Geography Commons^™

Monitoring Ecosystem Dynamics In An Arctic Tundra Ecosystem Using Hyperspectral Reflectance And A Robotic Tram System, Santonu Goswami

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Global change, which includes climate change and the impacts of human disturbance, is altering the provision and sustainability of ecosystem goods and services. These changes have the capacity to initiate cascading affects and complex feedbacks through physical, biological and human subsystems and interactions between them. Understanding the future state of the earth system requires improved knowledge of ecosystem dynamics and long term observations of how these are being impacted by global change. Improving remote sensing methods is essential for such advancement because satellite remote sensing is the only means by which landscape to continental-scale change can be observed.

The Arctic …

An Integrated Geographic Information Systems (Igis) Analysis And Definition Of The Tectonic Framework Of Northern Mexico, Carlos Manuel Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Crustal rupture structures reactivated in the course of the tectonic history of northern Mexico are the surface expressions of planes of weakness, in the form of simple or composite rectilinear features or slightly curved, defined as lineaments. Unless otherwise defined as strike-slip faults, lineaments are part of parallel and sub-parallel oblique convergent or oblique divergent tectonic zones cross cutting the Sierra Madre Occidental and northern Mexico, in a NW trend. These shear zones are the response to the oblique subduction of the Farallon plate beneath North America.

Kinematic analysis of five selected sites in northern Mexico, three basins and two …

Upscaling Carbon Fluxes Over The Great Plains Grasslands: Sinks And Sources, Li Zhang, Bruce K. Wylie, Lei Ji, Tagir G. Gilmanov, Larry L. Tieszen, Daniel M. Howard

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Previous studies suggested that the grasslands may be carbon sinks or near equilibrium, and they often shift between carbon sources in drought years and carbon sinks in other years. It is important to understand the responses of net ecosystem production (NEP) to various climatic conditions across the U.S. Great Plains grasslands. Based on 15 grassland flux towers, we developed a piecewise regression model and mapped the grassland NEP at 250 m spatial resolution over the Great Plains from 2000 to 2008. The results showed that the Great Plains was a net sink with an averaged annual NEP of 24 ± …

Spatial And Interannual Variability Of Dissolved Organic Matter In The Kolyma River, East Siberia, Observed Using Satellite Imagery, Claire G. Griffin, Karen E. Frey, John Rogan, Robert M. Holmes

Geography

The Kolyma River basin in northeastern Siberia, the sixth largest river basin draining to the Arctic Ocean, contains vast reserves of carbon in Pleistocene-aged permafrost soils. Permafrost degradation, as a result of climate change, may cause shifts in riverine biogeochemistry as this old source of organic matter is exposed. Satellite remote sensing offers an opportunity to complement and extrapolate field sampling of dissolved organic matter in this expansive and remote region. We develop empirically based algorithms that estimate chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the Kolyma River and its major tributaries in the vicinity of …

Detection Of The Timing And Duration Of Snowmelt In The Hindu Kush-Himalaya Using Quikscat, 2000-2008, Prajjwal K. Panday, Karen E. Frey, Bardan Ghimire

Geography

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region holds the largest mass of ice in Central Asia and is highly vulnerable to global climate change, experiencing significant warming (0.21 ± 0.08 °C/decade) over the past few decades. Accurate monitoring of the timing and duration of snowmelt across the HKH region is important, as this region is expected to experience further warming in response to increased greenhouse gas forcing. Despite the many advantages and applications of satellite-derived radar scatterometer data shown for capturing ice and snow melt dynamics at high latitudes, similar comprehensive freeze/thaw detection studies at lower latitudes (including the HKH region) are …

Radiative Forcing Over The Conterminous United States Due To Contemporary Land Cover Use Change And Sensitivity To Snow And Interannual Albedo Variability, Christoper A. Barnes, David P. Roy

GSCE Faculty Publications

Satellite‐derived land cover land use (LCLU), snow and albedo data, and incoming surface solar radiation reanalysis data were used to study the impact of LCLU change from 1973 to 2000 on surface albedo and radiative forcing for 58 ecoregions covering 69% of the conterminous United States. A net positive surface radiative forcing (i.e., warming) of 0.029 Wm−2 due to LCLU albedo change from 1973 to 2000 was estimated. The forcings for individual ecoregions were similar in magnitude to current global forcing estimates, with the most negative forcing (as low as −0.367 Wm−2) due to the transition to forest and the …

Modeling Acoustic Scattering From The Seabed Using Transport Theory, Jorge Quijano, Lisa M. Zurk

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Radiative Transfer (RT) theory has established itself as an important tool for electromagnetic remote sensing in parallel plane geometries with random distributions of scatterers, and most recently it has also been proposed as a model for the propagation of elastic waves in layered ocean sediments. In this work the capabilities of this model are illustrated, as the RT method is used to predict backscattering strength from laboratory models of random media. The RT model is characterized by its flexibility on accommodating scatterers in a broad variety of sizes, shapes, and acoustic contrast relative to the background media. Additionally, this formulation …

Object Discrimination Using A Multi-Wavelength Photonic Sensor, Kavitha Venkataraayan, Sreten Askraba, Kamal E. Alameh, Clifton L. Smith

International Cyber Resilience conference

A bench prototype photonic-based sensor for object discrimination is described. A combination module, which allows five laser diodes of different wavelengths to overlap and sequentially emit identically-polarised light beams through a common aperture, is presented. The key visible and infrared wavelengths are selected from sample objects spectral signatures. A cylindrical optical quasi-cavity structure is designed to generate 15 laser spots for each laser. The intensity of the reflected light from each spot is detected by a high speed line scan image sensor. Object discrimination is accomplished by calculating the slope values between selected wavelengths in the blue to infrared range.

Developing Tornado Climatology In The Southern Great Plains Per Phases Of Prominent Oceanic Oscillations, Nicholas M. Fillo

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Meteorologists are continually working toward a greater understanding of which atmospheric environments are most conducive for tornado development. This Capstone project analyzed tornado occurrences across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana during the period 1950 through 2009 to determine if any correlation exists between the location and frequency of tornado activity and the phases of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. While it was determined that no phase of any of the oscillations studied was significantly more dominant over the other(s) concerning frequency, this project does identify some spatial shifts in tornado activity depending …

Determining Heritage Oak Tree Susceptibility To Sudden Oak Death Using Gis Risk Analysis, Michelle M. Guzdek

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Sudden Oak Death (SOD), caused by the pathogenic water mold Phytophthora ramorum, has killed hundreds of thousands of oak trees in the California coastal regions, with redwood-tanoak forests being hit the hardest (Shoemaker et al., 2007). The term “sudden oak death” is used to describe the disease, because of how rapidly the pathogen has killed otherwise healthy tanoaks, virtually in a matter of weeks (COMTF 2010). SOD was first reported in California in 1994 and is believed to have originated from infected nursery or ornamental plants, but the source has never been identified (Mascheretti et al. 2008).

Design Of A Comprehensive Geographic Information System For The Administration Of El Camino Real De Los Tejas National Historic Trail, Jeffrey M. Williams

Faculty Publications

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture’s (ATCOFA) Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Laboratory were engaged by the National Park Service (NPS) National Trails System-Intermountain Region to provide GIS services supporting the NPS’s development of a Comprehensive Management Plan for El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail (ELTE). The scope of work was completed under an agreement with the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Research Program at Texas A&M University. ATCOFA assisted the NPS in the coordination of local landowner and other local stakeholder contacts, conducted archival research …

A Differential Absorption Model For Remote Sensing Of Atmospheric Pressure, Shivam J. Shah

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The goal of the project is to develop and test a "model based" radar processing strategy that is compatible with the concept of a "cognitive radar". The basic approach will be to develop a cognitive radar algorithm (genetic algorithm) based on the capabilities of an existing commercially available Software Radio. While the focus of this effort is the development of a candidate approach for genetic algorithm, the longer term goal would be to implement the approach using this software radio technology to provide a low cost radar processor. The proposed technology would use differential absorption radar working at the 50-56 …

Lidar Remote Sensing Variables Predict Breeding Habitat Of A Neotropical Migrant Bird, Scott J. Goetz, Daniel Steinberg, Matthew G. G. Betts, Richard T. Holmes

Dartmouth Scholarship

A topic of recurring interest in ecological research is the degree to which vegetation structure influences the distribution and abundance of species. Here we test the applicability of remote sensing, particularly novel use of waveform lidar measurements, for quantifying the habitat heterogeneity of a contiguous northern hardwoods forest in the northeastern United States. We apply these results to predict the breeding habitat quality, an indicator of reproductive output of a well-studied Neotropical migrant songbird, the Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens). We found that using canopy vertical structure metrics provided unique information for models of habitat quality and spatial patterns of …

Assessing The Efficacy Of Modis Satellite-Derived Start Of Growing Season For Jurisdictional Determination Of East Texas Bottomland Hardwood Wetlands, Karen Malone, Hans Michael Williams, I-Kuai Hung, Daniel Unger

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Crucial to the determination of a jurisdictional wetland is the definition of “growing season”. Satellite imagery is being utilized in other ecological applications, but is lagging in wetland growing season determination. Both cost and temporal limitations historically have restrained use of satellite imagery in assessing the start up of the growing season. Multiple commercial satellites are available that provide high resolution imagery, but the cost are prohibitive for most studies. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) jointly manage the Landsat and the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite programs. Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper …

Design Of A Monocular Multi-Spectral Skin Detection, Melanin Estimation, And False-Alarm Suppression System, Keith R. Peskosky

Theses and Dissertations

A real-time skin detection, false-alarm reduction, and melanin estimation system is designed targeting search and rescue (SAR) with application to special operations for manhunting and human measurement and signatures intelligence. A mathematical model of the system is developed and used to determine how the physical system performs under illumination, target-to-sensor distance, and target-type scenarios. This aspect is important to the SAR community to gain an understanding of the deployability in different operating environments. A multi-spectral approach is developed and consists of two short-wave infrared cameras and two visible cameras. Through an optical chain of lenses, custom designed and fabricated dichroic …

Scampering In The City: Examining The Ecological And Social Viability Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys Ludovicianus) In Denver, Colorado, Lauren K. Morse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The conservation of prairie dogs is highly contested due to the embedded view that they are pests. This research addressed the ecological and social viability of prairie dog colonies in Denver, Colorado. Remote sensing analysis was applied to identify potentially viable areas for urban prairie dog colonies. In order to assess the social viability of urban colonies, knowledge and attitudinal surveys were distributed to residents near existing colonies and residents near potential colonies. Statistical analysis of responses provided insight into relationships between proximity to colonies, ecological knowledge, attitudes towards prairie dogs, demographics, and the presence of educational literature. Results indicated …

Tracking Bare Sand Mobilization Arising From Landscape Manipulations In The Grasslands Destabilization Experiment (Gdex) In The Nebraska Sandhills Using Imaging Spectroscopy, Benjamin Helder

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Grassland Destabilization Experiment (GDEX) is a landscape scale manipulative experiment initiated in 2004 in the Nebraska Sandhills to evaluate changes in surface properties following the abrupt loss of stabilizing vegetation. The GDEX features five treatments allocated among ten plots of 120 m in diameter (1.13 ha). The Aggressive Bare Sand protocol included chemical defoliation and subsequent shallow disking and raking in 2004 to devegetate the plot with periodic physical disturbance to maintain bare sand. The Long Term Disturbance (Press) protocol includes an initial chemical defoliation in May 2005 and seasonal spring reapplications, but no physical disturbance. Short Term Disturbance …

Urban Development Under Extreme Hydrologic And Weather Conditions For El Paso-Juárez: Recommendations Resulting From Hydrologic Modeling, Gis, And Remote Sensing Analyses, Alberto Barud-Zubillaga

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

During the 2006 El Paso-Juárez flood there were many concerns regarding the capability of the existing stormwater system to handle 50- and 100-year flood events in El Paso, Texas and Juárez, Mexico area. Moreover in 2008, a considerable wet year from the normal 223 mm of annual precipitation for El Paso demonstrated that the area could very well received large amounts of precipitation at localized areas in short periods of time, representing a great flood threat to residents living in areas prone to flood. Some climate change projections for the area are exactly what had occurred over the last two …

Results Of New Petrologic And Remote Sensing Studies In The Big Bend Region, Stevan Christian Benker

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The initial section of this manuscript involves the South Rim Formation, a series of 32.2-32 Ma comenditic quartz trachytic-rhyolitic volcanics and associated intrusives, erupted and was emplaced in Big Bend National Park, Texas. Magmatic parameters have only been interpreted for one of the two diverse petrogenetic suites comprising this formation. Here, new mineralogic data for the South Rim Formation rocks are presented. Magmatic parameters interpreted from these data assist in deciphering lithospheric characteristics during the mid-Tertiary.

Results indicate low temperatures (< 750 °C), reduced conditions (generally below the FMQ buffer), and low pressures (≤ 100 MPa) associated with South Rim Formation magmatism with slight conditional differences between the two suites. Newly discovered fayalite microphenocrysts allowed determination of oxygen fugacity values (between -0.14 and -0.25 ΔFMQ over temperature ranges of 680-700 °C), via mineral equilibria based QUILF95 calculations, for Emory Peak Suite.

Petrologic information is correlated with structural evidence from Trans-Pecos Texas and adjacent regions to evaluate debated timing of tectonic …

Synthesis Of Satellite (Modis), Aircraft (Icartt), And Surface (Improve, Epa‐Aqs, Aeronet) Aerosol Observations Over Eastern North America To Improve Modis Aerosol Retrievals And Constrain Surface Aerosol Concentrations And Sources, Easan Drury, Daniel J. Jacob, Robert J. D. Spurr, Jun Wang, Yohei Shinozuka, Bruce E. Anderson, Antony D. Clarke, Jack Dibb, Cameron Mcnaughton, Rodney Weber

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

We use an ensemble of satellite (MODIS), aircraft, and ground‐based aerosol observations during the ICARTT field campaign over eastern North America in summer 2004 to (1) examine the consistency between different aerosol measurements, (2) evaluate a new retrieval of aerosol optical depths (AODs) and inferred surface aerosol concentrations (PM_2.5) from the MODIS satellite instrument, and (3) apply this collective information to improve our understanding of aerosol sources. The GEOS‐Chem global chemical transport model (CTM) provides a transfer platform between the different data sets, allowing us to evaluate the consistency between different aerosol parameters observed at different times and …

Tundra Snow Cover Properties From In-Situ Observation And Multi-Scale Passive Microwave Remote Sensing, Andrew Rees

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Tundra snow cover is important to monitor as it influences local, regional, and global scale surface water balance, energy fluxes, and ecosystem and permafrost dynamics. Moreover, recent global circulation models (GCM) predict a pronounced shift in high latitude winter precipitation and mean annual air temperature due to the feedback between air temperature and snow extent. At regional and hemispheric scales, the estimation of snow extent, snow depth and, snow water equivalent (SWE) is important because high latitude snow cover both forces and reacts to atmospheric circulation patterns. Moreover, snow cover has implications on soil moisture dynamics, the depth, formation and …

Strategies For The Fusion Of Satellite Fire Radiative Power With Burned Area Data For Fire Radiative Energy Derivation, Luigi Boschetti, David P. Roy

GSCE Faculty Publications

Instantaneous estimates of the power released by a fire (Fire Radiative Power, FRP) are available with satellite active fire detection products. Integrating FRP in time provides an estimate of the total energy released (Fire Radiative Energy, FRE), which can be converted into burned biomass estimates needed by the atmospheric emissions modeling community. While straightforward in theory, the integration of FRP in time and space is affected by temporal and spatial undersampling imposed by the satellite sensing and orbit geometry, clouds, and active fire product omission errors. Combination of active fire FRP estimates with independently derived burned area maps provides the …

Change And Persistence In Land Surface Phenologies Of The Don And Dnieper River Basins, V. Kovalskyy, G. M. Henebry

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

The formal collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 produced major socio-economic and institutional dislocations across the agricultural sector. The picture of broad scale patterns produced by these transformations continues to be discovered. We examine here the patterns of land surface phenology (LSP) within two key river basins—Don and Dnieper—using AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) data from 1982 to 2000 and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data from 2001 to 2007. We report on the temporal persistence and change of LSPs as summarized by seasonal integration of NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) time series using accumulated …

Dual Scale Trend Analysis Distinguishes Climatic From Anthropogenic Effects On The Vegetated Land Surface, K. M. De Beurs, C. K. Wright, G. M. Henebry

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

We present a dual scale trend analysis for characterizing and comparing two contrasting areas of change in Russia and Kazakhstan that lie less than 800 km apart. We selected a global NASA MODIS (moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer) product (MCD43C4 and MCD43A4) at a 0.05◦ (∼5.6 km) and 500 m spatial resolution and a 16-day temporal resolution from 2000 to 2008. We applied a refinement of the seasonal Kendall trend method to the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) image series at both scales. We only incorporated composites during the vegetative growing season which was delineated by start of season and end …

Modeling The Influence Of Water Waves Upon Remote Sensing Imagery: The Underwater Radiance Distribution And Shape Factors, Charles R. Bostater, Luce Bassetti, Lisa H. Huddleston

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes the results of modeling the water wave surface and underwater light field as influenced by water waves using a Monte Carlo model (MCHSIM). Model and sensor data related to water column properties and benthic properties that influence the light upwelled from below the water - as observed from a sensor looking from below or above the water surface is presented. Synthetic image results using Monte Carlo techniques show the influence of water waves upon subsurface shape factors and these factors can be used in shallow water remote sensing algorithms that are based on underlying analytical models. The …

Analysis Of Simulated And Actual Airborne Remote Sensing Imagery For Characterization Of Surface Water Wave Effects, Charles R. Bostater, Heather Frystacky, Mate Nemes, Luce Bassetti

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Simulated and airborne imagery demonstrate the ability to see manmade and natural objects below the water wave surface. Traditional photogrammetric imagery and airborne digital imagery both suffer from a loss in image clarity due to a number of factors, including the forward motion of the airborne platform. Blurring due to this effect can be calculated and an opto-mechanical system has been designed in order to help remove this effect. Forward motion blur can be shown to occur on the order of a several centimeters and calculation results are presented. The system is described and imagery is shown to demonstrate image …

Object-Oriented Building Extraction And Three-Dimensional Representation Of Building Temperatures In Indianapolis, U.S.A., Jing Han

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With a rapid development of world population, urbanization has become an important issue in the past century and generated great pressure on the environment. In order to assist urban decision-makers to present, analyze, and solve related issues, accurate and timely spatial information is n~eded in urban areas. This research focused on building information extraction and the relationship analysis of buildings and temperatures in the downtown Indianapolis, IN. Through object-oriented classification, the image derived from LiDAR data was segmented into objects, and spectral, spatial, and textual attributes of objects were measured and selected to extract buildings. Moreover, each building's surface temperature …

Monitoring Al Ain City Urban Growth Dynamics Between 1972 And 2000 By Integrating Remote Sensing And Gis Techniques, Athari Abdullah Ai-Shuwaihi

Accounting Dissertations

We live in a world full of change as a result of either natural process or human activities. This study focuses on evaluating and monitoring the urban changes of Al Ain city by quantifying and visualizing various aspects of that change between 1972 and 2000. The results of the actual study will serve for effective city planning and decision making process for better life quality of the residents of the city. Rapid changes of the land use and land cover especially built up and impervious areas, make it necessary to involve innovative techniques such as remote sensing and GIS to …

A Bio-Optical Model For Syringodium Filiforme Canopies, Margaret A. Stoughton

OES Theses and Dissertations

Seagrasses are significant ecological and biogeochemical agents in shallow water ecosystems throughout the world. In many regions, seagrass meadows occupy a sufficient fraction of the coastal zone, and generate optical signatures that can be observed from space. Bio-optical models of light absorption and scattering by submerged plant canopies for certain species such as Thalassia testudinum and Zostera marina have successfully modeled the plane irradiance distribution and photosynthesis within the submerged canopies. Syringodium filiforme differs &om T. testudinttm and Z marina, in leaf morphology and canopy architecture. The objective of this study was to develop a radiative transfer model that …

A Compact Lidar For Aircraft Ozone Atmospheric Measurements, Joel A. Marcia

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Researchers and the general public have expressed great concern over how human activities exacerbate pollution's deteriorating impact upon the environment. Effects such as global warming, air quality and ozone layer depletion are but a few examples that can have a dramatic effect on the quality of life worldwide.

A compact lidar system for the purpose of aircraft ozone atmospheric measurements was tested and evaluated. This system will eventually be deployed for aircraft-based, and possibly unpiloted atmospheric vehicle (UAV), ozone and aerosol measurements to improve our understanding of ozone production and transport. Each of the major subsystems was characterized and from …