Digital Commons Network^™

A Karst Feature Prediction Model For Prince Of Wales Island, Alaska Based On High Resolution Lidar Imagery, Alexander Lyles

Master's Theses

Investigation into surface karst formation is significant to hazard prediction, hydrogeologic drainage, and land management. Southeast Alaska contains over 600,000 acres of mapped carbonate bedrock, and some of the fastest recorded karst dissolution in the world. The objectives of this study are to develop and compare multiple semi-automated models to map and delineate karst features from bare-earth LiDAR imagery using ArcGIS Desktop 10.7, and to apply a preliminary geostatistical analysis of sinkhole morphometric parameters to highlight potential spatial patterns of karst evolution on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. A semi-automated approach of mapping karst features provides a dataset that minimizes …

A Karst Feature Predictability Model Within Barber County, Kansas, Gary M. Kelner

Master's Theses

This research consisted of two topics: 1) geographic predictive models of karst features and 2), a petrographic study examining the lithology of the study area. The study area is a privately owned ranch in the Gypsum Hills of Barber County, Kansas and is known to have karst features. Two predictive models for karst features were utilized. Previously identified features, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imagery aided in the creation of these predictive models. These predictability models also used the ESRI ArcMap software platform. The data for these models consists of slope, …

Geographical Analysis Of Offender Vulnerability: Modeling Coastal Hazards And Social Disorganization In Southern Mississippi, Ashleigh Nicole Price

Master's Theses

Hazards research continually examines how specific groups are affected by damaging events and how their unique sociodemographic characteristics contribute to variations in resilience and recovery. Studies have shown that underprivileged communities suffer more adversely and take longer to recover from hazard events. Probationers and parolees are uniquely disadvantaged regarding demographics and economic opportunity, both of which contribute to increased vulnerability and reduced resilience. Numerous legal restrictions and widespread discrimination towards former criminals means offenders are often relegated to underserved, criminogenic neighborhoods. Given such severe social and financial limitations, offenders have little capacity to prepare for or recover from disasters.

The …

Assessment Of Peregrine Falcon (Falco Peregrinus Anatum) Nesting Habitat In The San Francisco Bay Area, Prabha Venu

Master's Theses

Human encroachment into natural environments fragments and degrades the habitat for many species and raptors such as the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) have adapted to the urban environment, co-existing with humans and other wildlife. The habitat preference of the American peregrine falcon subpopulation, F. p. anatum was investigated in the densely urbanized San Francisco Bay Area. In this research, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications to evaluate ten environmental attributes and their influence on 47 nesting sites were used. Distances from peregrine falcon nesting sites to two federally listed prey species the California least tern (Sterna antillarum browni) and the western …

Get To The “Point”: Improving Location Services In Tippah County Mississippi, Haley Feather

Master's Theses

Point location using geographic information systems (GIS) technology has become integrated into everyday society and daily decision-making by utilizing addresses to provide goods and services. A need exists at a national, state, and local level for an address database. The objectives of this study were to [1] determine the most suitable address data model to be used in Mississippi, [2] determine how positional accuracy changes between urban and rural areas, and [3] determine spatial variations in aerial imagery. Address data model comparisons were conducted using match rates between street, parcel, and point address models. Positional accuracy was determined for urban …

Women Business Leaders In Biotech And Hi-Tech, And Related Industry Cluster Factors, Jessica White

Master's Theses

Women entrepreneurs are on the rise and their numbers have grown at one and a half times the rate of small enterprises generally over the last 15 years. In spite of this, women are underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Women face additional barriers when forging careers within these fields and obtaining startup capital. This study examines female business ownership within the fields of hi-tech and biotech, and the factors that support startups by women throughout the state of California. As both of these industry sectors are known to cluster geographically around sources of venture …

Temporal Changes To Fire Risk In Disparate Wildland Urban Interface Communities, Nicola C. Leyshon

Master's Theses

Since 1990, thirteen fires over 100,000 acres in size have burned in California seven of which were recorded to be some of the most destructive wildfires of all time (California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection 2013). To aid the development of policy that reduces the destruction caused by wildfires, it is important to evaluate how risk changes through time in communities that are expanding into fire-prone areas. The objective of this study is to discover how the likelihood of structural loss is changing in WUI as newer; more fire resilient structures replace older structures on the edges of the …

Seasonal Road Layout Design In Mountainous Terrain Using Gis With The Side Hill And Least Cost Path Methods, Emil Harold Brundage

Master's Theses

Seasonal road design in mountainous terrain consists of four main phases: route selection, field investigation, surveying, and analysis. The first phase, route selection, consists of two parts: selecting control points at strategic locations, and then determining potential routes between those points. Two geographic information system (GIS) geoprocessing automations were developed to aid a road planner in determining routes between control points. Both automations utilized Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) ArcGIS software package. The first method developed was the least cost path method, which makes use of ArcGIS’s cost path tool to find a route between points following a gradual slope. …

Utilization Of Crowdsourced Maps In Catastrophic Disasters, Makiko Hong

Master's Theses

Crowdsourced data, the collective messages from citizens through social media like Twitter® or Facebook®, have been increasingly recognized as a vital information source in a catastrophic disaster. Because there is often insufficient emergency personnel to gather situational information during a big disaster, the crowdsourced data can offer a supplemental means for data collection or dissemination immediately after the disaster. In addition, crowdsourced maps can empower citizens with their involvement.

In the Haiti earthquake of 2010, crowdsourced data was first used to create a web map application to aid the humanitarian effort. With some success in Haiti, these crowdsourced maps have …

Risk Assessment Model For Pipe Rehabilitation And Replacement In A Water Distribution System, Jan C. Devera

Master's Theses

The efficient delivery of potable water for a community through its distribution system has historically been the backbone of nearly all metropolitan developments. Much of these systems are comprised of pipe networks made of various materials including concrete, iron, PVC, and even steel. As these communities expand and urbanize, water demand and population density simultaneously increase. This develops higher strains and stresses in the community‟s water distribution network causing pipes to corrode, crack, or rupture prematurely while in service. As a result, the deterioration of water distribution systems in growing cities is increasingly becoming a major concern for our nation. …

Advanced Techniques In Emergency Preparedness And Geoprocessing, Dean P. Chauvin Jr

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

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.

Accuracy Of Forest Road And Stream Channel Characteristics Derived From Lidar In Forested Mountain Conditions, Russell Alan White

Master's Theses

Forest roads and stream channels are mapped using a variety of remote sensing and ground-based techniques. In densely forested areas, conventional remote sensing methods provide limited terrain information, while ground-based surveys can be time-consuming, difficult, and expensive. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is an airborne remote sensing technology used to create high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) of the earth’s surface. This study tests the accuracy of forest road and stream channel features mapped using LiDAR in the steep, forested terrain of California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. A conventional total station survey was used to determine centerline position and elevations along a …