Spatial Science Commons^™

Below The Rows, Beyond The Roots: An Art Exhibition Depicting Agriculture Across The Globe, Maggie Enoch

Honors Theses and Capstones

In Below the Rows, Beyond the Roots, artist Maggie Enoch creates multimedia works inspired by her exposure to diverse agricultural systems and perspectives while studying geography and sustainable agriculture/food systems around the world. By integrating complex histories with the contemporary realities of farming, Maggie paints vivid pictures of the power of food in this five-piece exhibition.

Assessment Of Spatial Distribution Patterns And Infestation Risk Over Time Of Spotted Lanterfly (Lycorma Delicatula) In New York State, Alanna Richman

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an invasive treehopper native to Asia. It was first introduced to Pennsylvania in 2014, and as of 2020 it has expanded to New York state. Their preferred host tree is the invasive tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), but they will feed on over 173 different plants worldwide. Preferred host species in New York state include agricultural vegetation such as grape vines and fruit trees. Positive Spotted Lanternfly site data collected by the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets and iMapInvasives were analyzed using ArcGIS Pro to assess spatial distribution patterns. …

Analysis Of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Change Of The West Bank, Palestine, Using Multitemporal Satellite Remote Sensing Data, Ahmed Ghodieh

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

The West Bank is characterized by the diversity of its climate despite its small area. It includes four climatic regions:- a humid, semi-humid, arid, and semi-arid climate. This in turn affected the geographical distribution of vegetation cover seasonally and over the years. This study investigated changes in the West Bank, Palestine vegetation cover using multitemporal Landsat data. Four images were selected for this purpose – two corresponding to 2001 and the other two corresponding to 2021. Seasonal change of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was investigated for the acquired images. ArcGIS 10.8 software was used for image processing and …

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 …

A View From Above: Alternative Perspectives On Smallholder Livelihoods And Agrobiodiversity Conservation In Northern Ecuador, Chris Hair

Dissertations

Food security and deintensification of agriculture are serious concerns in Latin America. Agriculture, especially at small-scale subsistence levels, is hard work, and comes with some economic and physical risk. Transitions from traditional multi-cropping to mono-cropping systems introduce two particular risks that are new to most smallholders: (1) the loss of agricultural diversity and (2) the potential for widespread failure when focusing on the cultivation of a single crop. This research explores how Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), or drones, can be used for rapid inventories of crop diversity and to enhance crop management techniques on small-scale farms. In the community …

The Value Of Farmland: Mapping Assessor Data To Understand Land Use Change, Lyndi Perry

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Ideas developed by regional economists have potential applications within the urban planning field. One potential application is toward conserving farmland, and within this thesis this topic is examined for the study area of Utah County, Utah. Using assessor data, a land value map is created and further used to develop a regional economic model and spatial models that were analyzed for patterns of land use change.

Findings show that representing land value as continuous surface maps is a useful approach. The maps reveal that Utah County has densified as its population increased while farmland loss still occurred in agriculturally-important areas. …

Financial Assessment Of Agricultural Lands At Risk To Coastal Salt Marsh Migration In Relation To Climate Change Induced Sea Level Rise In Dorchester County, Maryland, Jewell Porter

Sustainability and Social Justice

The increasing rate and effects of sea level rise is a major environmental concern in the Chesapeake Bay. This paper evaluates the impacts of rising sea level on coastal salt marshes and the surrounding agricultural lands at risk in Dorchester County, Maryland to build off existing environmental monitoring work performed by NOAA’s Sentinel Site Program. The results of the spatial analysis were used to estimate monetary benefits to incentivize farmers to protect these marshes by making their land available for marsh migration to occur. Looking at three scenarios of sea level rise and marsh migration, grain crops (corn, soybeans, and …

Changing Settlement Patterns In A Dry Land Wheat Farming Region: The Mansfield Washington Area, Helen Jayne

Graduate Student Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to trace the change in settlement patterns in an area located in the semiarid plateau region of Eastern Washington and to determine the cause of such a change. Little has been written about the settlement of this area. Therefore, an attempt has been made to learn what changes in settlement have been made and to explain them.