Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

The Importance Of Landscape Position Information And Elevation Uncertainty For Barrier Island Habitat Mapping And Modeling, Nicholas Matthew Enwright Aug 2019

The Importance Of Landscape Position Information And Elevation Uncertainty For Barrier Island Habitat Mapping And Modeling, Nicholas Matthew Enwright

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Barrier islands provide important ecosystem services, including storm protection and erosion control to the mainland, habitat for fish and wildlife, and tourism. As a result, natural resource managers are concerned with monitoring changes to these islands and modeling future states of these environments. Landscape position, such as elevation and distance from shore, influences habitat coverage on barrier islands by regulating exposure to abiotic factors, including waves, tides, and salt spray. Geographers commonly use aerial topographic lidar data for extracting landscape position information. However, researchers rarely consider lidar elevation uncertainty when using automated processes for extracting elevation-dependent habitats from lidar data. …


Evaluation Of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material In Seafood From The Gulf Of Mexico, Charles Algeo Wilson Iv Feb 2019

Evaluation Of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material In Seafood From The Gulf Of Mexico, Charles Algeo Wilson Iv

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Radioactive disintegration of naturally occurring radioactive material was modeled with high precision and no assumptions to better understand serial decay in high order disequibrlia. This model helped develop a new method of quick analysis of NORM, where radioactivity can be measured with reasonable certainty before secular equilibrium is established. This approach was a significant improvement on previous similar approaches, halving time required for the same results and reduced wait time compared to classical approaches by 92%. Consequentially, NORM was measured in selected seafood samples from three areas in the Gulf of Mexico. Red Snapper, Red Drum, Northern Whiting, Spotted Trout …


Monitoring Sediment Dynamics And Vegetation Competition Based On Micro-Topography And Terrestrial Lidar For Wetland Restoration, Xukai Zhang Jan 2019

Monitoring Sediment Dynamics And Vegetation Competition Based On Micro-Topography And Terrestrial Lidar For Wetland Restoration, Xukai Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With the ability to attenuate wave and limit erosion, coastal wetlands are important to protect shoreline for coastal communities. Micro-topography in coastal wetlands has a significant influence on hydrology, habitat variability and ecosystem functions. However, when mapping micro-topography by terrestrial LiDAR in coastal environments, the coverage of dense vegetation leads to a relatively low chance of laser penetration through the canopy to the ground. This dissertation proposes a rapid and flexible terrain mapping solution for the densely vegetated coastal environment by integrating crown structure from terrestrial LiDAR with terrain samples from GPS. The validated results in the study site demonstrate …