Geography Commons^™

Crater Detection Via Genetic Search Methods To Reduce Image Features, Joseph Paul Cohen

Graduate Masters Theses

Recent approaches to crater detection have been inspired by face detection's use of gray-scale texture features. Using gray-scale texture features for supervised machine learning crater detection algorithms provides better classification of craters in planetary images than previous methods. When using Haar features it is typical to generate thousands of numerical values from each candidate crater image. This magnitude of image features to extract and consider can spell disaster when the application is an entire planetary surface. One solution is to reduce the number of features extracted and considered in order to increase accuracy as well as speed. Feature subset selection …

Studying Soil Moisture And Land-To-Water Carbon Export In Urbanized Coastal Areas Using Remotely Sensed Data And A Regional Hydro-Ecological Model, Yun Yang

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The main objective of this research was to study the flux of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from a terrestrial urbanized watershed to an estuarine system using a process-based regional hydro-ecological model and remotely sensed data.

While DOC is an important component of the global carbon cycle, the link of the variations in terrestrial carbon storage is still poorly understood. Soil moisture is a key factor that influences the amount of available water for vegetation growth and the decomposition rate of organic matter in the soil and thus contributes to the amount of DOC in the soil at the land-water boundary. …

Techniques For The Visualization Of Positional Geospatial Uncertainty, Brent A. Barré

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Geospatial data almost always contains some amount of uncertainty due to inaccuracies in its acquisition and transformation. While the data is commonly visualized (e.g. on digital maps), there are unanswered needs for visualizing uncertainty along with it. Most research on effectively doing this addresses uncertainty in data values at geospatial positions, e.g. water depth, human population, or land-cover classification. Uncertainty in the data’s geospatial positions themselves (positional uncertainty) has not been previously focused on in this regard. In this thesis, techniques were created for visualizing positional uncertainty using World Vector Shoreline as an example dataset. The techniques consist of a …

High Peaks Back - Country Trails Plan, Benjamin Godsoe

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The High Peaks Trails Plan is a regional vision for back-country trails in Maine's High Peaks region. The plan identifies challenges and opportunities which face the trails community, and outlines several strategies for trails groups to move forward together to overcome mutual challenges.

Situational Awareness/Triage Tool For Use In A Chemical, Biological, Radiological Nuclear Explosive (Cbrne) Environment, John N. Scarlett, Heather L. Gallup, David A. Smith

AFIT Patents

A method of managing patient care and emergency response following a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear Explosive (CBRNE) attack and maintaining compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The method including identifying each patient with a unique patient identifier, the identifier based upon the geospatial location of the patient, the geospatial location including at least the latitude and longitude of the patient when first treated, the unique patient identifier being part of patient data. Providing a collection point of patient data to form a patient data database where in the patient location data may be used to …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Global Digital Elevation Model Accuracy Assessment In The Himalaya, Nepal, Luke G. Miles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are digital representations of surface topography or terrain. Collection of DEM data can be done directly through surveying and taking ground control point (GCP) data in the field or indirectly with remote sensing using a variety of techniques. The accuracies of DEM data can be problematic, especially in rugged terrain or when differing data acquisition techniques are combined. For the present study, ground data were taken in various protected areas in the mountainous regions of Nepal. Elevation, slope, and aspect were measured at nearly 2000 locations. These ground data were imported into a Geographic Information System …

Eastern Deciduous Forest Phenology And Vegetative Vigor Trends From 2000 To 2013, Mammoth Cave National Park, Ky, Sean Taylor Hutchison

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Global climate change is predicted to affect environmental systems at the midlatitudes, but the scope, severity, and outcomes of these impacts are yet to be fully understood. This study focuses on the implications of short-term climate variability for forests in central Kentucky. Using a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) calculated from MODerate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument data, the photosynthetic activity of vegetation at Mammoth Cave National Park (MACA) is tracked from 2000 to 2013. Three methods were employed to examine the changes and climate influences in vegetation over the study period: 1) aggregating the NDVI of the Park by year …

Bedrock Geological Map Of The Rockhouse Quadrangle, Carroll And Madison Counties, Arkansas, Douglas Eben Jones

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A digital geologic map of the Rockhouse quadrangle, Carroll and Madison counties, Arkansas, was created on a 1:24,000 scale using ArcMap 10 and Photoshop CS4. The data obtained in the field are digitized onto the United States Geological Survey (USGS) digital raster graphic (DRG) of the Rockhouse quadrangle. The geology in the Rockhouse quadrangle consist entirely of sedimentary rocks that are Paleozoic ranging from Lower Ordovician to Mississippian in age. The Ordovician System is represented by the Cotter, Powell, Everton, and St. Peter Formations. The Cotter and Powell are the prominent bluff forming units throughout the quadrangle and along the …

Temperature Trends And Urban Heat Island Intensity Mapping Of The Las Vegas Valley, Adam Leland Black

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Modified urban climate regions that are warmer than rural areas at night are referred to as Urban Heat Islands or UHI. Islands of warmer air over a city can be 12 degrees Celsius greater than the surrounding cooler air. The exponential growth in Las Vegas for the last two decades provides an opportunity to detect gradual temperature changes influenced by an increasing presence of urban materials. This thesis compares ground based thermometric observations and satellite based remote sensing temperature observations to identify temperature trends and UHI areas caused by urban development.

Analysis of temperature trends between 2000 and 2010 at …

The Imperative Of Conserving California's Foothill Oak Woodlands, Lauren Phillips

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

For Logs, For Traditional Purposes And For Food: Identification Of Multiple-Use Plant Species Of Northern Amazonia And An Assessment Of Factors Associated With Their Distribution, Anthony Ravindra Cummings

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines the multiplicity of uses associated with tree and palm species of the Rupununi, Southern Guyana and the factors associated with their distribution. As tropical forests continue to decline the most significant response has been to understand the implications for the carbon cycle, with the impacts on forest dwelling peoples and wildlife, inadequately addressed. Multiple-use plants, individual species which at their most critical level provide food for wildlife, non-timber forest products and are commercially logged, provide a suitable lens for appreciating additional ecosystem services that may be compromised as tropical forests decline. I completed a plant inventory in …

Mapping Vegetation Productivity Dynamics And Degradation Trends Over East Africa Using A Decade Of Medium Resolution Modis Time-Series Data, Tobias Landmann, Olena Dubovyk

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

This paper aims to characterize spatial and temporal vegetation productivity trends that could be related to land degradation in East Africa. A decade of AQUA/TERRA-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite observations on vegetation chlorophyll activity, or Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) data, and 25-km rainfall data from the TRMM passive radar instrument were used for the same observation period of 2000-2011. Linear trends in land cover based Rain Use Efficiencies (RUE) corrected NDVI and cumulative differences of RUE between consecutive years from 2000 to 2011 (that is amplitudes) were derived and investigated for their robustness. The trend maps were overlaid …

Imls Place Grant: Campus Journal Press Release, Place Project Group

PLACE Project

Campus Journal press release describing the PLACE (Position-based Location Archive Coordinate Explorer) project that is funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The University of New Hampshire (UNH) library partnered with the UNH Earth Systems Research Center to develop a geospatial interface that is searchable by geospatial coordinates.

Gathering "Wild" Food In The City: Rethinking The Role Of Foraging In Urban Ecosystem Planning And Management, Rebecca J. Mclain, Patrick T. Hurley, Marla R. Emery, Melissa R. Poe

Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Recent “green” planning initiatives envision food production, including urban agriculture and livestock production, as desirable elements of sustainable cities. We use an integrated urban political ecology and human–plant geographies framework to explore how foraging for “wild” foods in cities, a subversive practice that challenges prevailing views about the roles of humans in urban green spaces, has potential to also support sustainability goals. Drawing on research from Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle, we show that foraging is a vibrant and ongoing practice among diverse urban residents in the USA. At the same time, as reflected in regulations, planning practices, …

Unh Library Imls Place Grant News Announcement, Place Project Group

PLACE Project

UNH Library Website News announcement about the IMLS Grant for PLACE, November 7, 2014.

The Western Kentucky University Crumps Cave Research & Education Preserve, Chris Groves, Jason Polk, Ben Miller, Pat Kambesis, Carl Bolster, Sean Vanderhoff, Beth Tyrie

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Crumps Cave is located about one kilometer northeast of Smiths Grove, Kentucky (Figures 1, 2, and 3). The only known entrance was purchased by Western Kentucky University (WKU) in 2009 through a grant from the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and the cave is managed as the focal point of a research and education preserve to study a wide range of environmental conditions and dynamics, and their interactions, using high-resolution electronic monitoring along with geochemical sampling, analysis and modeling. Crews from WKU’s Hoffman Environmental Research Institute visit the cave weekly for sampling, data downloading, and equipment maintenance, with a major …

Engaging Stakeholders In Ecosystem Service Assessment Under Climate Change And Urban Development Scenarios, Heejun Chang, David E. Ervin, Wes Hoyer, Mike Psaris, Ken Lyons, Emily D. Dietrich, Samantha Hamlin, John Lambrinos, Tammy Winfield, Bobby Cochran

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation focuses on how scientists can engage stakeholders in ecosystem service assessment.

Getting Salmon Back In Salmon Creek: Systematizing Comparative Water Quality Analysis For Targeted Restoration, Zbigniew J. Grabowski, Sarah Janjua, Michael Swamer, Heejun Chang, Eric Watson

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation focuses on water quality restoration efforts in Salmon Creek

Moving Forward: Next Steps For Confronting Increased Flood Risks, Molly Mitchell

October 2, 2013: Quantifying Risks and Moving Forward

No abstract provided.

Imls Place Grant: Press Release Abstract 1, Place Project Group

PLACE Project

Early press release describing the PLACE (Position-based Location Archive Coordinate Explorer) project that is funded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The University of New Hampshire (UNH) library partnered with the UNH Earth Systems Research Center to develop a geospatial interface that is searchable by geospatial coordinates.

Plant Community Composition And Structure Monitoring In Scotts Bluff National Monument, 2013 Annual Report, Isabel Ashton, Michael Prowatzke

United States National Park Service: Publications

Introduction

During the last century, much of the prairie within the Northern Great Plains has been plowed for cropland, planted with non-natives to maximize livestock production, or otherwise developed, making it one of the most threatened ecosystems in the United States. Within Nebraska, greater than 77% of the area of native mixed grass prairie has been lost since European settlement (Samson and Knopf 1994). The National Park Service (NPS) plays an important role in preserving and restoring some of the last pieces of intact prairies within its boundaries. The stewardship goal of the NPS is to “preserve ecological integrity and …

Riga: A Rich Internet Geospatial Analytics Application For Area-Based Data, Tin Seong Kam

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this information age, more and more public statistical data such as population census, household living, local economy and business establishment are distributed over the internet within the framework of spatial data infrastructure. By and large, these data are organized geographically such as region, province as well as district. Usually, they are published in the form of digital maps over the internet as simple points, lines and polygons markers limited or no analytical function available to transform these data into useful information. To meet the analytical needs of casual public data users, we contribute RIGA, a rich internet geospatial analytics …

The Myths Of G-Tech For Business Decision Making, Tin Seong Kam

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

More than 80% of organisation data are location related - the locations where transactions are done, where retailers are found, and of customers who buy their products. Since the early 2005, there has been an increasing interest among the business community to use geospatial technology to enhance decision making process at both strategic and operational levels. Millions of dollars and man-hours have been invested into driving their geo-technology development and implementation. The use of geospatial technology in business, however, tends to confine to simple mapping. Many of these failures are the victims of misperception. Some of the perpetrators are practitioners. …

Evaluation Of Current Community-Based Monitoring Efforts And Recommendations For Developing A Cohesive Network Of Support For Monitoring Long Island Sound Embayments., Jamie M.P. Vaudrey, Jamie Alonzo, Adrienne Esposito, Curt Johnson, Maureen Dolan Murphy, Charles Yarish

Department of Marine Sciences

This project focuses on Long Island Sound embayments and represents an exploration of the potential for coordination among community-based water quality monitoring groups, and coordination between community-based groups and data end users, including scientists and managers. Community-based monitoring groups represent a potential valuable source of water quality information. The development of standardized protocols, training methods and reporting procedures will serve to provide end users with the confidence necessary to utilize the data collected as part of community-based monitoring programs. Both groups of stakeholders stand to benefit from this type of coordination with the ultimate benefit being a healthier, better understood …

Agenda: Arizona V. California At 50: The Legacy And Future Of Governance, Reserved Rights, And Water Transfers, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

Arizona v. California at 50: The Legacy and Future of Governance, Reserved Rights, and Water Transfers (Martz Summer Conference, August 15-16)

The Colorado River is an economic, environmental and cultural lifeline of the southwestern United States, and the allocation of its scarce waters are a source of ongoing controversy. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Arizona v. California. While the case was an important landmark in the still-evolving relationship between these two Lower Basin states, it remains most relevant today by the way in which it clarified federal rights and responsibilities. This is especially true in the areas of federal (including tribal) reserved rights, the role of the Interior Secretary in Lower Basin water …

A Paleoenvironmental Investigation Of Eolian Influx In Lacustrine Sediments Of The Southern Rocky Mountain Region, Rebecca L. Brice

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Potential indications of long-term trends in paleoclimate, specifically winds, in the Southern Rocky Mountain region of the United States were tested using lacustrine sediment from South Blue Lake in the Wet Mountains of Colorado. This study builds upon existing eolian and lacustrine research, and investigates paleowind in a location not yet studied in this manner. Variability in sediment laminae, particle size, and mineralogy show similar patterns during the mid-Holocene warm period (ca. 5500 cal. yr BP - ca. 6000 cal. yr BP). These patterns indicate a warmer, drier, windier period that is contrasted by a less variable period in the …

The Use Of The Ostracode Cyprideis Americana (Sharpe) As A Proxy For Salinity In Bahamian Lake Systems, Rachel E. Bowles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Ostracodes, bi-valved crustaceans, are potentially excellent proxies for salinity.They are abundant, react to changes in salinity, and secrete low-magnesium calcite shells that preserve information about their host water chemistry. Changes in valve trace element concentration, stable isotope composition, and sieve pore shape values have been linked to changes in salinity. This study analyzed the response of the euryhaline ostracode, Cyprideis americana, to salinity in six lakes from two Bahamian islands across two seasons. The purpose of this work was to determine which compositional and morphological variables in C. americana are the most useful for paleosalinity reconstructions.Ostracode and water samples were …

Study Of Feasability For Phase Difference Extraction Using Software Defined Radio In Location Analysis, Paul Miller

Masters Theses

Here is a method for using the phase of an HF radio signal for use in location analysis. This computation is implemented in a software defined radio processing block in the GNU Radio environment. The signals analyzed are received by an Ettus Research USRP SDR. We created a phase analysis system called WMU Rootsync, which compares the roots of a received signal to the roots of a generated reference signal for the phase analysis. This research describes a prototype method for phase analysis only. Future projects may use these ideas differently than presented here. We intend for future projects to …

Introduction To Gis Using Open Source Software, 4th Ed, Frank Donnelly

Open Educational Resources

This tutorial was created to accompany the GIS Practicum, a day-long workshop offered by the Newman Library at Baruch College CUNY that introduces participants to geographic information systems (GIS) using the open source software QGIS. The practicum introduces GIS as a concept for envisioning information and as a tool for conducting geographic analyses and creating maps. Participants learn how to navigate a GIS interface, how to prepare layers and conduct a basic geographic analysis, and how to create thematic maps. This tutorial was written using QGIS version 1.8 "Lisboa", a cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux) desktop GIS software package.