Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Approaching Cave Level Identification With Gis: A Case Study Of Carter Caves, Brianne Jacoby, Eric Wade Peterson, John C. Kostelnick, Toby J. Dogwiler

Eric Wade Peterson

Cave passages that are found at similar elevations are grouped together and called levels. The current understanding is that passages within a level are speleogenetically linked to a common static baselevel or stratigraphic control. Cave levels have provided an interpretive framework for deciphering cave development, landscape evolution, and climatic changes. Cosmogenic dating has been successfully used to interpret levels in Mammoth Cave and the Cumberland Plateau; however, this technique is expensive and there are limited funding resources available. Geographic information systems may be used as preliminary procedures to identify cave levels and constrain the timing of level development. A GIS …

The Influence Of Landscape Variation On Landform Categorization, Maia Williams, Werner Kuhn, Marco Painho

Journal of Spatial Information Science

This paper compares the landform vocabularies of residents from two regions in Portugal. Participants described both their own and the other less familiar landscapes in response to video footage of the regions. The results indicate that participants used more detailed vocabularies to describe the known landscape compared to the less familiar study site with detail triggered by individual place recognition. A relationship between landform lexica content and landscape type was observed in the relative placement of detail within each vocabulary. The observed drivers of categorization were the salient features of the landscape (elevation and land cover) and utilitarian motivations (land …

Using Remote Sensing Data To Improve Rice Production In Kutigi, Niger State, Nigeria, Jibril Musa Phd, M B. Yunusa

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

This research work looked in the used of Remote Sensing to improve Agricultural production in Kutigi, Niger State. The aim of the study is to use remote sensing to improve rice farming activities in Kutigi, Niger State. It is very important to identify such methods to improve Agricultural production because experts are always interested in new researches and findings to better the standard of living in any environment. In view of this, Remotely-sensed data could be used or employed to elevate most of these agricultural problems in Kutigi through the following objectives: Using Landsat imagery to assess the present landuse …

E-Government Challenge In Disaster Evacuation Response: The Role Of Rfid Technology In Building Safe And Secure Local Communities, A. Chatfield, S. F. Wamba, T. Hirokazu

Dr Akemi Chatfield

While geographic information systems (GIS) can provide information on the static locations of critical infrastructure and evacuation routes, they do not provide the dynamically changing locations of things and people on the move. In contrast, radio frequency identification (RFID) wireless network technology can automatically identify and track the movement of assets (i.e., fire engines, ambulances, and rescue workers) and vulnerable citizens on the move (i.e., the elderly and the disabled), and hence providing local governments and communities with real-time information and enhanced decision-making capabilities, during chaotic disaster response operations (i.e., evacuation). Although the potential high impact and strategic value of …

A Pragmatic Gis-Oriented Ontology For Location Based Services, Jun Shen, Aneesh Krishna, Shuai Yuan, Ke Cai, Yuemin Qin

Dr Jun Shen

With advances in automatic position sensing and wireless connectivity, location-based services (LBS) are rapidly developing, particularly in fields of geographic, tourism and logistic information systems. Currently, Web service has been viewed as one of most significant innovations in business industry, and designed on demand to provide spatial related information for LBS consumption. However, the traditional Web Service Description Language (WSDL) cannot meet those requirements, as WSDL is not able to support semantic content and information. In recent years, Ontology came up with an effective approach to enhance service description, automated discovery, dynamic composition, enactment, and other tasks such as managing …

Visualization For Anomaly Detection And Data Management By Leveraging Network, Sensor And Gis Techniques, Zhaoxia Wang, Chee Seng Chong, Rick S. M. Goh, Wanqing Zhou, Dan Peng, Hoong Chor Chin

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper studies the importance of visualization for discerning and interpreting patterns of data and its application for solving real problems, such as anomaly detection and data management. There are various ways to realize visualization to cater to the needs of numerous real life applications. Depending on needs, a combination of some of these ways may be required for presenting an effective visualization. The authors present visualization schemes for anomaly detection/condition monitoring and data management by leveraging network techniques and combining them with modern techniques such as sensor, database, mobile communication, GPS and GIS techniques. Two case studies are presented …

Integrating Expert System And Geographic Information System For Spatial Decision Making, Sriharsha Shesham

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Spatial decision making is a process of providing an effective solution for a problem that encompasses semi-structured spatial data. It is a challenging task which involves various factors to consider. For example, in order to build a new industry, an appropriate site must be selected for which several factors have to be taken into consideration. Some of the factors, which can affect the decision in this particular case, are air pollution, noise pollution, and distance from living areas, which makes the decision difficult. The geographic information systems (GIS) and the expert systems (ES) have many advantages in solving problems in …

Shoreline Evolution: City Of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Chesapeake Bay, Lynnhaven River, Broad Bay, And Atlantic Ocean Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Christine Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Mary C. Cox

Reports

The City of Virginia Beach is situated along both the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay (Figure 1). Through time, the City’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future.Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments.
The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of the City of Virginia Beach has evolved since 1937. Aerial imagery was taken for …

Water Resources Systems Planning And Management, Piro Zoga, Aida Bode, Ramiz Balla, Nevton Kodhelaj, Spartak Kucaj

UBT International Conference

The most fundamental human needs of water are for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene. In order to fulfill these needs, the quality of the water used should cause no risk to human health. The quality of the water in nature also affects the condition of ecosystems all living organisms depend on. At the same time, humans use water bodies as convenient sinks for the disposal of domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewaters. This, of course, degrades the quality of those water bodies. Water resources management involves the monitoring and management of water quality as much as the monitoring and management of …

Shoreline Evolution Update: 1937/38-2009 End Point Rate Calculations Counties Of Accomack, Gloucester, And York Cities Of Newport News, Norfolk, And Poquoson, Donna A. Milligan, Christine Wilcox, Mary C. Cox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr.

Reports

Through time, Chesapeake Bay’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future. Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments.

The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of six Virginia localities, Accomack, Gloucester, York, Newport News, Norfolk, and Poquoson, have evolved since 1937/38 (Figure 1). Aerial imagery was taken for most of the Bay region beginning then and …

A Combined Gis And Stereo Vision Approach To Identify Building Pixels In Images And Determine Appropriate Color Terms, Philip James Bartie, Femke Reitsma, Steven Mills

Journal of Spatial Information Science

Color information is a useful attribute to include in a building's description to assist the listener in identifying the intended target. Often this information is only available as image data and not readily accessible for use in constructing referring expressions for verbal communication. The method presented uses a GIS building polygon layer in conjunction with street-level captured imagery to provide a method to automatically filter foreground objects and select pixels which correspond to building facades. These selected pixels are then used to define the most appropriate color term for the building and corresponding fuzzy color term histogram. The technique uses …

Nearest Neighbor Methods Applied To Dune Field Organization: The Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Kane County, Utah, Usa, David Wilkins, Richard Ford

David E. Wilkins

Dune fields have recently come to be recognized as self-organizing systems that can be seen progressing from states of disorganization or randomness to uniformity. Dune systems can be highly sensitive to changes in factors, such as climate and sediment transport, that determine system state. Changes in climate and sediment state can take time to work their way through a dune system; this, in turn, leads to spatial heterogeneity in dune field organization. Using the Coral Pink Sand Dunes in southern Utah as a model, this study tests nearest neighbor analysis adapted as a method to objectively identify and characterize differences …

Introduction To Geographic Science Using Arcgis V10, Bethany Bradley, Charles M. Schweik

Charles M. Schweik

This is a lab exercise manual with extra supplemental exercises for use in an introductory course in GIS for students in environmental conservation programs or studying public policy public administration. The emphasis is on environmental management/analysis-related applications. Lab exercises require the ESRI ArcGIS v10 software. Data for all labs and exercises are available on this site as supplementary material in .zip format.

Shoreline Evolution: Westmoreland County, Virginia Potomac River And Rappahannock River Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Christine Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Mary C. Cox

Reports

Westmoreland County is situated along the Potomac River and Rappahannock River. Through time, the County’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future. Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments. The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of Westmoreland County has evolved since 1937. Aerial imagery was taken for most of the Bay region beginning that year …

Preliminary Lineament Analysis Within The Vicinity Of Kainji Dam, Nigeria Using Ers-1 Sar Image, M S. Kolawole, E G. Ameh, A Daniel

Confluence Journal Environmental Studies (CJES), Kogi State University, Nigeria

Various affordable, operational technologies such as remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can significantly contribute to improved efficiency. The main focus of the project has been directed to the use of remote sensing to gain geological and geohazard information. This study examines the use of Remote Sensing (RS) technology in geological studies of Kainji area. Radar SAR images were used to classify the various geological fractures found in the area located in the Northern part of Nigeria. A wide variety of digital image processing techniques were applied such as the Principal Components (PC) analysis and ratioing. ERS-1 SAR image that …

A Discussion Of Factors Involved In The Formation Of Slab Avalanches And An Analysis Of Avalanche Risk In The Sierra Nevada Mountains Using Gis, Kevin C. Howen

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

As winter recreational activities increase in mountainous environments, the need for a better understanding of snow avalanches is necessary. This project consists of a study into the physical factors that contribute to slab avalanche formation, and a GIS analysis of an avalanche prone area within the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The primary physical factors that contribute to the conditions that lead to avalanches include the slope of a mountain face, the aspect, and bare ground conditions lacking thick forest vegetation. ArcGIS is a powerful software tool that was used to map each of these factors, and then combine them to create …

Creation Of A Spatial Decision Support System As A Risk Assessment Tool Based On Kentucky Tornado Climatology, Christopher Michael Blinn

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Tornadoes are one of Mother Nature’s deadliest phenomena. They affect a large region of the United States. The risk of tornadoes is contingent on dynamic atmospheric conditions that are most likely during spring but which can occur anytime of the year, making the storms challenging to forecast. Using geographical information systems (GIS), a web-based spatial decision support system (SDSS) was created to help understand the spatial dimension of tornado risk assessment. The risk values are calculated using Tornado Days rather than taking a crude density measurement. The SDSS hosts GIS web services that are displayed on an Adobe Flex application. …

Spatial Patterns Of Herbaceous And Woody Recruitment In A Recently Restored Mixed Tidal Regime Freshwater Wetland, James B. Deemy

Theses and Dissertations

Ecological restoration of a converted wetland was characterized within a recently drained impoundment along the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. Colonizing vegetation was assessed over three growing seasons in both tidal and non-tidal environments. Study objectives were to (1) examine geospatial relations of recruitment patterns among colonizing species over three growing seasons, (2) quantify species composition and potential differences between extant species cover and soil seed banks across restored and natural wetland habitats and (3) assess geospatial patterns to develop a GIS model of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum L.) recruitment. The two most common native colonizing species during …

Dynamic Data Extraction And Data Visualization With Application To The Kentucky Mesonet, Anoop Rao Paidipally

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There is a need to integrate large-scale database, high-performance computing engines and geographical information system technologies into a user-friendly web interface as a platform for data visualization and customized statistical analysis. We present some concepts and design ideas regarding dynamic data storage and extraction by making use of open-source computing and mapping technologies. We implemented our methods to the Kentucky Mesonet automated weather mapping workflow. The main components of the work flow includes a web based interface, a robust database and computing infrastructure designed for both general users and power users such as modelers and researchers.

Spatial Discrepancies Between Nhdplus And Lidar-Derived Stream Networks, Nicole Marie Samu

Masters Theses

Many organizations demand that current water resource issues necessitate improved stream network mapping for more accurate and reliable watershed analysis and modeling results, which can ultimately enable better management and policy decisions. Stream network data from the National Hydrography Dataset Plus (NHDPlus) and derived from Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) are each widely accepted to be of superior quality compared to many other conventional datasets. Each dataset indicates potential to improve a wide range of water resource applications; NHDPlus for its high spatial accuracy and functionality, and LIDAR-derived networks for their high resolutions. NHDPlus is publicly available and widely used; …

Shoreline Evolution: Lancaster County, Virginia Rappahannock River And Chesapeake Bay Shorelines 2012, Donna A. Milligan, Christine A. Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Mary C. Cox

Reports

ancaster County is situated along the Rappahannock River and Chesapeake Bay (Figure 1). The County has 330 miles of tidal shoreline (Lancaster, 2007). Through time, the County’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future. Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments. The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of Lancaster County has evolved since 1937. Aerial …

Shoreline Evolution: Middlesex County, Virginia Rappahannock River And Piankatank River Shorelines, Donna A. Milligan, Christine Wilcox, C. Scott Hardaway Jr., Mary C. Cox

Reports

Middlesex County is situated along the Rappahannock and Piankatank Rivers (Figure 1). Through time, the County’s shoreline has evolved, and determining the rates and patterns of shore change provides the basis to know how a particular coast has changed through time and how it might proceed in the future. Along Chesapeake Bay’s estuarine shores, winds, waves, tides and currents shape and modify coastlines by eroding, transporting and depositing sediments. The purpose of this report is to document how the shore zone of Middlesex County has evolved since 1937. Aerial imagery was taken for most of the Bay region beginning that …

Use Of Environmental Isotope Tracer And Gis Techniques To Estimate Basin Recharge, Abdulganiu A.A. Odunmbaku

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The extensive use of ground water only began with the advances in pumping technology at the early portion of 20th Century. Groundwater provides the majority of fresh water supply for municipal, agricultural and industrial uses, primarily because of little to no treatment it requires. Estimating the volume of groundwater available in a basin is a daunting task, and no accurate measurements can be made. Usually water budgets and simulation models are primarily used to estimate the volume of water in a basin.

Precipitation, land surface cover and subsurface geology are factors that affect recharge; these factors affect percolation which invariably …

Gis Data: City Of Virginia Beach, Virginia Tidal Marsh Inventory, Marcia Berman, Harry Berquist, Sharon A. Killeen, Carl Hershner, Karinna Nunez, Karen Reay, Tamia Rudnicky, Daniel E. Schatt

Data

The 2012 Tidal Marsh Inventory update for Virginia Beach, VA was generated using on-screen digitizing techniques in the most recent version of ArcGIS® - ArcMap while viewing conditions observed in the most recent imagery from the Virginia Base Mapping Program (VBMP). Dominant plant community types were primarily determined during field surveys from shallow-draft boats moving along the shoreline. Land-based surveys were performed in some locations. One shapefile is developed that portrays tidal marsh areas represented as polygons. A metadata file accompanies the shapefile to define attribute accuracy, data development, and any use restrictions that pertain to the data.

Gis Data: City Of Fairfax County, Virginia Tidal Marsh Inventory, Marcia Berman, Harry Berquist, Sharon Killeen, Carl Hershner, Karinna Nunez, Karen Reay, Tamia Rudnicky

Data

The 2012 Tidal Marsh Inventory update for Fairfax County, Virginia was generated using on-screen digitizing techniques in the most recent version of ArcGIS® - ArcMap while viewing conditions observed in the most recent imagery from the Virginia Base Mapping Program (VBMP). Dominant plant community types were primarily determined during field surveys from shallow-draft boats moving along the shoreline. Land-based surveys were performed in some locations. One shapefile is developed that portrays tidal marsh areas represented as polygons. A metadata file accompanies the shapefile to define attribute accuracy, data development, and any use restrictions that pertain to the data.

The Application Of A Visual Data Mining Framework To Determine Soil, Climate And Land-Use Relationships, Yunous Vagh

Research outputs 2012

In this research study, the methodology of action research dynamics and a case study was employed in constructing a visual data mining framework for the processing and analysis of geographic land-use data in an agricultural context. The geographic data was made up of a digital elevation model (DEM), soil and land use profiles that were juxtaposed with previously captured climatic data from fixed weather stations in Australia. In this pilot study, monthly rainfall profiles for a selected study area were used to identify areas of soil variability. The rainfall was sampled for the beginning (April) of the rainy season for …

Summary Tables: 2012 Prince William County, Virginia Shoreline Inventory, Marcia Berman, Harry Berquist, Sharon Killeen, Carl Hershner, Karinna Nunez, Karen Reay, Tamia Rudnicky

Reports

The Shoreline Inventory Summary Tables quantify observed conditions based on river systems, such as the combined length of linear features (e.g. shoreline miles surveyed, miles of bulkhead and revetment), the total number of point features (e.g. docks, boathouses, boat ramps) & total acres of polygon features (tidal marshes). This particular set of Summary Tables includes tidal marshes only as an amendment to the 2010 Prince William County Summary Tables. Dominant plant community types were primarily determined during 2012 field surveys from shallow-draft boats moving along the shoreline. Land-based surveys were performed in some locations.

Cameras, Satellites, And Surveys: A Multi-Platform Approach To Monitoring Lake Conservation Behavior, Daniel D. Homeier

Honors Theses

Shoreline buffers are essential to maintaining lake water quality and there are numerous methods for their assessment. There is uncertainty in the benefits and drawbacks of different shoreline buffer assessment methods. In this study I explore three methods of remotely assessing shoreline buffers in the Belgrade Lakes Region of Maine: household surveys, geotagged shoreline photos, and satellite imagery. By comparing these three methods I will evaluate their accuracy and applicable scale when used to assess the presence and quality of shoreline buffers.

I used both parametric and non-parametric analysis to (1) evaluate the relative accuracy of 154 household surveys in …

Gis Data: City Of Alexandria Tidal Marsh Inventory, Marcia Berman, Harry Berquist, Sharon Killeen, Carl Hershner, Karinna Nunez, Karen Reay, Tamia Rudnicky

Data

The 2012 Tidal Marsh Inventory update for City of Alexandria, Virginia was generated using on-screen digitizing techniques in the most recent version of ArcGIS® - ArcMap while viewing conditions observed in the most recent imagery from the Virginia Base Mapping Program (VBMP). Dominant plant community types were primarily determined during field surveys from shallow-draft boats moving along the shoreline. Land-based surveys were performed in some locations. One shapefile is developed that portrays tidal marsh areas represented as polygons. A metadata file accompanies the shapefile to define attribute accuracy, data development, and any use restrictions that pertain to the data.

Gis Data: Westmoreland County, Virginia Tidal Marsh Inventory, Marcia Berman, Harry Berquist, Carl Hershner, Sharon A. Killeen, Karinna Nunez, Tamia Rudnicky, Daniel E. Schatt, David Weiss

Data

The 2012 Tidal Marsh Inventory update for Westmoreland County, Virginia was generated using on-screen digitizing techniques in the most recent version of ArcGIS® - ArcMap while viewing conditions observed in the most recent imagery from the Virginia Base Mapping Program (VBMP). Dominant plant community types were primarily determined during field surveys from shallow-draft boats moving along the shoreline. Land-based surveys were performed in some locations. One shapefile is developed that portrays tidal marsh areas represented as polygons. A metadata file accompanies the shapefile to define attribute accuracy, data development, and any use restrictions that pertain to the data