Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

No More Hidden Secrets: Human Rights Violations And Remote Sensing, Tommy O'Connell, Stephen Young

Stephen Young

Aim: This study used both high resolution and medium resolution satellite imagery to test three semi-automated remote sensing methods, in an attempt to identify useful tools to support eye-witness testimony and reports on human rights violations. As huts are routinely burned down during attacks on a village, particularly in Sudan, the number of huts and villages burned can be used to corroborate on-the-ground reports.

Methods: Three remote sensing methods (Supervised Classification, Change Detection, and Feature Extraction) were performed on imagery from both before the attacks in February 2006 and after the attacks to examine any useful trends that could be …

Towards Querying And Visualization Of Large Spatio-Temporal Databases, Sugam Sharma

Sugam Sharma

In any database model, data analysis can be eased by extracting a smaller set of the data of interest, called subset, from the mammoth original dataset. Thus, a subset helps enhance the performance of a system by avoiding the iteration through the huge parental data in further analysis. A subset, its specification, or the formal process for its extraction can be complex. In the database community, subsets are extracted through SQL-like queries and through visualization in the Geographic Information System (GIS) community. Both are iterative processes. An SQL query can be a composition of subqueries. Each subquery can be seen …

Study Of Potential Risk Of Dengue Disease Outbreak In Sri Lanka Using Gis And Statistical Modelling, Sumith Pathirana, Masato Kawabata, Rohitha Goonatilake

Adjunct Associate Professor Sumith Pathirana

The increasing incidence of dengue fever has become a priority health issue for Sri Lanka. Recent dengue outbreaks in Sri Lanka show two trends: yearly increase of total number of dengue incidence and increasing dengue outbreaks outside the endemic urbanised areas in the south and the west. Identification of factors responsible for dengue outbreaks and the mapping of potential risk areas in Sri Lanka are long overdue. This study examines the association between weekly rainfall patterns and dengue outbreaks in the western province between 2000 and 2004. Methods: The study develops a model to quantitatively assess the relationship between rainfall …

Field Validation Of Dem And Gis Derived Longitudinal Stream Profiles, Kathryn Schroeder, Eric Peterson, Toby Dogwiler

Eric Wade Peterson

Longitudinal stream profiles provide valuable information concerning geomorphic features and energy states in a stream. Traditionally, stream profiles have been generated by field surveying or topographic map analysis. The continued growth of digital data and Geographic Information Systems (GISs) provide another method by which to achieve stream profile generation. This work examines the effectiveness of digital data, digital elevation models (DEM), and GIS to construct stream profiles. To determine the most effective and accurate data for profile generation, profiles were created using 1-meter (1-m) and 3-meter (3-m) DEMs developed from LiDAR data. Additionally, stream profiles were created from unfilled DEMs …

An Assessment Of South China Tiger Reintroduction Potential In Hupingshan And Houhe National Nature Reserves, China, Yiyuan Qin, Philip J. Nyhus, Courtney L. Larson, Charles J.W. Carroll, Jeff Muntifering, Thomas D. Dahmer, Lu Jun, Ronald L. Tilson

Philip J. Nyhus

Human-caused biodiversity loss is a global problem, large carnivores are particularly threatened, and the tiger (Panthera tigris) is among the world’s most endangered large carnivores. The South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) is the most critically endangered tiger subspecies and is considered functionally extinct in the wild. The government of China has expressed its intent to reintroduce a small population of South China tigers into a portion of their historic range as part of a larger goal to recover wild tiger populations in China. This would be the world’s first major tiger reintroduction program. A free-ranging population of 15–20 tigers …

Use Of Geographical Information Systems To Identify Counties In Georgia With High Risk For Childhood Lead Poisoning, R. Christopher Rustin, Christy Kuriatnyk, Byron Lobsinger, Simone Charles

R. Christopher Rustin

Landfills – Territorial Issues Of Cities From North-East Region, Romania, Florin C. Mihai, Pavel Ichim

Florin C MIHAI

Landfilling prevails in waste management options in Romania like others new EU members, being contrary to the concept of waste hierarchy promoted in recent years by EC. Waste disposal is done usually in non-compliant landfills and Government established a program to close these sites. This paper aims to analyse the transition from traditional waste management systems to an integrated system at national, regional and local scale. Assessment of landfills location based on buffer analysis (using GIS techniques) is made according to the proximity of five critical factors (CF) such as: residential area, industry & commercial units, agricultural lands, rivers & …

Assessing The Recent (1834-2002) Morphological Evolution Of A Rapidly Prograding Delta Within A Gis Framework: Macquarie Rivulet Delta, Lake Illawarra, New South Wales, Marjetta Puotinen, Brian Jones, Carl Hopley

B. G. Jones

No abstract provided.

Morphological Changes, Assessed Within A Gis Framework, In The Prograding Macquarie Rivulet Delta, New South Wales, Carl Hopley, Brian Jones, Marjetta Puotinen

B. G. Jones

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Geographic Information Science Using Arcgis V10, Charles M. Schweik, Bethany Bradley, Richard Smith

Charles M. Schweik

No abstract provided.

Approaching Cave Level Identification With Gis: A Case Study Of Carter Caves, Brianne Jacoby, Eric Wade Peterson, John C. Kostelnick, Toby J. Dogwiler

Eric Wade Peterson

Cave passages that are found at similar elevations are grouped together and called levels. The current understanding is that passages within a level are speleogenetically linked to a common static baselevel or stratigraphic control. Cave levels have provided an interpretive framework for deciphering cave development, landscape evolution, and climatic changes. Cosmogenic dating has been successfully used to interpret levels in Mammoth Cave and the Cumberland Plateau; however, this technique is expensive and there are limited funding resources available. Geographic information systems may be used as preliminary procedures to identify cave levels and constrain the timing of level development. A GIS …

Using Remote Sensing Data To Improve Rice Production In Kutigi, Niger State, Nigeria, Jibril Musa Phd, M B. Yunusa

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

This research work looked in the used of Remote Sensing to improve Agricultural production in Kutigi, Niger State. The aim of the study is to use remote sensing to improve rice farming activities in Kutigi, Niger State. It is very important to identify such methods to improve Agricultural production because experts are always interested in new researches and findings to better the standard of living in any environment. In view of this, Remotely-sensed data could be used or employed to elevate most of these agricultural problems in Kutigi through the following objectives: Using Landsat imagery to assess the present landuse …

E-Government Challenge In Disaster Evacuation Response: The Role Of Rfid Technology In Building Safe And Secure Local Communities, A. Chatfield, S. F. Wamba, T. Hirokazu

Dr Akemi Chatfield

While geographic information systems (GIS) can provide information on the static locations of critical infrastructure and evacuation routes, they do not provide the dynamically changing locations of things and people on the move. In contrast, radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless network technology can automatically identify and track the movement of assets (i.e., fire engines, ambulances, and rescue workers) and vulnerable citizens on the move (i.e., the elderly and the disabled), and hence providing local governments and communities with real-time information and enhanced decision-making capabilities, during chaotic disaster response operations (i.e., evacuation). Although the potential high impact and strategic value of …

A Pragmatic Gis-Oriented Ontology For Location Based Services, Jun Shen, Aneesh Krishna, Shuai Yuan, Ke Cai, Yuemin Qin

Dr Jun Shen

With advances in automatic position sensing and wireless connectivity, location-based services (LBS) are rapidly developing, particularly in fields of geographic, tourism and logistic information systems. Currently, Web service has been viewed as one of most significant innovations in business industry, and designed on demand to provide spatial related information for LBS consumption. However, the traditional Web Service Description Language (WSDL) cannot meet those requirements, as WSDL is not able to support semantic content and information. In recent years, Ontology came up with an effective approach to enhance service description, automated discovery, dynamic composition, enactment, and other tasks such as managing …

Nearest Neighbor Methods Applied To Dune Field Organization: The Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Kane County, Utah, Usa, David Wilkins, Richard Ford

David E. Wilkins

Dune fields have recently come to be recognized as self-organizing systems that can be seen progressing from states of disorganization or randomness to uniformity. Dune systems can be highly sensitive to changes in factors, such as climate and sediment transport, that determine system state. Changes in climate and sediment state can take time to work their way through a dune system; this, in turn, leads to spatial heterogeneity in dune field organization. Using the Coral Pink Sand Dunes in southern Utah as a model, this study tests nearest neighbor analysis adapted as a method to objectively identify and characterize differences …

Introduction To Geographic Science Using Arcgis V10, Bethany Bradley, Charles M. Schweik

Charles M. Schweik

This is a lab exercise manual with extra supplemental exercises for use in an introductory course in GIS for students in environmental conservation programs or studying public policy public administration. The emphasis is on environmental management/analysis-related applications. Lab exercises require the ESRI ArcGIS v10 software. Data for all labs and exercises are available on this site as supplementary material in .zip format.

Preliminary Lineament Analysis Within The Vicinity Of Kainji Dam, Nigeria Using Ers-1 Sar Image, M S. Kolawole, E G. Ameh, A Daniel

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Various affordable, operational technologies such as remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can significantly contribute to improved efficiency. The main focus of the project has been directed to the use of remote sensing to gain geological and geohazard information. This study examines the use of Remote Sensing (RS) technology in geological studies of Kainji area. Radar SAR images were used to classify the various geological fractures found in the area located in the Northern part of Nigeria. A wide variety of digital image processing techniques were applied such as the Principal Components (PC) analysis and ratioing. ERS-1 SAR image that …

Creating A Soil Data Base In A Reconnaissance Soil Fertility Ssstudy Of An Encroached Forest Reserve In Northern Nigeria For A Reforestation Programme, F O. Adekayode, Dr. Dipo Theophilus Akomolafe Mbcs, Mncs, Mcpn,

Dr. Dipo Theophilus Akomolafe MBCS, MNCS, MCPN,

The reconnaissance soil fertility study of 10,000 ha partly encroached forest reserve located between latitude 11°47’N and 11°56’N and longitude 4°22’E and 4°32’E in Northern Nigeria was conducted in 2009 to generate a soil fertility data base of the reserve. The tracking of the forest reserve boundary was done using a Garmin 72 model global positioning system (GPS) receiver. The geographic coordinates were input into the computer to generate a digital map of the forest reserve. The entire forest reserve was divided into grids to guide in the location for soil sampling using the GPS/Geographic Information System (GIS) geospatial technique. …

Identifying The Stream Erosion Potential Of Cave Levels In Carter Cave State Resort Park, Kentucky, Usa, Eric Peterson, Brianne Jacoby, Toby Dogwiler

Eric Wade Peterson

Cave levels, passages found at similar elevations and formed during the same constant stream base level event, reveal information about paleoclimates and karst geomorphology. The investigation presented here examines how Stream Power Index (SPI) relates to cave levels. The study area, Carter Caves State Resort Park (CCSRP), is a fluviokarst system in northeastern Kentucky containing multiple cave levels. SPI deter-mines the erosive power overland flow based on the assumption that flow accumulation and slope are proportional to potential for sediment entrainment. Part of this digital terrain analysis requires the creation of a flow accumulation raster from a digital elevation model …

Estimating The Timing Of Cave Level Development With Gis, Brianne Jacoby, Eric Peterson, Toby Dogwiler, John Kostelnicj

Eric Wade Peterson

Identifying cave levels provides insight into cave development and climatic changes that have affected a karst system over time. Cosmogenic dating has been used to interpret levels in Mammoth Cave and the Cumberland Plateau. This absolute dating technique has proven successful in determining cave paleoclimates and regional geomorphic history, but is expensive. The study presented here is a preliminary method to cosmogenic dating that can outline a region’s speleogenesis using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and published denudation rates. The Carter Cave system in northeastern Kentucky is within the karst landscape found along the western edge of the Appalachians and …

Gis And Paleoanthropology: Incorporating New Approaches From The Geospatial Sciences In The Analysis Of Primate And Human Evolution, Robert L. Anemone, Glenn C. Conroy, Charles W. Emerson

Robert L. Anemone

The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a welcome trend for the study of primate and human evolution. The use of remote sensing (RS) imagery and geographic information systems (GIS) allows vertebrate paleontologists, paleoanthropologists, and functional morphologists to study fossil localities, landscapes, and individual specimens in new and innovative ways that recognize and analyze the spatial nature of much paleoanthropological data. Whether one is interested in locating and mapping fossiliferous rock units in the field, creating a searchable and georeferenced database to catalog fossil localities and specimens, or studying the functional morphology of fossil …

Optimization Of Railway System Through The Application Of Advanced Technologies, Praveen Jha Dr

Praveen Jha Dr

Railway System can be made truly automated, modern, safe, profitable and timely by providing an integrated solution to the loads of problems in the Railway System in most scientific, effective and inexpensive manner through the application of state-of-art geo-spatial programs - Railways Automatic Tracking Program (RATP) and Program for Optimization and Automation of Railway System (POARS) - developed by the author for addressing the pertinent issues of safety and optimization of railway operations. This could put in place the Optimized Railway System (ORS) that could automatically control all the systems of railways. Real time tracking of trains could be done …

Cleaning Of Rivers Through The Application Of Advanced Technologies, Praveen Jha Dr

Praveen Jha Dr

Despite immense drain on our scarce resources, rivers remain polluted. Waste disposal into rivers on top of meager to absent infrastructural facilities, including treatment facilities, are the most important drivers of pollution. Unscientific development paradigm devoid of adequate environmental safeguards and failure of forestry sector to cope up with the challenge has led to the deteriorated condition of green cover and water. Several state-of-art geo-spatial programs developed by the author would be applied for generating optimum state-of-art plan. Three state-of-art geo-spatial programs - Multi-Algorithm Automation Program (MAAP), Data Automatic Modification Program (DAMP) and Multi-Stage Simulation Program (MUSSIP) - developed primarily …

E-Government Challenge In Disaster Evacuation Response: The Role Of Rfid Technology In Building Safe And Secure Local Communities, A. Chatfield, S. F. Wamba, T. Hirokazu

Dr Samuel Fosso Wamba

While geographic information systems (GIS) can provide information on the static locations of critical infrastructure and evacuation routes, they do not provide the dynamically changing locations of things and people on the move. In contrast, radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless network technology can automatically identify and track the movement of assets (i.e., fire engines, ambulances, and rescue workers) and vulnerable citizens on the move (i.e., the elderly and the disabled), and hence providing local governments and communities with real-time information and enhanced decision-making capabilities, during chaotic disaster response operations (i.e., evacuation). Although the potential high impact and strategic value of …

Estimation Of The Area Of Sealed Soil Using Gis Technology And Remote Sensing, Stanisław Białousz, Przemysław Kupidura

Przemysław Kupidura

Soil sealing can be defined as the destruction or covering of soil by buildings, constructions and artificial layers completely or partly impermeable (asphalt, concrete, etc.) It is the most intense form of land consumption and is essentially an irreversible process. Soil is sealed when agricultural or other biologically land is taken into the built environment. It is also a continuing process within existing urban areas, especially where urban population and the density of built structures is increasing and residual inner-city green zones are reduced. The paper concerns the methodology for an estimation of the area of sealed soil using GIS …

Investigating Urban Sprawl Using Remote Sensing And Gis Technology, Przemysław Kupidura

Przemysław Kupidura

The paper concerns the analysis of urban sprawl. The presented example of Lomianki – the municipality situated in the neighbourhood of Warsaw – capital city of Poland, shows dynamic changes of rural-urban fringe, called sub-urbanization. This kind of process is characterized by incoherence of spatial structure, disproportions between development of built-up areas and transport network, underdevelopment of service built-up areas and public spaces and mixing of urban and rural structures. Such a dynamic development leads also to an increasing of area of sealed (impermeable) zones, what is very important due to water economics. The multi-temporal dataset of aerial and satellite …

Drinking Water Optimum Supply System (Dwoss) Through The Application Of Advanced Technologies, Praveen Jha Dr

Praveen Jha Dr

Paradigm shift in the approach for planning regarding supply of drinking water is mandatory since the current DPRs are unscientific and expensive. Planning for an optimum Drinking Water Supply System (ODWSS) that includes - optimization of Water Source Point (WSP), Water Treatment System (WTS), Water Storage Systems (WSSs), Water Distribution Points (WDP) and Water Supply Network (WSN); scientific estimation of long term demand of drinking water; minimization of physical and financial resources required for the plan implementation; water conservation and sanitation – could be done by applying several state-of-art geo-spatial programs developed by the author. Three programs - Multi-Algorithm Automation …

An Evaluation Of The Effect Of Land Use/Cover Change On The Surface Temperature Of Lokoja Town, Nigeria, Fanan Ujoh Mr, Olarewaju O. Ifatimehin Mr, John Y. Magaji Dr

Dr. Fanan Ujoh

This research integrated remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identified land use/cover types in Lokoja, including their temporal transformation and association with surface temperatures from the LandSat TM and LandSat ETM imageries of 1987 and 2001 respectively. As the built-up area increased in size (2667.6%) so was the surface temperature (6.48oC), vacant land (872%: 9.65oC), cultivated land (104.4%: 1.2oC) and water bodies (64.3%:0.94oC) while vegetation cover increased by 2.44oC while its area extent decreased (316.7%). These changes were responsible for the rise in the mean surface temperature from 38.39oC in 1987 to 42.61oC in 2001, indicating a 4.22oC …

Fundamentals For Using Geographic Information Science To Measure The Effectiveness Of Land Conservation Projects, Robert G. Pontius Jr., Shaily Menon, Joseph Duncan, Shalini Gupta

Shaily Menon

Some humans spend a tremendous amount of effort to change landscapes from a “natural” state to a “developed” state for a variety of desirable economic uses, such as urban, agriculture, transportation, and mining. Others spend a tremendous amount of effort to prevent such development in order to conserve the landscapes for a variety of important environmental uses, such as biodiversity maintenance, carbon storage, water filtration, and landslide prevention. It would be efficient in theory if a society were to focus its development efforts at locations that give the largest economic utility per area developed, and to focus its conservation efforts …

Optimization Of Check Dams Through The Application Of Advanced Technologies, Praveen Jha Dr

Praveen Jha Dr

Scientific planning for conserving water and while minimizing the financial resources requirement for its implementation could be done through application of advanced technological programs developed by the author. Three state-of-art geo-spatial programs - Multi-Algorithm Automation Program (MAAP), Water Analysis Program (WAP) and Check Dam Optimization Program (CDOP) - would be used. MAAP produces land use land cover (lulc) map primarily by undertaking Digital Image Processing (DIP) of satellite data in an automated fashion using Artificial Intelligence (AI). WAP, a hydrology modeling program, would be used to generate information related to watershed, water flow, water accumulation etc. CDOP, coupled with MAAP …