Geography Commons^™

Monitoring Spatial And Temporal Water Quality Changes In Iowa Lakes Using Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery, Nathan Robert Green

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has identified more than 20,000 water bodies across America as polluted mainly due to agricultural non-point source pollution. Current techniques for monitoring and assessing the quality of waters in streams, reservoirs, lakes, and estuaries involve on site measurements and/or the collection of water samples for subsequent laboratory analyses. While this approach yields accurate measurements for a point in time and space, it is expensive, laborious, and cannot provide a temporal or spatial overview of water-quality trends. To overcome this liability, state and local agencies are seeking alternative and more cost effective methods. A …

An Evaluation Of Crash Cluster Identification Methodologies: A Case Study Of Iowa, Leonard Sitji Bombom

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the US, crashes are a leading cause of death and disability. To effectively counter this problem, measures are aimed at locations with high crash risks. One common method to determine these "hazardous" locations is to identify clusters of crashes, also referred to as hotspots or blackspots. Several methodologies have been developed to achieve this aim. However, there is no consensus as to what method(s) is "correct." This study evaluates some of the methodologies in the CrimeStat statistical program that are used to cluster crashes with the aim of determining those most suitable for certain crash types (younger drivers, failure …

Extraction Of Transportation Infrastructure From Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Data, James Paul Gerjevic

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The goal of this study was to extract transportation infrastructure features from hyper-spectral imagery using data from the high resolution Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS). A "Minimum Noise Fraction" (MNF) and a classification and regression tree (CART) were used to reduce the number of spectral dimensions to be analyzed. Then, hyperspectral classifiers such as the Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM), Mixture-tuned matched filtering (MTMF) and mixture-tuned matched filtering combined with classification and regression tree (MTMF-CART) were used to extract the transportation infrastructures from the image using different image processing software such as ENVI and ERDAS IMAGINE. Finally, WinTopo software was used …

Geography Newsletter, Spring 2004, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- Sandra Heller Retires After 28 Years as Geography's Secretary
-- Thank You! A Special Message to Sandra
-- Tough Budgetary Times for Higher Education in Iowa
-- UNI Geographers Participate at the 100th Annual Meeting of the AAP
-- Promotions: Dahms to Full Professor and Owusu to Associate Professor
-- News from Henry Owusu
-- News from Sugu
-- News from Dave May
-- News from Tim Strauss
-- News from Phil Suckling
-- New Courses for Tom Fogarty
-- Geographic Alliance of Iowa Takes Iowa Teachers to India
-- Chicago Field Trip for Kay Weller's …

Mapping Wetlands And Potential Wetland Restoration Areas In Black Hawk County, Iowa Using Object-Oriented Classification And A Gis-Based Model, James Harken

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Wetlands are transitional lands between terrestrial and aquatic systems that provide many benefits, including: floodwater retention, non-point pollution treatment, wildlife habitat, and soil-erosion control. Wetlands in Iowa have decreased over 95% in the last 200 years. Therefore, there is a need to map and monitor these resources, as well as to determine potential sites for wetland restoration. In Black Hawk County, wetland maps are outdated, and ground surveys have proved to be too time-consuming and expensive. Traditional pixel-based automated classifiers of remotely-sensed imagery have also proven to be inaccurate in classifying wetlands because of spectral confusion. This study tests multispectral …

Assessing The Applicability Of Traditional Urban Transportation Planning Methods For The University Campus: A Case Study Of The University Of Northern Iowa, Jess Douglas Elder

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The development of methods that estimate travel demand and predict travel behavior is among the most significant advances in urban planning. The traditional transportation model has four steps: trip generation, trip distribution, mode choice, and trip assignment. This four-step model (FSM) encompasses an evolving methodology that determines the origin and destination, method of travel, and chosen route of each traveler. The focus of this project is to apply this methodology to analyze travel patterns associated with a university, specifically the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). A survey of faculty, staff, and students was conducted to generate data on UNI travel …

Geography Newsletter, Spring 2003, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- In Memoriam: Roy Chung
-- Dr. C. Murray Austin Retires After 30 Years on the Geography Faculty
-- Dr. Tim R. Strauss Promoted to Associate Professor
-- Department of Geography to Movie into New Quarters in Fall 2005
-- Geography course enrollments
-- New Geographic Information Science Major Proposed for Fall 2004
-- Alumni Album
-- Geography Foundation Account
-- Recent B.A. Geography Graduates
-- Recent M.A. Geography Graduates
-- Current Graduate Students
-- Current Geography Faculty
-- First Year at UNI for "Sugu"
-- Spring Awards Banquet: Friday, April 25, 2003

Agricultural Land Evaluation In Black Hawk County Using Geospatial Technologies, Elisha Jasper Dung

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Agriculture is one of the world's most important activities supporting human life. However, the rate of agricultural land conversion to non-agricultural uses around the world, and especially in the United States is on the increase. It has been asserted that over 2,965,265 acres of U.S. agriculture lands have recently been lost per year to development, which is a rate nearly two and a half times that lost due to development in the last 10 years ( 1982-1992). This is of particular concern in Iowa which is agriculturally based because the loss of small tracts of this high-valued land may have …

Geography Newsletter, Spring 2002, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- New GIS/Remote Sensing Faculty Member Appointed for 2002-03
-- Alumni Album
-- Recent Geography Graduates
-- Geography Foundation Account
-- 2002 Geography Alumni Survey
-- Results of the 2000-01 Departmental Academic Program Review
-- Dr. David W. May Promoted to Full Professor
-- Spring Awards Banquet: Friday, April 26, 2002

Urban Traffic Externalities And Housing Value, Michael Owen Carpenter

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study explores the relationship between high-capacity urban roadways and housing value. The traffic on high-capacity urban roadways is expected to generate negative externalities, depressing the value of nearby housing. These same roads also provide accessibility, which is expected to capitalize into housing value as a bonus. The hypothesis underlying this research is that houses near high-traffic, high-speed roads suffer a penalty to their value as the negative externalities generated by the road are capitalized. However, as distance from these roads increases and the presence of negative externalities decreases, houses will capitalize a net benefit due to the accessibility gained …

Geography Newsletter, Spring 2001, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- Faculty/Staff News
-- Recent Geography Graduates
-- M.A. Thesis Wins first Place Award
-- Current Graduate Students
-- Alumni Album
-- UNI Foundation Geography Discretionary Fund
-- Scenes From the Spring '00 Banquet in Honor of Roy Chung's Retirement
-- Spring Awards Banquet: Friday, April 20, 2001

A Political Geography Of Chinese And Other State Claims To Territorial Sovereignty Of The Spratly Islands, William Jeffery Brown

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Since 1970, the claims in the South China Sea have become a matter of considerable political attention, both regionally and internationally. This increased attention has came about largely because of the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea and the fact that China has started pressing for what it calls its historical claims. The PRC and the ROC, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines have claims to islands and waters in the SCS. The claims are promoted today because of the major oil potential of the Sea. The UN CLOS allows control of resources by the State that …

Geography Newsletter, Spring 2000, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- As the New Century Dawns
-- Dr. Robert Clark Retired Spring 1999
-- Geography enrollments for Non-Introductory Courses
-- UNI Partnership in the Midwestern Transportation Consortium
-- Careers in Geography
-- Curricular Developments
-- New Cultural Geography Faculty Member Appointed for 2000-01
-- Department of Geography to Establish Foundation Account
-- Recent Geography Graduates
-- Alumni Album
-- Roy Chung to Retire This Spring
-- Spring Awards Banquet: Friday, April 21, 2000

Assessing The Classification Accuracy Of Digitized National Aerial Photography Program Imagery: Comparison With Botanical Data, Mark Arthur Alexander

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The ability to acquire and use remotely sensed data has revolutionized large-scale ecological studies by reducing dependence on difficult and expensive field survey techniques for acquisition of land use and land cover data. Multispectral satellite imagery, typically from the Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM) and the SPOT High Resolution Visible (HRV) instruments, has proven particularly valuable in surveying and classifying vegetation cover (Frank & Thorn, 1985). Further studies have concluded that alpine vegetation communities and habitats can be mapped successfully by including the geomorphic parameters of elevation, slope, and incidence when classifying remotely sensed data.

This research analyzes …

Civilian Conservation Corps Rubble And Masonry Dams And Gully Morphology In Northeastern Iowa, Timothy Robert Beerman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created in 1933 in an effort to help solve the problems associated with the lack of jobs for young men, the nations dwindling natural resources, and problems associated with soil erosion. The CCC's work in Iowa was primarily in the areas of reforestation and erosion control. Company 1749 of Cresco, Iowa stands out as an example of how the CCC worked to halt erosion. As a part of their erosion-control strategy, Company 1749 built a large number of rubble and masonry dams on gullies. These dams were designed to trap sediments and prevent further …

Geography Newsletter, Spring 1999, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- Faculty News
-- Dr. Michael E. Emch Appointed as GIS/Remote Sensing Faculty Member
-- New Economic Geography Faculty Member Appointed for 1999-2000
-- Summer 1999 Field Studies Course in the Wind River Mountains, Wyoming
-- Recent Geography Graduates
-- Alumni Album
-- Outstanding Geography Alumnus Award for 1999
-- Spring Awards Banquet: Friday, April 30, 1999

Geography Newsletter, Spring 1998, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- Faculty News
-- Searches for New Faculty Members
-- Janice M. Clark Memorial Scholarship
-- Department Renovations and Equipment Purchases
-- New Graduate Students Since Summer '97
-- Alumni album
-- Recent Geography B.A. Graduates
-- Recent Geography M.A. Graduate
-- Outstanding Geography Alumnus Award for 1998
-- Spring Awards Banquet: Friday, April 17, 1998

Estimating The Potential Available Labor Supply For Mid-Sized Iowa Communities, Randal Robert Pilkington

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis presents a case study approach to estimate the potential supply of available workers within a laborshed or sub-labor market area. Current labor data are not adequate to estimate the supply of labor and its characteristics in mid-sized Iowa communities. In addition, low unemployment rates are not reflective of the willingness of workers to change jobs. Estimates of underemployment are also missing from any current labor data.

The methodology for this study consisted of conducting a random survey of the potential available labor force for a mid-sized Iowa community's laborshed, defined as the nodal region from which a community …

Geography Newsletter, Spring 1997, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- Geography enrollments and Majors: The Numbers Game
-- New Computer Lab, GIS Activities, and Summer Field Course
-- GAI Leadership Change
-- Professional Development Leaves
-- New Graduate Students Since Fall '95
-- Recent Geography B.A. Graduates
-- Purple and Old Gold Awardees
-- Alumni Album
-- Alumni Survey
-- Outstanding Geography Alumnus Award for 1997
-- Janice M. Clark Memorial Scholarship
-- Spring Awards Banquet: Friday, April 18, 1997

Soil Catenas Of Calcareous Tills, Whiskey Basin, Wyoming, Michael Todd Applegarth

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Most workers agree that soil properties vary with geomorphic position along a hillslope. This variability in soils is termed a catena. In this study, soils developed along Pinedale (20 ka BP) and Bull Lake age (140 ka BP) moraine catenas at Whiskey Basin, Wyoming are compared with soils developed along moraine catenas previously described at Willow Lake, Wyoming. Whiskey Basin is located on the northeastern slope of the Wind River Range. Willow Lake is located on the western slope of the Wind River Range. Age primarily dictates the degree of soil development at both areas. Soils developed on Pinedale catenas …

Geography Newsletter, Spring 1996, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- New Geography Major With environmental Emphasis
-- Revisions fit the Program Certificate in Cartography and GIS
-- Visiting Faculty Member Spring 1996: Dr. Tunde Agbola
-- New Faculty Members to Join the Department in the Fall of 1996
-- enda L. Padovan Geography endowment Fund
-- Thematic Atlas of Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa 1990-1994
-- Recent Geography Graduates
-- Janice M. Clark Memorial Scholarship
-- Alumni Album
-- Outstanding Geography Alumnus Awards for 1995 and 1996
-- Spring Awards Banquet: Friday, April 19, 1996

Integrating World Wide Web Searching Skills Into World Geography Information Skills Curriculum, Karla Steege Krueger

Graduate Research Papers

World Geography I students' experiences searching for information using preselected bookmarked sites on the World Wide Web were studied. Fifty-three ninth and tenth grade students in two sections of World Geography I at New Hampton High School in New Hampton, Iowa, were taught how to use bookmarks on the World Wide Web to retrieve information for a European Dream Vacation Itinerary. Students worked in pairs on the assignment. Each pair of students was given 30 minutes of class time to search the bookmarked sites and was required to find one item for its itinerary on the World Wide Web. Following …

Geography Newsletter, Spring 1995, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Geography.

Geography Newsletter

Inside this issue:

-- Introducing the Department of Geography Newsletter
-- Status of the Department
-- Recent Activities of the Geography Faculty
-- New GIS Faculty Member of Fall '95: Stephanie J. Weigel
-- Alumni Album
-- Our Current Geography Graduate Students
-- What is the Geographic Alliance of Iowa?
-- Geography Club/Gamma Theta Upsilon
-- Plans for the Spring 1995 Banquet

The Political Geography Of A Palestinian State: Main Problems Of Implementation, Saed Jamal Abu-Hijleh

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examined the main territorial, political, and economic obstacles facing the establishment of a Palestinian state. The study tried to determine if the classical requirements of state formation can be met within the geographic and political context of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. To accomplish this, the study focused on the main obstacles and problems associated with the following:

1. The territorial definition and delimitation of a Palestinian state
2. The determination of Palestinian citizenship and political representation.
3. The establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian economy.
4. The specification and execution of the functions and responsibilities of a Palestinian …

The Egypt-Palestine/Israel Boundary: 1841-1992, Thabit Abu-Rass

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In 1841, with the involvement of European powers, the Ottoman Empire distinguished by Firman territory subject to a Khedive of Egypt from that subject more directly to Istanbul. With British pressure in 1906, a more formal boundary was established between Egypt and Ottoman Palestine. This study focuses on these events and on the history from 1841 to the present. The study area includes the Sinai peninsula and extends from the Suez Canal in the west to what is today southern Israel from Ashqelon on the Mediterranean to the southern shore of the Dead Sea in the east. Both alterations in …

Native Trees In An Urban Area: A Case Study Of The Waterloo Metropolitan Area Black Hawk County, Iowa, Alice Christine Robbins

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigates the history and role of the native forest in an urban area of about 100 square miles, encompassing the cities of Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Evansdale in Black Hawk County, Iowa. It examines various human influences in an attempt to determine how important each has been in preserving or destroying the natural forest.

The original forests in the study area were concentrated along the rivers and adjacent bluffs. The most serious impacts to the upland forests have been agriculture, residential and commercial development, whereas the floodplain forests have been most affected by industrial expansion, gravel mining, flood …

Exploratory Data Analysis Of Nigeria’S 1963 Age Structures, Julius Oladele Samuel Dada

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis explores and probes the reliability and the inconsistencies of Nigeria's 1963 census using the scanty information available through the microfilm on Nigeria's 1963 census. It uses the 25 provinces and some times, the four regions of Nigeria as the unit level of resolutions. This is the first attempt to discuss the age-sex structure of the whole country. The 1963 data set is subjected to series of testing to see if there is any valid relationship between the 1963 Nigeria demographic variables and those found in other advanced nations for which reliable information has been obtained by some population …

The Kashmir Conflict: A Geographical Perspective, Razia Babar

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The object of this study is to examine Kashmir as a case of a territorial dispute. The first chapter surveys Kashmir's physical geography. The prevailing trend of mountain ranges and river valleys is related to historic movement patterns, which in turn are indicative of social, cultural, and economic links of Kashmir with Pakistan and India, and it is noted that contacts have been greater with Pakistan. In the second chapter Kashmir's cultural patterns are described, and regional religious and linguistic groupings are noted. There has been a continuity in these patterns since the second half of the nineteenth century. In …

A Pattern Of Eolian Deposition In Northeastern Iowa, Lyle L. Davis

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The geomorphology of the Iowan surface in northeastern Iowa has been very controversial from the earliest efforts to explain it. For about seventy-five years it was considered to be the product of a separate and unique glaciation and later as a substage of late Illinoian or early Wisconsin age. It was universally known as the Iowan Drift Area (Kay and Graham, 1941) until about twelve years ago.

Mechanically Induced Karst Development Along The Silurian Escarpment In Northeastern Iowa, Ardith K. Hansel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research investigates the spatial distribution of surface karst features along the Silurian Escarpment in northeastern Iowa. A 30 square mile area of Elk Townships in Cla:rton and Delaware Counties was selected for intensive investigation. All surface karst features within the study area were located in the field and plotted on a 7.5 minute topographic map. A generic model is presented to explain the process, causation, and geologic time period of active karstification. Field evidence supports the hypothesis that the karst landforms along the Silurian Escarpment in northeastern Iowa are not solutionnl in nature, but rather mechanically induced features. The …