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

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mapping Forest Structure In Mississippi Using Lidar Remote Sensing, Nitant Rai Dec 2022

Mapping Forest Structure In Mississippi Using Lidar Remote Sensing, Nitant Rai

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed at evaluating the agreement of spaceborne Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) ICESat-2 canopy height with Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) derived canopy height to inform about the performance of ICESat-2 canopy height metrics and understand its uncertainties and utilities. The agreement was assessed for different forest types, physiographic regions, a range of percent canopy cover, and diverse disturbance histories. Results of this study suggest that best agreements are found using strong beam data collected at night for canopy height retrieval using ICESat-2. The ICESat-2 showed great potential for estimating canopy heights, particularly in evergreen forests with high canopy …


Snow-Albedo Feedback In Northern Alaska: How Vegetation Influences Snowmelt, Lucas C. Reckhaus Aug 2020

Snow-Albedo Feedback In Northern Alaska: How Vegetation Influences Snowmelt, Lucas C. Reckhaus

Theses and Dissertations

This paper investigates how the snow-albedo feedback mechanism of the arctic is changing in response to rising climate temperatures. Specifically, the interplay of vegetation and snowmelt, and how these two variables can be correlated. This has the potential to refine climate modelling of the spring transition season. Research was conducted at the ecoregion scale in northern Alaska from 2000 to 2020. Each ecoregion is defined by distinct topographic and ecological conditions, allowing for meaningful contrast between the patterns of spring albedo transition across surface conditions and vegetation types. The five most northerly ecoregions of Alaska are chosen as they encompass …


A Gis Analysis Of Land Cover Effects On Water Systems: Nutrients And Algae In Stormwater Ponds, Nicole Lee Kappel Sep 2016

A Gis Analysis Of Land Cover Effects On Water Systems: Nutrients And Algae In Stormwater Ponds, Nicole Lee Kappel

Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic land conversion is occurring rapidly and has the potential to impact our water quality. This study aims to explore the effect of watershed land characteristics on water quality within stormwater ponds (SWPs). Rapid land conversion is known to affect water quality of receiving water bodies, however not much is known about the effect of urbanization on SWPs. Geographic informational systems (GIS) was used to determine areas of land that drain into ponds. Water samples were collected and analyzed for total phosphorous, dissolved reactive phosphorous, nitrate, and ammonia. Algal pigment and percent cover measurements were taken in the field and …


The Prehistoric Economics Of The Kautz Site: A Late Archaic And Woodland Site In Northeastern Illinois, Peter John Geraci May 2016

The Prehistoric Economics Of The Kautz Site: A Late Archaic And Woodland Site In Northeastern Illinois, Peter John Geraci

Theses and Dissertations

The Kautz Site (11DU1) is a multi-component archaeological site located in the DuPage River Valley in northeastern Illinois. It was inhabited at least six different times between the Late Archaic and Late Woodland periods ca. 6000-1000 B.P. The site was excavated over the course of three field seasons between 1958 and 1961, but the results were never made public. This thesis seeks to document the archaeology of the Kautz Site in order to better understand the site’s economic history. An environmental catchment analysis was conducted to evaluate the level of time and energy needed to acquire important resources like water, …