Geography Commons^™

Improving The Performance Of Ice Sheet Modeling Through Embedded Simulation, Christopher G. Dufour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the impact of global climate change is a critical concern for society at large. One important piece of the climate puzzle is how large-scale ice sheets, such as those covering Greenland and Antarctica, respond to a warming climate. Given such ice sheets are under constant change, developing models that can accurately capture their dynamics represents a significant challenge to researchers. The problem, however, is properly capturing the dynamics of an ice sheet model requires a high model resolution and simulating these models is intractable even for state-of-the-art supercomputers.

This thesis presents a revolutionary approach to accurately capture ice sheet …

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of Point Patterns, Abdul-Nasah Soale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, the basic tools of spatial statistics and time series analysis are applied to the case study of the earthquakes in a certain geographical region and time frame. Then some of the existing methods for joint analysis of time and space are described and applied. Finally, additional research questions about the spatial-temporal distribution of the earthquakes are posed and explored using statistical plots and models. The focus in the last section is in the relationship between number of events per year and maximum magnitude and its effect on how clustered the spatial distribution is and the relationship between …

Tornado Density And Return Periods In The Southeastern United States: Communicating Risk And Vulnerability At The Regional And State Levels, Michelle Bradburn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tornado intensity and impacts vary drastically across space, thus spatial and statistical analyses were used to identify patterns of tornado severity in the Southeastern United States and to assess the vulnerability and estimated recurrence of tornadic activity. Records from the Storm Prediction Center's tornado database (1950-2014) were used to estimate kernel density to identify areas of high and low tornado frequency at both the regional- and state-scales. Return periods (2-year, 5-year, 10-year, 25-year, 50-year, and 100-year) were calculated at both scales as well using a composite score that included EF-scale magnitude, injury counts, and fatality counts. Results showed that the …

Aaaneurysm Outreach Screening Data And Emergency Healthcare Accessibility In Louisiana: Identifying High-Risk Populations For Targeted Interventions, Amy M. Poole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are the third leading cause of sudden death in men 60 years and over. AAAneurysm Outreach provides free screenings to residents of Louisiana and beyond. Service areas were calculated for each AAAneurysm Outreach screening event location and stroke center. Data provided by the 2010 U.S. Census, the American Community Survey, and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were used to describe demographics of the underserved populations and to identify high-risk areas for targeted interventions. Twenty-five percent of age-eligible Louisianans reside outside optimal drive-time-to-screening-event zones but within spatially clustered areas of increased prevalence rates. The maximum drive-time-to-treatment zones …

How The City Of Indianapolis Came To Have African American Policemen And Firemen 80 Years Before The Modern Civil Rights Movement., Leon E. Bates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores a series of events that occurred in the spring of 1876. The relationship between the Indianapolis city government, the Marion County Courts, the Indianapolis Police Department, and the African American community came together to usher in changes never before envisioned. The Indianapolis Police Department (IPD) was formed in 1855, then disbanded 12 months later in a political dispute. From 1857-to-1876, the IPD was all white. These changes took place as the Reconstruction era was coming to a close. The first Ku Klux Klan was at its apex, terrorizing black communities, and Jim Crow was coming into its …

Evaluation Of Multi-Level Cognitive Maps For Supporting Between-Floor Spatial Behavior In Complex Indoor Environments, Hengshan Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

People often become disoriented when navigating in complex, multi-level buildings. To efficiently find destinations located on different floors, navigators must refer to a globally coherent mental representation of the multi-level environment, which is termed a multi-level cognitive map. However, there is a surprising dearth of research into underlying theories of why integrating multi-level spatial knowledge into a multi-level cognitive map is so challenging and error-prone for humans. This overarching problem is the core motivation of this dissertation.

We address this vexing problem in a two-pronged approach combining study of both basic and applied research questions. Of theoretical interest, we investigate …

An Evaluation Of Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis Applied To Landsat 8 Oli Images For Mapping Land Cover In Southern Africa's Savanna., Fernando Ferreira Caixeta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mapping land cover in southern Africa’s savannas using traditional pixel based remote sensing techniques can be very challenging due to the heterogeneity of its vegetation structure and the spectral difficulty in separating similar land covers across various land uses. In order to overcome these complications, a Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis (MESMA) provides a potential remote sensing approach to quantify spectral variation in the physical environment at a subpixel level. The MESMA approach was applied in the study area of the Mayuni Conservancy, in Namibia. Results show that 32.3% of the study area is covered by photosynthetic vegetation (PV), 32.0% …

Global Population Distributions And The Environment : Discerning Observed Global And Regional Patterns., Jeremiah J. Nieves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Between 1990 to 2015, numerous groups used ancillary data about the environment surrounding populations to more accurately map global populations from standard census data. No comprehensive study has been undertaken to characterize the observed relationships between population density and ancillary data. Better understanding these relationships may produce more accurate population maps, focus resources on new datasets with a high probability of modelling importance, and lead to expanded end-user applications. This study examined these relationships by extracting variable importances from 36 independently run, country-specific population models from the WorldPop project’s population data. Covariate data describing urban/suburban extents were found to be …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Communality In Louisville Community Gardens., Victoria Ann Montgomery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Environmental change and food security issues boost interest in green initiatives, which in turn motivate policy makers and the general public toward the support and maintenance of urban community gardens. In Louisville Kentucky, an urban heat island in the United States, support for community gardens requires greater community support and volunteers. Objectives and organization of community gardens vary, as issues in production and sustainability are not the same for all garden communities and are contributing factors to their degree of success. Community gardens represent elements from both communal living and community but vary in their degree of communality. Using qualitative …

Exchange Patterns And Relations In Collaborative Governance., Charles Wharton Kaye-Essien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collaborative governance has received considerable attention in recent years. From environmental resource management to public safety, collaborative governance continues to play a vital role in regional problem solving. In spite of this increasing popularity previous attempts to model the political, economic, and demographic determinants of collaboration have in most cases produced inconsistent results, thereby undermining the ability to generalize from such findings. Additionally, our understanding of the relational patterns that emanate from collaborative agreements remains fairly rudimentary. The main objective of this research is to address some of the gaps in the literature and improve our understanding of collaborative governance …

Land Cover Land Use Change And Soil Organic Carbon Under Climate Variability In The Semi-Arid West African Sahel (1960-2050), Amadou M. Dieye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Land Cover Land Use (LCLU) change affects land surface processes recognized to influence climate change at local, national and global levels. Soil organic carbon is a key component for the functioning of agro-ecosystems and has a direct effect on the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of the soil. The capacity to model and project LCLU change is of considerable interest for mitigation and adaptation measures in response to climate change. A combination of remote sensing analyses, qualitative social survey techniques, and biogeochemical modeling was used to study the relationships between climate change, LCLU change and soil organic carbon in the …

Crafted Places: The Use Of Place In Wisconsin Craft Beer Marketing, Joseph A. Quintana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines place-related themes used in craft beer marketing initiatives in Wisconsin. "Place" describes the emotions and perceptions individuals hold in certain locations. Place theory, despite being universally experienced, is relatively understudied. Furthermore, this project is grounded in the recent neolocal movement - a movement towards local culture, and away from national homogenous culture. Broadly, this paper aims to understand the perceptual linkages between people and "their" place. In order to understand place and neolocal themes within these linkages, this project analyzes how individual beer names, beer-label imagery, and beer-related advertisements use familiar places to link products with a …

Growing Food Security: The Impact Of Community Gardens On Food Security In Denver, Colorado, Grace Catherine Kellner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Community gardens increase mental health, physical health and social inclusiveness and cohesiveness, while directly connecting gardeners to their environment. In some U.S. cities gardens additionally increase community and individual food security by providing fresh food to those who struggle to feed themselves and their families. This study examined the relationship between community gardens and increased food security in Denver, and is one of the first studies of its kind in this location. Specifically, I investigated who participates in community gardens, why they participate, whether gardens are accessible, and whether community gardens have the potential to improve individual and community food …

The Spatial Distribution Of Terrestrial Stable Carbon Isotopes In North America, And The Impacts Of Spatial And Temporal Resolution On Static Ecological Models, Sydney M. Firmin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to the unique spatial and temporal characteristics of ecological phenomena, the extent and grain size of spatial data sets essentially filter the observations. This thesis examines the impacts of temporal and spatial resolution on the modeling of terrestrial stable carbon isotopic landscapes (isoscapes). I model the distribution of leaf stable carbon isotope composition (delta¹³C) for the continent of North America at multiple temporal and spatial resolutions. I generate each delta¹³C isoscape variation by first predicting the relative abundance of C3/C4 vegetation cover using monthly climate grids, crop distribution/type grids, and remote sensing data of plant …

Predictive Modeling Of Sinkhole Hazards Using Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (Insar) Subsidence Measurements And Local Geology, William G. Powell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The mining of salt domes provides economically important resources through salt and brine production and storage of petroleum products as part of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In order to assess the risk to nearby communities for potential of salt dome collapse, it is important to understand the growth of the Bayou Corne sinkhole and the conditions surrounding the Napoleonville Salt Dome that may have exacerbated its formation. The Bayou Corne sinkhole in Assumption Parish, Louisiana has been expanding since it formed overnight on 2 August 2012. Growing from slightly over 2 acres to more than 30 acres today, the …

Simulating The Impacts Of Land-Use Land-Cover Changes On Cropland Carbon Fluxes In The Midwest Of The United States, Zhengpeng Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the major drivers of the cropland carbon fluxes is important for carbon management and greenhouse gas mitigation in agriculture. Past studies found that agricultural land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes, such as changes in cropland production technologies, tillage practices, and planted crop species, could have large impacts on carbon fluxes. However, the impacts remain highly uncertain at regional to global scales. Satellite remote sensing is commonly used to create products with geospatial information on LULC changes. This geospatial information can be integrated into biogeochemical models to simulate the spatial and temporal patterns of carbon fluxes. We used the General Ensemble …

Monitoring Global Forest Land-Use And Change, Erik J. Lindquist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Earth’s forests contain nearly three-fourths of the World’s floral and faunal diversity, function as a large carbon sink capable of mitigating the effects of global climate change, affect local and regional physical and chemical cycles and provide wood and non-wood products. However, humans are now capable of modifying their environment in ways more impactful and at rates faster than at any other time in history. Consistent and comparable estimates of global forest land-use and change are critical for monitoring human impacts on the Earth system. International treaties and reporting requirements aimed at safeguarding the delivery of forest-related ecosystem services depend …

Using Remote Sensing And Biogeographic Modeling To Understand The Oak Savannas Of The Sheyenne National Grassland, North Dakota, Usa, Mandira Sigdelphuyal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oak savannas are valuable and complex ecosystems that provide multiple ecosystem goods and services, including grazing for livestock, watershed regulation, and recreation. These ecosystems of the woodland-prairie ecoregion of the Midwestern United States are, however, in danger of disappearing. The Sheyenne National Grassland, North Dakota, a protected Prairie grassland-savanna, is a representative of such rare habitats, where oak savanna is found at the landscape scale. In this research, I map the distribution patterns of oak savanna in the Sheyenne using a combination of remote sensing and geospatial datasets, including landscape topography, soils, and fire disturbance. Further, I interpret the performance …

Developing Management Guidelines That Balance Cattle And Timber Production With Ecological Interests In The Black Hills Of South Dakota, Kurt M. Chowanski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Forested lands contribute to the United States (US) economy by providing livestock and timber production. Livestock grazing of forested lands has been widespread throughout the western US since the settlement era, and currently occurs on 51.4 million hectares (ha) representing 16% of all US grazing land and 22% of all US forested land (Nickerson et al. 2011). While livestock grazing and timber harvest are occurring on a substantial amount of forested land, relationships between management practices, tree stocking, timber production, forage production, livestock grazing, wildlife, aesthetics, and ecological integrity are not well documented. Whether considering timber or cattle, finding a …

Identifying Data Centers From Satellite Imagery, Adam Buskirk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We develop two different descriptors which can be utilized to describe satellite imagery. The first, the differential-magnitude and radius descriptor, describes a scene by computing the directional gradient of the scene with respect to a vector field whose solutions are circles around a pixel to be described, and then counts pixels in a descriptor matrix according to the magnitude of this gradient and the distance at which this magnitude occurs. The second, the radial Fourier descriptor, extracts from the scene a sequence of annuloid sectors, and uses this to approximate the behavior of the image on a circle around the …

Guns, Gender, Geography: Exploring Reasons For Gun Ownership, Lauren N. Kadet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was aimed to depict patterns of gun ownership in the United States and to outline the reasons for gun ownership and the influential variables associated with people’s reasons for owning handguns and long guns. This study used data derived from the 2004 National Firearm Survey to examine how respondents’ geographic region of residency, gender, race, age, rural location and education level influenced the likelihood of, and reasons for owning a firearm. The findings from this study suggest that being a male, living in the south and participants’ age was significant in determining the likelihood of participants owning a …