Physical and Environmental Geography Commons^™

Factors Affecting Groundwater Nitrate Concentration In Madinah Area, Saudi Arabia, Majed M. Almutairi

Masters Theses

High levels of nitrate in groundwater are a serious problem in Madinah Area, Saudi Arabia. Identifying factors affecting groundwater nitrate contamination is important for managing groundwater quality. This study examined factors that have significant impacts on the high level of groundwater nitrate in Madinah Area. Factors examined included well-depth and land cover. Relationships between variables were explored using three statistical approaches: the Kruskal-Wallis test and two types of regression (ordinary least squares [OLS] and geographically weighted regression [GWR]).

Nitrate concentration data show that 73% of obtained groundwater samples exceeded the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) …

Analysis Of Small Lake Water Level Fluctuations By Remote Sensing In Twin Lake, Michigan., Eric Carballido

Masters Theses

Accurate analysis of lake level fluctuations is critical for water resources management. However, it remains a challenge to estimate lake level fluctuations in ungauged small lakes such as East Twin Lake. Located in Twin Lake, Michigan, East Twin Lake has experienced a drastic reduction in water surface area since 2020. To understand the nature of water level fluctuations in East Twin Lake, this study utilized a combination of Landsat and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) data to make surface water area estimations of East Twin Lake for the period of 1993-2022. In total, 27 years of water surface area estimations …

Tropical Cyclone Translation Speeds In The Northern Atlantic Ocean, Marybeth Melcher

Honors Theses

Over the past 40 years, tropical cyclones have caused over $1,076.9B in damage in the United States. The fatalities from tropical cyclones are just as devastating. Hurricane Katrina of 2005 caused over 1,800 deaths; Harvey in 2017 just under 90 deaths; Ike of 2018 took 112 deaths; and horrifically, Maria of 2017 claimed nearly 3,000 lives. The destruction that tropical cyclones have caused is astronomical, and a factor of tropical cyclones that is responsible for this level of destruction is their translation speeds. Tropical cyclone translation speed (TCTS) is the speed at which a hurricane is moving--the duration of time …

Short-Term 2d And 3d Geomorphic Change Detection At A Public Park On Lake Michigan Using Uas Remote Sensing Techniques, Scott Patrick Fitzgerald

Masters Theses

The high-water level of Lake Michigan (LM) in the past few years has led to significant periods of erosion and increased the risk to private property owners on the coast. To cope with this, many property owners on the coast of LM have constructed coastal protections, some opting for seawalls. Previous studies have assessed the effects of seawalls but disagreed on their impacts, and only laboratory studies were able to establish their range of influence. Using a different method to study their effects will be pertinent to understanding them.

This research aims to use a higher temporal and spatial resolution …

Composite Analysis Of Mendenhall Glacier Interannual Glacial Health Decline, Hailey Marie Cantrell

Masters Theses

Glacial health in Alaska, USA is demonstrating an interannual declining trend. Repetitive years have suffered an imbalance between winter seasonal ice accumulation and summer seasonal ice loss. Increased ice loss has commonly been attributed to warmer Arctic summer temperatures, which contribute to greater calving events and amplified ablation. Study of the unique climatic influences by different variables is ongoing and at the forefront of climate-glacier interaction research.

This study is designed to quantitatively evaluate correlations between changes in Alaskan climatic patterns and an interannual trend of declining glacial health for Mendenhall Glacier by combining analysis of Landsat satellite imagery, teleconnection …

Analysis Of Interdunal Wetlands And Ecosystem Dynamics Using Uas And Obia In Ludington State Park, Michigan, Claire Gilbert

Masters Theses

The Great Lakes sand dunes are the world's largest freshwater dune complex. There is a functional relationship between coastal wetlands and freshwater sand dune, referred to as interdunal wetlands. Interdunal wetland systems are highly dynamic and change dramatically seasonally and annually. Using geographic information systems (GIS) and unoccupied aerial systems (UAS), this thesis project is focused on understanding the spatial distribution of sparse and dense vegetation, and abiotic influence such as distance to coast, slope, and aspect influence interdunal wetland stability within a Great Lakes shoreline dune system. Object-based image analysis (OBIA) classification results extracted meaningful vegetation densities of growth …

Using Historical Maps For Contaminated Site Identification And Prediction, And Environmental Justice Implications: A Case Study In Grand Rapids, Michigan, Dana Heusinkveld

Masters Theses

As the production of synthetic chemicals has grown in the past centuries to increase production, lower costs, and generally make our lives more convenient, detecting and understanding the environmental impacts of these compounds has lagged significantly behind their mass production and wide-spread use. To combat this trend, sources of these contaminants, especially those that have been removed from the landscape, need to be quickly identified to make mitigation and remediation efforts more effective. In this study, historical Sanborn maps are used to extract and digitize historical site/land use in Grand Rapids during the early 1900s through the practical application of …

Crude Oil Spill Response In The Great Lakes Region: Before And After The 2010 Kalamazoo River Enbridge Oil Spill, Marshall Kim

Honors Theses

Pipeline infrastructure is a particularly sensitive and unique energy transport mode. Pipelines carry gas, biofuels and liquid petroleum throughout the United States (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2019). These pipelines stretch beneath sensitive ecological areas, lakes, rivers and streams, and our homes and businesses. According to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) (2018), between all of the states in the Great Lakes region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) there is a cumulative 801,718 miles of pipeline. This includes interstate and intrastate, natural gas and petroleum pipelines. 9,556.9 miles of this is the interstate …

Creating A Distribution Model Of Invasive Rusty Crayfish (Faxonius Rusticus) In Michigan Streams Using Publically Accessible Data, Robert C. Homan

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to create a predictive model of habitat suitability for the invasive rusty crayfish (Faxonius rusticus) throughout the state of Michigan. F. rusticus often outcompete and extirpate native crayfish species, so understanding their habitats of success is instrumental in monitoring vulnerable ecosystems. Michigan State University and the Michigan DNR conducted extensive field surveys across 461 streams sites from 2014-2016. This project compares this field data set to data from publicly available national datasets with the purpose of revealing the ecosystems most vulnerable to the introduction of F. rusticus. The pattern of F. rusticus …

Agritourism Development In Southwest Michigan: Motivations Of Agritourists And Operators, Esther Akoto Amoako

Masters Theses

National agricultural statistics show that the number of agritourism farms and the proportion of agritourism related revenues in the United States has steadily increased during the last ten years, especially among small family farms. The recent growth in agritourism is both demand - and supply-driven. However, there are limited studies that explore agritourism motivations from both the visitors' and operators’ perspectives. This study examines what the agritourists' and operators’ motivations are and the challenges facing the industry to provide information for those currently involved and those wanting to include agritourism in their operations. Online and in-person surveys and unstructured interviews …

Refugee Camp Education: Hope, Gaps, And Barriers, Allyson Dykstra

Honors Theses

The urgency to provide humane living conditions such as food, shelter, safety and education grows with the refugee population as temporary stays become more permanent. Refugees are staying longer in emergency arrangements, which appears to affect mental health, ability to hope, and sustainable coping mechanisms for these populations. With dissatisfactory conditions in camps, this paper intends to explore how refugees cope with their environment and in what ways needs are not being met, in order to explain the present condition of refugee health, their coping mechanisms, and how to combat it.

Deviance Fluidity On The Urban Landscape: Graffiti And Street Art As Non-Normative Placemaking, Alyson M. Mabie

Masters Theses

Graffiti is recognized as an illegal deviant act. Sociologically, deviance is defined by the audience perceiving the act, rather than inherent in the act itself. In this context, deviance is subjective and fluid. This paper explores the spectrum of graffiti from criminal vandalism to celebrated art form in the context of its placement on the urban landscape. The fluidity of deviance is reflected in the concentration of different types of graffiti in different locations. The spatial distribution of graffiti writing, street art, and the equally illegal guerrilla marketing stickers, which mimic graffiti placement and street art styles, were collected in …

Interannual Variations Of Snowfall In The Lower Peninsula Of Michigan And Impacts Of Local And Remote Meteorological Conditions, Nirjala Koirala

Masters Theses

Inter-annual variation of snowfall and its relation to climate indices will help clarify and improve the prediction of total snowfall in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan (LPM). This study examines the trend and variability of annual snowfall (November- March) using 8 homogeneous weather stations in the LPM. The statistical relationship between snowfall and air temperature, Sea Surface Temperature (SST), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Maximum Ice Coverage(MIC) of Lake Michigan is calculated. The long-term trend in the snowfall data set from 1950 to 2015 is removed before any statistical correlation analysis is conducted. My analysis suggests …

Spectral Discrimination Of Phragmites Australis At Different Phenological Stages In Saginaw Bay, Michigan, Trenton Benedict

Masters Theses

Michigan Great Lakes wetlands are among Michigan’s most significant bio-diversified ecosystems. One threat to this ecosystem is invasive species. Phragmites australis is one of these invasive species creating problems in the wetlands. Identifying Phragmites through satellite imagery creates difficulties in discriminating Phragmites from other vegetation accurately. This study used an ASD HandHeld 2 field spectroradiometer to identify the phenological spectral properties between Phragmites and cattails. The Euclidean distance was analyzed the spectral curves from the spectroradiometer to determine the separability between Phragmites and cattails. The largest Euclidean distance determined the best month to separate the spectral signatures of Phragmites and …

A Longitudinal Study Of Prenatal Care And Prenatal Outcomes Of Women In Foster Care Across Michigan Counties, Lauryn Jianrattanasawat

Masters Theses

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, at any given time, there are approximately 13,000 youth in foster care throughout Michigan. This study used secondary data of linked child welfare case records and State of Michigan Medicaid claims from January 1, 2009 to September 30, 2012 to research the effects of individual, foster care and spatial characteristics experienced by 307 women that became pregnant and delivered while still enrolled in foster care in Michigan on their prenatal care and prenatal outcomes. While, the majority of the analyses resulted in insignificant relationships, significant differences between foster care characteristics …

Assessing Changes In Land Cover In Southeast Louisiana From 2001 To 2011 Using Time-Series National Land Cover Data, Ashley Tarver

Masters Theses

Each year, Louisiana loses 20 to 25 square miles of land. If land loss persists at the current rate, a forced migration of the human population with serious implications may be warranted. Although studies have measured land use/land cover change in southeast Louisiana over multiple decades, a recent analysis of landscape changes since Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in 2005 is needed to identify areas with chronic long-term wetland losses and associated economic development patterns. This study, therefore, compares land cover and land use changes including wetland loss, and subsequent increases in developed land in ten parishes from 2001 to 2006 (pre-Katrina), …

An Integrated Approach For A Better Understanding Of The Paleo-Hydrology And Landscape Evolution In The Sahara During The Previous Wet Climatic Periods, Abotalib Zaki Abotalib Farag

Dissertations

Paleoclimatic regimes over Saharan Africa alternated between dry and wet periods throughout the Pleistocene Epoch, and it is during the wet periods that the Saharan fossil aquifers were recharged. The present study investigates the role of groundwater-related processes in shaping the Saharan landforms (e.g., theater-headed valleys [THV]; depressions, escarpments, playas, and tufa deposits) over areas occupied by the largest of these aquifer systems, the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS). The present study reviews the suggested hypotheses for the origin of these landforms in the Sahara, and in similar settings elsewhere, and presents evidence in support of the following: during the …

A Location Allocation Model For Retention Basin Placement On Vacant Land In Detroit, Mi, Keith Chapman

Masters Theses

The principal objective of this research is to develop a location-allocation model for vacant lots in the City of Detroit, MI, to analyze for the suitability of retention basin placement. The model will place the retention basins in areas that will effectively reduce the amount of stormwater runoff that reaches the surrounding storm drains. Detroit needs stormwater mitigation to relieve the burden that is currently on the outdated combined sewer system (CSS). The Detroit Future City strategic framework suggests the use of blue infrastructure controls to alleviate the sewer system and reduce the number of combined sewer overflows (CSOs). The …

An Intra-Site Spatial Analysis Of Fort St. Joseph (20be23) In Niles, Mi, Katelyn Deann Hillmeyer

Masters Theses

In the field of archaeology, surveying and mapping have played key roles in documenting and analyzing site data. With the advancements in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this integration of spatial data is made easier and better visualization can be attained for site layout and artifact distributions both horizontally, in space, and also vertically through a temporal component. The ongoing excavations at Fort St. Joseph (Smithsonian trinomial- 20BE23), near Niles, Michigan, makes it an excellent site for exploring the evolution of applied GIS methodology and the adjustment of among ongoing static database applications to new spatial methods of investigating site distributions. …

Guided Educational Tourism As Informal Science Education: An Empirical Study, Joseph Martin Lane

Dissertations

The scientific research and education communities have long had the goal of advancing the publics’ understanding of science. Informal science education is a powerful mechanism for shaping human conduct, enhancing quality of life, and advancing the publics’ understandings and values regarding science. Guided educational tours (that present science content) provide visitors with unique opportunities to observe and discuss scientific phenomena in the field. Available empirical research related to learning science from guided educational tours is, at best, limited. Research leading to the development of effective guided educational tours that present and interpret scientific information is of interest to both non-profit …

Estimating Sediment And Nutrient Loading In The Davis Creek Watershed Using Soil And Water Assessment Tool (Swat), Fatma Ulku Karatas

Masters Theses

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a physically model to estimate impact of land cover on water, sediment, and agricultural chemical yields in large, complex yields in large, complex watersheds with fluctuating soils, land use, and management conditions for long periods of time. ln order to simulate the movement of sediment and nutrients, the Davis Creek Watershed is subdivided into 31 homogeneous sub basins, having unique soil and land use properties. The data for each subbasin is grouped into categories of land cover, soil, management within sub basin, draining the sub basin.

The objectives of this study are …

Spatial Patterns Of Drought Persistence In Xinjiang (A.R), China, Guzhaliayi Sataer

Masters Theses

Droughts have become one of the crucial hazards affecting Xinjiang, Northwest China, the biggest agricultural province and an important area for the grazing husbandry industry in China. Investigations about droughts in Xinjiang have been conducted from various perspectives by previous researchers. However, there are very few studies that focus on drought persistence and seasonal drought frequency. These issues are particularly important as they influence water resource management and forecasting, crop yields, agricultural development and energy consumption. Seasonal drought persistence describes how well drought conditions persist from one season to next season and is expressed as probability of persistence. In this …

Environmental Impact Of Conference Realignment, Bradley Farley

Masters Theses

Sports have a large impact on the environment. While leagues and teams are looking at improving their sustainability at stadiums, they also have increased their travel distances. NCAA Division I athletic conferences have recently endured conference realignments. This expanding geographic footprint of these conferences has led to teams having an increased travel distances for all sports. This research investigates the environmental impact of travel distances that conference realignment has had in NCAA Division I athletics, particularly regarding the Power 5 conferences carbon footprint. The research question examined is, based on travel distances, has the carbon footprint of the conferences changed …

The Demand For Change: A Study Of Recreational Amenities For Ramona Park, Nicholas K. Mucha

Masters Theses

For years, Ramona Park has been a summer destination spot for residents of the City of Portage. With beach access as well as picnic areas and playground structures, Ramona Park has offered visitors a place to beat the summer heat. This thesis looks at what priorities visitors have for potential future developments in the park. Park visitors were surveyed during the summer months of May, June, July, and August of 2014 to see what should be included in future developments of the park, and the potential impacts of those improvements on future park usage. Initial findings indicated that visitors are …

Environmental Change And The Emergence Of New Livestock Production Systems In Central Gansu Province, China, Gregory Veeck

Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award (FRACAA)

Post-2000 efforts to protect China’s grassland areas are distinct from earlier efforts in that funding for the most recent round of policies and programs is commensurate with the task. Among the most controversial of the current policies is the provision of an annual subsidy ranging from 2 yuan to 20 yuan/mu (1/15 hectare) to herders to not graze livestock contracted by their families for periods from 3-10 years. Many other recent policies, such as fencing programs and hunting and burning bans to protect keystone species are also controversial. Ideally, the policies are intended to protect grassland ecological systems while assuring …

Habitat Suitability Study Of Parcel In Gourdneck State Game Area For Downy Woodpeckers, Emma Fojtik

Honors Theses

This study examines the habitat suitability for Downy woodpecker for a parcel of land in Gourdneck State Game Area, Portage, Michigan. Land within the State Game Area has undergone habitat restoration from forest and shrub to savanna and prairie, intentionally excluding two parcels directly north of the restoration. This study took place on one of the excluded parcels. Using the Habitat Suitability Index Model produced by the Fish and Wildlife Service, basal area and number of snags within the study site were measured to determine suitability of the study site for Downy woodpeckers. Ten-1/10th acre sample plots were randomly chosen …

Michigan's Clay Bluffs: The Description And Comparison Of An Erosion-Dependent Natural Community, Nathaniel G. Fuller

Masters Theses

The clay bluffs of Michigan are a natural community found along the shores of the Great Lakes. Groundwater is found to be critical to sustaining the alkaline wetlands on the face of the bluff as well as the source of most erosion events. The clay bluffs are unusual in their vegetation, disturbance regime and geographical context. This thesis focuses primarily on describing seeping clay bluffs and exploring the comparison to other natural communities. The purpose of this is twofold, to better understand the ways in which natural communities are described as distinct from one another, and to assess the distinctness …

Integrated (Remote Sensing, Gis, And Modeling) Hydrological Investigation And Landslide Susceptibility Studies In The Arabian Shield, Talal Ghazi Alharbi

Dissertations

An integrated approach (remote sensing, geographical information systems [GIS], and modeling) was applied to conduct a number of hydrologic and environmental investigations in the Arabian Peninsula (AP) aimed at: (1) identifying the spatial and temporal climate change–related variations in precipitation over the AP using readily available, remotely acquired global precipitation data sets; (2) investigating the nature of the factors controlling the observed climatic variations; (3) estimating the partitioning of precipitation over the Red Sea Hills watersheds into runoff , recharge, and initial losses using calibrated continuous rainfall runoff models (Soil Water Assessment Tool [SWAT]); (4) identifying landslide (largely caused by …

Predictive Modeling In The Search For Vertebrate Fossils: Geographic Object Based Image Analysis (Geobia) In The Eocene Of Wyoming, Bryan Bommersbach

Masters Theses

The development and testing of predictive models for identifying productive fossil localities represents a promising interdisciplinary endeavor among geographic information scientists, paleoanthropologists, and vertebrate paleontologists. This thesis analyzed high resolution (2m spatial resolution) commercial satellite imagery from the Worldview-2 satellite of five areas of the Great Divide Basin using a GEographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) technique, which segments the image into spectrally homogeneous, multi-pixel image objects. In addition to allowing statistical analysis of the spectral characteristics of the image objects, GEOBIA techniques also let analysts incorporate expert knowledge and contextual information to improve classification accuracy. The spectral characteristics of the …

No Fracking Way! A Study On The Spatial Patterns Of And Changes In Perception And Distance From A Michigan Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing Site, Shannon Mcewen

Masters Theses

The research investigates whether Michigan residents' perception of risk from an oil and natural gas (ONG) well site that employs the use of horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) changes with distance. The research goal is to determine if residents that live farther from a fracking site perceive it to be more dangerous than those who live closer. Secondary research goals include determining if increasing distance from a fracking site cause residents to overestimate their proximity to a fracking site and if gender and education levels have an effect on residents' perception levels. Data were collected from residents in three counties in …