Digital Commons Network^™

Takin’ It To The Streets: Quantitative Literacy, Public Policy, And Gis In A Service Context, Jeremy W. Donald

Library Faculty Research

Improved information literacy and quantitative literacy can help individuals overcome the information costs that discourage political participation and policy debate. Using place and public data as a touchstone, the students of a college political science course partnered with a group of middle school students to apply technology to a shared project. Together they learned techniques for representing demographic and geographic data with a variety of media, including Web 2.0 tools and GIS software. They created an online site designed to address the information needs of the local community, with a focus on promoting users’ information and quantitative literacy and encouraging …

Lightning Signature Assessment To Forecast Tornado Formation, Mary Snow, Richard Snow, Nicole Kufa

Publications

Recent research suggests that a maximum rate of lightning strikes occurs at least 15 to 20 minutes prior to tornado formation within a supercell storm. These maxima are associated with strengthening updrafts as they appear in radar measurements. An increase in lightning rates correlates with an increase of shear in the lower part of the storm. In combination with a strong updraft or downdraft, this shear can provide the ingredients for rotation and possibly a tornado. Polarity reversal of lightning around the time of tornado touchdown also has been examined. Thus, increasing lightning flash rates and reversal of lightning strike …

Developing And Evaluating A Gis-Supported Immersive Visualizaton System For Soil Resource Mapping., Paddington Hodza

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines the coupling of GIS and immersive visualization (IV). This study was premised on the hypothesis that linking IV and GIS could potentially enhance a user’s visual-cognitive capacity to perceive, analyze, and understand complex geospatial data. A loosely-coupled GIS-IV system was developed and subsequently tested by professional soil scientists in soil boundary mapping and soil map update case studies. Soil boundary mapping is essentially a visualization enterprise involving the creation of cognitive models representing the relationship between soil and observable environmental features. A GIS-IV conceptual model was formulated, and an operational system was designed and implemented. The GIS-IV …

The Urban Development Of Spanish Colonial Pensacola, 1781-1821, Harry James Wilson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Pensacola evolved through the second Spanish period (1781-1821) from a fledgling military outpost to an increasingly complex urban center. Local and regional demographic trends and environmental conditions prompted Pensacola to grow in a manner that differed from other Spanish colonial urban centers and created in Pensacola an unusual class structure and residential patterning. The primary goal of this dissertation is to show that Pensacola’s residential and landowning patterns never experienced the degree of socioeconomic residential clustering noted in other Spanish colonial urban centers. Social residential clustering was unusual in Spanish Pensacola, and socioeconomic classes and land values varied from lot …

Modeling Larval Connectivity Among Coral Habitats, Acropora Palmata Populations, And Marine Protected Areas In The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Christopher John Higham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) encompasses North America's only living coral barrier reef and the third longest barrier reef in the world, making it a unique national treasure of international notoriety (FKNMS, 2005). Recent evidence of environmental decline within the sanctuary has created a sense of urgency to understand and protect the valuable resources within. This thesis contributed to the understanding of habitat connectivity to aid managers and decision makers in the creation of additional Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the FKNMS to help prevent further environmental decline. This research specifically focused on modeling larval transport and larval …

Dissolution Caves Of Mississippi, Christopher Michael Moore

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to distinguish between the karst and pseudokarst caves throughout Mississippi, create an inventory and survey of representative caves and karst features, identify the geology of the rocks hosting the caves, and produce a GIS-based digital karst map. The State of Mississippi is not known for its karst features, yet there are three distinct limestone units that contain dissolution caves: 1) Paleozoic (Mississippian) Tuscumbia Formation limestone; 2) Mesozoic carbonate units; and 3) Cenozoic limestone, Marianna Formation. There are a total of 44 caves known within the state based on past documentation, however the caves listed …

Hydrolgeologic Groundwater Sensitivity And Vulnerability Mapping In South Central Kentucky, Andrea Croskrey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Groundwater sensitivity (Ray and O'dell 1993 a) refers to the inherent ease with which groundwater can be contaminated based on hydrogeologic characteristics. We have developed digital methods for identifying areas of varying groundwater sensitivity for a ten county area of south-central Kentucky relevant to a scale of 1: 24,000. The study area includes extensive limestone karst sinkhole plains, with groundwater that is generally extremely sensitive to contamination. Digitally Vectorized Geologic Quadrangles (DVGQs) were combined with elevation data to both identify hydrogeologic groundwater sensitivity regions and to identify zones of "high risk runoff where contaminants could be transported in runoff from …

The Effect Of Dem Resolution On The Computation Of Hydrologically Significant Topographic Attributes, David Alexander Crosby

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Terrain attributes computed from Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are widely used in hydrology and hydrologic modeling. It is important to consider that the values of the attributes can be different depending on the resolution of the DEM from which they are derived. The question arises as to how much exactly the high-resolution DEMs created through LIDAR remote sensing techniques change the values of the terrain attributes when compared to lower resolution DEMs.In this thesis a LIDAR-derived DEM of 20 feet resolution was resampled using a nearest-neighbour algorithm to various coarser resolutions to examine and quantify the effect of DEM resolution …

Cloud-To-Ground Flash Characteristics For Atlanta, Georgia (Usa), M.L. Bentley

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

We analyzed the patterns of cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning flashes around Atlanta, Georgia (USA), a region that has undergone an intense conversion from natural to anthropogenic land uses. For the 12 yr period from 1992 to 2003, annual average CG flash densities of 6 to 8 flashes km–2 emerged around Atlanta. These values are 50 to 75% higher than in the surrounding rural areas, and comparable to flash densities along the Atlantic coast of Georgia. High flash densities extended over a large swath of Atlanta, and into Gwinnett County, a heavily suburbanized, rapidly growing county to the northeast. Urban flash production …

Use Of Gis In The Provision Of Emergency Services In Small Municipalities Huntington, Wv As A Case Study, Maria Eulalia Simental

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Although disaster management is a national concern, at the most basic level it is the responsibility of county emergency management agencies to cope with disasters. The objective of this research is to gauge the extent of the adoption and future benefits of the use of GIS technology by first responders and stakeholders to assist in the planning and response to an emergency and to provide a working GIS application model for emergency response in small municipalities, using Huntington, West Virginia as a case study, and how the resulting tools linked with GIS can provide visual and interact decision support capabilities …

Assessing Public Parks For Children In London, Ontario, Martin Andrew Holmes

Digitized Theses

Parks are an important feature of the local built environment. It is suggested that whether (or not) high quality public parks are available in the local environment has a significant influence on physical activity levels among youth. This study examines the location and quality of neighbourhood parks (n=208) in a mid-sized Canadian city (London, Ontario) to determine if these public facilities are adequately and equitably distributed throughout the city. A geographic information system was used to map and analyze the spatial distribution of public parks in urban and suburban neighbourhoods of varying socioeconomic characteristics. Neighbourhoods were differentiated using 2001 socio-economic …

Data Quality And Linkages: An Application Of Crime Data In The Cγγy Of London, Ontario, Martin Antony Healy

Digitized Theses

The aim ofthis thesis is to present analyses ofthe quality of crime related spatial data and the linkages to that data used in research on spatial patterns ofresidential burglaries in London, Ontario. Data of differing quality are often combined for research with little discussion about potential errors in quality, leading to spurious conclusions. The buffer overlay statistics and stochastic methods are employed to establish the quality metrics of positional accuracy, completeness, and miscodings for the data sets. An empirical investigation ofthe data used in mapping residential burglaries is undertaken. A new census dissemination area data set is created to strengthen …

Evaluating The Spatial Ecology Of Anthrax In North America: Examining Epidemiological Components Across Multiple Geographic Scales Using A Gis-Based Approach, Jason Kenna Blackburn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the spatial ecology and potential pathways of infection of anthrax, Bacillus anthracis, in North America. A multi-scale approach was used to evaluate the components required for disease agent survival in the environment, interactions with wildlife, and the potential role that vectors play in anthrax transmission. First, ecological niche modeling with the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-set Production (GARP) was used to predict the geographic distribution of anthrax in the continental U.S. using case data from outbreaks between 1957 and 2005. These results were then used to produce the first quantitative, continental scale predictions of anthrax in Mexico. At …

Development Of Biological Reference Conditions Of Wadeable Streams In The Major Ecoregions And Subecoregions Of Georgia, Duncan L. Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

One bioassessment tool available to resource managers to indicate NPS impairment of wadeable streams and rivers are multi-metric invertebrate indices. Such indices are assembled from metrics in broad categories that represent different aspects of community structure and function (e.g. richness, composition, tolerance/intolerance, feeding group, and habit). Indices must incorporate suites of metrics that are ecologically relevant, quantifiable, non-redundant, and that best individually discriminate between reference sites and impaired sites. More than 240 wadeable streams in Georgia were sampled during the September thru February index period using RBP protocols during three successive sample seasons (1999-2003). Ecoregional reference (minimally impaired) sites, as …

Modeling Hurricane Evacuation Vulnerability: A Case Study Of Pinellas County, Florida, Raymond A. Miller Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Determining where people are most likely to suffer losses and have difficulty in evacuating from a hurricane is important to developing a hurricane response strategy. This thesis proposes a methodology for modeling and assessing evacuation vulnerability to a specific hurricane and applies this method to study Pinellas County, Florida.

The vulnerability of Pinellas County to evacuation problems and the degree of loss that may be suffered from a hurricane is quantified in the Hurricane Evacuation Vulnerability Index. This index is the sum of three indices that represent social, transportation, and geophysical aspects of hazards research. Social vulnerability is assessed with …

Remotely Sensed Data To Map Forest Age Class By Cover Type In East Texas, Daniel Unger, I-Kuai Hung, Jeffrey M. Williams, James Kroll, Dean W. Coble, Jason Grogan

Faculty Publications

• Remote sensing in conjunction with ground truthing, can accurately quantify forest composition and age distributions in East Texas.
• Method uses standardized and readily available data available to the general public.
• Method was shown to be effective in terms of time and cost.

Voting With Your Hands: Gis And Experiential Learning, Jeremy W. Donald

Library Faculty Research

Experiential learning is a trend in liberal arts colleges. Students are increasingly asked to learn by tackling problems beyond the classroom, often in the context of the local community. This can mean knowing how to apply technology and quantitative data to analyze and understand a problem, and GIS is a powerful tool for place- and data-based analysis. In concert with the chairs of the Political Science and Sociology departments, the GIS librarian at Trinity University developed a plan for teaching GIS in a semester-long flagship course on election statistics and redistricting in Bexar county. Course design provided users with early …

A Grid-Based Gis Approach To Regional Flood Damage Assessment, Ming-Daw Su, Jui-Lin Kang, Ling-Fang Chang, Albert S Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Regional flood risk assessment is the base for a sound and comprehensive risk planning or management. The regional flood loss is the sum of the damages in all the flooded parcels. The data involved in this process are multifarious and difficult to establish and maintain especially in the developing countries that suffer most often from the flood hazard. A grid-based GIS approach to regional flood damage assessment is proposed in this paper. Aggregated census data that are relatively available were used instead of the data at parcel level. An algorithm was proposed to disaggregated these aggregated census data into spatially …

Information System For Environmental Technologies, Maria Del Carmen Gomez Hernandez

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) play an important role in environmental management solutions, and they are being used with increasing frequency in environmental studies. The use of GIS technology in environmental studies provides a better way to manage, analyze, display and share the information. In this thesis, I automated a process for constructing GIS maps of odor complaints and inspections that have been used to study odor complaints in the vicinity of three landfills in Jefferson Parish. I provided an application that integrates daily environmental observation and monitoring data into a GIS and publishes the resulting maps through the Internet. The …

Mapalester:Powerful, East-To-Use Gis Software Under Development, Brent Hecht

Geography Honors Projects

Many non-profits and K-12 schools would benefit from a GIS, but cannot afford expensvie GIS software. I have worked on developing a new GIS software package aimed at these and other organizations and individuals with small budgets. The software is particularly focused on ease of use and centralization, especially with regard to spaital analysis operations and date retrieval/organization. In the paper, I discuss my progress on the software, as well as the major problems I have encountered in developing it.

Topographic Complexity And Benthic Community Variability Within A Kelp Forest In Monterey Bay, Ca : A Thesis ..., Eric J. Sandoval

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

By understanding species and habitat associations, predictions of species composition can be made about a benthic community based on available habitat. In a kelp forest, topographic complexity can affect an organism, by modifying flow, altering food availability, altering light availability, and provide refuges and barriers that fragment the habitat. There are many qualitative ways to evaluate topographic complexity. Rugosity is a quantitative measure and is defined as the ratio of surface area to planar area. Using habitat maps developed in GIS from multibeam bathymetry data, regions of varying rugosity were mapped in southern Monterey Bay, CA. Associated benthic communities were …

Spatial Distribution Of Land Type In Regression Models Of Pollutant Loading

Journal of Spatial Hydrology

This paper proposes a method to improve landscape-pollution interaction regression models through the inclusion of a variable that describes the spatial distribution of a land type with respect to the pattern of runoff within a drainage catchment. The proposed index is used as an independent variable to enhance the strength, as quantified by R² values, of regression relationships between empirical observations of in-stream pollutant concentrations and land type by considering the spatial distribution of key land-type categories within the sample point’s drainage area. We present an index that adds a new dimension of explanatory power when used in conjunction …

Wealth And Deprivation In The Delta: A Landscape Of Subsidization, Jacqueline Warren Mills

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Mississippi Delta, as defined by the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), is an area of historical and present deprivation. Persistent poverty, lackluster economic development opportunities, and the associated ills of this environment exist alongside large-scale, subsidized agriculture. These federal subsidy payments are criticized for increasing the wealth of corporate enterprises rather than stabilizing the family farmer for whom they were created. This dissertation examines the geography of agristructure, subsidies, and socio-economic characteristics in the Delta with the purpose of identifying spatial relationships among these three variables. Drawing from the Goldschmidt Hypothesis, this research proposes that areas of large-scale agristructure will …

The Diffusion Of Gis In Journalism, Ben S. Wasike

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to determine the likelihood of reporters to adopt Geographical Information Systems and to predict the future of the diffusion of GIS in the journalism industry using the diffusion of innovations theory. The study used two data collection methods: in-depth interviews and a Web survey. The indepth-interviews revealed factors that will influence the diffusion of GIS, including the availability of map data, competition between media agencies, the ease of getting management to buy GIS once its functionality has been demonstrated to them, and the general use of secondary GIS products. The Web survey showed that …

Evaluating Uranium Depth Versus Socio-Economic Statistics For Residential Radon Vulnerability In Warren County, Kentucky, Anthony Iovanna

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Residences in Warren County, Kentucky, are characterized by high levels of residential radon, which is one of the radioactive daughter products of uranium. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), radon exposure causes approximately 22,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States per year. The City of Bowling Green, in Warren County, is underlain by karst, an easily soluble limestone subsurface, which allows radon gas to travel easily through cracks and fissures. Carbonate rocks under Bowling Green are underlain by the Devonian Chattanooga Shale, a low-grade uranium ore and a potential source of radon gas. A digital …

Towards Integration Of Soap-Based Web Services And Ogc Web Services, Shujing Shu

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Over the last several years, the Web Services model of Geographic Information Systems has been rapidly evolved and materialized. In this thesis project, I have reviewed the current status of integrating the general Web Services technology (SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI) and OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) Web services standards in developing distributed GIS computing. The overlap of the web service model and the technology stack between the SOAP-based Web Services and OGC Web Services indicates the feasibility of integration. OGC has named all core general Web Services Technologies (SOAP, WSDL, UDDI) in its envisioned OWS architecture. OGC has also started putting efforts …

Prediction Of Ground Water Vulnerability Using An Integrated Gis-Based Neuro-Fuzzy Techniques

Journal of Spatial Hydrology

There is a need to develop new modeling techniques that assess ground water vulnerability with less expensive data and which are robust when data are uncertain and incomplete. Incorporation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with a modeling approach that is robust has the potential for creating a successful modeling tool. The specific objective of this study was to develop a model using Neuro-fuzzy techniques in a GIS to predict ground water vulnerability. The Neuro-fuzzy model was developed in JAVA using four plausible parameters deemed critical in transporting contaminants in and through the soil profile. These parameters include soil hydrologic group, …

Advanced Digital Terrain Analysis Using Roughness-Dissectivity Parameters In Gis, I-Kuai Hung

Faculty Presentations

The local variation of terrain properties causes profound changes in the biosphere, microclimate, hydrologic cycle, and in the distribution of human activities on this planet. With the dawn of computerized technology, the terrain is represented in a digital form and new methods are needed to effectively describe, evaluate and quantify terrain properties. The purpose of this project is to develop new methods and procedures for terrain analyses within a GIS environment. The focus is to develop tools for capturing the local terrain variability. The selected parameters such as the hypsometric integral (modified Martonne’s index), roughness index, and basic statistical measures …

Hidden Landscapes Of The Ancient Maya: Transect Excavations At Arvin's Landing Southern Belize, Bretton Michael Somers

LSU Master's Theses

Transect excavations at Arvin’s Landing in southern Belize revealed evidence of ancient Maya settlement indiscernible from surface inspection. The synthesis of archaeology and geography in field and laboratory methods and analysis provided the framework for this thesis. This study involves a transect survey with systematic shovel tests. Artifacts were recovered and recorded in the field and analyzed in the LSU archaeology laboratory in Punta Gorda, Belize. The entire survey area was mapped by transit and measurements and coordinates were combined with artifact data in a GIS. Prior research at Arvin’s Landing had revealed a Postclassic mound on the bank of …

Gis Analysis Of The Pre And Post-Diversion Water Balances In Owens Valley, California, Anna Corinne Draa

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Owens Valley, California is located at the western border of both the Basin and Range and Great Basin Provinces. The valley is hydrologically closed; the only outflow for ground and surface waters is evaporation to the atmosphere. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) began diverting water from Owens Valley in 1913 and has steadily increased the amount of water removed from the valley since then; LADWP has always assumed that the hydrologic system as it existed in 1913 was in equilibrium with modern climate. This study develops a geographical information systems (GIS) based model of Owens Valley to …