Other Geography Commons^™

A Geospatial And Machine Learning Framework For Forecasting Ground Level Ozone Pollution, William J. Keenan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The major detrimental health effects of ground-level ozone (GLO) pollution make it imperative that both policy makers and ordinary citizens have access to high accuracy, high-resolution forecasts of their local area. Recently, advancements in computing power have made it possible to apply artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to a variety of big data modelling problems, including GLO forecasting and estimation. Of these AI methods, deep neural networks (DNN) have demonstrated the highest accuracy due to their ability extract non-linear relationships from high dimensional, noisy data inputs.

This research effort uses novel data sources, namely NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) meteorology …

How Well Do Nature-Based Solutions To Climate Change Address Gender Equity?, Stephanie Efua Yamoah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the climate crisis continues to deepen, there have been calls for adaptation and mitigation approaches that rely on nature-based solutions. These solutions are approaches that offer the potential to reduce and remove greenhouse gas emissions. Examples include forest restoration, coastal wetland conservation, and no-till agriculture, among other practices. In this thesis, I employ an intersectional feminist political ecology perspective to critically examine the integration of gender equity within such nature-based solutions. I make two interrelated arguments using a qualitative methodology and an intensive case study of three projects in Ghana. First, I argue that women’s participation in nature-based solutions …

Understanding Land Uses And Their Manifestations Across The Rural-Urban Continua Of Rangpu, Bangladesh And Louisville, Kentucky., Md Jakirul Islam Jony Prothan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rapid urban growth accelerates various features characteristic of rural-urban environments as they change from urban cores to rural areas. This study examines land use change along a rural-urban continuum for two different cities: Louisville, USA, and Rangpur, Bangladesh. Different key land use patterns are compared within and across these different city contexts from 2000 to 2020. Land use change and comparing its spatiotemporal factors are useful metrics to better understand the patterns of development, socio-demographic change, and the uniqueness of cities. Spatial and temporal patterns of sociodemographic and biophysical components of land use provide important information for identifying transition zones …

Flood Hydrology In Tropical Coastal Catchments: Linking Watershed Dynamics To Mangrove Sedimentation, Shannon L. Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal flooding is expected to be more frequent and severe from amplified flooding from sea level rise (SLR) and upstream anthropogenic activity, particularly in tropical regions. Improved hydrologic modeling and characterization are needed to better understand, predict, and manage flooding where these amplifications are expected. Yet tropical catchments are often ungauged or have limited hydrogeomorphic data. Thus, locally calibrated models that incorporate local knowledge and alternative data can be used to provide greater information. This doctoral dissertation quantifies relationships between land use, precipitation, discharge, and downstream sediment accretion in a representative ungauged catchment using a locally calibrated rainfallrunoff model validated …

Exploring Youth Relationships With Nature Using Qualitative Gis, Corey J. Martz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding youth relationships with nature—what nature is, where nature is located, and why nature is meaningful—is important for a range of contemporary issues, from promoting health and well-being to advancing a sustainable future. Relationships with nature are profoundly influenced by the lived experiences of youth, as they form social connections, have fun, learn, and go about their lives across an array of places—residences, schools, trip destinations, and places in between. One key to exploring youth relationships with nature, therefore, is engaging youth to document their experiences of nature in relation to specific places and developing methods that support them to …

Bicycles And Transit: Weather Or Not: A Study On The Effect Of Weather And Air Quality On Bicycle-Transit, Bicycle, Rail Transit Counts In Denver, Christiana M. Fairfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The movement of people and goods within metropolitan areas is critically important to the operational efficiency and functionality of cities. This study explores the influence of local weather conditions and the air quality index on bicycle-transit user in Denver, Colorado. Based on bicycle-transit having two key components, bicycle and transit, the effect of local weather conditions and the air quality index is also explored with bicycle use and rail-transit usage. Key findings include: (1) the most significant variable across all three modes is temperature, (2) for bicycle-transit and bicycle use, there is a steady increase in ridership as temperatures increase …

Geovisualization And Open-Source Web Mapping Of Big Origin-Destination Data, A Test Case, Joseph Hiebert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Migration plays a key role in determining the health and success of cities, counties, and countries. It also plays a key role in determining the health and wellbeing of the individuals and families that undergo a migration event. This has led many scholars to map and study global migration patterns to understand how and why people move. While migration data are powerful, the origin-destination (O-D), tabular format of the data can be hard to interpret. To make O-D data more powerful, geographers can lean on computer cartography and new geovisualization techniques to help decision makers make sense of large, complex …

A Spatial Analysis Of Supply-Demand Of Public Transportation In Jefferson County, Kentucky., Nastaran Abdoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public transportation is important as it serves individuals, especially the transit-dependent population, by providing a basic mobility service to these people and all others who rely on public transportation. This research utilized estimating public transportation demand and supply to analyze the spatial patterns of public transportation in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The study focuses on the transit-dependent population, and it considers indicators of age, poverty status, vehicle ownership, and foreign-born population with less than five years residency in the United States. This study conducted a public transit supply-demand analysis to identify areas with imbalanced supply and demand in Jefferson County at …

Assessing The Variations Of Educational Attainment At National And Subnational Levels Using Hierarchical Linear Models, Bingxin Qi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Education is a human right, and equal access to education is not only crucial for an individual’s well-being, but also essential for eradicating poverty, ensuring long-term prosperity for all, transforming the society, and achieving sustainable development. Measuring education development, especially the variations of educational attainment, in a timely and accurate manner can help educators, practitioners, scientists, and policymakers compare and evaluate various education indicators at both subnational and national levels. This research presents an approach that combines multi-source and multidimensional data including population distribution, human settlement, and education data to assess and explore educational attainment trajectories at both national and …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Communality In Louisville Community Gardens., Victoria Ann Montgomery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Environmental change and food security issues boost interest in green initiatives, which in turn motivate policy makers and the general public toward the support and maintenance of urban community gardens. In Louisville Kentucky, an urban heat island in the United States, support for community gardens requires greater community support and volunteers. Objectives and organization of community gardens vary, as issues in production and sustainability are not the same for all garden communities and are contributing factors to their degree of success. Community gardens represent elements from both communal living and community but vary in their degree of communality. Using qualitative …