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Assessment Of Groundwater Resources Using Remote Sensing And Gis, Muna Khalil Al Hammadi

Theses

Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing have witnessed an enormous interest in various applications related to geology, hydrology, hydrogeology, and water resources. The use of GIS and remote sensing has become a common practice worldwide. The UAE is no exception. The study of groundwater resources and its sustainability is of prime concern for authorities in the UAE. Although, groundwater may not be suitable, in most cases, for drinking and other potable purposes, it represents the main source for irrigation in the country. About 85% of the total water consumption in the UAE is groundwater.

This study is devoted to the …

Fresh Kills Dumped : A Policy Assessment For The Management Of New York City's Residential Solid Waste In The Twenty-First Century, Aaron William Comrov

Theses

New York City ceased disposing of its daily residential solid waste output within its municipal borders in March 2001 when the Department of Sanitation completed its phase-down of the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. The closure of this facility has, for the first time in history, stripped New York City of its waste management selfsufficiency, created a situation in which municipal officials are reliant on private firms and other governmental jurisdictions for disposal services, and contributed to deteriorating fiscal, environmental, political, economic, social and practical conditions.

Consequent and concurrent to this predicament, a multitude of alternative policies have been …

Ecomorphology Of Bats: Comparative And Experimental Approaches Relating Structural Design To Ecology, Sharon M. Swartz, Patricia W. Freeman, Elizabeth F. Stockwell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The past several decades have seen the beginning of integration of discoveries in the ecology and morphology of bats into an ecomorphological whole that promises to be greater than the sum of its parts. However, achieving this integration is challenging. Each of the elements of this interdisciplinary field is, in itself, avast and complex subject. This book is a testament to the breadth and depth of ecological studies of bats. Morphological studies now extend be- yond descriptive anatomy in both outlook and method, and incorporate, for example, aspects of genetics, physiology, solid and fluid mechanics, and developmental biology. There is …

Using Satellite Imagery To Evaluate The Impact Of Urban Forest On Summertime Residential Electricity Consumption In Terre Haute, Indiana, Usa, James R. Boulton

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Urban areas are horne to a large portion of the population of the United States and also a significant portion ofthe nation's forest resource. This urban forest contributes to the richness of the urban lifestyle in many ways, including aesthetic improvements, cleaning and protecting air, land, and water resources, and reducing the urban heat island effect. This thesis studies the degree to which energy reduction attributable to the urban forest can be determined using remotely sensed data. Results showed a slight inverse relationship between urban forest density and energy usage, meaning that as the density of trees increases there is …

Validation Of A Radiometric Normalization Procedure For Satellite-Derived Imagery Within A Change Detection Framework, Karin E. Callahan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Detecting changes in land cover through time using remotely sensed imagery is a powerful application that has seen increased use as imagery has become more widely available and inexpensive. Before a time series of remotely sensed imagery can be used for change detection, images must first be standardized for effects outside of real surface change. This thesis established a validation protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of an automated technique for normalizing temporally separate but spatially coincident imagery. Using the concept of pseudo-invariant features between master-slave image pairs, spatially coincident dark and bright points are identified from images and a regression …

Using Geographic Information Systems And Remote Sensing To Analyze Fire Likelihood Areas At The Regional Scale In The Western United States, Russell W. Reading

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly used to examine fire activity. This study uses GIS to determine fire likelihood probabilities at an intermediate scale ( I-kilometer) on a daily basis given readily available data. Layers used for the analysis included slope, aspect, elevation, fuel type, proximity to existing fires, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, relative humidity, average vapor pressure deficit, precipitation, 1-hour fuel moisture, and 10-hour fuel moisture.

There were three objectives of this study: 1. Establish a correlation between burn perimeters and readily available topographic and environmental data, and map the spatial distribution of these as fire likelihood areas; 2. …

On Querying Geospatial And Georeferenced Metadata Resources In Gportal, Zehua Liu, Ee Peng Lim, Wee-Keong Ng, Dion Hoe-Lian Goh

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

G-Portal is a web portal system providing a range of digital library services to access geospatial and georeferenced resources on the Web. Among them are the storage and query subsystems that provide a central repository of metadata resources organized under different projects. In GPortal, all metadata resources are represented in XML (Extensible Markup Language) and they are compliant to some resource schemas de.ned by their creators. The resource schemas are extended versions of a basic resource schema making it easy to accommodate all kinds of metadata resources while maintaining the portability of resource data. To support queries over the geospatial …

Sequence Stratigraphy And Depositional Facies Of Lower Ordovician Cyclic Carbonate Rocks, Southern Missouri, U.S.A., Robert Brandon Overstreet, Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe, Jay M. Gregg

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Lower Ordovician cyclic carbonate strata of southern Missouri were deposited in a warm, shallow, epeiric sea on a fully aggraded carbonate platform. Sedimentological characteristics distinguish the Jefferson City and Cotter dolomites from the underlying Gasconade and Roubidoux formations. Mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sedimentation characterizes the Roubidoux Formation, with sandstones accounting for up to 60% of sedimentation. The Gasconade, Jefferson City, and Cotter dolomites exhibit an increased occurrence of chalcedonic chert nodules in very similar shape and texture to the gypsum and anhydrite nodules common on modern sabkha supratidal flats. Casts of halite and ghosts of gypsum laths also exist in the Jefferson …

2003 - The Eighth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Eighth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 18, 2003. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Search And Recovery Of The Space Shuttle Columbia: A Geospatial 1st Responder Perspective, Jeffrey M. Williams

Faculty Publications

A first person account of the Texas geospatial volunteers and their efforts to recover the remains of the Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew lost over eastern Texas and western Louisiana on February 1st, 2003.

Machine Learning Approaches For Determining Effective Seeds For K -Means Algorithm, Kaveephong Lertwachara

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, I investigate and conduct an experiment on two-stage clustering procedures, hybrid models in simulated environments where conditions such as collinearity problems and cluster structures are controlled, and in real-life problems where conditions are not controlled. The first hybrid model (NK) is an integration between a neural network (NN) and the k-means algorithm (KM) where NN screens seeds and passes them to KM. The second hybrid (GK) uses a genetic algorithm (GA) instead of the neural network. Both NN and GA used in this study are in their simplest-possible forms.

In the simulated data sets, I investigate two …

Forecasting Excessive Rainfall And Low-Cloud Bases East Of The Northern Andes And Mesoscale Convective Complex Movement In Central South America, Marc R. Gasbarro

Theses and Dissertations

This research produces better forecast tools for SOUTHCOM's 25th Operational Weather Squadron (OWS) over multiple areas of operation in South America. Heavy rainfall and low-cloud base events along the northeastern Andes foothills are examined, as well as, mesoscale convective complexes (MCCs) in Central South America (CSA). Low clouds, fog, and flooding rains hamper daily Department of Defense (DoD) counter-drug operations in Northwestern South America (NWSA). In addition, fierce MCCs interfere with joint-military exercises in CSA.

Remote Sensing Systems Optimization For Geobase Enhancement, Steve J. Paylor

Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. Air Force is in the process of implementing GeoBase, a geographic information system (GIS), throughout its worldwide installations, Air Force GIS needs can be augmented by imagery from aerial and satellite platforms. Imagery has greatly improved over the past several years and provides high resolution coverage of features on earth. Various imagery types will significantly increase GeoBase usefulness in a range of mission requirements, Potential Air Force uses of imagery include identifying heat loss, environmental monitoring, command decision-making, and emergency response, The research develops a decision tool to determine the appropriate imagery for a given Air Force Application, …

Geographic Information System Methodologies To Evaluate Relationships Between Land Use And Groundwater Quality In South Central Kentucky, Rhonda Pfaff

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The development of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology has provided techniques for a holistic approach to the study of karst groundwater contamination. While karst groundwaters supply water to a large percentage of the earth's population, its complex environments often have lacked the scientific examination and conservation measures typical of non-karst regions. In this study, GIS methodologies were explored to examine the relationships between land-use and water quality in karst watersheds. Eight watersheds throughout southern and western Kentucky were examined. The study areas included the Mammoth Cave Karst Aquifer, which is the watershed that drains the Mammoth Cave System, and seven …

Effects Of Holocene Climate Change On Mercury Deposition In Elk Lake, Minnesota: The Importance Of Eolian Transport In The Mercury Cycle, W.F. Cannon, Walter E. Dean, John H. Bullock Jr.

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Sediments in Elk Lake, Minnesota, consist of 10,400 varve layers that provide a precise chronology for Holocene fluctuations in climate and biota recorded in the strata. Progressively greater concentrations and accumulation rates of mercury since ca. A.D. 1875 reflect deposition of anthropogenic mercury additions to the atmosphere. Within the Holocene record are numerous short intervals in which mercury concentrations and accumulation rates exceed the modern values. The highest mercury concentrations formed ca. 8 ka, coincident with a rapid change from cool, moist conditions to warm, dry conditions. A related change in flora from pine forest to prairie caused destruction of …

New Jersey Coastal Program Boundary, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

The boundary of a federally approved coastal program defines a geographic area that receives special planning and management attention through regulations, financial assistance, and technical support. Section 306(d)(2)(A) of the federal Coastal Zone Management Act provides the basis for determining the coastal boundary. In Section 304 of the act, the coastal zone refers to coastal waters (and the lands below them) and the adjacent shorelands, “strongly influenced by each other and in proximity to the shorelines of the several coastal states, including transitional and intertidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands, and beaches. The zone extends…seaward to the outer limit of State …

Urban Canada Geese In Georgia: Assessing A Golf Course Survey And A Nuisance Relocation Program, Larkin A. Powell, Michael J. Conroy, Kipling S. Balkcom, Joe Caudell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Nuisance complaints about Canada geese (Branta canadensis), have risen in recent years. In Georgia, managers have responded by relocating some nuisance geese to rural areas. During 1993–1996, we used band recoveries of relocated geese to determine the efficacy of relocation as a management strategy. We also used data from a post-card survey of golf courses to monitor the urban subpopulation of Canada geese in Georgia during 1998–2001. Flocks considered by golf course superintendents to be a nuisance were larger (1998: 48.8 geese, 1999: 71.5, 2000: 73.2, 2001: 67.2) than nonnuisance flocks (1998: 13.1 geese, 1999: 16.7, 2000: 25.8, 2001: 18.1). …

Preliminary Investigations Of Seasonal Changes In The Geochemical Evolution Of The Logdson River, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, Chris Groves, Darlene M. Anthony, Joe Meiman

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Many geochemical studies have been made of karst waters worldwide. Most data that provide the framework for our current understanding of the evolution of karst waters have come from sampling at discrete times and locations, such as springs or wells. Relatively few studies have been made of the geochemical evolution of groundwater as it moves through an open flow system. This paper addresses the seasonal changes in the geochemistry of the Logsdon River conduit as it passes through nearly 10km of the carbonate aquifer of south-central Kentucky . The most important control on the ability of groundwaters to dissolve limestone …

The Grounding Of An Ice Shelf In The Central Arctic Ocean: A Modeling Experiment, Martin Jakobsson, M Siegert, Mark Paton

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

A numerical ice sheet model was used in a first test towards evaluating the hypothesis that, during a period of large-scale glaciation, an ice shelf emanating from the Barents/Kara Seas grounded across parts of the Lomonosov Ridge to a depth of around 1000 m below present sea level (Jakobsson, 1999; Polyak et al., 2001). Despite that we not include complex ice shelf physics or grounding line mechanics in our model and treat the process of marine melting in a simple manner, our experiments are the necessary first steps toward providing a comprehensive reconstruction of the former ice-sheet/ice-shelf system in the …

The Lakes And Streams Project: A Curriculum For Elementary And Middle Grades On A Local Environmental Issue, Linda Mae Alice Gregory

Theses Digitization Project

This project covers the environmental issues of the proposed Lakes and Streams Project for the City of San Bernardino. The water history of San Bernardino, from the hot springs to the development of the current municipal water system, is also detailed. Two curriculum units teach students how to use environmental issue analysis skills. One focuses on the water history of San Bernardino and is aimed at grades three to five. The other immerses middle grade students directly into the Lakes and Streams issue.

The Salton Sea Wetlands: A Guidebook Of Curriculum Based Lessons, Etta Margo Ligman-Mccormick

Theses Digitization Project

Using Coachella Valley's Salton Sea ecosystem as a model, several multidisciplinary wetland activities for grades three to six were developed. A resource guide for educators is included.

Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute Annual Technical Report Fy 2002, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

KWRRI Annual Technical Reports (USGS’s 104b Grant Program)

The FY 2002 Annual Technical Report for Kentucky consolidates reporting requirements of the Section 104(b) base grant award in a single technical report that includes: 1) a synopsis of each research project supported during the period, 2) a list of related reports, 3) a description of information transfer activities, 4) a summary of student support during the reporting period, and 5) notable achievements and awards during the year.

Could Mammoth Cave Be Reduced To A Single Equation?, Chris Groves, Joe Meiman

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Since the evolution of any cave system is largely deterministic, in theory the processes responsible for this development could be described mathematically. In a practical sense, we will never have such a model to realistically describe the evolution of the Mammoth Cave System in detail. However, the search itself can provide a framework within which to understand what processes areimportant. This can guide the design of rate process studies that would eventually be coupled to provide a comprehensive understanding of the cave's evolution. Data gaps, as well, are identified during this process. The geometry of a cave system depends on …

Charting Neptune's Realm: From Classical Mythology To Satellite Imagery, Osher Map Library And Smith Center For Cartographic Education

Osher Map Library Exhibition Catalogs

Charting Neptune's Realm: From Classical Mythology to Satellite Imagery.

April 4, 2000 to January 11, 2001

The charts in this exhibition explore how mariners have distinguished one piece of water from any other, by determining what phenomena can be delineated across the vast, trackless ocean and by developing notations to express those phenomena.

Ua56/1 Fact Book, Wku Institutional Research

WKU Administration Documents

Statistical and demographic profile of WKU.

Action Education In Land Use Decisions: Student Views On Urbanization And Farmland Loss, Mindi Schneider, Charles A. Francis, Dick Esseks

CARI Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture

Loss of prime farmland is a serious concern in the United States and around the globe. With rapid urban population increases, the activities and perceived needs of concentrated groups of people result in the swallowing of some of the most fertile lands in this country. Today we have just under 2 acres of productive farmland per person in the United States. Given the current population growth rate due to births and immigration, plus the present rate of farmland loss, World Watch Institute estimates that we will have about 0.6 acres or one-third as much farmland available per person by 2055--a …

Mid-Holocene Climates Of The Americas: A Dynamical Response To Changed Seasonality, S. P. Harrison, J. E. Kutzbach, Z. Liu, P. J. Bartlein, B. Otto-Bliesner, Daniel R. Muhs, I. C. Prentice, R. S. Thompson

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Abstract Simulations of the climatic response to mid- Holocene (6 ka BP) orbital forcing with two coupled ocean–atmosphere models (FOAM and CSM) show enhancement of monsoonal precipitation in parts of the American Southwest, Central America and northernmost South America during Northern Hemisphere summer. The enhanced onshore flow that brings precipitation into Central America is caused by a northward displacement of the inter-tropical convergence zone, driven by cooling of the equatorial and warming of the northern subtropical and mid-latitude ocean. Ocean feedbacks also enhance precipitation over the American Southwest, although the increase in monsoon precipitation there is largely driven by increases …

Unprecedented Last-Glacial Mass Accumulation Rates Determined By Luminescence Dating Of Loess From Western Nebraska, Helen M. Roberts, Daniel R. Muhs, Ann G. Wintle, Geoff A. T. Duller, E. Arthur Bettis Iii

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A high-resolution chronology for Peoria (last glacial period) Loess from three sites in Nebraska, midcontinental North America, is determined by applying optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to 35–50 µm quartz. At Bignell Hill, Nebraska, an OSL age of 25,000 yr near the contact of Peoria Loess with the underlying Gilman Canyon Formation shows that dust accumulation occurred early during the last glacial maximum (LGM), whereas at Devil’s Den and Eustis, Nebraska, basal OSL ages are significantly younger (18,000 and 21,000 yr, respectively). At all three localities, dust accumulation ended at some time after 14,000 yr ago. Mass accumulation rates …

Paleolimnology Of Lake Tanganyika, East Africa, Over The Past 100 K Yr, Christopher A. Scholz, John W. King, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Peter K. Swart, J. Curt Stager, Steven M. Colman

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

New sediment core data from a unique slow-sedimentation rate site in Lake Tanganyika contain a much longer and continuous record of limnological response to climate change than have been previously observed in equatorial regions of central Africa. The new core site was first located through an extensive seismic reflection survey over the Kavala Island Ridge (KIR), a sedimented basement high that separates the Kigoma and Kalemie Basins in Lake Tanganyika.

Proxy analyses of paleoclimate response carried out on core T97-52V include paleomagnetic and index properties, TOC and isotopic analyses of organic carbon, and diatom and biogenic silica analyses. A robust …

Fire Climate Interactions And Predicting Fire Season Severity In The Mediterranean Climate Areas Of California, Southern Oregon, And Western Nevada, Alan H. Taylor, Carl N. Skinner, Andrew M. Carleton, Scott L. Stephens, Valerie Trouet, Bernd Haupt, Andrew Pierce

Joint Fire Science Program Research Project Reports

• We identified annual area burned for 37 National Forests in Washington, Oregon, and California between 1929 and 2004 from annual fire reports. Variation in area burned each year on National Forest lands is strongly related (r2 = 0.87) to total area burned in California. This indicates area burned in National Forests is a good indicator of total area burned in a state. • Four large groups of National Forests were identified that had similar temporal patterns of fire extent. Three of these groups were spatially coherent and included mainly: 1) Washington and northern Oregon; 2) northern California and California …