Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Utilizing Inventory Data And Public Opinion To Develop An Urban Tree Management Plan For Oak Ridge, Tn, Thomas E. Jennings

Masters Theses

Proper management by a trained urban forester is essential for the health of urban trees, due to the adverse growing conditions they face. Unfortunately, many cities do not have the luxury of employing an urban forester for various reasons, which is the case for the City of Oak Ridge, TN. This study utilized inventory data of the street trees, park trees, and trees surrounding the municipal complexes in Oak Ridge, as well as evaluated park visitor satisfaction in three of the city parks through the use of a survey to aid in the development of an urban tree management plan. …

Economic And Environmental Optimization In The Supply Of Switchgrass In Tennessee, Jia Zhong

Masters Theses

The low efficiency of collection, storage and transportation in the switchgrass supply chain has hindered the commercialization of a switchgrass-based biofuel industry, even given its ecological and environmental advantages in carbon sequestrate, soil quality, water use, and pollution pressure. Thus, designing a switchgrass-based supply chain balancing both environmental and economic performance is important to expedite the development of the cellulosic biofuel industry to meet the national energy plan.

The objectives of this study are to 1) determine economic cost and multiple environmental outcomes in feedstock supply chains and 2) identify the relation between the economic and environmental performances. The first …

Time Series Analysis Of Modis Ndvi Data With Cloudy Pixels: Frequency-Domain And Sizer Analyses Of Vegetation Change In Western Rwanda, Ephraim Robert Love

Masters Theses

Remote sensing is a valuable source of data for the study of human ecology in rural areas. In this thesis, I attempt to analyze the presence of a long-term trend indicative of post-resettlement adaptation in the vegetation signals of Western Rwanda. There is a dearth of research utilizing medium resolution imagery to study difficult environments, such as tropical-montane regions, where complex topography and cloud cover diminish image accuracy. I attempt to add to the extant literature on frequency-domain smoothing methods as well as the literature on human-environment interaction in tropical-montane regions by applying a harmonic filtering and smoothing algorithm to …