Geographic Information Sciences Commons^™

Water Efficiency Devices And Conservation Practices, Juan A. Gonzalez

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Southern California has a special and unique Mediterranean climate that is rare and only shared with a few countries around the world. In the last few years, the Southern California region has experienced unpredictable periods of both wet and dry weather, and it is likely that it will continue to experience these types of disruptions as a consequence of climate changes in the future (West Basin Municipal Water District [WBMWD]). Water supply agencies in the region have pressed for strong regulations in order to promote water conservation. The study will focus on a small water agency, Rancho California Water District. …

Bosnian Immigrants: An Analysis Of The Bosnian Community's Influence On The Cultural Landscape Of Bowling Green, Ky, Nathan Jess Cary

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Diasporas have been occurring for thousands of years, and today globalization has facilitated the quick rate at which diasporas occur on a global scale. Diasporas entail the mass movement of refugees across international borders, and diasporic peoples today now find themselves journeying across oceans and continents to the safety of host cities in a matter of weeks or days. My research analyzes the effects that Bosnian immigrants have had on the cultural landscape of Bowling Green, Kentucky. When people move, they bring their cultures with them, and this type of cultural diffusion impacts the landscape of the host cities. As …

Understanding Colombian Violence Through Geographic Information Systems And Statistical Approaches, Brandon Fowler

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In 2002, Colombia had the highest homicide rate of any Latin American country(Berkman, 2007). The origins of this violence, however, are complex and difficult to identify. It would be sensible to argue that it cannot be explained by any one particular factor, but rather an assortment of many factors that wholly represent the social, economic, and political conditions of Colombia. By better understanding the origins of Colombian violence, policy makers can more effectively address and alleviate this prolonged issue. This study examines the geographic nature of municipal homicide rates for Colombia in 2005. The purpose of this study is to …

Karst Hydrogeology Of The Haney Limestone, South-Central Kentucky, Sarah Marie Arpin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

South-central Kentucky has one of the world’s most intensively studied karst
areas, with most work focusing on the Mammoth Cave System and related caves and aquifers. However, slightly higher in the stratigraphic section than Mammoth Cave, the Haney Limestone is a locally important but less well studied carbonate aquifer. This research provides the most comprehensive synthesis to date of the karst hydrogeology of the Haney Limestone of south-central Kentucky, focusing on the distribution and controls on cave and karst features developed within. In contrast to drainage systems within the major limestones below, joints are the most dominant control on passage …

Agricultural Production And Stability Of Settlement Systems In Upper Mesopotamia During The Early Bronze Age (Third Millennium Bce), Tuna Kalayci

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between rainfall variation and rain-fed agricultural production in Upper Mesopotamia with a specific focus on Early Bronze Age urban settlements. In return, the variation in production is used to explore stability of urban settlement systems. The organization of the flow of agricultural goods is the key to sustaining the total settlement system.

The vulnerability of a settlement system increases due to the increased demand for more output from agricultural lands. This demand is the key for the success of urbanization project. However, without estimating how many foodstuffs were available at the end of a production …

Landscape Epidemiology And Machine Learning: A Geospatial Approach To Modeling West Nile Virus Risk In The United States, Sean Gregory Young

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The complex interactions between human health and the physical landscape and environment have been recognized, if not fully understood, since the ancient Greeks. Landscape epidemiology, sometimes called spatial epidemiology, is a sub-discipline of medical geography that uses environmental conditions as explanatory variables in the study of disease or other health phenomena. This theory suggests that pathogenic organisms (whether germs or larger vector and host species) are subject to environmental conditions that can be observed on the landscape, and by identifying where such organisms are likely to exist, areas at greatest risk of the disease can be derived. Machine learning is …

Site Location Modeling And Prehistoric Rock Shelter Selection On The Upper Cumberland Plateau Of Tennessee, Lucinda M. Langston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using data collected from 2 archaeological surveys of the Upper Cumberland Plateau (UCP), Pogue Creek Gorge and East Obey, a site location model was developed for prehistoric rock shelter occupation in the region. Further, the UCP model was used to explore factors related to differential site selection of rock shelters. Different from traditional approaches such as those that use (aspatial) logistic regression, the UCP model was developed using spatial logistic regression. However, models were also generated using other regression-based approaches in an effort to demonstrate the need for a spatial approach to archaeological site location modeling. Based on the UCP …

Classification Of Satellite Time Series-Derived Land Surface Phenology Focused On The Northern Fertile Crescent, Brian Embree Bunker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Land surface phenology describes events in a seasonal vegetation cycle and can be used in a variety of applications from predicting onset of future drought conditions, to revealing potential limits of historical dry farming, to guiding more accurate dating of archeological sites. Traditional methods of monitoring vegetation phenology use data collected in situ. However, vegetation health indices derived from satellite remote sensor data, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), have been used as proxy for vegetation phenology due to their repeated acquisition and broad area coverage. Land surface phenology is accessible in the NDVI satellite record when images …

Using Geographic Information Systems To Select Suitable Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse Habitat In Northern Idaho, Jennifer Grew

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse was once the most abundant game bird in the Inland Northwest area. The main reason for their loss was the conversion of their habitat into agricultural lands and timber forests. Several variables were incorporated into a weighted sum tool in ArcGIS using public raster layers for each of three seasons. The results layers were analyzed using the same tool to find the most suitable habitat. Six locations in the county had 50% or better suitability. One location showed 80% or better. The grouse historic range appears to coincide with Palouse prairielands in Benewah County. Further research …

Analysis Of The Socio-Environmental Impacts Of The Sierra Del Divisor Transportation Infrastructure In Peru And Brazil, George Appling, David S. Salisbury

Geography and the Environment Poster Presentations

Located in the remote southwestern Amazon, the Sierra del Divisor mountain range divides the Ucayali and Jurua Watersheds and separates the urban centers of Pucallpa, Peru and Cruzeiro do Sul, Brazil. Both Pucallpa and Cruzeiro do Sul serve as economic hubs for their region, but are each the end of the road, as beyond them rivers remain the main means of transportation (figure 1). The Sierra del Divisor region includes indigenous territories, forestry and mining concessions, a reserve for the “uncontacted” Isconahua people, the Serra do Divisor national park in Brazil, and a proposed Peruvian national park, currently the Sierra …

Colorful Colorado: The Relationship Between Demographics And The Changing Political Color Of Colorado, Leslie Forbes

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This research will address the individual relationships between five demographic variables and the changing political color of Colorado (from a “red” state to a “blue” state). The variables addressed are age, education, income, gender, and the Hispanic[1] population growth. Building on recent literature reviews for Colorado’s political trends, I will attempt to show the relationships of the five variables and voting behavior. This data will then be statistically analyzed through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to determine what relationship strength, weak or strong, exists between the demographic variables. My goal for this research is to determine which of the five …

Contemporary Problems Of Gis Interoperability: A Review Of Gis Integration With Current Technology, Tim Jones

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This paper examines GIS interoperability with three current technology trends: Open Source, Smart Devices and Web 2.0. It firsts takes a look at both varying definitions of interoperability as well as different types of interoperability. The author samples a variety of GIS formats with examples of each of the said technologies as a way to measure the current state of GIS interoperability with current technological trends. GIS functions such as viewing, editing and analyzing spatial data are used as a scoring matrix to determine the level of interoperability. The methodology of measure focuses on a technical level of interoperability and …

Colorado Front Range Parks Location Mapping Website, Leah Alvarado

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

With current technology, using location based services has become easier than ever. There are services that can help a person find a home, save money, or even find a bathroom. In Colorado, parks are managed by the park and recreation department of a city, town, county, or by a district. Depending on the city, information on the parks that they service comes in different formats and information varies. Some department have online maps others have a map in a portable document format, and some offer no mapping but, a list of parks. Finding a park with consistent data formats and …

Fema Region Iii Coastal Storm Surge Study, Mike Forte, Jeff Hanson, Michelle Hamor

March 13, 2013: Regional Sea Level Rise Assessment, Adaptation and Flood Mitigation Projects

No abstract provided.

Proximal Sensing As A Means Of Characterizing Phragmites Australis, Travis Yeik

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Phragmites australis is an invasive wetland weed found throughout much of the United States. Documenting and mapping the growth and spread of this emergent macrophyte can be an important step in developing and implementing successful management strategies. Characterizing the phenology of a vegetation species with a sensor capable of hyperspectral resolution, positioned at close proximity to the canopy of interest, is often a first step necessary for understanding the basic species-specific reflectance patterns, and for quantifying the manner in which light interacts with the plants comprising particular communities. Spectral data over a P. australis canopy were collected during 22 …

Tandem-X High Resolution Dems And Their Applications To Flow Modeling, Kelly M. Wooten

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Lava flow modeling can be a powerful tool in hazard assessments; however, the ability to produce accurate models is usually limited by a lack of high resolution, up-to-date Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). This is especially obvious in places such as Kilauea Volcano (Hawaii), where active lava flows frequently alter the terrain. In this study, we use a new technique to create high resolution DEMs on Kilauea using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from the TanDEM-X (TDX) satellite. We convert raw TDX SAR data into a geocoded DEM using GAMMA software [Werner et al., 2000]. This process can be completed in …

Synthesis: What We Have Learned From The East Texas Radiocarbon Database, Robert Z. Selden Jr., Timothy K. Perttula

CRHR: Archaeology

This poster provides a short overview of what we have learned from the East Texas Radiocarbon Database since it became available on the Council of Texas Archeologists’ website in 2011. These successes are numerous and include the advancement of novel methodological approaches; an improvement in our comprehension of the temporal nuances within the East Texas Archaic; the division of the East Texas Woodland period into Early, Middle and Late; the refinement of Caddo temporal chronology – particularly from a geographic perspective -- and it has provided one line of evidence to use to argue for the fluorescence of corn-based agriculture …

Epistemology And Synthesis: Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis And The Caddo Tradition, Robert Z. Selden Jr.

CRHR: Archaeology

The statistical groupings illustrated herein represent the current iteration of Caddo INAA compositional groups based upon the chemical composition of archaeologically-recovered ceramics. For some time, a number of Caddo archaeologists have thought these results to be lacking. This poster symbolizes the first step toward a new interpretation of chemical composition groups, and the initial instancce within which GIS has been employed as an analytical tool.

Mapa De Infraestructura Vial Y Área De Influencia En Las Fronteras Amazónicas Entre Ucayali, Madre De Dios (Perú), Acre (Brasil) Y Pando (Bolivia), Gtaso, David S. Salisbury

Geography and the Environment Maps

Mapa de Infraestructura Vial y Área de Influencia en las Fronteras Amazónicas entre Ucayali, Madre de Dios (Perú), Acre (Brasil) y Pando (Bolivia).

Map of Road Infrastructure and Area of Influence in the Amazonian Boundary between Ucayali, Madre de Dios (Peru), Acre (Brazil) and Pando (Bolivia)

Gis And Introductory Environmental Engineering: A Way To Fold Gis Into An Already-Existing Course, Mary P. Cardenas, David Wayne Kelley, Warren Roberts

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) was implemented in the upper-division undergraduate technical elective Introduction to Environmental Engineering at Harvey Mudd College. Students integrated technical engineering skills, newly-learned geographical information system (GIS) skills, and the engineering design process, all in the context of the design of a debris flow barrier for a wilderness land parcel acquired by a local conservancy group.

Junior and senior general engineering students, the majority of whom had no experience with GIS, were taught ArcGIS (a GIS mapping program) in the context of an Introductory Environmental Engineering course. Students learned how to map locations, find …