Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Gis Analysis Of Dvāravatī Dharmacakras And The Rise Of Buddhism In Thailand, Areerut Patnukao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores how GIS as well as spatial and statistical analyses could be used to advance the understanding of Dvāravatī settlement and Dharmacakras locations. The research employs archaeological and geographical parameters to measure and quantify the patterns of Dvāravatī settlements, Dharmacakra locations, their interrelationship, and their relationship with environmental setting. The different types of spatial analyses, parameter settings within each analysis, and approaches are used to examine and explore the differences and commonalities of these variables at three different geographic levels: national, regional, and river basin levels.

Four distinct approaches are incorporated in this study. Chi-Square analysis shows significant …

Brazilian Surface And Upper-Level Wind Characteristics Based On Ground And Model Observations From 1980–2014, Joshua M. Gilliland

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The examination of temporal changes in surface winds has been analyzed by scientists for a variety of physical, biological, climatological, and socioeconomic reasons. This research uses surface and upper-level wind data from historical in-situ and climate models to examine the geographical and climatological characteristics of wind across Brazil during 1980–2014. Overall linear and quantile regression shows that surface wind speed trends are changing regionally across Brazil. Wind speeds across northeastern Brazil are increasing, while a decreasing trend is documented for interior and southeastern Brazil. The spatial and temporal trends found are possibly related to alterations in the physical landscape (urbanization …

Essays On Sub-National Economic Growth: Evidence From A Global Sample, Dachao Ruan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I make three important contributions to the literature on regional economics. In Chapter 2, I construct a measure of early development, urban population density (urban population relative to total land area), that is novel to the growth literature, and apply GIS techniques to define and locate regions/cities and obtain geographic and historical measures across regions and cities. Chapter 3 investigates the persistence in sub-national development over the past 150 years. I find that regions that had a relatively higher urban population density in 1850 tend to be relatively more developed today. Geographic and climatic characteristics are significantly …

Object-Based Coastal Morphological Change Analysis Based On Lidar And Hurricane Events, Bedoor Adel Mohammad

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Storms are considered one of the rapid climatic events that have a dramatic impact on coastal morphology, hence they require further investigation and quantifying of coastal changes and responses. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is the most advanced technology to be widely used by researchers for coastal geomorphological studies. The purpose of this study is to apply an object-based approach using repeated LiDAR surveys to understand the short-term morphological changes that occurred on Santa Rosa Island, Florida after category 3 hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Dennis (2005), making it the first study to apply this method, as opposed to previous studies’ …

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 …

A Contour Tree Based Spatio-Temporal Data Model For Oceanographic Applications, Yuliang Chen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

To present the spatio/temporal data from oceanographic modeling in GIS has been a challenging task due to the highly dynamic characteristic and complex pattern of variables, in relation to time and space. This dissertation focuses the research on spatio-temporal GIS data model applied to oceanographic model data, especially to homogeneous iso-surface data. The available spatio-temporal data models are carefully reviewed and characteristics in spatial and temporal issues from oceanographic model data are discussed in detail. As an important tool for data modeling, ontology is introduced to categorize oceanographic model data and further set up fundamental software components in the new …

An Agent-Based Simulation Model For Business Reopenings In New Orleans Post Hurricane Katrina, Helbert Arenas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The empirical study of business responses to disasters is relatively scarce, despite that they are a fundamental part of the cities, providing services, jobs and, taxes that are essential for urban sustainability. This dissertation develops an agent-based simulation model to represent and understand the businesses reopening process in a dynamic environment in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The objectives are two-fold: 1) To identify the main reopening predictors involved and estimate their relative importance through time, using an empirical data set collected from another study; 2) To represent the business reopening process through a computer simulation model, using the parameters …

The Urban Development Of Spanish Colonial Pensacola, 1781-1821, Harry James Wilson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Pensacola evolved through the second Spanish period (1781-1821) from a fledgling military outpost to an increasingly complex urban center. Local and regional demographic trends and environmental conditions prompted Pensacola to grow in a manner that differed from other Spanish colonial urban centers and created in Pensacola an unusual class structure and residential patterning. The primary goal of this dissertation is to show that Pensacola’s residential and landowning patterns never experienced the degree of socioeconomic residential clustering noted in other Spanish colonial urban centers. Social residential clustering was unusual in Spanish Pensacola, and socioeconomic classes and land values varied from lot …

Evaluating The Spatial Ecology Of Anthrax In North America: Examining Epidemiological Components Across Multiple Geographic Scales Using A Gis-Based Approach, Jason Kenna Blackburn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the spatial ecology and potential pathways of infection of anthrax, Bacillus anthracis, in North America. A multi-scale approach was used to evaluate the components required for disease agent survival in the environment, interactions with wildlife, and the potential role that vectors play in anthrax transmission. First, ecological niche modeling with the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Production (GARP) was used to predict the geographic distribution of anthrax in the continental U.S. using case data from outbreaks between 1957 and 2005. These results were then used to produce the first quantitative, continental scale predictions of anthrax in Mexico. At …

Wealth And Deprivation In The Delta: A Landscape Of Subsidization, Jacqueline Warren Mills

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Mississippi Delta, as defined by the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), is an area of historical and present deprivation. Persistent poverty, lackluster economic development opportunities, and the associated ills of this environment exist alongside large-scale, subsidized agriculture. These federal subsidy payments are criticized for increasing the wealth of corporate enterprises rather than stabilizing the family farmer for whom they were created. This dissertation examines the geography of agristructure, subsidies, and socio-economic characteristics in the Delta with the purpose of identifying spatial relationships among these three variables. Drawing from the Goldschmidt Hypothesis, this research proposes that areas of large-scale agristructure will …

The Diffusion Of Gis In Journalism, Ben S. Wasike

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to determine the likelihood of reporters to adopt Geographical Information Systems and to predict the future of the diffusion of GIS in the journalism industry using the diffusion of innovations theory. The study used two data collection methods: in-depth interviews and a Web survey. The indepth-interviews revealed factors that will influence the diffusion of GIS, including the availability of map data, competition between media agencies, the ease of getting management to buy GIS once its functionality has been demonstrated to them, and the general use of secondary GIS products. The Web survey showed that …

Fractal Compression And Analysis On Remotely Sensed Imagery, Ke Xiao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Remote sensing images contain huge amount of geographical information and reflect the complexity of geographical features and spatial structures. As the means of observing and describing geographical phenomena, the rapid development of remote sensing has provided an enormous amount of geographical information. The massive information is very useful in a variety of applications but the sheer bulk of this information has increased beyond what can be analyzed and used efficiently and effectively. This uneven increase in the technologies of gathering and analyzing information has created difficulties in its storage, transfer, and processing. Fractal geometry provides a means of describing and …