Geography Commons^™

Multi-Criteria Evaluation Model For Classifying Marginal Cropland In Nebraska Using Historical Crop Yield And Biophysical Characteristics, Andrew Laws

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Marginal cropland is suboptimal due to historically low and variable productivity and limiting biophysical characteristics. To support future agricultural management and policy decisions in Nebraska, U.S.A, it is important to understand where cropland is marginal for its two most economically important crops: corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max). As corn and soybean are frequently planted in a crop rotation, it is important to consider if there is a relationship with cropland marginality. Based on the current literature, there exists a need for a flexible yet robust methodology for identifying marginal land at different scales, which …

Short-Term 2d And 3d Geomorphic Change Detection At A Public Park On Lake Michigan Using Uas Remote Sensing Techniques, Scott Patrick Fitzgerald

Masters Theses

The high-water level of Lake Michigan (LM) in the past few years has led to significant periods of erosion and increased the risk to private property owners on the coast. To cope with this, many property owners on the coast of LM have constructed coastal protections, some opting for seawalls. Previous studies have assessed the effects of seawalls but disagreed on their impacts, and only laboratory studies were able to establish their range of influence. Using a different method to study their effects will be pertinent to understanding them.

This research aims to use a higher temporal and spatial resolution …

Assessment Of Natural Hazards Impact On Heritage Sites In The United Arab Emirates (Uae) Using Geographic Information System (Gis), Abdulla Salem Ahmed Saeed Alyammahi

Theses

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) pays significant attention to preserving its heritage sites and archaeological finds and treats them as a vital part of its culture, history, and economy. In recent years, the field of archaeology in the UAE has witnessed tangible and significant developments, with many government initiatives being devoted to establishing archaeological departments in all emirates. The firmly stated policy of these institutions is to preserve the UAE heritage sites and educate the public about their importance. However, these sites are vulnerable to natural hazards, considered one of the most critical threats to the UAE heritage sites. In …

Bridging The Geospatial Education-Workforce Divide: A Case Study On How Higher Education Can Address The Emerging Geospatial Drivers And Trends Of The Intelligent Web Mapping Era, Wendy Rose Stout

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory collective case study is to discover how geospatial education can meet the geospatial workforce needs of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the emerging intelligent web mapping era. Geospatial education uses geographic information systems (GIS) to enable student learning by increasing in-depth spatial analysis and meaning using geotechnology tools (Baker & White, 2003). Bandura’s (1977) self-efficacy theory and geography concept of spatial thinking form an integrated theoretical framework of spatial cognition for this study. Data collection included in-depth interviews of twelve geospatial stakeholders, documentation collection, and supporting Q methodology to determine the viewpoints of a total …

Developing Metrics For Nasa Earth Science Interdisciplinary Data Products And Services, Zhong Liu, Chung-Lin Shie, Anthony J. Ritrivi, Guang-Dih Lei, Gary T. Alcott, Mary Greene, James Acker, Jennifer C. Wei, David J. Meyer, Angela Li, Atheer F. Al-Jazrawi

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Metrics are measures that are able to produce quantifiable information. There are many applications of metrics in Earth science data and services; for example, metrics are frequently used to track service performance and progress. In short, developing, collecting and analyzing metrics are essential activities to better support Earth science research, applications, and education.

As one of the largest repositories of Earth science data in the world, NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS) Project supports twelve Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs). Standard metrics have been developed by the ESDIS Metrics System (EMS). These metrics are collected and analyzed routinely …

Deep Learning Of High-Resolution Aerial Imagery For Coastal Marsh Change Detection: A Comparative Study, Grayson R. Morgan, Cuizhen Wang, Zhenlong Li, Steven R. Schill, Daniel R. Morgan

Faculty Publications

Deep learning techniques are increasingly being recognized as effective image classifiers. Aside from their successful performance in past studies, the accuracies have varied in complex environments, in comparison with the popularly of applied machine learning classifiers. This study seeks to explore the feasibility of using a U-Net deep learning architecture to classify bi-temporal, high-resolution, county-scale aerial images to determine the spatial extent and changes of land cover classes that directly or indirectly impact tidal marsh. The image set used in the analysis is a collection of a 1-m resolution collection of National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) tiles from 2009 and …

Unmanned Aerial Remote Sensing Of Coastal Vegetation: A Review, Grayson R. Morgan, Michael E. Hodgson, Cuizhen Wang, Steven R. Schill

Faculty Publications

Coastal wetlands contribute greatly to our coasts economically and ecologically. The utility of coastal wetland vegetation, along with the multitude of dynamic forces they encounter, suggests the need of regular monitoring for sustainable management. While traditional in situ survey methods and remote sensing from space and manned platforms have provided means to monitor and study the coastal zone thus far, the recent developments of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) fill a small void between traditional in situ survey methods and the high spatial resolution of manned aircraft imagery. As an on-demand personal remote sensing device, an sUAS can be deployed …

Machine Learning Land Cover And Land Use Classification Of 4-Band Satellite Imagery, Lorelei Turner, Torrey J. Wagner, Paul Auclair, Brent T. Langhals

Faculty Publications

Land-cover and land-use classification generates categories of terrestrial features, such as water or trees, which can be used to track how land is used. This work applies classical, ensemble and neural network machine learning algorithms to a multispectral remote sensing dataset containing 405,000 28x28 pixel image patches in 4 electromagnetic frequency bands. For each algorithm, model metrics and prediction execution time were evaluated, resulting in two families of models; fast and precise. The prediction time for an 81,000-patch group of predictions wasmodels, and >5s for the precise models, and there was not a significant change in prediction time when a …

Applying Landscape Fragmentation Analysis To Icescape Environments: Potential Impacts For The Pacific Walrus (Odobenus Rosmarus Divergens), Anthony Himmelberger, K E. Frey, Florencia Sangermano

Geography

Sea-ice cover across the Arctic has declined rapidly over the past several decades owing to amplified climate warming. The Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) relies on sea-ice floes in the St. Lawrence Island (SLI) and Wainwright regions of the Bering and Chukchi seas surrounding Alaska as a platform for rest, feeding and reproduction. Lower concentrations of thick ice floes are generally associated with earlier seasonal fragmentation and shorter annual persistence of sea-ice cover, potentially affecting the life history of the Pacific walrus. In this study, 24 Landsat satellite images were classified into thick ice, thin ice or open water to …

Arctic Greening: Characterizing Tundra Vegetation From In-Situ And Remotely Sensed Observations, Shira Ann Ellenson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As the Arctic has warmed at twice the rate of the global average, vegetation productivity has also been increasing. While satellite remote sensing is useful for summarizing Arctic-wide trends, changes in tundra species heights, densities, composition, and distribution can be missed at coarse resolution. Smaller, plot-scale studies are necessary to better understand vegetation dynamics at fine scales occurring on the ground.

In 1995, high-resolution traditional aerial photographs and in-situ measurements of vegetation characteristics were taken at a series of plots established on the Alaskan North Slope. Repeat field surveys in 2021 revealed increases in plant cover for deciduous shrubs and …

Characterization Of Site-Specific Vegetation Activity In Alaskan Wet And Dry Tundra As Related To Climate And Soil State, Michael Gregory Brown, Kyle C. Mcdonald, Reiner Zimmermann, Nicholas Steiner, Stephanie Devries, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez

Advanced Science Research Center

We present discrete (2-h resolution) multi-year (2008–2017) in situ measurements of seasonal vegetation growth and soil biophysical properties from two sites on Alaska's North Slope, USA, representing dry and wet sedge tundra. We examine measurements of vertical active soil layer temperature and soil moisture profiles (freeze/thaw status), woody shrub vegetation physiological activity, and meteorological site data to assess interrelationships within (and between) these two study sites. Vegetation phenophases (cold de-hardening start, physiological function start, stem growth start, stem growth end, physiological function end, cold hardening completion) were found to have greater interannual day of year (DOY) occurrence variability at the …

Arithfusion: An Arithmetic Deep Model For Temporal Remote Sensing Image Fusion, Md Reshad Ul Hoque, Jian Wu, Chiman Kwan, Krzysztof Koperski, Jiang Li

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Different satellite images may consist of variable numbers of channels which have different resolutions, and each satellite has a unique revisit period. For example, the Landsat-8 satellite images have 30 m resolution in their multispectral channels, the Sentinel-2 satellite images have 10 m resolution in the pan-sharp channel, and the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial images have 1 m resolution. In this study, we propose a simple yet effective arithmetic deep model for multimodal temporal remote sensing image fusion. The proposed model takes both low- and high-resolution remote sensing images at t₁ together with low-resolution images at a …

Assessment Of Vertical Accuracy From Uav-Lidar And Structure From Motion Point Clouds In Floodplain Terrain Mapping, Andrew Muller

Dissertations and Theses

Remote sensing technologies are being applied to a variety of uses because of the increase in access to various products (digital sensors, UAVs, software) and its ability to model relatively large areas in a short amount of time. While these new technologies are beginning to be adopted, validation of their merit in floodplain terrain mapping is lacking. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the vertical accuracy of digital elevation models (DEMs) generated with UAV-based LiDAR and Structure from Motion (SfM), also known as photographic LiDAR or PhoDAR. Airborne (manned aircraft) LiDAR has been applied to river research …

Shipboard Lidar As A Tool For Remotely Measuring The Distribution And Bulk Characteristics Of Marine Particles, Brian Leigh Collister

OES Theses and Dissertations

Light detection and ranging (lidar) can provide remote estimates of the vertical distribution of optical properties in the ocean, potentially revolutionizing our ability to characterize the spatial structure of upper ocean ecosystems. However, challenges associated with quantifying the relationship between lidar measurements and biogeochemical properties of interest have prevented its adoption for routinely mapping the vertical structure of marine ecosystems. To address this, we developed a shipboard oceanographic lidar that measures attenuation (α) and linear depolarization (δ) at scales identical to those of in-water optical and biogeochemical measurements. The instrument’s ability to resolve the distribution of optical and biogeochemical properties …

Assessing Impacts Of Winter-Hay Feeding On Soil And Forage Nutrient Dynamics In A Rotationally-Grazed Pasture System In Arkansas, Lawrence Gordon Berry Iv

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More than 38 % of United States’ rural land area was used for grazing (i.e., pastureland or rangeland) ruminant animals in 2017, constituting the largest private land use group. The expansive nature of these lands means that grazing and pasture management decisions have potential to impact water quality as well as profit margins. As a result, beef producers are under increased pressure from economic and environmental standpoints to limit application of nutrients beyond those required to grow the forage needed for animal consumption. At the same time, a large amount of nutrients is recycled back to pasture systems directly from …

Towards An Integrated Assessment Of Sea-Level Observations Along The U.S. Atlantic Coast, Brett A. Buzzanga

OES Theses and Dissertations

Sea levels are rising globally due to anthropogenic climate change. However, local sea levels that impact coastal ecosystems often differ from the global trend, sometimes by a factor of two or more. Improved understanding of this regional variability provides insights into geophysical processes and has implications for coastal communities developing resilience to ongoing sea-level rise. This dissertation conducts an investigation of sea level and its contributing processes at multiple spatial scales. Focusing on primarily interannual time-scales and data-driven approaches, new data sources and technologies are utilized to reduce current uncertainties.

First, sea-level trends are assessed over the global ocean and …

Examining Melt Pond Dynamics And Light Availability In The Arctic Ocean Via High Resolution Satellite Imagery, Austin Wesley Abbott

OES Theses and Dissertations

As the Arctic experiences consequences of climate change, a shift from thicker, multi-year ice to thinner, first-year ice has been observed. First-year ice is prone to extensive pools of meltwater (“melt ponds”) forming on its surface, which enhance light transmission to the ocean. Changes in the timing and distribution of melt pond formation and associated increases in under-ice light availability are the primary drivers for seasonal progression of water column primary production and warming. Observations of melt pond development and distribution require meter scale resolution and have traditionally been limited to airborne images. However, recent advances in high spatial resolution …

The Use Of Landsat Evi Remote Sensing In Landscape Monitoring (On The Example Of The Aydar-Arnasay Lakes System), Subkhan Abbasov, Nilufar Sabirova

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

In the article presents the radiometric readings of the Landsat satellite in landscape monitoring. The object of the research is the monitoring of agro-irrigation landscapes adjacent to the Aydar-Arnasay lakes system using Landsat 8 EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index). Landsat EVI proved to be the most optimal vegetative index for plant monitoring.

Digital Earth: The Impact Of Geographic Technology Through The Ages, Mishka Vance Huq

Theses and Dissertations

Geographic technology encompasses a wide range of geographic knowledge, concepts, processes, and artifacts. Because of its interdisciplinarity and integration with other technologies, the paper examines the diffuse impacts of geographic technology within the evolving relationship between technological and societal developments over time.

Spatiotemporal Distributions Of Sargassum On Grand Cayman, Graeme Timmeney

Masters Theses

This mixed methods research examines individual perceptions of Sargassum on Grand Cayman’s beaches in 2020 using participant mapping, and semi – structured interviews. Results from the participant mapping are compared to satellite detection of sargassum. Sargassum poses health risks to both humans and the natural environment. Decaying Sargassum produces sulfuric gas and prevents young turtle hatchlings from reaching the ocean. Since 2011, Sargassum has diffused beyond the Sargasso Sea into entirely novel locations, spanning from the west African Coast to the Gulf of Mexico. Increased biomass has proven to be overwhelming for many Caribbean Islands, including Grand Cayman where hundreds …

Climatic Controls On The Kinematics Of The Hooskanaden Landslide, Curry County, Oregon, Kara Kingen

Dissertations and Theses

Slow-moving earthflows represent major sources of sediment transport and erosion and are problematic for the management of critical infrastructure. The Hooskanaden Landslide -- a slow-moving earthflow on the southwest coast of Oregon -- crosses US Highway 101 and has been a site of continued interest to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) due to the weak lithology, erosive environment, and recurrent surge behavior (every ~15 years). Past surges, including the most recent (2019), have occurred during the winter, suggesting that velocity changes are predominantly controlled by climatic inputs. To examine the response of the Hooskanaden Landslide to seasonal and other …

Participatory Mapping With High-Resolution Satellite Imagery: A Mixed Method Assessment Of Land Degradation And Rehabilitation In Northern Burkina Faso, Colin Thor West, Elisabeth Kago Ilboudo Nébié, Aaron J. Moody

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Sahelian West Africa is a region that has high population densities and that has frequent severe droughts and enormous pressure on natural resources. Because of these challenges, it is the place where the term desertification was originally coined. Recently, however, experts have identified large zones of greening where the amount of vegetation exceeds what one would expect based on rainfall alone. This pattern is well documented, but its mechanisms remain poorly understood. This research employs participatory mapping linked with high-resolution satellite imagery to better understand the human role behind regional vegetation trends. Through a case study of three communities in …

Evaluation Of Manual And Semi-Automated Deep-Seated Landslide Inventory Processes: Willapa Hills, Washington, Tiffany E. Justice

Dissertations and Theses

Recent advances in remote sensing data and technology have allowed for computational models to be designed that successfully extract landforms from the landscape. The goal of this work is to create one such semi-automated model to extract deep-seated landslides located in complex geomorphic terrain. This is accomplished using geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) techniques, considered by leaders in the field of image analysis to have an advantage over traditional automated classification methods. GEOBIA methods can mimic human visual interpretation by including more characteristic features used to assess the relationship between image data and the ground surface such as color reflectance …

Spatiotemporal Observations Of Water Stress In Kansas Winter Wheat And Corn From Remotely Sensed Evapotranspiration And Ndwi, Lindi Diane Oyler

Masters Theses

"Optimizing water use is a growing concern, especially in agricultural communities where water use is high. An important challenge in agricultural water optimization is knowing when and where crop water stress is occurring, particularly on large scales where in-situ measurements are no longer practical to obtain. In an effort to combat this challenge, this study utilizes remotely sensed evapotranspiration (ET) and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) to evaluate the responses of integrated satellite datasets to water-stressed conditions over fields of irrigated corn, irrigated winter wheat, and rainfed winter wheat from 2007 to 2017 in southwestern Kansas. Using two different ET …

A Hand-Held Structure From Motion Photogrammetric Approach To Riparian And Stream Asseessment And Monitoring, Joseph M. Dehnert, Joseph Dehnert

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Two of the biggest weaknesses in stream restoration and monitoring are: 1) subjective estimation and subsequent comparison of changes in channel form, vegetative cover, and in-stream habitat; and 2) the high costs in terms of financing, human resources, and time necessary to make these estimates. Remote sensing can be used to remedy these weaknesses and save organizations focused on restoration both money and time. However, implementing traditional remote sensing approaches via autonomous aerial systems or light detection and ranging systems is either prohibitively expensive or impossible along small streams with dense vegetation. Hand-held Structure from Motion Multi-view Stereo (SfM-MVS) photogrammetric …

The Total Operating Characteristic From Stratified Random Sampling With An Application To Flood Mapping, Zhen Liu, Robert Gilmore Pontius

Geography

The Total Operating Characteristic (TOC) measures how the ranks of an index variable distinguish between presence and absence in a binary reference variable. Previous methods to generate the TOC required the reference data to derive from a census or a simple random sample. However, many researchers apply stratified random sampling to collect reference data because stratified random sampling is more efficient than simple random sampling for many applications. Our manuscript derives a new methodology that uses stratified random sampling to generate the TOC. An application to flood mapping illustrates how the TOC compares the abilities of three indices to diagnose …

Assessing And Forecasting Chlorophyll Abundances In Minnesota Lake Using Remote Sensing And Statistical Approaches, Ben Von Korff

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Harmful algae blooms (HABs) can negatively impact water quality, lake aesthetics, and can harm human and animal health. However, monitoring for HABs is rare in Minnesota. Detecting blooms which can vary spatially and may only be present briefly is challenging, so expanding monitoring in Minnesota would require the use of new and cost efficient technologies. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were used for bloom mapping using RGB and near-infrared imagery. Real time monitoring was conducted in Bass Lake, in Faribault County, MN using trail cameras. Time series forecasting was conducted with high frequency chlorophyll-a data from a water quality sonde. Normalized …

Investigating The Spatial Behavior And Habitat Use Of The Matschie’S Tree-Kangaroo (Dendrolagus Matschiei) Using Gps Collars And Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Uas), Jonathan B. Byers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding the movement patterns and habitat needs of the endangered Matschie’s tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei) is important for their conservation and management. Endemic to the montane cloud forests of the Huon Peninsula in northeastern Papua New Guinea, these elusive arboreal marsupials are tremendously challenging to study using traditional observational methods.

This study is an assessment of novel techniques to overcome the significant challenges to in-situ data collection in remote and rugged tropical cloud forests. Animal locations are remotely tracked using purpose built altitude and motion logging GPS collars and habitat structure data is measured using photogrammetry from small Unmanned Aircraft …

Environmental And Spatial Factors Affecting Surface Water Quality In A Himalayan Watershed, Central Nepal, Janardan Mainali, Heejun Chang

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Various spatial interrelationships among sampling stations are not well explored in the spatial modeling of water quality literature. This research explores the relationship between water quality and various social, demographic, and topographic factors in an urbanizing watershed of Nepal with a comparison of different connectivity matrices to conceptualize spatial interrelationships. We collected electrical conductivity and dissolved oxygen data from surface water bodies using a handheld probe and used the data to establish relationships with land use, topography, and population density-based explanatory variables at both watershed and 100-m buffer scales. The linear regression model was compared with different eigenvector-based spatial filtering …

Quantifying Surface Severity Of The 2014 And 2015 Fires In The Great Slave Lake Area Of Canada, Nancy H. F. French, Jeremy Graham, Ellen Whitman, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The focus of this paper was the development of surface organic layer severity maps for the 2014 and 2015 fires in the Great Slave Lake area of the Northwest Territories and Alberta, Canada, using multiple linear regression models generated from pairing field data with Landsat 8 data. Field severity data were collected at 90 sites across the region, together with other site metrics, in order to develop a mapping approach for surface severity, an important metric for assessing carbon loss from fire. The approach utilised a combination of remote sensing indices to build a predictive model of severity that was …