Geographic Information Sciences Commons^™

Age, Size, And Composition Of Selected Old-Growth Shortleaf Pine Stands In The Upper Buffalo River, Arkansas, Willa Avery Thomason

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata) approaches the westernmost limits of its range in the Arkansas Ozarks. Despite heavy logging of shortleaf pine throughout its range during the 19th and 20th centuries, the species was not easily accessible for harvest and transportation in the most rugged areas of the Boston Mountains and, as a result, there are a few extant stands of old-growth shortleaf pine in the region. The shortleaf pine stands in the interior Boston Mountains are unusual in that they exist primarily above bluff lines at topographic breaks in the hardwood canopy and are not disturbed by fire as frequently …

Comparison Of Gis Methods For Estimating The Social Vulnerability In Response To Natural Hazards In The West Part Of The City Of Tualatin, Alex Troy

Geography Masters Research Papers

The influence of natural hazards on social vulnerability is an important topic in the risk analysis of natural disasters in the human-environment system. Due to the difficulty of directly measuring social vulnerability, composite indexes are used as a surrogate. Social vulnerability indexes attempt to characterize access to societal and local social services during or after disastrous events, using various indicators such as age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, housing organization, access to shelters, and medical facilities. Geographic information systems (GIS) are used for vulnerability analysis due to their visualization methods and demographic data analysis. However, limitations in GIS applications for social …

Linkages Between Atmospheric Circulation, Weather, Climate, Land Cover And Social Dynamics Of The Tibetan Plateau, Shobha Kumari Yadav

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is an important landmass that plays a significant role in both regional and global climates. In recent decades, the TP has undergone significant changes due to climate and human activities. Since the 1980s anthropogenic activities, such as the stocking of livestock, land cover change, permafrost degradation, urbanization, highway construction, deforestation and desertification, and unsustainable land management practices, have greatly increased over the TP. As a result, grasslands have undergone rapid degradation and have altered the land surface which in turn has altered the exchange of heat and moisture properties between land and the atmosphere. But gaps …

Quantifying The Carbon Stored And Sequestered By The Trees On Pomona College’S Campus, Paola A. Giron-Carson

Scripps Senior Theses

We are experiencing a climate crisis that must be confronted with strategic mitigation. Pomona College contributes to the climate crisis through its emissions for which there is a baseline record. However there is no baseline record of the climate mitigation currently performed by the trees on Pomona’s campus through carbon storage. This study seeks to determine a current baseline quantity of carbon stored and sequestrated by Pomona’s trees as well as possible courses of climate mitigation for Pomona College to take. Initial information gathering was conducted through interviews with several stakeholders. This study was conducted using data collected prior to …

A Subspecies-Level Database Of Amazonian Bird Distributions, With Inferences On Suture Zones And Conservation, Marco Antonio Rego

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Amazonia has the largest and most biodiverse tropical forest on the planet. However, the distributions of its species are still poorly understood, even for well-studied vertebrates such as birds. Available distribution maps for Amazonian birds often lack accuracy in delimiting the area where species occur. Existing distributional information for Amazonian birds is often limited to species-level level taxonomy, even though many Amazonian bird subspecies represent biological species. Here, I investigate the geographic distributions of 4,148 bird taxa (species and subspecies) using museum scientific specimens as the primary source of data. To build the data base I use more than 600,000 …

Spatiotemporal Change Detection Of The Alpine Meadows At Holcomb Valley, San Bernardino Mountain National Forest, Using Gis And Remote Sensing Techniques, Rama Ewing

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Holcomb Valley, with a general elevation between 2200-2257m, is in the Northeast of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. Holcomb Valley is covered by Alpine meadows, unlike most mountain landscapes, which are rarely found in Mediterranean climates such as California. The cultural-environmental history of the San Bernardino Mountains in the past century speaks of intense anthropogenic activities such as timbering, grazing, gold mining, and extreme climate changes (i.e., drought, fires, floods). A study is conducted to identify and calculate the changes in the Alpine meadows at Holcomb Valley. The climatical data has been acquired to compute and visualize …

Acid Mine Drainage In The Shamokin Creek Watershed: A Spatial Analysis Of Economic And Environmental Consequences Of Coal Mining, Ben Shimer

Student Project Reports

No abstract provided.

Expulsive Greening: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of Green Gentrification In The Resilience Paradigm, Brooklyn 2010–2020, Rose Jimenez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: This project analyzes the spatial coincidence between gentrification typologies and urban greening in Brooklyn, New York from 2010 to 2020. Assets formed under the NYC Green Infrastructure Program were chosen as a proxy for urban greening to represent the spatial practice specifically within the 21st-century climate change resilience paradigm of development. Methods: First, five indexes measuring variations of economic and demographic conditions related to gentrification were applied to Brooklyn for comparative analysis: NOAA’s Social Vulnerability Indicators of Gentrification Pressure, The NYC Heat Vulnerability Index, The Small Area Index of Gentrification, Typologies of Gentrification and Displacement, and The Housing Risk …

Using Lidar To Estimate Carbon Sequestration Of Evergreen Trees At Eastern Washington University (Ewu) Campus, Cheney, Washington, Kristy A. Snyder

2022 Symposium

EWU contains a variety of deciduous and evergreen trees across its campus, providing several benefits. However, no comprehensive record exists of the total number, location, species, or ages of these trees. This knowledge can inform facilities of proper care for individual trees and can be used to estimate carbon sequestration on campus. Traditional on-the-ground methods for assessing trees require tree cores or clinometers, making trees susceptible to pests or disease and leading to inaccurate results. Remote sensing using lidar data is a noninvasive, more precise method to measure tree height and subsequently assess tree age. This poster explores using point …

Analysis Of Gentrification And Green Spaces In East Austin, Texas, Carly Fordyce

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gentrification, the urban process that results from uneven development within cities, can cause unjust displacement of traditional, low-income residents in residential neighborhoods, and inequitable access to community services and benefits. Because of the negative social impacts that gentrification can have, many local governments and agencies have been known to attempt to mitigate changes by initiating different types of planning policies. Such policies usually apply changes in housing or zoning rules to enable lower-income residents to have access to housing and community amenities in the area. Another aspect resulting from gentrification that local government will try to rectify is low access …

Mapping The Impact Of A Trailway System On The Amount Of Trash Present Within Two Watersheds Of Lynchburg City, Virginia, Lillian Smith

Student Scholar Showcase

Transportation of trash debris within water systems is a prominent occurrence which has been linked to natural and artificial processes such as wind, rain, and littering. Recreational areas, such as activities along greenway trails, have been determined to be a source of debris found in waterways. This study examines whether the presence of an established recreational trail system limits trash accumulation in the entirety of a watershed. Trash data collected at Blackwater Creek, which contains an established trail system, was compared to trash data collected at Fishing Creek, containing a non-established trail system, to answer this hypothesis. A distance of …

A Gis Analysis Of Potential Wetland Mitigation Opportunities In The Brandywine Creek Watershed, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Shannon Ryan

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Wetlands provide innumerous functions and values that are beneficial to both the natural environment and economic systems. Historically these habitats have suffered significant losses and it is crucial to preserve existing wetlands and plan for future restoration opportunities. This research examines six sub-watersheds within the Brandywine Creek watershed within Chester County, Pennsylvania to determine where potential wetland mitigation opportunities occur. Using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis, three wetland characteristics including watercourse locations, existing National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) wetlands, and hydric soils were mapped throughout each of the watersheds. Areas of agricultural easements and steep slopes were used to exclude …

Environmental Racism In Baltimore: A Geographical Study Into The Connections Between Environmental Toxins And Public Health, Genevieve Block

Honors Theses

An investigation into the relationship between environmental toxins and environmental racism in Baltimore City, Maryland.

Wilderness And The Geotag: Exploring The Claim That "Geotagging Ruins Nature" In The Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Wa, Mara Gans

All Master's Theses

This research explores the claim that “geotagging ruins nature” by quantifying and qualifying patterns in geotag use and visitors’ experiences in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, in Washington, United States. Many have raised concerns that geotags increase recreational visitation to public lands, which subsequently contributes to negative resource impacts. Others, however, claim that geotagging has made the outdoors more accessible to less privileged communities and raise concerns that condemning geotags will perpetuate the exclusion of certain groups from outdoor recreation. This debate is studied within federally designated Wilderness, which is legally defined as “untrammeled by man,” a definition rooted in problematic …

Three Method Tsunami Vulnerability Analysis Of The United States East Coast, Joshua Knolla

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

The East Coast of the United States could be susceptible to tsunamis or even mega tsunamis. With this in mind it becomes essential to answer the question: Where is vulnerability to a tsunami greatest along the East Coast of the United States? To answer this question the following parameters have been set. First, the study will include county level subdivisions along the USEC that have coasts along the Atlantic Ocean. The possible source regions of a tsunami or mega tsunami are also noted. This analysis includes both social and physical factors with nine and five of them considered respectively. Three …

Empowering The Human-Nature Bond, Lightning Talk (7 Min), Valeria Widjaja

GIS Day

What is land? Is it dirt, the Earth, property, a resource? But rarely we ask who is land? When we change the question, it changes the way we think about land. It transforms the way we make decisions about how we might protect land. Through the Deshkan Ziibi Conservation Impact Bond, this story map explores how Carolinian Canada, Chippewas of the Thames First Nations, VERGE Capital, Ivey Business School, Thames Talbot Land Trust, and 3M are striving to heal the landscape. Overall, this story map visualizes both the human-nature and human-human relationships being facilitated by the bond. Learn the about …

Urban Forests And Their Potential To Combat Food Insecurity: Analyzing Foods From Street Trees In New York City, Ny, Kristen Cooney

Environment and Sustainability Summer Fellows

There is growing recognition that urban forests have the potential to combat food insecurity via their edible parts, namely fruits, berries, and nuts. Many tree species commonly planted in urban spaces have edible parts that may fulfill the nutritional needs of city residents that are food insecure, but no one has analyzed the value of city street trees to understand this potential. I analyzed New York City’s street trees by each species and their edible parts to measure this potential.

Geolocation Of Monitoring Wells Using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Joel Deyoung

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater monitoring wells are commonly installed on a property as part of an environmental investigation to observe hydrological subsurface conditions, facilitate the collection of groundwater samples, and predict the flow of groundwater across a site. In addition to their installation, monitoring wells should be surveyed or mapped as accurately as possible. Traditional surveying techniques have employed the use of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) technologies or other surveying equipment. A common surveying approach is to use real-time kinematic (RTK) GNSS to accurately measure the coordinates of each monitoring well on the site.In recent years, drones, or small unmanned aircraft systems …

Machine Learning & Big Data Analyses For Wildfire & Air Pollution Incorporating Gis & Google Earth Engine, Abdullah Al Saim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The climatic condition, the vegetation type, and the landscape of the United States have made it susceptible to wildfires. This research is divided into two parts based on the analysis of two different aspects of wildfires of two distinct regions. The first part of the study investigates the wildfire susceptibility in Arkansas. Arkansas is a natural state, and it is heavily dependent on its forest and agricultural resources. During the last 30 years, more than 1,000 wildfires occurred in Arkansas and caused more than 10,000 acres of burned areas. Therefore, identifying wildfire-susceptible areas is crucial for ensuring sustainable forest and …

Mapping The Suitability Of Cal Poly's Insulated Solar Electric Cookers (Isec) In Ghana, Togo, And Jamaica, Julia G. Kraatz

Social Sciences

The World Health Organization estimates that 3 billion people depend on biomass fuels for cooking, heating, and other day-to-day activities, which causes approximately 4.3 million people annually to die from illnesses attributable to indoor air pollution. The issue is especially pressing for women and children in developing countries, because women care for the home and are consequently responsible for attaining household fuels and cooking. In 2015, ISECs (Insulated Solar Electric Cookers) were developed at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, as a technology that utilizes solar electricity to directly cook food in a well-insulated chamber. They are capable of …

El Atlas De Las Carreteras Propuestas En La Zona Transfronteriza Ucayali, Perú-Acre, Brasil, David S. Salisbury, Stephanie A. Spera, Elspeth Collard*, Anna Frisbie*, M. R. Place*, Yunuen Reygadas Langarica, Elizabeth Zizzamia

Multimedia

El Atlas de las Carreteras Propuestas en la Zona Transfronteriza Ucayali, Perú-Acre, Brasil incluye una serie de 15 mapas de dos carreteras propuestas: 1) Pucallpa, Perú-Cruzeiro do Sul, Brasil; 2) Nuevo Italia-Puerto Breu, Perú. El objetivo del atlas es presentar los mapas, posters, e información geográfica para dar una perspectiva geográfica de las propuestas de carreteras y entender mejor los posibles impactos socio-ambientales en estas áreas fronterizas con altos índices en diversidad ambiental y cultural. Los mapas y posters son de acceso público.

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.

Evaluating Urban Parks Accessibility And Equity: A Case Study Of Hartford, Ct And New Haven, Ct, Natalie Roach, Mara Tu

Honors Scholar Theses

Public parks provide cities with environmental benefits, positive health effects, recreational opportunities, community building, educational spaces, and public amenities. However, certain populations have been systematically denied their fair share of these benefits because of unjust practices in the creation and maintenance of urban parks. With a lens of environmental justice, the goal of this research was to assess park quality and accessibility of two Connecticut cities, Hartford and New Haven, by gathering publicly available information as well as using GIS tools.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) has an existing ParkScore rating system that evaluates the quality of a city’s …

Geospatial Analysis Of Registered Sex Offenders: A Case Study From Pulaski County, Arkansas, Maggie Rose Bridges

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this case study was to analyze the spatial distribution patterns of the residences of registered sex offenders in Pulaski County, Arkansas to determine the impact of state enforced residence restrictions. Density and clustering factors were used to identify census tracts of the study area with high and low concentrations of offenders. These zones were then compared to identify which characteristics were similar and dissimilar between high and low concentration zones. The results indicate that there is a non-random distribution of registered sex offenders in the study area. The findings also indicate that the residence restrictions placed on …

330— Spatial Trends Of Green Burial Grounds, U.S., Emma Ranney

GREAT Day Posters

"Green" burial was the standard form of interment in the United States prior to the late 1800s. During the Civil War, the rate of chemical embalming grew out of necessity, as the deceased often had to be transported considerable distances to arrive in their home state. Chemical embalming quickly became one of the most common and accepted funeral practices in the nation. In 1993, however, the natural burial movement began in the U.K., and by 1998, the U.S. had its first green-burial-friendly cemetery. The purpose of this project is to analyze spatial, temporal, and additional significant trends regarding green burial …

427— Understanding The Spatial Distribution Of Avalanche Fatalities In Utah, 2010-2020, Jackson Ferguson

GREAT Day Posters

This project continues the work of building knowledge about avalanches by creating a database that maps avalanche fatalities in Utah. The primary vector layer is a point layer that marks the precise location of avalanche fatalities, which has the potential to capture spatial trends in such occurrences.The mapping in this project confirms that there is a strong spatial pattern to avalanche fatalities in Utah, with a high density of accidents in the Salt Lake county. A likely explanation for why there are higher numbers of fatalities in this region is simply population density. A statistical analysis exposes the complexity of …

Análisis De Los Impactos Socio-Ambientales De Dos Rutas De La Carretera Propuesta Entre Pucallpa, Perú Y Cruzeiro Do Sul, Brasil., A. Frisbie *, E. Collard *, E. Zizzamia, D. S. Salisbury, V. Galati, S. Spera

Conference Presentations and Posters

À medida que a construção de estradas na Amazônia continua a ser proposta e promovida por governos do Brasil e do Peru, torna-se cada vez mais importante considerar os efeitos que essa infraestrutura pode ter nas diversas culturas e ecossistemas da Amazônia. Uma das propostas em discussão é uma rodovia de 200 km que ligaria as cidades de Pucallpa, no Peru, e Cruzeiro do Sul, no Brasil. Embora a estrada seja promovida como economicamente vantajosa, a rota passará perto, se não cruzar, territórios indígenas e áreas de conservação protegidas, notadamente o Parque Nacional Sierra del Divisor. A região de Sierra …

Análisis De Los Impactos Socio-Ambientales De Las Carretera Propuesta Trocha Uc-105 Entre Nuevo Italia Y Puerto Breu, Ucayali, Perú, M. R. Place *, E. Zizzamia, D. S. Salisbury, V. Galati, S. Spera

Conference Presentations and Posters

A construção de estradas é cada vez mais promovida nas fronteiras compartilhadas pelo Peru e pelo Brasil, apesar de uma compreensão incompleta dos impactos socioambientais da infraestrutura de transporte na região. As estradas amazônicas geralmente se expandem informalmente, sem processo oficial do governo, consulta prévia das populações indígenas e declarações de impacto ambiental. A expansão das estradas na Amazônia também freqüentemente segue um ciclo de feedback progressivo, com novas estradas não planejadas gerando caminhos ilegais de extração de madeira e expansão agrícola que, por sua vez, expande e formaliza os sistemas de estradas. Um sistema de estradas em expansão está …

Evaluating The Spatial Trends And Statistical Determinants Of Residential Solar Uptake In Washington State, Caleb Michael Valko

All Master's Theses

Washington State’s Clean Energy Transformation Act and other state and federal policies encouraging solar power make Washington a ripe candidate to examine growth, trends, and potential determinants or barriers to residential solar uptake. In this thesis, residential solar is cumulatively and annually mapped by county (2000-2019) and Census tract (2017-2019) across the state to identify trends over time and space. Each variable (income, age, households, race, education, solar insolation, cost of solar per watt) was isolated individually to analyze the relationship (if any) to the dependent variable (i.e., residential solar installations). The covariates are then combined into a multiple regression …

An Application Of The Sleuth Model: Future Urbanization Of Davidson County, Tennessee, Caitlyn J. Linehan

Theses and Dissertations

As the urban population is expected to grow in the coming decades, there is pressure on urban areas to expand to accommodate this growth. Often times, these expansions are not sustainable, they consume valuable lands and cause significant environmental, social, and economic burdens, a theory which is known as urban sprawl. Therefore it is often imperative to model areas more likely to urbanize in order for cities to plan for their expansion in the most sustainable way possible. Nashville, Tennessee located within Davidson County is an area that has been experiencing a significant period of urban growth. The objective of …