Geographic Information Sciences Commons^™

Quasi‐Hidden Markov Model And Its Applications In Cluster Analysis Of Earthquake Catalogs, Zhengxiao Wu

Research Collection School of Economics

We identify a broad class of models, quasi-hidden Markov models (QHMMs), which include hidden Markov models (HMMs) as special cases. Applying the QHMM framework, this paper studies how an earthquake cluster propagates statistically. Two QHMMs are used to describe two different propagating patterns. The “mother-and-kids” model regards the first shock in an earthquake cluster as “mother” and the aftershocks as “kids,” which occur in a neighborhood centered by the mother. In the “domino” model, however, the next aftershock strikes in a neighborhood centered by the most recent previous earthquake in the cluster, and therefore aftershocks act like dominoes. As the …

Spatial Analysis Of Fatal Automobile Crashes In Kentucky, William Nathan Oris

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Fatal automobile crashes have claimed the lives of over 33,000 people each year in the United States since 1995. As in any point event, fatal crash events do not occur randomly in time or space. The objectives of this study were to identify spatial patterns and hot spots in FARS (Fatal Analysis Reporting System) fatal crash events based on temporal and demographic characteristics. The methods employed included 1) rate calculation using FARS points and average daily traffic flow; 2) planar kernel density estimation of FARS crash events based on temporal and demographic attributes within the data; and 3) two case …

Measuring Accessibility To Primary Care Physicians In The Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area, Sami M. Almudaris

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The growing concern for the shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs) prompted a government legislation to designate areas where shortage in the delivery of primary care services occurs. The implemented systems (e.g., HPSA, MUA, and MUP) analyze utilization of health services within confined administrative units and fail to account for spatial interactions that occur across administrative borders. This research examines the spatial accessibility to PCPs and the underlying demographic and socioeconomic settings. With the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as a study area, this study utilized data from the U.S. Census 2000 and 2010, as well as the known locations …

Sensitivity Analysis On Mapping Evapotranspiration At High Resolution Using Internal Calibration (Metric), Venkata Naga Ravi Kumar Choragudi

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mapping EvapoTranspiration at high Resolution using Internal Calibration (METRIC) is most widely used to quantify evapotranspiration (ET) spatially and temporally. It is essential to inspect the model’s response to errors in various parameters used in the model. Landsat 5 images from May 30 2009, July 1 2009 and a Landsat 7 image from September 27 2009 are used in this study. Fourteen different fields composed of Corn, Soybeans, Alfalfa are randomly chosen for each crop type.

Two kinds of errors are addressed in this study. One, with the errors that are transferred and potentially compensated by calibration (Global error) and …

Analyzing Spring Freeze Impacts On Deciduous Forest Productivity Using Modis Satellite Imagery, Karl Lintvedt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The impacts of an April 2007 spring freeze event on the productivity of deciduous broadleaf forest were analyzed using geographic information system (GIS) tools. Forest productivity was modeled using the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), as recorded by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensor. Measures of spatial autocorrelation were used to quantify the degree of spatial congruence between a map depicting the severity of the freeze event, and maps modeling forest productivity throughout the year. The results show a geographic correlation between the unseasonably low minimum temperatures sustained during the freeze and the unusually low forest productivity that followed. …

Surface Modeling Topsoil Distribution On A Reclaimed Coal-Mine Site At Blackmesa Mine Complex, Kayenta, Arizona, Janine Ferarese

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

A necessary precursor to ensure proper vegetation growth on reclaimed coal-mine areas is even distribution of topsoil. This capstone discusses development of surface models to describe the accurate determination and visualization of the distribution of topsoil. Prediction surfaces from topsoil-depth point samples were created using the surface interpolation methods, Inverse Distance Weighted and Kriging. The validity and accuracy of each method was assessed to determine the best method to evaluate actual topsoil distribution at a coal mining site. The model can be utilized by non- spatially trained personnel working in the mining arena as an aid in assessing how appropriately …

The Temporal And Spatial Connectivity Of The Gambles Mill Corridor, Richmond, Va, R.M. Price, K. Billups, S. Bodner, M. Burbank, L. Cohan, S. Elliott, C. Landesberg, G. Leonard, J. Marconi, M. Mcgovern, J. Petrosino, A. Phadke, C. Phelan, A. Purdy, David S. Salisbury

Geography and the Environment Poster Presentations

The City of Richmond and the Virginia Department of Transportation proposed to rehabilitate the Gambles Mill Trail connecting the University of Richmond (UR) to the intersection of Huguenot and River Road. Planners envision this trail as a sustainable model for the reduction of nutrient and sediment flow and as a vital path in a city-wide network of bike and pedestrian trails. Meanwhile, UR also proposes to rehabilitate the corridor in their new Master Plan. Nevertheless, until now, no substantive studies exist on the trail or the corridor linking the trail to the south side of the James River through the …

Beyond The Epsilon Band: Polygonal Modeling Of Gradation/Uncertainty In Area-Class Maps, Barry Kronenfeld

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

A spatial modeling technique is proposed to represent boundary uncertainty or gradation on area-class maps using a simple polygon tessellation with designated zones of indeterminacy or transition zones. The transition zone can be conceptualized as a dual of the epsilon band, but is more flexible and allows for a wide range of polygonal configurations, including polygons with sinuous boundaries, spurs, three-way transition zones, and null polygons. The model is specified using the medial axis to capture the general shape characteristics of a transition zone. Graph theoretic representation of an extended version of the medial axis captures key junctions in both …

Beyond The Epsilon Band: Polygonal Modeling Of Gradation/Uncertainty In Area-Class Maps, Barry J. Kronenfeld

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

A spatial modeling technique is proposed to represent boundary uncertainty or gradation on area-class maps using a simple polygon tessellation with designated zones of indeterminacy or transition zones. The transition zone can be conceptualized as a dual of the epsilon band, but is more flexible and allows for a wide range of polygonal configurations, including polygons with sinuous boundaries, spurs, three-way transition zones, and null polygons. The model is specified using the medial axis to capture the general shape characteristics of a transition zone. Graph theoretic representation of an extended version of the medial axis captures key junctions in both …

Continuity Of Landsat Obersvations: Short Term Considerations, Michael A. Wulder, Joanne C. White, Jeffrey G. Masek, John Dwyer, David P. Roy

GSCE Faculty Publications

As of writing in mid-2010, both Landsat-5 and -7 continue to function, with sufficient fuel to enable data collection until the launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) scheduled for December of 2012. Failure of one or both of Landsat-5 or -7 may result in a lack of Landsat data for a period of time until the 2012 launch. Although the potential risk of a component failure increases the longer the sensor's design life is exceeded, the possible gap in Landsat data acquisition is reduced with each passing day and the risk of Landsat imagery being unavailable diminishes for …

Re-Evaluating Vietnam’S Nghe-Tinh Soviets (1930-1931) Using A Historical Gis: Some Preliminary Observations, David W. Del Testa

Faculty Journal Articles

The Nghe-Tinh Soviets of 1930-1931, a rebellion against colonial authority in north-central and central colonial Vietnam, has received extensive analysis by a variety of commentators and scholars, both Vietnamese and not. Most scholars, Vietnam and internationally, settled on some view of immiseration combined with the presence of pro-communist organizers as the motive forces for the rebellion, but a few have favored questions of political dissatisfaction and local empowerment as underlying motivations for revolt. Until recently, examining the rebellion on a gross scale in order to test either theory has proven difficult, with a surfeit of information but no easy way …

A Google Earth-Based Framework For Visualization Of The Chesapeake Bay Operational Forecast System, Gary Lawson

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

For the persons who live near and travel the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, the data provided by the Chesapeake Bay Operational Forecast System (CBOFS) is invaluable. The information provided includes measurements and forecasts of surface wind velocity, water current velocity, salinity levels, water level, and temperature. Currently, this information is freely available on the CBQ_FS website hosted by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It is offered as Nowcast, measured data, and Forecast data and is visualized using 2D images which describe a subset of the data in an easy to read chart. However, if the data were …

'The Earth Is Crying Out In Pains Of Childbirth': Bauxite Mining And Sustainable Rural Development In The Brazilian Atlantic Forest, Lena R. Connor

Environmental Analysis Program Mellon Student Summer Research Reports

In 2003, residents of the Serra do Brigadeiro Territory, a rural region of Southeastern Brazil in one of the few remaining patches of the Atlantic Forest, learned of a large number of bauxite concessions in their territory given by the federal government to the prominent Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA), Brazil’s largest aluminum producer. Because the region prides itself on its small-scale agriculture and its lush natural environment, the mining has been the source of much contention in the community. Introduced to the topic by the international conservation non-profit and research center, Iracambi, I spent two months in the territory …

Crime And Social Strain In Fairfax County, Va: Using Geographical Information Science To Test For Social Strain In The Aftermath Of The Great Recession, Jason D. Reyes

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Robert Merton, through the Social Strain Theory, suggests that crime exists because of society’s demands do not meet individuals needs. The following study is a qualitative study that first explains what the Social Strain Theory is, then tests to see if this theory has any validity to one of the most affluent counties in the United States. This study compares Fairfax County’s socioeconomic variables with the their crime data during the Great Recession to uncover any trends or patterns for which Robert Merton would say are due to high amounts of Social Strain. The overall results of the study suggest …

Development And Mapping Techniques For The Comprehensive Community Wildfire Protection Plan (Cwpp) For Jefferson County, Colorado, Scot Fitzgerald

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

The Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) development process highlighted in this document was developed for multiple CWPP for Jefferson County, Colorado. Documents were created for three Fire Protection Districts, and a larger scale plan was developed to cover all of Jefferson County. The county-wide plan was developed combining existing fire protection district CWPP information, infrastructure data from the Jefferson County GIS department, and fuels and vegetation from LANDFIRE in order to create maps with which wildfire hazards and fuel mitigation recommendations could be identified. The final CWPP is a tool for communities and other local stakeholders to implement wildfire hazard …

A Comparison Of The Transition Of Denver Neighborhood Crime From 2000 To 2010, David Muenkel

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

The purpose of this project was to study crime in the City of Denver, Colorado and show how crime moves between neighborhoods over time. The study involved looking at crimes aggregated at the neighborhood level to determine how crime transitioned within the City of Denver from 2000 to 2010. The crime data was also compared with calls for service to determine how police activity and citizen reporting related to crime in the City of Denver. The results indicated that the City of Denver, while increasing in population from 554,636 in 2000 to 600,156 in 2010 had a reduction in the …

From Lakes To Plants: Spatial Assessment Of Vegetation Dynamics Along 52 Disappearing Lakes In The Boreal Forests Of Alaska From 1984-2009 In The Yukon Flats Wildlife Refuge, Steve Ewest

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

A spatial assessment of vegetation change along the areas of shrinking lakes was conducted in 2011. The analysis utilized Landsat TM/ETM imagery bands 3 and 4 to calculate NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) from 1984 to 2009 and applied cell and zonal statistics to measure the change as well as create an animation of the change. Also, three 30 meter bands and the zonal averages for the maximum values were assessed. The band in the 60-90 buffer bands has the greatest ratio amount of the maximum vegetation values when compared to the 0-30 meter and the 30-60 meter buffered bands. …

Digital Mapping As A Student And Staff Communication Tool, Ryan Gyurkovitz

Horticulture and Crop Science

A study in the use of Geographic Information Systems in the development of digital maps for use by students and staff in Plant Identification Courses.

Application Of Geographical Information System (Gis) For Mapping Road Traffic Injuries Using Existing Source Of Data In Karachi, Pakistan--A Pilot Study, Junsid Razzak, Uzma R. Khan, Sabeena Jalal

Department of Emergency Medicine

OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of using Geographical Information System for mapping of road traffic injuries with an existing data source in a developing country.

METHODS: The study was a retrospectives case series of road traffic injury cases registered with the medico-legal office located in the three major trauma centers in Karachi for the period of January 1, 2004 till December 31st, 2004. Spatial data analysis was performed using ARCVIEW 3.1.

RESULTS: Out of 3650 of all road traffic injury, only 3% had locations detailed and accurate enough allowing mapping on a GIS map in the first attempt. Even after …

Automatic High-Fidelity 3d Road Network Modeling, Jie Wang

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Many computer applications such as racing games and driving simulations frequently make use of 3D high-fidelity road network models for a variety of purposes. However, there are very few existing methods for automatic generation of 3D realistic road networks, especially for those in the real world. On the other hand, vast road network GIS data have been collected in the past and used by a wide range of applications, such as navigation and evaluation. A method that can automatically produce 3D high-fidelity road network models from 2D real road GIS data will significantly reduce both the labor and time needed …

The Microsoft Geospatial Library, Michael Kallay

2011 Symposium on Data-Driven Approaches to Droughts

In SQL Server 2008, Microsoft introduced support for geospatial data, with a rich set of spatial queries and constructions, in both Cartesian and geodetic coordinates. Most of this functionality is also available as an independent (free download) .NET library. This talk will focus on this library, touching on the differences in functionality between its TSQL and C# interfaces.

A Geographical Perspective Of The Statistical Data Of And About Greeley, Colorado, And Its Off-Premise Liquor Stores: Location, Number, And Possible Saturation, Scott Jones

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This document, with the use of Geographical Information Systems, will verify that statistically Greeley, Colorado does not contain more than an adequate number of liquor stores within its city limits. This document is intended to give the reader a nonbiased geographical perspective of the statistical data of Greeley, Colorado and its off-premise liquor stores: location, number, and if it should be considered over-saturated.

The definition and allotments of a liquor store licenses vary. The three licenses available are Special Event, On Premise, and Off-Premise. These can commingle. This study was concerned with the license used for sale of full-strength products …

Farm Fragmentation: Mapping The Status And Trends Of Agricultural Lands In Colorado, Gabrielle Friedman

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Statistical spatial analysis was used in this research to assess the factors contributing to the downsizing of farms as well as overall farm size choice in Colorado. The areas of research focus will be the spatial effects and the economic landscape. This work will challenge the common belief that large, corporate farms are swallowing up small farms in a consolidation effort. Further, the analysis will quantify and visualize the status of agricultural lands in Colorado. The research will help to inform the theoretical understanding of agricultural decision processes within the context of economic and spatial factors.

High School Graduation And Dropout Rates In The Pikes Peak Region Of Colorado: A Spatial Analysis Of School Proximity To Military Installations, Rachel Orlicky

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

The purpose of this project was to examine graduation and dropout rates for high school students to determine if a correlation could be found with respect to the relative school distance from a military installation in the Pikes Peak region. Spatial analysis and Ordinary Least Squares analysis were used to build a linear regression model to predict student graduation and dropout rates. The results for the total student population for graduation rates and for dropout rates showed no statistically significant correlation with respect to the relative proximity to a military installation. Detailed analysis revealed that several minority and gender subgroups …

Geographic Information Systems Correlation Modeling As A Management Tool In The Study Effects Of Environmental Variables’ Effects On Cultural Resources, Brian Wallace

Anthropology Graduate Projects and Theses

Utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offers the field of Cultural Resource Management greater capacity in managing resources. New regression analysis tools recently released in ESRI ArcGIS software offer potential for determining more accurate statistical analyses of the relationships between cultural material and environmental variables. The contemporary trend of federal cultural resource managers and GIS analysts working with smaller budgets is to allocate fiscal resources for tools which will enable them to continue successfully managing their resource. ArcGIS software continues to be the industry standard in managing spatial data to accurately represent the existence, condition, and location of cultural material. With …

Mapsnap System To Perform Vector-To-Raster Fusion, Boris Kovalerchuk, Peter Doucette, Gamal Seedahmed, Jerry Tagestad, Sergei Kovalerchuk, Brian Graff

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

As the availability of geospatial data increases, there is a growing need to match these datasets together. However, since these datasets often vary in their origins and spatial accuracy, they frequently do not correspond well to each other, which create multiple problems. To accurately align with imagery, analysts currently either: 1) manually move the vectors, 2) perform a labor-intensive spatial registration of vectors to imagery, 3) move imagery to vectors, or 4) redigitize the vectors from scratch and transfer the attributes. All of these are time consuming and labor-intensive operations. Automated matching and fusing vector datasets has been a subject …

Putting Artists On The Map: A Five Part Study Of Greater Cleveland Artists' Location Decisions - Part 5: Properties Analysis - Artist Housing Characteristics, Mark Salling, Gregory Soltis, Charles Post, Sharon Bliss, Ellen Cyran

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

A series of reports detailing the residential and work space location preferences of Cuyahoga county's artists.

Gis And Web Technologies For Assessing Sediment Pollution From Abandoned Developments, Joshua Werts

All Theses

The economic crisis that occurred at the time of this research left numerous residential developments in the Southeastern United States in various stages of construction, creating a potential source of sediment runoff to waterways. Sediment runoff is potentially damaging to aquatic ecosystems and lakes. The objectives of this research include identifying these developments in upstate South Carolina through GIS/remote sensing analysis and implementation of an integrated webGIS framework. Residential development locations with significant bare soil areas were identified through GIS analysis involving Landsat 5 TM classification and aerial photograph verification. The Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) was used in …

Assessing Seasonal Features Of Tropical Forests Using Remote Sensing, Roberto Bonifaz-Alfonzo

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Tropical forests are key components of the biogeochemical cycles, complex in structure, diversity and dynamics, also, tropical regions have been deforested and modified by human activities particularly for agriculture. Understanding the inter-annual and intra-annual variation dynamics of tropical regions could give valuable information on temporal characteristics of ecosystems behavior which is important for mapping and monitoring. This dissertation assesses seasonal and inter-annual changes in the tropical land cover that may be related to changes in the natural environment and/or human activities. Research was focused on the Mayan forest located in southern Mexico and Northwest Guatemala, one of the northern-most important …

Putting Artists On The Map: A Five Part Study Of Greater Cleveland Artists' Location Decisions - Part 4: Predictive Analysis - Regression Modeling, Mark Salling, Gregory Soltis, Charles Post, Sharon Bliss, Ellen Cyran

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

A series of reports detailing the residential and work space location preferences of Cuyahoga county's artists.