Geographic Information Sciences Commons^™

Using An Interactive Mobile Application To Crowdsource Data Collection For Management Issues In Asylum Lake Preserve, Kalamazoo, Mi, Alexander Ebenstein

Masters Theses

As technology continues to improve, personal and mobile technologies are becoming ubiquitous, being used for everything from social media to data collection. Crowdsourcing is a form of mobile data collection that calls upon a group of people to help solve a complex problem. In recent years, crowdsourcing has become an important component in data collection for managing natural disasters, allowing disaster relief systems to improve response time and coordination protocols. Natural resource and land managers are also starting to use these new technology-based and location-aware systems to improve management. By calling upon users of the recreation areas to help identify …

Geographical Analysis Of Hub City Transit, Joshua Adam Watts

Master's Theses

This study assess Hub City Transit, the public bus system of Hattiesburg, MS. Statistical analysis is used to determine how well the transit system serves low income areas of the city. A 0.5 mile buffer was applied to the bus routes to determine the coverage of the transit system. Areas of disorder along the routes were also assessed to analyze the landscape routes pass through. Lastly, an analysis of ridership on each route was performed to determine the most heavily used areas, as well as to assess where riders are going on each route.

The findings show that Hub City …

September 2013, Colorado Front Range Flooding, And Impacts On Agriculture And Irrigation Infrastructure: A Case Study In The Left Hand Ditch System, Boulder County, Colorado, Nick Ludolph

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Flooding can cause massive harm to the agricultural sector by flooding fields and damaging the infrastructure that is essential for agricultural activities. Crops are often lost and repairs may be necessary to restore irrigation systems to functional status. This research aims to quantify the damages and losses experienced from the unprecedented September 2013 flooding event in Boulder County Colorado’s Left Hand Ditch Company service area. Damages are cataloged and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies were used to estimate economic impact and determine the landscape characteristics of lands where the highest rates of flooding occurred. Alfalfa and non-alfalfa hays experienced the …

Using Kriging, Cokriging, And Gis To Visualize Fe And Mn In Groundwater, Crystal Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For aesthetic, economic, and health-related reasons, allowable concentrations of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) found present in drinking water are 0.3 mg/L and 0.05 mg/L, respectively. Water samples taken from private drinking wells in the rural communities within Buncombe County, North Carolina contain amounts of these metals in concentrations higher than the suggested limits. This study focused on bedrock geology, elevation, saprolite thickness, and well depth to determine factors affecting Fe and Mn. Using ArcGIS 10.2, spatial trends in Fe and Mn concentrations ranges were visualized, and estimates of the metal concentrations were interpolated to unmonitored areas. Results from this …

Mapping Ancient Baldcypress Forests For Conservation At Black River, North Carolina, Jordan Nichole Burns

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A few ancient baldcypress-bottomland hardwood forests survive across the southeastern United States in a mosaic of remnant old-growth stands left untouched by extensive logging during the early 20th century. Uncut stands in the Southeast that survived centuries of disturbance following European settlement tended to be too senescent and non-commercial to justify logging. Remnant ancient baldcypress forests at Black River, North Carolina, appear to contain the oldest living trees in eastern North America and The Nature Conservancy has protected several of these stands. However, the full extent of ancient bottomland forests along Black River is not known and many valuable tracts …

State Of Texas: Ten Largest Billboard Company Sign Locations, Brad Henley, Daniel Unger

Bright Ideas Conference

Spatial analysis of the ten largest billboard company sign locations in Texas. The analysis was undertaken in conjunction with SFA's billboard campaign to increase enrollment. Results indicate visually that the majority of billboards in Texas are within close proximity to major metropolitan areas.

Sustainability Perceptions In The Brewing Industry: Regional/Regional Craft, Microbreweries And Brewpubs, William B. Pierson

Symposium of Student Scholars

The purpose of this study is to identify sustainability perceptions within the US brewing industry. In 2014, we disseminated an online survey to all regional/regional craft breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs as identified by the Brewer's Association, 2012 (http://www.brewersassociation.org/). We employed statistical analysis to determine if there was a significant difference among the three categories of breweries found in urban and urban clusters regarding their self-assessment of sustainability. Findings indicate that regional/regional craft breweries and microbreweries tend to score higher in their self-assessment when compared to brewpubs.

Improved Dairy Cattle: Impact And Distribution In Rural Tanzanian Communities, Jeremy Weaver, Alexon Mwasi, Lindsay Weaver

Interdisciplinary Journal of Best Practices in Global Development

Improved dairy cattle are recognized as an integral part of improving the livelihoods for the rural and urban poor in developing countries. The aim of this research was to measure impact, reveal challenges, map distribution, and establish recommendations for moving forward in improved livestock distribution initiatives. The methods consisted of a hybrid model using both quantitative and qualitative modalities, especially focusing on personal interviews, focus group discussions, field observation, and GIS data capturing. GIS based comparisons could not be made because of a lack of available GIS demographic data for the area. The combined modalities approach (especially the in-depth interviews …

Effects Of Physical Characteristics Of Urban Storm Sewersheds On Water Quality In Bloomington, Il, Alicia Terese O'Hare

Theses and Dissertations

Increasing urbanization has consequences for surface water quality. Stormwater is a large component of urban water degradation that is poorly understood. Precipitation is quickly transported via underground pipes, from the land to the stream without following water's natural flow path. Studies have correlated detention ponds with improved water quality and impervious surface cover with degraded water quality. However, other physical characteristics within a storm sewer shed including the presence of sump pumps, area and pipe miles may also affect the stormwater quality. We chose 18 storm sewer systems in Bloomington, IL. We measured pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, chloride, nitrate, …

Assessing Vulnerability Mapping Of Nitrate Contamination Among The Private Well Owners Of Black Hawk County, Ia, Junu Shrestha, Sushil Tuladhar

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

The main objective of this study is to find potential sites that might be vulnerable to nitrate contamination by doing weighted overlay analysis using ArcGIS Software and compare those sites with current nitrate contaminated sites.

Spatiotemporal Analysis Of Wildfire Activity In The Tundra Biome Using Modis Data (2000-2014), Arif Masrur

Annual Graduate Student Symposium

Although tundra wildfires have an important impact on arctic ecosystems, there is comparatively little knowledge about their geography and characteristics. I have been using MOSID-derived active fire data to analyze spatial and temporal patterns of tundra wildfires between 2000 and 2014.

A Contemporary Decennial Examination Of Changing Agricultural Field Sizes Using Landsat Time Series Data, Emma V. White, David P. Roy

GSCE Faculty Publications

Field size distributions and their changes have not been studied over large areas as field size change datasets are not available. This study quantifies agricultural field size changes in a consistent manner using Landsat satellite data that also provide geographic context for the observed decadal scale changes. Growing season cloud-free Landsat 30 m resolution images acquired from 9 to 25 years apart were used to extract field object classifications at seven sites located by examination of a global agricultural yield map, agricultural production statistics, literature review, and analysis of the imagery in the US Landsat archive. High spatial resolution data …

Geospatial Analysis Of Smart Growth And Transit Oriented Developments, Michelle J. Nichols

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Rapid population growth, water and air pollution, overloaded public services, and traffic congestion can stress economies and result in unsustainable communities. Geographic Information Science (GIS) is a valuable technology for reversing negative these types of trends by identifying areas that may presently exhibit Smart Growth characteristics. Rather than expand on the current transportation infrastructure and develop new Smart Growth communities, San Diego Metropolitan’s Transit System (SDMTS) intends to use this study to review the current transit routing infrastructure in an effort to support communities exhibiting Smart Growth potential. Communities along existing transportation infrastructure will analyzed as potential Smart Growth and …

Signed Peer Reviews As A Means To Improve Scholarly Publishing, Linwood H. Pendleton

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Peer review is a necessary process with a long history of complaints, including over-solicitation of a small number of reviewers, delays, inadequate numbers of reviewers, and a lack of incentives to provide strong reviews or avoid reviews with little helpful information for the author. In the era of Web-based distribution of research, through working paper or project reports, anonymous peer reviews are much less likely. The Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics will use signed peer reviews and an open communication process among authors, reviewers, and editors. This approach, to be developed over time, should lead to stronger communication of …

Who Is At The Forest Restoration Table? Final Report On The Blue Mountains Forest Stewardship Network, Phase 1, Rebecca J. Mclain, Kirsten Wright, Lee Cerveny

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Forest collaboratives have emerged throughout the western U.S. as a governance model to address complex ecological challenges that occur at the landscape scale across multiple landownerships and jurisdictional boundaries. Collaborative groups typically involve multiple parties with diverse interests working together to address complex management challenges. Collaboratives often provide input on or make recommendations about public lands actions and decisions. The Blues Stewardship Project was developed to better understand the size, composition, participation, and diversity of forest collaboratives and to identify organizations that may not currently be represented at the collaborative ‘table.’

The study focuses on five collaborative groups in the …

Using Historic Maps From The Congressional Serial Set And Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Creative Materials

Historic maps can be used to document all kinds of history: political, military, economic, business, scientific, religious, cultural, genealogy, diplomatic etc. Databases such as ProQuest Congressional and Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO) offer many ways to help users study the past through maps.

Spatial And Seasonal Responses Of Precipitation In The Ganges And Brahmaputra River Basins To Enso And Indian Ocean Dipole Modes: Implications For Flooding And Drought, M. S. Pervez, G. M. Henebry

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

We evaluated the spatial and seasonal responses of precipitation in the Ganges and Brahmaputra basins as modulated by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) modes using Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC) full data reanalysis of monthly global land-surface precipitation data from 1901 to 2010 with a spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5°. The GPCC monthly total precipitation climatology targeting the period 1951–2000 was used to compute gridded monthly anomalies for the entire time period. The gridded monthly anomalies were averaged for the years influenced by combinations of climate modes. Occurrences of El Niño alone significantly …

Panel - Real World Applications: Overview Of Virginia Beach Center For Gis' Geoprocessing Of Storm Surge Models, Dave Arnold

January 23, 2015: Storm Surge Modeling Tools for Planning and Response

No abstract provided.

Storm Surge And Street-Level Inundation Modeling In New York City During Hurricane Sandy, Harry V. Wang, Derek Loftis, Zhou Liu, Jay Titlow, David Forrest, Joseph Zhang

January 23, 2015: Storm Surge Modeling Tools for Planning and Response

No abstract provided.

The Storm Surge Hazard, Jeff Orrock

January 23, 2015: Storm Surge Modeling Tools for Planning and Response

No abstract provided.