiered shoreline assessment approach. This assessment characterizes conditions that can be observed from a small boat navigating along the shoreline or by using observations made remotely at the desktop using high resolution imagery. The three tiered shoreline assessment approach divides the shorezone into three regions:

1) the immediate riparian zone, evaluated for land use; 2) the bank, evaluated for height, cover and natural protection; and 3) the shoreline, describing the presence of shoreline structures for shore protection and recreational purposes.

The 2015 Inventory for the City of …

Evaluating Long-Term Land Cover Changes For Malheur Lake, Oregon Using Envi And Arcgis, Ryan Joseph Woods

Theses and Dissertations

Land cover change over time can be a useful indicator of variations in a watershed, such as the patterns of drought in an area. I present a case study using remotely sensed images from Landsat satellites for over a 30-year period to generate classifications representing land cover categories, which I use to quantify land cover change in the watershed areas that contribute to Malheur, Mud, and Harney Lakes. I selected images, about every 4 to 6 years from late June to late July, in an attempt to capture the peak vegetation growth and to avoid cloud cover. Complete coverage of …

Anthropogenic Influences On The Tolipir Landscape, Lesser Himalayas, Pakistan, Abu Ul Hassan Faiz, Fakhar-I- Abbas, Lariab Zahra

Journal of Bioresource Management

The present study describes anthropogenic pressure in Tolipir landscape of lesser Himalayas. The GIS tools, questionnaire and field sampling surveys were used to estimate threats in landscape. The study was conducted from January 2013 to January 2014. The five model villages (Ali Sojal, Kanchi Kot, Khori Chana, Kahoo Kot and Noor Kot) of Tolipir landscape were selected to determine anthropogenic pressure. The study documents that Tolipir landscape has average number of house (350 ± 82.4), with number of individual per house (10.8 ± 1.1) and fuel consumption per day (43.72±3.30) kg. The preferred fuel wood plant species among inhabitants of …

Effectiveness Of Gis In Mine Action, Hansie Heymans, Arie Claassens

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

According to a survey conducted by Geometric Solutions, Ltd., the usage of a geographic information system (GIS) stands to benefit the mine action community within the context of strategic planning and operational decision-making. Furthermore, web-based GIS can provide mobile spatial data for operations and lead to an overall improvement of mine action operations.

The Taphonomic Factors On Human Remains Inside Chullpas: Marcajirca, Peru, Samantha Lauren Lininger

Masters Theses

This study explored the taphonomic factors that contributed to the preservation of human skeletal remains inside ancient above-ground tomb in Marcajirca, Peru. This study incorporated one hundred and eighteen bones from three chullpas. Five taphonomic factors were examined: bone type, plant activity, root presence, weathering, and cultural factors. Surface layers inside each chullpa were analyzed using Geographic Information System (GIS) software. Chi-square tests were employed to investigate preservation and taphonomic factors. The results from the statistical tests indicated that there was a significant difference in the taphonomic factors on different bone types. Chullpa 6 was significant because it was unique …

Gis-Integrated Mathematical Modeling Of Social Phenomena At Macro- And Micro- Levels—A Multivariate Geographically-Weighted Regression Model For Identifying Locations Vulnerable To Hosting Terrorist Safe-Houses: France As Case Study, Elyktra Eisman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adaptability and invisibility are hallmarks of modern terrorism, and keeping pace with its dynamic nature presents a serious challenge for societies throughout the world. Innovations in computer science have incorporated applied mathematics to develop a wide array of predictive models to support the variety of approaches to counterterrorism. Predictive models are usually designed to forecast the location of attacks. Although this may protect individual structures or locations, it does not reduce the threat—it merely changes the target. While predictive models dedicated to events or social relationships receive much attention where the mathematical and social science communities intersect, models dedicated to …

Processing Of Gis Data And Building Of 3d Dem Models With Fme Transformer Tools, Hebib Alili, Fadil Shehu, Shenur Muslija

UBT International Conference

The processes of processing of 2D or 3D geodetic or geo-information data by using the FME software and other software's or tools in combination and then through mathematical logics in FME building of such 3D models from original measured terrain data within transformers given by FME, could be considered as very important attempt of creating of such 3D models, exactly when we have to deal with huge data by the size of its as input data. These kind of doing of processing of data through FME software, can be considered as important issue also for resolving of other today related …

Street-Level Predictive Modeling Of Nuisance Flooding Verified Via Crowdsourced App Data In Norfolk, Va, J. D. Loftis, H. V. Wang, D R. Forrest

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Predicting Toucan Locations In Panama Using Arcgis, Daniel J. Herrera

Geography: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Toucans are omnivorous birds native to southern Latin America and South America. They are non-migratory, and their range is disputed among experts. In an attempt to develop a better understanding of the range and behavior of toucans, correlations between toucan presence and geographic features of the area were analyzed to create a location probability map.

Potential Irrigation Reductions From Increasing Precipitation Utilization With Variable Rate Irrigation, Tsz Him Lo, Derek M. Heeren, Luciano Mateos, Joe D. Luck, Derrel L. Martin, Dean E. Eisenhauer

Department of Biological Systems Engineering: Papers and Publications

Much of the previous research quantifying the potential benefits of variable rate irrigation (VRI) consists of case studies with simulations using data from small numbers of intensely sampled fields. In this study, an indicator of the amount of root zone available water capacity that is unutilized by uniform rate irrigation was calculated for 49,224 center pivot irrigated fields in Nebraska using publicly available data exclusively. Based on the values of this indicator, potential seasonal irrigation reductions from increasing precipitation utilization with VRI were estimated to be high for a small fraction of analyzed center pivots but low on a regional …

Applying Voronoi Tessellations As A Non-Orthogonal Grid Methodology To Inform Public-Private Mix Efforts In Nigeria: An Examination Of The Distribution Of Private Healthcare Providers In Six States And The Covariates Underlying Their Utilization, Trinadh Dontamsetti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

TB care and prevention is led by the public sector, but many TB symptomatics first seek care in the private sector, highlighting the importance of engaging these facilities. This report examines basic TB epidemiology (such as the gap in case finding that could be addressed in part via private sector activities), health-seeking behaviors (HSB) and diagnostic delays, the size of the private sector, activities of professional societies, and financing. It examines the potential utility of integrating Voronoi tessellations as a GIS-based method for informing and improving Public-Private Mix (PPM) efforts throughout six states in Nigeria. Further, it explores a potential …

A Multi-Criteria Gis-Based Route Selection Tool For Hazardous Material Transport: Consideration Of Environmental Consequence, Traffic Congestions And Costs, Bahareh Inanloo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hazardous materials are substances that, if not regulated, can pose a threat to human populations and their environmental health, safety or property when transported in commerce. About 1.5 million tons of hazardous material shipments are transported by truck in the US annually, with a steady increase of approximately 5% per year.

The objective of this study was to develop a routing tool for hazardous material transport in order to facilitate reduced environmental impacts and less transportation difficulties, yet would also find paths that were still compelling for the shipping carriers as a matter of trucking cost. The study started with …

Toward Renewable Eenergy Geo-Information Infrastructures: Applications Of Giscience And Remote Sensing That Build Institutional Capacity, K. Calvert, Joshua M. Pearce, W. E. Mabee

Joshua M. Pearce

Sustained policy support is necessary in order to drive a transition toward renewable energy (RE). The ability to realize RE policy objectives is constrained by a range of geographic factors related to resource potential, the distribution of resources, land availability/suitability, the absorptive capacity of proximal infrastructure, and local socio-political acceptance. With this in mind, this paper provides a systematic review of how geographic information science and remote sensing techniques have been applied to reduce uncertainties surrounding renewable energy development, with emphasis on policy and planning needs. The concept of a ‘geo-information infrastructure’ is used to bring coherence and direction to …

Incorporating Shading Losses In Solar Photovoltaic Potential Assessment At The Municipal Scale, Ha T. Nguyen, Joshua M. Pearce

Joshua M. Pearce

Recently several algorithms have been developed to calculate the solar photovoltaic (PV) potential on the basis of 2.5D raster data that can capture urban morphology. This study provides a new algorithm that (i) incorporates both terrain and near surface shadowing effects on the beam component; (ii) scales down the diffuse components of global irradiation; and (iii) utilizes free and open source GRASS and the module r.sun in modeling irradiation. This algorithm is semi-automatic and easy to upgrade or correct (no hand drawn areas), open source, detailed and provides rules of thumb for PV system design at the municipal level. The …

Umass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamad Farzinmoghadam, Kylie A. Landrey, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh, Ezra Small, Ted Mendoza, Jason J. Burbank, Robert Ryan, Dennis Swinford, Niels La Cour, Alexander Stepanov

Ludmilla D Pavlova

The UMass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter articulates the manner in which the Campus Master Plan 2012 principles translate into specific recommendations for campus systems development in support of future smart growth. It summarizes the current physical campus-scale planning projects that Facilities & Campus Services have completed during and after the Master Plan process, and incorporates other operational and educational initiatives that have engaged our campus community as we plan for sustainability. The CMP Chapter is organized in three major sections: i) sustainability overview; ii) campus master plan systems; iii) current initiatives; and iv) next steps. The first section …

Integration And Delivery Of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar [Insar] Data Into Stormwater Planning Within Karst Terranes, Brian Bruckno, Andrea Vaccari, Edward Hoppe, Scott Acton, Elizabeth Campbell

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

As part of two USDOT-funded studies focused on the development of satellite-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technology, the researchers integrated InSAR-derived point cloud data into the transportation design process to optimize the location of a stormwater management system in a karst terrane. After initial validation, the InSAR data (over 1.67 million data points comprising various “scatterers”) were brought into a GIS dataframe and georeferenced to locations of known sinkholes. This dataset was then used to evaluate karst hazard within a 40x40km data frame located in the Valley and Ridge Province of Virginia. The group identified systematic kinematic differences in …

Rainfall-Induced Slope Landslide Pontential And Landslide Distribution Characteristics Assessment, Yung-Sheng Chue, Jing-Wan Chen, Yie-Ruey Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology

According to observations over the few years before and after typhoon and extreme rainfall events in the Laonong catchment of Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, this study combined a genetic adaptive neural network architecture, image texture analysis, and a geographic information system (GIS) in satellite image interpretation and land use change analysis to obtain disaster records and surface information. A multivariate hazards evaluation method was applied to quantitatively analyze the weights of various natural environmental and slope development hazard factors. Furthermore, this study established a slope landslide potential assessment model and depicted a slope landslide potential diagram by using the GIS platform. …

Effects Of Skeletal Streetscape Design On Perceived Safety, Chester Harvey, Lisa Aultman-Hall, Stephanie E. Hurley, Austin Troy

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

It is important for planners and urban designers to understand how physical characteristics of urban streetscapes contribute to perceptions of them as safe, comfortable urban spaces. While urban design theory offers numerous suggestions for successful streetscapes there is meager empirical evidence of their effects. We suggest that this is largely due to precision and sample size limitations on audit-based physical design and human perception measurements. This paper overcomes these limitations by identifying a key set of "streetscape skeleton" design variables that can be efficiently measured using a GIS-based method. It then measures these variables on a large and diverse sample …

Shoreline Evolution: Accomack County, Virginia Chesapeake Bay Shorelines, 2015, Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr.

Reports

The purpose of this report is to document how the Chesapeake Bay shore zone of Accomack County has evolved since 1938. The report does not include the ocean side shorelines of Accomack County. 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 photos show 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 …

Lingcod (Ophiodon Elongatus) Habitat Associations: Implications For Conservation And Management, Megan Bassett

SNS Master's Theses

Understanding the spatial distribution of marine species and the temporal and spatial scales of the processes that drive those distributions continues to be limited, but is increasingly more critical with the implementation of marine spatial planning. Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) are a common demersal fish found from southern Alaska to Baja California, and are exploited both commercially and recreationally across the entirety of their range. Due to stock declines, Lingcod are managed using a variety of fisheries management tools, including spatial management. This study represents a unique in situ investigation of demersal habitat utilization by Lingcod at the southern portion of …

Use Of Geographical Information Systems To Identify Counties In Georgia With High Risk For Childhood Lead Poisoning, R. Christopher Rustin, Christy Kuriatnyk, Byron Lobsinger, Simone Charles

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background: For children in Georgia, lead poisoning is a substantial public health problem. Primary risk factors include low socioeconomic status and poor-quality housing built prior to 1978. The Environmental Health Team of the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) utilized geographical information system (GIS) technology and census housing data to identify counties in which children have high risk for lead poisoning. The purpose of this research was to update and refine previous maps developed with older technology and on a different geographic scale so that targeted public health interventions can be developed.

Methods: Data related to stratified and median housing …

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

Reports

Stafford County is situated along the upper reaches of the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. 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 document how the shore zone of …

Stafford County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory Report Methods And Guidelines, Marcia Berman, Karinna Nunez, Sharon Killeen, Tamia Rudnicky, Julie Bradshaw, Karen Duhring, David Stanhope, David Weiss, Carl Hershner

Reports

The data inventory developed for the Shoreline Inventory is based on a three tiered shoreline assessment approach. This assessment characterizes conditions that can be observed from a small boat navigating along the shoreline or by using observations made remotely at the desktop using high resolution imagery. The three tiered shoreline assessment approach divides the shorezone into three regions:

1) the immediate riparian zone, evaluated for land use; 2) the bank, evaluated for height, cover and natural protection; and 3) the shoreline, describing the presence of shoreline structures for shore protection and recreational purposes.

The 2015 Inventory for Stafford County was …

Women Workin’ It In Gis: A Mixed Methods Study Of Underrepresentation And The Gendered Experience Among Female Gis Practitioners, Livia M. Betancourt Mazur

Theses and Dissertations

Through novel empirical research, this thesis explores the experience of women working in the professional field of geographic information systems (GIS), adding to GIS literature, as well as to academic geography and wider science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) discourses, addressing gaps in these bodies of knowledge.

Transportation And Sanitation Drivers Of Land Use/Land Cover Change: Loss Of The Jamaica Bay Wetlands, Margaret Joy Cytryn

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an analysis (1830-2014) of the historical events of land use/land cover change in the Jamaica Bay estuary, identification of the agents of change, and a perspective on the potential drivers of transportation and sanitation in land use/land cover change.

Space, Settlement, And Environment: Detecting Undocumented Maya Archaeological Sites With Remotely Sensed Data, Andrew Vaughan

Anthropology Theses

This study utilizes an integrated remote sensing approach to augment settlement pattern research in the Yalahau Region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico. The region has a long history of human occupation and an environment ranging from coasts, freshwater wetlands, forests, to fields and towns all above a porous karst geology. By utilizing various sensors (LiDAR, GeoEye and Landsat) and collection methods (satellite, aerial) as well as post-processing (band combinations, component analyses and indices) and cross-referencing the data, it is possible to generate a signature, which strongly correlates with evidence of prehistoric occupation. Field verification of a selection of identified signatures …