Geography Commons^™

Vanport Interpretive Signage Project, Portland State University

Asset Mapping: Community Geography Project

Students participating in two senior capstone courses (spring and summer, 1999) did historical research, the conceptualization, and graphic design of four Vanport interpretive signs that were to be located at the historic site of Vanport at today’s Heron Lakes Golf Course.

Patterns Of Time, Place, And Culture: Land Use Zoning In Portland, Oregon, 1918-1924, Margrete Bernard Merrick

Dissertations and Theses

Until recently, few have questioned the notion that the separation of uses in land use zoning is inherently correct. Many observers of the city are now suggesting that zoning, as it has been practiced in this country over the last 80 years, has created cities that are fractured and function poorly. Others propose that zoning should be reconsidered as a remedy for urban dysfunction. They suggest that the whole notion of zoning be rethought.

The purpose of this study is to uncover some of the underlying rationales and methodologies that set the model for zoning. This study examines the rationales …

The Antiquities Act Of 1906: The Public Response To The Use Of Presidential Power In Managing Public Lands, Barbara L. Grover

Dissertations and Theses

President Clinton created Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument on September 17, 1996. The Antiquities Act of 1906 gives the president power to establish national monuments on public lands through presidential proclamation. The Act has been used to create national monuments in places such as Muir Woods, Grand Canyon, Mount Olympus, Jackson Hole, and the 1978 Alaskan d-2 lands. Its use has also produced negative public response, manifested as demonstrations, lawsuits, and congressional bills.

In spite of significant legal and legislative challenges, the Antiquities Act and most of the monuments established through its use remain. The negative public response to the Act …

Patterns Of Time, Place, And Culture: Land Use Zoning In Portland, Oregon, 1918-1924, Meg Merrick

Dissertations and Theses

Until recently, few have questioned the notion that the separation of uses in land use zoning is inherently correct. Many observers of the city are now suggesting that zoning, as it has been practiced in this country over the last 80 years, has created cities that are fractured and function poorly. Others propose that zoning should be reconsidered as a remedy for urban dysfunction. They suggest that the whole notion of zoning be rethought.

The purpose of this study is to uncover some of the underlying rationales and methodologies that set the model for zoning. This study examines the rationales …

Soil Catenas On Glacial Moraines Of The Central Oregon Cascades, Jason Erik Haugland

Dissertations and Theses

Soil development of two catenas in the central Oregon Cascades near Sisters, Oregon was examined on the Suttle Lake (Late Wisconsin age) (44° 25' N, 121 ° 43' W) and the Jack Creek (lllinoian age) moraines (44° 28' N, 121 ° 41' W) with regard to the factors of time as well as slope position.

Soils on both catenas are classified as Typic Vitricryands, regardless of slope position. The uniformity of soil classification suggests a limited development, perhaps the result of localized volcanic activity (Blue Lake event, 3500 YBP) adding pyroclastic material to the soils and retarding soil development. High …

Coffee In Nicaragua : Regional Development And Change In The Nineteenth Century, Craig Stephen Revels

Dissertations and Theses

Throughout the nineteenth century expanding coffee cultivation transformed the economic, political, and social landscapes of the Central American republics. In Nicaragua, coffee cultivation developed in two primary regions, the Southern Uplands and the North-Central Highlands. This study analyzes the formation and development of these two regions using six key factors: 1) pre-coffee economic development; 2) transportation; 3) government promotion; 4) labor and population structure; 5) land tenure and access; and 6) capital and credit. Qualitative assessment of the relative importance of these six factors determines which factors were most important in the creation of the Southern Uplands and the North-Central …

Satellite Remote Sensing For Measuring The Urban Forest Of Portland, Oregon, A. Paul Newman

Dissertations and Theses

Digital pattern recognition methods were used to produce two maps of urban vegetation from LANDSAT Thematic Mapper for the City of Portland, Oregon. The image was acquired on July 7, 1991 and the spectral bands used were 2, 4, 5 and a ratio of 3 and 4. The two maps represent vegetation amount and vegetation type.

Due to the extreme heterogeneous nature of the urban environment, these maps were developed using techniques to reduce and manage the amount of spectral variation. This included purging non-vegetated cells from the multispectral image, and then stratifying the image into "spectral subdivisions" using tools …

Gis Applications To Glaciology: Construction Of The Mount Rainier Glacier Database, Jeremy Laurence Mennis

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to glaciology through the construction of a GIS database of glaciers on Mount Rainier, Washington (the Database). The volume and areal extent of these glaciers, and the temporal change to each, are calculated as a demonstration of GIS analytical capabilities. Data for Carbon, Cowlitz, Emmons, Nisqually, Tahoma, and Winthrop glaciers for the years 1913 and 1971 are derived from historic topographic maps. The Database includes two and three-dimensional representations of glacier geometry, such as glacier extent and topography, as well as surface features, such as debris cover. A test of …

The Summit Vegetation Of Saddle Mountain, Oregon Coast Range, Charles Thomas Carlson

Dissertations and Theses

Saddle Mountain (1000 m) is the highest peak in the Northern Oregon Coast Range. Meadows are found to occur at and near the summit of the mountain which contain abundant wildflowers. Although the majority of these meadow species have been collected and identified in the past no formal study has been done to classify them into communities. The purpose of this study is to examine the character and origin of the plant communities located at or near the summit of Saddle Mountain. Data were collected on 4 study sites during the Summer of 1996 and analysis of the data lead …

Managing Oregon’S Aquatic Resources : A Dynamic Segmentation Application, Keith Andrew Hupperts

Dissertations and Theses

Many of Oregon's salmon, the cultural icon of the region, are imperil. Salmon runs ranging from the Snake River to the Oregon coast, from chinook to coho to steelhead to cut-throat are being protected or candidates for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. As Oregon's salmon decline natural resource agencies, such as Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), are seeing substantial funding cutbacks. In order to compensate for lost personnel and rising work-loads, ODFW is increasingly turning to new technologies, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This thesis describes the creation of a dynamic segmentation GIS …

Oregon's Oil: A Geographic View Of Petroleum Distribution And Associated Risks, Paul M. Slyman

Dissertations and Theses

Since no local crude oil sources exist, every drop of petroleum consumed in Oregon originates from outside sources and is distributed multi-modally to consumers. As population continues to increase and oil sources dwindle, this reliance may add financial and environmental risks to Oregonian' s quality of life. This paper examines Oregon's oil distribution system, and analyzes the risks oil movements pose in the state. A comprehensive understanding of oil distribution in Oregon can best be gained geographically. Pipelines, ships, barges, railroads and trucks play different roles in this system, yet data for these transport modes are maintained by different groups …

Alpine Soil Geomorphology: The Development And Characterization Of Soil In The Alpine-Subalpine Zone Of The Wallowa Mountains, Oregon, Charles Edward Allen

Dissertations and Theses

Alpine soils are young, poorly developed soils that occur above treeline. This study investigates soils located in the alpine-subalpine zone of the Wallowa Mountains, northeast Oregon. Parent material, topography, and vegetation are the most influential pedogenic factors in the high alpine landscape of the Wallowas. Soil samples were collected from the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area of the Wallowas at three mountain locations: Eagle Cap, Sacajawea, and Matterhorn. Catenas were studied in the Windblown and Minimum Snowcover zones to examine different pedogenic factors, according to the Synthetic Alpine Slope model. · Field and laboratory testing characterized the alpine soils as predominantly …

An Analysis Of Oregon Department Of Transportation Planned Highway Construction Projects For Selected Years From 1978 To 1992, Glen A. Fleming

Dissertations and Theses

Construction of highway projects is one of the most important and expensive state government functions. Highway construction projects bring revenue and jobs to the locales in which they are built, in addition to providing a better transportation infrastructure within or between communities, states or nations.

In the state of Oregon, its Department of Transportation (ODOT) publishes a document forecasting planned highway construction expenditures for the next six years. This document was called, until recently the six-year highway program; it is the Department's primary programming document for planned highway construction expenditures in the next six years, with updates every two years. …

A Swamp In The Desert: Theory, Water Policy, And Malheur Lake Basin, Cristin R. Mandaville

Dissertations and Theses

Two perspectives are debated in current United States water policy model development. One perspective calls for policy based on normative values, such as an environmental ethic. The second perspective calls for policy based on empirical, quantifiable values, for instance, economic benefits and costs. This theoretical debate arises from differing assumptions about what is problematic in contemporary water policy, and in turn gives rise to many water policy models. Developing such models ostensibly provides frameworks useful for developing real-world water policies. This paper proposes that these water policy models are not in fact useful frameworks for policy applications because the models …

Application Of A Geographical Information System To Estimate The Magnitude And Frequency Of Floods In The Sandy And Clackamas River Basins, Oregon, Dorie Lynn Brownell

Dissertations and Theses

A geographical information system (GIS) was used to develop a regression model designed to predict flood magnitudes in the Sandy and Clackamas river basins in Oregon. Manual methods of data assembly, input, storage, manipulation and analysis traditionally used to estimate basin characteristics were replaced with automated techniques using GIS-based computer hardware and software components. Separate GIS data layers representing (1) stream gage locations, (2) drainage basin boundaries, (3) hydrography, (4) water bodies, (5) precipitation, (6) landuse/land cover, (7) elevation and (8) soils were created and stored in a GIS data base. Several GIS computer programs were written to automate the …

An Analysis Of Socioeconomic Effects On Scrap Paper Recycling Participation, Sara Phyllis Zimmerman

Dissertations and Theses

In the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan region, almost 16% of the paper products discarded are recoverable mixed grade scrap paper. By targeting recycling campaigns at people who tend not to recycle, participation and recovery rates may be raised. This study attempts to determine if households with greater income and education levels tend to participate in scrap paper recycling more than those with lower levels. Ten areas in Portland, each with 125 households were selected as the sample to represent the population of Portland. Data was collected about each household's recycling participation rates and socioeconomic characteristics. Statistical tests found that people who …

Redefining The Suburban Ideal: An Analysis Of Single-Family Residential Densities In Washington County, Oregon, David Morgan Coughlan

Dissertations and Theses

The United States' suburban landscape has historically been characterized by low-density residential development. This pattern was shaped by the abundance of developable land in nineteenth century America, and by the emergence of a suburban ideal which romanticized the concept of a spacious home set in a private, garden setting. For many homebuyers, the realization of the suburban ideal was made possible by continual improvements in intraurban transportation. The commuter rail, the electric streetcar, and ultimately the automobile increased the commuting range of inner-city workers, and contributed to the continual expansion of development on the periphery of cities. In recent years, …

Soil Properties And Behavior Of Earthflows In The Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon, Douglas Andrew Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Soils from two active earthflows, two earthflow deposits, and three non-earthflow landforms are examined to determine if a connection exists between near-surface soil properties and rates of earthflow movement. The study area is located in the Clackamas Ranger District of the Mt. Hood National Forest in the northern Oregon Cascades. Its geology consists of clay-bearing volcaniclastic formations overlain by unaltered flows of andesite and basalt, a combination that contributed to large-scale landsliding during the late Pleistocene. Deposits from these landslides now cover much of the valley floor, and it is from these deposits that earthflows tend to mobilize. The main …

An Assessment Of The Riparian-Influenced Salmonid Habitat Features Of Johnson Creek, Portland, Oregon, Andrew Greiff Gude

Dissertations and Theses

Pacific salmon populations in Johnson Creek, Portland, Oregon have been adversely impacted by urbanization, and by residential and agricultural land development. Ecological impacts include loss or depletion of riparian vegetation features which directly influence stream and associated salmonid ecology. This research examines the nearstream riparian zone's contribution to instream habitat complexity for anadromous salmonids in Johnson Creek. Visual surveys were conducted on over half the stream length. Five features were assessed to determine the extent of riparian influenced stream habitat including, overhead enclosure, overhanging vegetation, undercut banks, and large and small woody debris and root wads. The stream survey showed …

Development Of High-Technology Industries In The Portland/Vancouver Metropolitan Area: An Analysis Of Regional And Intraregional Factors Affecting High-Tech Firm Locations, Ulf Eichner

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis aims to investigate local conditions of high-tech industry development in the Portland/Vancouver CMSA. To do so, the research proceeds in four major stages. First, it is analyzed how historical factors contributed to the rise of high-tech industries in the CMSA. The second part consists of mapping the distribution pattern of hightech establishments. The U.S. Bureau of Census' County Business Patterns statistics are used to calculate the number of high-tech establishments and employees by branch (SIC code) and county; two high-tech directories help to identify the exact firm locations. Thirdly, an explanatory set of locational factors is established, based …

Portland As A Divided City: Geographical Voting Patterns On Ballot Measures In The November 1990 Elections, Dmitry Sharkov

Dissertations and Theses

A significant and challenging topic for contemporary geography is an understanding of how the social construction of space both reflects social forces and at the same time structures those forces. This thesis is a case study of how political and social attitudes, measured as an outcome of votes for different issues, reflect the social organization of space in Multnomah County, Oregon. It employs an arealstructural (ecological) approach. Using eleven different issues voted upon in the general elections of November, 1990, it analyzes relationships between ballot items and socioeconomic characteristics of the electorate for small geographic areas in the county. The …

A Location Analysis Of Vandalism To The Rock Art Of The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Julia J. Wilt

Dissertations and Theses

Archaeological sites in the New World are the fragile and non-renewable remains of cultures which flourished for thousands of years prior to European contact and displacement. Sites which escape the effects of erosion and development often fall victim to vandalism. Cultural resources, including rock art and other archaeological sites, are protected by state and federal laws which prohibit the removal or disturbance of the sites, whether from development or from vandalism. Vandalism is frequently seen as a problem for law enforcement rather than a problem for cultural resource management. Management plans which include cultural resource protection provisions and guidelines often …

Hawthorne Boulevard: Commercial Gentrification And The Creation Of An Image, Rachel Ann Hardyman

Dissertations and Theses

Portland's Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard illustrates commercial gentrification in progress. Once a declining service district, "Hawthorne" is now one of the city's most popular shopping streets. Tracing and classifying businesses, using address listings from city directories, gives an accurate picture of changes since 1980. Three parallel trends can be distinguished in the makeup of the business mix: a shift from services to retailing; a move towards a regional, rather than a neighborhood, market area; and a cultural upgrading associated with the influx of increasingly expensive stores. Classification also aids in the definition of a tipping point at which revitalization became gentrification. …

The Geography Of Tourist Hotels In Beijing, China, Hongshen Zhao

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis, utilizing data obtained through the author's working experience and on extensive academic investigation, aims to establish and analyze the locational deficiency of some 100 foreign tourist hotels in Beijing and its origin. To do so, an optimal hotel location is first determined by analysis of social, economic, cultural and environmental features of Beijing in relation to the tourism industry.

Specifically, a standard package tour program of Beijing is established and then analyzed in spatial and temporal terms, the result of which is further mapped by using a weighted mean center technique. The international tourists and the hotels in …

Uncertainty Analysis Of Runoff Estimates From Runoff-Depth Contour Maps Produced By Five Automated Procedures For The Northeastern United States, Gary D. Bishop

Dissertations and Theses

Maps of runoff-depth have been found to be useful tools in a variety of water resource applications. Producing such maps can be a challenging and expensive task. One of the standard methods of producing these maps is to use a manual procedure based on gaged runoff data, topographic and past runoff-depth maps, and the expert opinion of hydrologists.

This thesis examined five new automated procedures for producing runoff-depth contour maps to see if the maps produced by these procedures had similar accuracy and characteristics when compared to the manual procedure. An uncertainty analysis was used to determine the accuracy of …

Gis Address-Matching And Transportation Analysis, James D. Orrell

Dissertations and Theses

Geographic Information System (GIS) address-matching combined with other GIS processing offers new analytical opportunities in the area of transportation planning and analysis. Address-matching, an automated method for generating geographically-referenced (geocoded) point locations on a map from common tabular databases, can facilitate transportation analysis by providing a planning tool based on individual rather than aggregated spatial distributions more common to transportation issues.

This thesis presents a case study in which GIS address-matching was I applied to a transportation problem at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. The transportation problem at OHSU is common to major employment centers in urban …

Terrain Disturbances By Winter Roads In The Lower And Central Mackenzie River Valley, N.W.T., Canada, Christoph Gnieser

Dissertations and Theses

Winter roads, built from compacted snow and I or ice, are common throughout the circumpolar North. They are considered effective and economical means of providing seasonal access into permafrost terrain while minimizing the potential for environmental damage.

The purpose of this study is an appraisal of long-term environmental impacts of winter roads by comparative assessment of terrain morphology, microclimate, permafrost, soils, and vegetation, on winter road right-of-ways and in adjacent undisturbed control areas.

Geographic Information Systems: Research Issues, Kenneth Dueker

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

GIS research has evolved by trial and error. We need to think more systematically about GIS research. New technology and societal needs are important determinants of issues that govern GIS research strategies. URISA has a stake in fostering GIS research, particularly research that is appliications driven.

William A. Rockie: Seventy Years A Geographer In The West, John D. Rockie

Occasional Papers in Geography

Occasional Paper in Geography Publication No. 5

At the time of William A. Rockie's death in 1981 he was in the process of preparing a monograph for the 'Occasional Papers in Geography' series at Portland State University. The monograph was to recount his long career as a professional geographer. He had started in the late 1970's writing his recollections in a random fashion. After Rockie's death several people from the Geography Department at Portland State University discussed the unfinished work with Rockie's son, John, who agreed to assume responsibility for organizing what Rockie had written and expand on it as …

Holocene Fluctuations Of The Coe Glacier, Mount Hood, Oregon, Karl Douglas Lillquist

Dissertations and Theses

Numerous moraines front the Coe Glacier on the north side of Mount Hood, Oregon. These moraines were identified and dated using a multiple methodology approach in order to establish a chronology for the advances and stillstands of the Coe Glacier. This chronology was compared to chronologies established for other glaciers on Mount Hood, North Sister, Mount Rainier and Mount Baker as well as glaciers in Scandinavia. The chronology was also compared to a long term temperature record from Longmire, Washington.

The maximum identified extent of the pre-Little Ice Age Coe Glacier was indicated by moraines located at an elevation of …