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Agroclimatic Zoning For Cultivation Of Saffron Using Ahp Approach In Sarab, Navid Yaghoubzadeh, Razieh Pourdarbani, Ardavan Ghorbani, Gholamhossein Shahgholi

Emirates Journal for Engineering Research

According to agricultural experts, saffron is one of the crops that can be a good solution to the problem of drought in a water crisis situation. A plant which uses low water consumption and high economic incomes is a good alternative to wheat, a water-consuming crop. Saffron does not need water at all in the summer, and in the fall and winter, rain will irrigate this crop and require very little water during the year. This study was conducted to select the optimum location of saffron cultivation and its comparative study in Sarab with regard to the role of important …

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 …

Geospatial Applications To Mitigate Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations From Impacting Surface Water Resources, Elias Rex

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) offer the ability to meet the rising demands of population growth by housing large amounts of livestock on relatively small areas of land, using medication to accelerate their maturation, and reusing waste products as fertilizers. However, there is a growing abundance of literature related to land use configurations and their effects on water resources, many of which highlight agriculture as a primary contributor of nutrients and fecal bacteria found in surrounding water resources. The purpose of this study is to advance the current knowledge surrounding CAFO land-use and its effect on tributaries within the Cape …

An Analysis Of Contraflow Network Resiliency Under Mass Evacuation Conditions In Houston, Texas, Aron L. Roberts

Geography ETDs

Contraflow, an emergency traffic management strategy, is a proposed approach to increase evacuation efficiency. However, these contraflow networks have rarely been tested and are vulnerable to disruption. This research examines the contraflow network of Houston, Texas, using a novel approach to evacuation modeling. Evacuation times of census block groups were modelled under both contraflow and non-contraflow conditions. Evacuation routes were then severed one-by-one - it was found that severing a route in non-contraflow conditions increased travel times more than under contraflow conditions. Changes in travel times were then mapped and then correlated with socio-economic variables. Results suggested that contraflow initiation …

A Novel Approach To Updating Municipal Tax Parcel Impervious Surface Calculations, Patrick D. Muradaz

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Accurate impervious surface calculations are important to many municipalities due to the high volumes of surface rainwater runoff caused by high impervious surface density. Municipalities must deal with this runoff through the establishment and maintenance of drainage facilities. To help offset the added cost of these facilities, many municipalities impose taxes and fees on privately owned impervious surfaces such as homes, driveways, and patios. Currently, in order for a city like Harrisonburg to calculate tax parcel impervious surface density, aerial images must be manually digitized or mapped using computer-based classification techniques using predictive models. These methods of impervious surface calculations …

Statistical Analysis Of Land Cover Conversion Trends In Northwest Ohio, Chaska Mcgowan

Honors Projects

Agricultural land in the U.S. is abundant but not infinite. Change in cropland impacts national and local economies and the natural environment. The Black Swamp Conservancy (BSC), a non-profit land trust in Perrysburg, Ohio, is committed to preserving agricultural and natural lands in the Northwest Ohio region for future generations. This project was designed in collaboration with the BSC to illustrate the spatial distribution of land cover change within their sixteen-county service area in Northwest Ohio and to find a list of factors associated with land cover change in the region. The primary data source was the National Land Cover …

Sylvan Dell Nature Preserve Project, Brian Quinn, Katie Wisotsky, Huthaifa Aladwan

Sylvan Dell Field Station Student Projects

The Sylvan Dell Nature Preserve and Farm in South Williamsport, PA. Sylvan Dell is a 229 acre plot of farmland that contains a wetland on the south section of the property. It lies just south of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. The first humans we know of to settle on this land were the Susquehannock and later the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Native Americans. In the late 18th century, white settlers took the land away from the Haudenosaunee. In the 20th century, the famous ornithologist Robert Porter Allen was influenced by the broad range of bird species that would visit …

The Invasion Of The Southern Pine Bark Beetle, Matthew Shaughnessy

Transformations: Presentation Slides

The Southern Pine Bark Beetle is a pest that is native to the south eastern United States. Historically the population has been held to southern parts of the nation due to the harsher cold weather in the north. During the last twenty years there has been an increase in average annual temperatures on the east coast. This has allowed the species to move northward and afflict unprotected softwoods at a high rate. The objective of this project was to observe the movement of the Southern Pine Bark Beetles between 2012 and a population estimate for 2027 made by the USDA …

Spatiotemporal Analysis Of Traffic Crashes Involving Pedestrians And Cyclists In Jefferson County, Kentucky., Joseph M. Garcia

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Walking and cycling are health-conscious, environmentally friendly modes of transportation, yet very few American trips are accomplished using these methods. A major factor behind this is the fear of being involved in a crash with an automobile. From 2009-2019 there were over 5,200 automobile crashes involving either pedestrians or cyclists in Louisville/ Jefferson County, Kentucky. Researchers have found that these kinds of crashes exhibit spatiotemporal patterns in different cities across the globe. The objective of this study was to determine if there exist any spatial and/or temporal patterns regarding these kinds of crashes. Data for this study came from the …

Changes In Land Use Land Cover (Lulc), Surface Water Quality And Modelling Surface Discharge In Beaver Creek Watershed, Northeast Tennessee And Southwest Virginia, Tosin James

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beaver Creek is an impaired streams that is not supporting its designated use for recreation due to Escherichia coli (E.coli), and sediment. To address this problem, this thesis was divided into two studies.

The first study explored changes in Land Use Land Cover (LULC), and its impact on surface water quality. Changes in E.coli load between 1997-2001 and 2014-2018 were analyzed. Also, Landsat data of 2001, and 2018 were examined in Terrset 18.31. Mann-Whitney test only showed a significant reduction in E.coli for one site. Negative correlation was established between E.coli load, and Developed LULC, Forest LULC, and …

Archaeological, Geophysical, And Geospatial Analysis At David Crockett Birthplace State Park, In Upper East Tennessee, Reagan Cornett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A geophysical survey was conducted at David Crockett Birthplace State Park (40GN205, 40GN12) using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometry. The data indicated multiple levels of occupation that were investigated by Phase II and Phase III archaeological excavations. New cultural components were discovered, including the remnants of a Protohistoric Native American structure containing European glass trade beads and Middle Woodland artifacts that suggest trade with Hopewell groups from Ohio. A circular Archaic hearth was uncovered at one meter below surface and similar deep anomalies were seen in the GPR data at this level. A semi-automated object-based image analysis (OBIA) was implemented …

Advancing Spatiotemporal Research Of Visitor Travel Patterns Within Parks And Protected Areas, Brian Peterson

All Dissertations

Recent technological advances have made it possible to more accurately understand visitor travel patterns and their associated impacts. These advancements help to: accumulate voluminous data sets, collect alternative location data similar to GPS data, conduct spatiotemporal inferential statistics, and advance spatiotemporal visualizations. However, investigations of visitor travel patterns have not kept pace with recent technological advancements. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to advance spatiotemporal research of visitor travel patterns within parks and protected areas by leveraging new technologies. The studies reported in this dissertation were designed to begin filling this gap, and include results from research conducted at: …

Uav-Based Remote Sensing Of Immediate Changes In Geomorphology Following A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood At The Zackenberg River, Northeast Greenland, Aleksandra M. Tomcyzk, Marek W. Ewertowski

Environment and Society Student Research

Two detailed geomorphological maps (1:2000) depicting landscape changes as a result of a glacial lake outburst flood were produced for the 2.1-km-long section of the Zackenberg river, NE Greenland. The maps document the riverscape before the flood (5 August 2017) and immediately after the flood (8 August 2017), illustrating changes to the riverbanks and morphology of the channel. A series of additional maps (1:800) represent case studies of different types of riverbank responses, emphasising the importance of the lateral thermo-erosion and bank collapsing as significant immediate effects of the flood. The average channel width increased from 40.75 m pre-flood to …

Estimation Of Age From The Auricular Surface Of The Ilium Through The Utilization Of 3d Scanning And Gis, Krista Bennett

LSU Master's Theses

The ability to produce age estimations for adult skeletons has been a focus of forensic anthropologists for decades. Most age estimation methods for adult remains provide age ranges that are too narrow, too broad, or too vague. This project sought to combine 3D scans with GIS to produce morphological maps of the auricular surface of the os coxa in order to identify quantifiable characteristics for age assessment that could be used for generating narrower age range estimates for older adult remains.

A NextEngine ™ HD Desktop 3D scanner was used to scan the auricular surfaces of 384 os coxae from …

Accessibility Of Hiv Testing In Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area, Alina Prigozhina

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines HIV testing accessibility in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area (BR MSA) using the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method to calculate accessibility scores for free, low-cost and all other HIV testing facilities. The two goals of this research are to apply accessibility estimation methods to HIV testing facilities, and to examine the accessibility of HIV testing facilities in the BR MSA. To achieve these goals, this study uses several research methods. The data about HIV testing providers and their locations were collected through Internet searches. By means of a fieldwork, the data were checked, revealing that …

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 …

Modeling Quality Of Urban Life Using A Geospatial Approach, Helena Merschdorf, Michael E. Hodgson, Thomas Blaschke

Faculty Publications

The rapid global urbanization of the past century poses several challenges for planners and policy makers. In particular, the conflation of social and urban issues must be understood to create sustainable and livable urban places. In this regard, it was our aim to model and understand the relationship between urban characteristics and peoples’ perceived quality of urban life (QoUL) using statistical analysis and geospatial modeling. We selected objective variables representing urban characteristics based on literature and used principal components analysis to develop uncorrelated components. These components served as the independent variables in a multiple linear regression analysis. The subjective, dependent …

Assessment Of Land Cover Change In St. Martin’S Marsh Aquatic Preserve, Florida, Usa, Katie Wagner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

St. Martin’s Marsh Aquatic Preserve (SMMAP) is a 28,461 acre (115.18 km2) preserve located on the coast of Citrus County, Florida, USA. There has been no published research that focused on coastal change on this unique coast. This thesis research focuses on coastal land cover change that has occurred within the preserve from 1988 to 2018. Multitemporal Landsat images were classified using a support vector machine (SVM) classification, while changes in vegetation were evaluated using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Field research was conducted to examine nineteen sites for classification training and test data and notes on habitat composition. …

Gis-Based Spatial Model For Habitat Suitability Of Babirusa (Babyrousa Celebensis), In Gorontalo Province, Muhamad Khairul Rosyidy, Adi Wibowo

Jurnal Geografi Lingkungan Tropik (Journal of Geography of Tropical Environments)

Babirusa (Babyrousa celebensis) is an endemic animal from Gorontalo Province whose population is declining day by day due to poaching, land clearing, and selling babirusa meat in traditional markets in Gorontalo Province. Since 1931 this species has begun to be protected in Indonesia, and since 2008, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) named the babirusa species as a vulnerable category. This study aims to determine the suitability of babirusa habitat areas (Babyrousa celebensis) in Gorontalo Province with a Geographic Information System (GIS) approach and to determine the relationship of physical characteristics for the habitat of the babirusa habitat in …

Lewisburg Shade Tree Commission: Tree Inventory Repair, Community Awareness, And Policy Recommendations, Jiaxuan Zhao, Brian Gockley

Student Project Reports

No abstract provided.

Fireanalyst: An Effective System For Detecting Fire Geolocation And Fire Behavior In Forestsusing Mathematical Modeling, Yücel Güllüce, Rahmi̇ Nurhan Çeli̇k

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

This study proposes an effective new fire detection method and monitoring software for an early-warning fire detection system aimed at valuable forested areas, such as botanical parks or high conservation value forests, particularly those with boundaries. These critical forested areas need to be appropriately managed because they contain large concentrations of biological diversity, including threatened or endangered species, which are very susceptible to fire outbreaks; thus, early detection of fire and rapid response have a very important place in the fight against fire in those areas. In this proposed system, special detectors with state-of-the-art multispectral infrared technology and mathematical modeling …

Effectiveness Of Spatial-Temporal Data Using Gis In America’S Professional Sports Leagues (Mls, Mlb, And Nfl), Abdullah Aleissa

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores how information systems can improve the understanding of the home field advantage (HFA) in professional sports leagues in the United States. The literature related to the HFA conceptual framework and the game location factor—which represents four major impacts on teams (crowd, learning, travel, and rules)—led to an investigation into whether a relationship exists between game results and spatial, temporal, and stadium attributes. These stadium attributes include field surface type, roof type (i.e., open, fixed, and retractable), time zone, and field orientation (e.g., N/S, E/W, NE/SW) for U.S. professional sports such as soccer, baseball, and football. Winning percentage, …

Examining Spatial Accessibility To Covid-19 Testing Sites In Florida, Ran Tao, Joni Downs, Theresa M. Beckie, Yuzhou Chen, Warren Mcnelley

All publications

Massive and rapid testing is crucial for containing the spread of COVID-19. Health and policy planners must ensure that access to and uptake of SARS-CoV-2 testing is adequate and equitable. This study measures the spatial accessibility to testing sites in Florida at the census tract level at the end of May 2020, using the 2-step floating catchment area method that integrates both driving and walking modes. Accessibility scores were found to be heterogeneous across geographic regions and among different groups of people. In particular, many rural areas were in a testing desert. While people in larger cities tended to have …

Change Is The Only Constant: A Snowpack Retention Analysis And Climate Vulnerability Road Map For The Skalkaho Creek Sub-Basin, Zachary Freeman Goodwin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate change is impacting the whole of North America, although the impacts differ depending on regional geography. In the Intermountain West, climate change is contributing to lower overall snowpack totals and diminished late season streamflows. These changes will likely contribute to vulnerabilities in how much water is available to irrigators, municipalities, and fisheries dependent upon a consistent yearly flow of meltwater. This paper explores how snowpack retention has changed via the NASA dataset Daymet, which provides gridded estimates of weather parameters including Snow Water Equivalent in the Bitterroot River Basin of western Montana. This analysis showed that snowpack retention from …

Columbus State University Honors College: Senior Theses, Fall 2020/Spring 2021, Abigail Abernathy, Micah Arnholt, Joshua Butler, Ashlyn Dewberry, Vivian Duncan, Shannon Eshman, Macy Frazier, Bailey Gaines, Meenal Joshi, Brenna Kincaid, Taylor Lewis, Molli Mcginnis, Elijah Neundorfer, Erin Perry, Grace Pippas, Elise Rhinebolt, Caitlin Schwartz, Tatseyana Taylor, Lyndi Whetzel

Senior Theses from the Honors College

This is a collection of senior theses written by honors students at Columbus State University during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters.

Titles:

- "Comparison of Histological Techniques to Determine Intersex Prevalence and Severity in Testes of Largemouth Bass *Micropterus salmoides) and Spotted Bass (Micropterus punctulatus) From the Chattahoochee River, U.S.A" , by Abigail Abernathy

- "The Applications of Space Syntax Theory and Depthmap Technology to Problems of Race and Income Inequality in Midtown, Columbus ,GA" , by Micah Arnholt

- "Utilizing the Dalcroze Method in the Secondary Choral Classroom" , by Joshua Butler

- "A Tale of Two …

Participatory Mapping, E-Participation, And E-Governance: Applications In Environmental Policy, Pragati Rawat, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

This chapter focuses on participatory mapping as an e-governance tool to facilitate public participation. Public participation is a key component of democratic governance, and there is a growing reliance on digital government tools such as the internet and social networking sites and geographic information systems (GIS). This chapter focuses on public engagement using information and communication technology, namely participatory mapping, known by a variety of terms such as participatory GIS (PGIS), public participation GIS (PPGIS), and voluntary GIS. While the analysis involves use of participatory mapping related to environmental issues, the chapter brings together seminal work from various fields of …

A Karst Feature Predictability Model Within Barber County, Kansas, Gary M. Kelner

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

This research consisted of two topics: 1) geographic predictive models of karst features and 2), a petrographic study examining the lithology of the study area. The study area is a privately owned ranch in the Gypsum Hills of Barber County, Kansas and is known to have karst features. Two predictive models for karst features were utilized. Previously identified features, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imagery aided in the creation of these predictive models. These predictability models also used the ESRI ArcMap software platform. The data for these models consists of slope, …

Investigating The Spatial And Statistical Dimensions Of Mortuary Choice In The Historical-Period Old City Cemetery In Roslyn, Washington, Sarah Rain Hibdon

All Master's Theses

The historical-period Old City Cemetery in Roslyn, Washington contains individuals from diverse social backgrounds and exhibits considerable variation in mortuary expression. As such, the Old City Cemetery offers a unique opportunity to explore potential differences in social group mortuary practices spatially and statistically. Using burials in Roslyn’s Old City Cemetery, this project developed a methods framework to assess mortuary practice through demographics, burial location, and monument/plot attributes. I tested correlations between demographics and mortuary expression using spatial-statistical cluster analysis (Ripley’s K-Function), spatial density analysis (Kernel Density Estimation), and non-spatial statistical significance assessments (Factor analysis and Pearson’s R), and identified …

Comparing Rusle Ls Calculation Methods Across Varying Dem Resolutions, Amanda Moody

All Master's Theses

Soil erosion is a global problem that reduces land productivity and causes environmental degradation. Soil erosion models, such as the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), are used to estimate the severity and distribution of erosion. The topographic factor (LS), which combines slope length and angle, is an important part of RUSLE. This work compared two methods of L calculation, the grid cumulation (GC) and the contributing area (CA) methods, and two methods of S calculation, the neighborhood (NBR) and maximum downhill slope (MDS) methods. These were compared across digital elevation models (DEMs) of 1, 5, 10, and 30m resolutions. …

Tropical Cyclone Vulnerability Of Atlantic Coastal Counties In The United States, Zachary Alexander

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

1. Abstract

   Coastal populations along the Atlantic Coast of the United States face a persistent threat of tropical cyclones. Tropical cyclones of any strength can cause significant damages and losses to both life and property. As coastal populations continue to rise in a changing climate, the power of knowing which communities are the most and least vulnerable to future tropical cyclone events can assist in mitigating some of the losses. This paper explores the factors that make a coastal community more or less vulnerable to tropical cyclones based on prior natural hazards research and creates a relative index that will tell …

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