Geographic Information Sciences Commons^™

Lightning Signature Assessment To Forecast Tornado Formation, Mary Snow, Richard Snow, Nicole Kufa

Publications

Recent research suggests that a maximum rate of lightning strikes occurs at least 15 to 20 minutes prior to tornado formation within a supercell storm. These maxima are associated with strengthening updrafts as they appear in radar measurements. An increase in lightning rates correlates with an increase of shear in the lower part of the storm. In combination with a strong updraft or downdraft, this shear can provide the ingredients for rotation and possibly a tornado. Polarity reversal of lightning around the time of tornado touchdown also has been examined. Thus, increasing lightning flash rates and reversal of lightning strike …

Remotely Sensed Data To Map Forest Age Class By Cover Type In East Texas, Daniel Unger, I-Kuai Hung, Jeffrey M. Williams, James Kroll, Dean W. Coble, Jason Grogan

Faculty Publications

• Remote sensing in conjunction with ground truthing, can accurately quantify forest composition and age distributions in East Texas.
• Method uses standardized and readily available data available to the general public.
• Method was shown to be effective in terms of time and cost.

Search And Recovery Of The Space Shuttle Columbia: A Geospatial 1st Responder Perspective, Jeffrey M. Williams

Faculty Publications

A first person account of the Texas geospatial volunteers and their efforts to recover the remains of the Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew lost over eastern Texas and western Louisiana on February 1st, 2003.

Gis Modeling Of Desert Root Crop Maturation On The Mid-Columbia Plateau, Mary Michelle Phillips

All Master's Theses

The settlement patterns of the prehistoric inhabitants of the Columbia Plateau were choreographed to match the cadence of the seasons, with movements timed to efficiently utilize available resources. Desert roots, such as lomatium and bitterroot, provided a primary source of dietary nutrition, yet the ideal conditions for exploiting these plant resources coalesced for a very limited time in any one location. It was therefore necessary to possess an intimate knowledge of the plants' lifecycles in order to effectively plan gathering activities. In order to predict the growth patterns and maturation rates of these desert root crops, a GIS model was …

The Use Of Geographic Information Systems To Study Repeat Victims Of Domestic Abuse In The Waterloo Region Of Ontario, Canada, Claudia Saheb

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The importance of repeat victims as an effective target for crime prevention measures has been widely recognised. Many have studied repeat victims of property crimes, but few have studied repeat victims of personal crimes and their spatial distribution. This study used 1996 and 1997 crime data from the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) in Ontario, Canada and focused specifically on domestic-abuse-related crimes and repeat victims of those crimes. Various methods of mapping and analysis were used to better understand the spatial distribution of those crimes and vulnerability of the victims. Standardised crime rates and crime density were calculated. Thematic and …

A Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of Riparian Vegetation Along Satus Creek On The Yakama Indian Reservation, Kathryn Gellenbeck

All Master's Theses

Satus Creek provides critical habitat for the Yakima River Basin steelhead. A diverse community of riparian vegetation is important for healthy fish habitat; vegetation changes can affect shade, cover, channel structure, water quality, and food availability. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and illustrate riparian vegetation change, both temporally and spatially, along three separate reaches of Satus Creek. A Geographic Information Systems approach was applied to assess the vegetation change by comparing plant species composition and density on 1949 and 1995 aerial photographs. The GIS approach allowed patterns and trends in the vegetation to be identified. In less …