Geography Commons^™

Autonomous Robot Navigation In Unknown Terrains Using Parallel Numerical Artificial Potential Fields, John C. Schneider

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

We present a new artificial potential field formulation for resolution complete robot navigation that unifies the purely geometric path planning problem with the lower level force control problem. Our formulation is designed for numerical computation over a massively parallel mesh of processors and is responsive to newly discovered terrain features. It does not suffer from many of the problems commonly associated with potential fields and with adequate resolution provides provably correct, collision free convergence to the goal. In addition, our formulation supports many desirable, practical features required for implementation, such as bounded actuator torques, attainable incremental constructability, realizable computation and …

Hydrogeological And Hydrochemical Characterization Of The Matozinhos-Pedro Leopoldo Karst, Brazil, Augusto Auler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Matozinhos-Pedro Leopoldo limestone area is a tropical karst located near the metropolis of Belo Horizonte, East Central Brazil, in an area undergoing rapid urbanization and land degradation. Qualitative dye tracing experiments have determined the groundwater routes and catchment areas in the two major drainage basins in the area, Samambaia Basin and Palmeiras-Mocambo Basin. Other drainage basins were identified, but not traced due to the absence of related swallets. Fluorescein and optical brightener had a poor performance as tracers under tropical climate. Dilution due to the existance of lakes at some swallets prevented some dye traces. The water that flows …

Bioarchaeology And Cod Fisheries: A New Source Of Evidence, Thomas Amorosi, Thomas H. Mcgovern, Sophia Perdikaris

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

Archaeological excavations in the North Atlantic basin over the past two decades have recovered large amounts of fishbones from datable deposits extending back over 8000 years in some areas. Coverage of the last 1000 years (with particular emphasis on the climatic cooling of the “Little Ice Age”) is increasingly complete. Recent research makes it possible to reconstruct live lengths from commonly recovered fishbone elements. Preliminary findings indicate that cod of 1 to 1.5 m were being regularly taken in the eleventh to nineteenth centuries throughout the North Atlantic. Changes in fish size and mix of species taken probably reflect technological …

The Ethnic Aspects Of Population Change In Latvia After Independence, Ilmars Mezs

Masters Theses

This study examines current and historic ethnic and demographic trends and their spatial and cultural contexts within Latvia. Comparisons with the other two Baltic states are also presented and discussed. The Latvian population underwent fifty years of Soviet rule, with deliberate policies to dilute the homogeneity of Latvians through Russification, in-migration, and political dominance. The period from 1940 to 1991 greatly impacted Latvians and immigrants, who were mainly Russians, by placing stresses on the spatial structure of the ethnic groups and their cultural relationship.

Latvians in particular feared ethnic and cultural extinction. The process of ethnic dilution and mixing under …

Gis Application For Nitrogen Dioxide Pillution Monitoring In Moscow, Russia, Maria V. Privalsky

Masters Theses

The focus of this study was nitrogen dioxide pollution monitoring in Moscow, Russia. ERDAS GIS was used to create maps of nitrogen dioxide distribution on the territory of the city for the years from 1983 to 1991.

A special model was written to compare the consecutive pairs of years in respect to the nitrogen dioxide pollution change. Results of model application were analyzed in order to determine the territories that experienced maximum changes during the study period.

Relationship between street density as a measure of car flow and nitrogen dioxide pollution was estimated. Two measures of the relationship were used: …

Review Of Pradyumna P. Karan And Hiroshi Ishii, Nepal: Development And Change In A Landlocked Himalayan Kingdom, Robert Stoddard

Department of Geography: Faculty Publications

The authors of this book have successfully provided "an outline of some of the crucial issues facing the country" (p. v), one of their declared aims. By examining Nepal's landlocked setting, natural resources, forests, agriculture, industry, transportation systems, demographic characteristics, cultural patterns, settlement patterns, and tourism, the two authors and four collaborators have summarized many current conditions. The inclusion of numerous statistics reinforces the discussion, as well as giving readers a useful collection of data about contemporary Nepal (although the lack of an index diminishes their accessibility somewhat).

Ua66/8/3 Annual Report, Wku Geography & Geology

WKU Archives Records

Annual report created by and about WKU Geography & Geology.

Flow Kinematics And Dynamics Of The Gulf Stream From Composite Imagery, Caitlin Patrice Mullen

OES Theses and Dissertations

A unique set of contemporaneous satellite-tracked drifters and five-day composite satellite images of the North Atlantic is studied in order to infer the near-surface flow kinematics and dynamics of the Gulf Stream. Using fractal and spectral analyses, two kinematic models, and a potential vorticity model, detailed comparisons are made between these data sets.

Fractal and spectral analyses show that the data set is not fractal, there is no geographic variability, and there is not a strong fractal scaling link between the drifter trajectories and composite temperature fronts as had been postulated by several investigators. These results indicate considerably more work …

Review Of Claiming The High Ground: Sherpas, Subsistence, And Environmental Change In The Highest Himalaya By Stanley F. Stevens., Robert Stoddard

Department of Geography: Faculty Publications

If we were to believe everything proclaimed in the popular press, we would conclude that most of the vegetation and soil on the slopes of the Himalayas is being destroyed by humans—by either the local inhabitants or foreign tourists. To place these shrill proclamations in perspective, it is essential to have scholars carefully investigate the myriad of interrela-tionships among natural and human phenomena and to report their findings in a manner that recognizes the complexity of environmental changes. Such a service has been provided by Ives and Messerli in their book, The Himalayan Dilemma: Reconciling Development and Conservation (London, New …

Data Assimilation And Model Evaluation Experiment Datasets, Chung-Chieng A. Lai, Wen Qian, Scott M. Glenn

Faculty Publications

The Institute for Naval Oceanography, in cooperation with Naval Research Laboratories and universities, executed the Data Assimilation and Model Evaluation Expertiment (DAMÉE) for the Gulf Stream region during fiscal years 1991-1993. Enormous effort has gone into the preparation of several high-quality and consistent datasets for model initialization and verification. This paper describes the preparation process, the temporal and spatial scopes, the contents, the structure, etc., of these datasets.

The goal of DAMÉE and the need of data for the four phases of experiment are briefly states. The preparation of DAMÉE datasets consisited of a series of processes: 1) collection of …

Lter Correspondence & Letters, Jerry F. Franklin

Long Term Ecological Research Network

1st. Letter written by Jerry F. Franklin, chair of LTER Network, addressed to David Greenland of the department of Geography. Franklin extends an invitation to the upcoming Coordinating Committee meeting taking place from October 19-21.

2nd. Letter written by Jerry F. Franklin, chair of LTER Network, addressed to Joshua Greenberg of he College of Forest Resources. Franklin extends an invitation to the upcoming Coordinating Committee meeting taking place from October 19-21.

3rd. Letter written by Jerry F. Franklin, chair of LTER Network, he writes on the significant decisions taken place over the LTER/CC meeting held on April 22-24.

4th. Letter …

Soil Properties And Behavior Of Earthflows In The Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon, Douglas Andrew Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Soils from two active earthflows, two earthflow deposits, and three non-earthflow landforms are examined to determine if a connection exists between near-surface soil properties and rates of earthflow movement. The study area is located in the Clackamas Ranger District of the Mt. Hood National Forest in the northern Oregon Cascades. Its geology consists of clay-bearing volcaniclastic formations overlain by unaltered flows of andesite and basalt, a combination that contributed to large-scale landsliding during the late Pleistocene. Deposits from these landslides now cover much of the valley floor, and it is from these deposits that earthflows tend to mobilize. The main …

An Assessment Of The Riparian-Influenced Salmonid Habitat Features Of Johnson Creek, Portland, Oregon, Andrew Greiff Gude

Dissertations and Theses

Pacific salmon populations in Johnson Creek, Portland, Oregon have been adversely impacted by urbanization, and by residential and agricultural land development. Ecological impacts include loss or depletion of riparian vegetation features which directly influence stream and associated salmonid ecology. This research examines the nearstream riparian zone's contribution to instream habitat complexity for anadromous salmonids in Johnson Creek. Visual surveys were conducted on over half the stream length. Five features were assessed to determine the extent of riparian influenced stream habitat including, overhead enclosure, overhanging vegetation, undercut banks, and large and small woody debris and root wads. The stream survey showed …

Reading The World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives On Pieter Van Den Keere’S Map, Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac Hydrographica Tabula (Amsterdam, 1608/36)., Matthew Edney, Irwin Novak

Friends of OML, Occasional Publications

Proceedings of the first “Reading the World” conference (1994), edited by Matthew Edney and Irwin Novak, and published in 2001 by the University of Southern Maine on behalf of the Friends of the Osher Map Library.

Major Pilgrimage Places Of The World, Robert Stoddard

Department of Geography: Faculty Publications

In their quest to learn more details about pilgrimages, geographers have trudged along many sacred trails and have experienced the jostling of numerous religious crowds. Such experiential studies about particular pilgrimage events have contributed greatly to our accumulating knowledge of pilgrimages. Along with these detailed accounts of specific pilgrimages, however, we also need to examine this phenomenon from a global perspective. This is not to imply that a broad view of pilgrimages in a variety of settings is necessarily better or more enlightening than a detailed study of a particular pilgrimage event. Nevertheless, research on the general geographic characteristics of …

A Test Of The Multiquadric Method Of Interpolation Using Drumlin Data From The Lunenburg, Nova Scotia And Peterborough, Ontario, Fields, Catherine Treena Conrad

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The multiquadric method of interpolation has been used to generate surfaces from irregularly distributed points of geophysical data, and has proven to be a successful means of mapping such data. There are four stages involved in the implementation of the method (Saunderson, 1994): (1) solution of a system of simultaneous, linear equations; (2) interpolation of new z values, for a number of locations within the x,y area of an initial sample space of points; (3) plots of all the z values at their respective locations, using colour graphics instead of contouring; and (4) plots of the partial derivatives of z …

Introduction: One Hundred Years Of Natural History In Turkmenistan, Victor Fet

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

As part of the famous “Great Game” between the Russian and British Empires in Central Asia, Turkmenistan was the last colonial prize of the Russian tsars; its delineation from Afghanistan was completed only in the 1890s. The Russian Empire’s Transcaspian Region (Zakaspiiskaya Oblast) was roughly what Turkmenistan is today; its neighbors were the semi-independent emirate of Bokhara to the east and khanate of Khiva to the north, both remnants of medieval Muslim empires.

This book combines the results of basic scientific research in biogeography and ecology; its purpose is to give a fairly comprehensive account of the nature of Turkmenistan. …

An Inventory And Condition Survey Of The Murchison River Catchment, Western Australia, Peter James Curry, A L. Payne, K A. Leighton, P Hennig, D A. Blood

Technical Bulletins

The inventory and condition survey of the Murchison River catchment and surrounds, undertaken by the Department of Agriculture between 1985 and 1988, describes and maps the natural resources of the region’s pastoral leasehold land. This survey report provides a baseline record of the existence and condition of the natural area’s resources, to assist with the planning and implementation of land management practices. The report identified and described the condition of soils, landforms, vegetation, habitat, ecosystems, and declared plants and animals. It also assessed the impact of pastoralism and made land management recommendations. The area surveyed by field work during 1985-88 …

An Inventory And Condition Survey Of Rangelands In The North-Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia, H J. Pringle, S A. Gilligan, A M E Van Vreeswyk

Technical Bulletins

The inventory and condition survey of the north-eastern Goldfields, undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) between 1988 and 1990, describes and maps the natural resources of the region’s pastoral leasehold land. This survey report provides a baseline record of the existence and condition of the natural area’s resources, to assist with the planning and implementation of land management practices. The report identified and described the condition of soils, landforms, vegetation, habitat, ecosystems, and declared plants and animals. It also assessed the impact of pastoralism and made land management recommendations. The area surveyed covers about 100 …

Hugh Clifford And Frank Swettenham: Environmental Cognition And The Malayan Colonial Process, Victor R. Savage, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

George Perkins Marsh has successfully highlighted the importance of the subjective in "seeing". Without precisely labelling the process as a "cognitive" one, Marsh nevertheless recognised that people's perceptions and evaluations are significant filters in the understanding of any social "reality". In the same vein, Gailey (1982:ix) has also pointed out that people are not "mere reflections of a period. They impose their own order and vision upon their times". In this paper, we will focus specifically on this cognitive element; in particular, we have chosen two people of similar sex, nationality and professions, working in Malaya in the same period, …

A Test Of The Multiquadric Technique Of Interpolation With An Application To Fluid Speeds In A River (Ontario), James Patrick Dozois

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Hardy's (1971) technique of interpolation was tested using fluid speed data from Big Otter Creek, a gravel bed stream, in South-Western Ontario. Fourteen cross-sections were selected from a 500 m-long reach of the river. Each cross-section was divided into 10 verticals. Fluid speed was sampled as different positions in these verticals starting at 0.025 m off the channel bed using an electromagnetic current metre. Bed roughness at each cross-section was determined by collecting samples of the bed material and by measuring the long, intermediate and short axes of particles at the 10 verticals. To test the multiquadric technique of interpolation, …

Lucille Vinyard Journal 1994, Lucille Vinyard

Lucille Vinyard Journal Collection

No abstract provided.

"A Handsomely Improved Place" : Economic, Social, And Gender-Role Development In A Backcountry Town, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 1750-1810, Judith A. Ridner

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

As a social history of the town and people of Carlisle, Pennsylvania from 1750 to 1810, this dissertation traces the evolution of communal identity in the early American backcountry. By focusing on the growth and development of one urban community, this work details not only how and why one group of backcountry inhabitants took pride in their town's outward accomplishments and material prosperity, but also explains how Carlisle's evolutionary growth prompted the town's people to see themselves as key players in an economic and social universe that stretched far beyond the geographic boundaries of their localized realm.;Using state and county …

Classification System For The Natural Vegetation Of Arkansas, Thomas L. Foti, Martin Blaney, Xiaojun Li, Kimberly G. Smith

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We present a hierarchical classification system for existing natural vegetation of Arkansas based on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) system. It incorporates aspects of systems in use by the Nature Conservancy, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Society of American Foresters, and United States Forest Service, as well as data on potential vegetation from maps by E.E. Dale and A.W. Kuchler. A total of 18 physiognomic cover types are recognized for natural terrestrial cover, 6 for palustrine cover, and 4 each for lacustrine cover and riverine cover. Over 200 community types are recognized, …

The International Diffusion Of The Mormon Church, Samuel Otterstrom

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis outlines the international diffusion and growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church. A model of Mormon spatial diffusion in foreign countries is developed incorporating both a functional and spatial perspective. The functional perspective includes supply and demand variables which influence the rate of growth of the Mormon Church in a country. The functional perspective is not fully explored in the thesis. The spatial perspective which the study concentrates on seeks to show a general spatial pattern related to the spread of the Church within countries.

The original diffusion of the Church to …

"You Gone Have To Learn To Talk Right": Linguistic Deference And Regional Dialect In Harry Crews's Body, Barbara Johnstone

Barbara Johnstone

No abstract provided.