Statistical Analysis of Regional Surface Water Quality in Southeastern Ontario.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bodo, Byron A.

1992-01-01

Historical records from Ontario's Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network for rivers and streams were analyzed to assess the feasibility of mapping regional water quality patterns in southeastern Ontario, spanning the Precambrian Shield and the St. Lawrence Lowlands. The study served as a model for much of Ontario. (54 references) (Author/MDH)

Historical patterns of spruce budworm defoliation and bark beetle outbreaks in North American conifer forests: an atlas and description of digital maps

Treesearch

David W. Williams; Richard A. Birdsey

2003-01-01

This atlas presents maps of historical defoliation by the eastern and western spruce budworms and historical outbreaks of the mountain and southern pine beetles during the past half century. The maps encompass various regions of the conterminous United States and eastern Canada. This publication also serves as documentation for an extended set of digital maps, which...

Investigation of the Fractal Geometry of Tundra Lake Patterns using Historical Topographic Maps and Satellite Imagery.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kariyawasam, T.; Essa, A.; Gong, M.; Sudakov, I.

2017-12-01

Greenhouse gas emissions from tundra lakes are a significant positive feedback to the atmosphere in a changing climate as a pronounced growth of the numbers of tundra lake patterns has been observed in the Arctic region. Detailed knowledge of spatial dynamics of lake patterns in a changing arctic tundra landscape and their geometrical properties is therefore potentially valuable, in order to understand and accurately model the sources of greenhouse gas emissions from boreal permafrost. Our goal is to use a collection of historical topographic maps and satellite imagery of tundra lakes to conduct computational image analyses for examining spatial dynamics of Tundra lake patterns. Our approach is based upon analyzing area-perimeter data of thousands of tundra lakes to compute the fractal dimension to study the tundra lake pattern geometry, which have been used to classify pollen grains by textual patterning (Mander, 2016), vegetation in dryland ecosystems (Mander, 2017) and melt pond patterns (Hohenegger, 2012). By analyzing area - perimeter data for over 900 lakes we find that for both historical topographic maps and current satellite imagery, the fractal dimension D is stable at 1.6 for Tundra lakes with area less than about 100km2. For Tundra lake sizes bigger than 100 km2 fractal dimension takes values close to 2 and less than one indicative of structural changes in Tundra lake pattern geometry. Furthermore the current study did not reveal any percolation transition above some critical threshold in Tundra lake evolution. The results of the study will provide scientists with new data on these aspects of tundra lakes to help characterize the geomorphology of spatial patterns in arctic tundra lakes.

Historical shoreline changes along the US Gulf of Mexico: A summary of recent shoreline comparisons and analyses

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morton, R.A.; Miller, T.; Moore, L.

2005-01-01

The US Geological Survey is systematically analyzing historical shoreline changes along open-ocean sandy shores of the United States. This National Assessment of Shoreline Change Project is developing standard repeatable methods for mapping and analyzing shoreline movement so that internally consistent updates can periodically be made to record coastal erosion and land loss along US shores. Recently, shoreline change maps and a report were published for states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Long-term and short-term average rates of change were calculated by comparing three historical shorelines (1800s, 1930s, 1970s) with an operational mean high water shoreline derived from lidar (light detection and ranging) surveys (post-1998). The rates of change, statistical uncertainties, original shorelines, and complementary geographic information system layers, such as areas of beach nourishment, are available on an Internet Map Server (IMS). For the Gulf of Mexico region, rates of erosion are generally highest in Louisiana along barrier island and headland shores associated with the Mississippi delta. Erosion also is rapid along some barrier islands and headlands in Texas, whereas barrier islands in Mississippi are migrating laterally. Highest rates of erosion in Florida are generally localized around tidal inlets. The most stable Gulf beaches generally are along the west coast of Florida, where low wave energy and frequent beach nourishment minimize erosion. Some long beach segments in Texas have accreted as a result of net longshore drift convergence and around tidal inlets that have been stabilized by long jetties. Individuals and some communities have attempted to mitigate the effects of erosion by emplacement of coastal structures, but those efforts largely have been abandoned in favor of periodic beach nourishment.

Looking for an old map

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1996-01-01

Many people want maps that show an area of the United States as it existed many years ago. These are called historical maps, and there are two types. The most common type consists of special maps prepared by commercial firms to show such historical features as battle-fields, military routes, or the paths taken by famous travelers. Typically, these maps are for sale to tourists at the sites of historical events. The other type is the truly old map--one compiled by a surveyor or cartographer many years ago. Lewis and Clark, for example, made maps of their journeys into the Northwest Territories in 1803-6, and originals of some of these maps still exist.

Spatio-Temporal Story Mapping Animation Based On Structured Causal Relationships Of Historical Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inoue, Y.; Tsuruoka, K.; Arikawa, M.

2014-04-01

In this paper, we proposed a user interface that displays visual animations on geographic maps and timelines for depicting historical stories by representing causal relationships among events for time series. We have been developing an experimental software system for the spatial-temporal visualization of historical stories for tablet computers. Our proposed system makes people effectively learn historical stories using visual animations based on hierarchical structures of different scale timelines and maps.

A cultural historical activity theory perspective to understand preservice science teachers' reflections on and tensions during a microteaching experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sezen-Barrie, Asli; Tran, Minh-Dan; McDonald, Scott P.; Kelly, Gregory J.

2014-09-01

This study draws from cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) to analyze preservice teachers' reflections on a microteaching activity. Microteaching activities involved preservice educators teaching middle school students from local schools. The study was conducted with 23 preservice teachers enrolled in a large university's teacher education program. During this secondary science teaching methods course, every pair of preservice teachers engaged in 20 minute microteaching activity with 3-5 middle school students. The microteaching was videotaped, and the teachers subsequently provided voice-over reflections on a second audio track. Transcriptions of the microteaching events were analyzed through the formation of event maps showing the phases of activity and the organizational sequence of actions. Event maps were used to investigate the focus of preservice teachers' reflections. The results showed that while learning from their microteaching, preservice teachers focused primarily on the mediating artifacts and gave least attention to the larger teaching community surrounding these activities. Use of CHAT helped to identify challenges in different elements of the microteaching activity. The study contributes to how reflective practice can be enhanced through attention to the social and cultural dimensions of the teaching.

Geopan AT@S: a Brokering Based Gateway to Georeferenced Historical Maps for Risk Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Previtali, M.

2017-08-01

Importance of ancient and historical maps is nowadays recognized in many applications (e.g., urban planning, landscape valorisation and preservation, land changes identification, etc.). In the last years a great effort has been done by different institutions, such as Geographical Institutes, Public Administrations, and collaborative communities, for digitizing and publishing online collections of historical maps. In spite of this variety and availability of data, information overload makes difficult their discovery and management: without knowing the specific repository where the data are stored, it is difficult to find the information required. In addition, problems of interconnection between different data sources and their restricted interoperability may arise. This paper describe a new brokering based gateway developed to assure interoperability between data, in particular georeferenced historical maps and geographic data, gathered from different data providers, with various features and referring to different historical periods. The developed approach is exemplified by a new application named GeoPAN Atl@s that is aimed at linking in Northern Italy area land changes with risk analysis (local seismicity amplification and flooding risk) by using multi-temporal data sources and historic maps.

The Documentation of Historic Maps of World Heritage Site City Suzhou

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guangwei, Z.

2013-07-01

Documentation and analysis of historic maps enhance understanding of temporal and spatial interactions between events and the evolution of physical canals upon which they occurred. And the challenge of this work lies on carefully sifting of information through the maps drawn with relative accuracy by traditional cartographical principles before the emergence of scientific survey. This research project focuses on sorting out the evolution of historic city Suzhou in a spatio-temporal view. The investigation was conducted through an in-depth analysis of historic maps. Re-projection of the geographical elements of the city to one single georeference, that is to say a standard map BASE, help acquiring an actual sense of the scale and facilitate the recognition of the city's evolution in clear details. It is an important contribution of this thesis in coordination of variously distorted geographical information contained in nineteen periods span from 1229 to 2013 into a single research resource. Through the work both quantitative and qualitative, a clear vision of the evolution and characteristics of the urban structure of ancient Suzhou is achieved. Meanwhile, in the process of projecting the historical geometrical information onto the topographic map, historical bibliographic and cartographic records is key to the data coordination and readjustment, this inspire as well on the cautious utilization of historical materials from ancient time in the recording, documentation work.

Landslide susceptibility revealed by LIDAR imagery and historical records, Seattle, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schulz, W.H.

2007-01-01

Light detection and ranging (LIDAR) data were used to visually map landslides, headscarps, and denuded slopes in Seattle, Washington. Four times more landslides were mapped than by previous efforts that used aerial photographs. The mapped landforms (landslides, headscarps, and denuded slopes) were created by many individual landslides. The spatial distribution of mapped landforms and 1308 historical landslides show that historical landslide activity has been concentrated on the mapped landforms, and that most of the landslide activity that created the landforms was prehistoric. Thus, the spatial densities of historical landslides on the landforms provide approximations of the landforms' relative susceptibilities to future landsliding. Historical landslide characteristics appear to be closely related to landform type so relative susceptibilities were determined for landslides with various characteristics. No strong relations were identified between stratigraphy and landslide occurrence; however, landslide characteristics and slope morphology appear to be related to stratigraphic conditions. Human activity is responsible for causing about 80% of historical Seattle landslides. The distribution of mapped landforms and human-caused landslides suggests the probable characteristics of future human-caused landslides on each of the landforms. The distribution of mapped landforms and historical landslides suggests that erosion of slope-toes by surface water has been a necessary condition for causing Seattle landslides. Human activity has largely arrested this erosion, which implies that landslide activity will decrease with time as hillsides naturally stabilize. However, evaluation of glacial-age analogs of areas of recent slope-toe erosion suggests that landslide activity in Seattle will continue for the foreseeable future. ?? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New shoreline change data and analysis for the Massachusetts shore with emphasis on Cape Cod and the islands: Mid-1800s to 1994

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Connell, James F.; Thieler, E. Robert; Schupp, Courtney

2002-01-01

That shorelines change, oftentimes dramatically in short periods of time, is an accepted fact for those who live along the shore. However, when two-thirds or approximately 512 miles of a state's ocean-facing shore exhibits a long-term erosional trend, in some locations eroding at an average annual rate of 12 feet per year, as is the case in Massachusetts, shoreline property owners, prospective shorefront property owners, and coastal managers need to pay particular attention to the future location of the shoreline to avoid physical and economic disasters. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Sea Grant Program, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension recently completed an update and statistical analysis of historical shoreline change along approximately 1,000 miles of Massachusetts' ocean-facing shore, of which 754 miles were statistically analyzed (Thieler, O'Connell and Schupp, 2001; Schupp, Thieler & O'Connell, 2001). The project was funded by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. In general, four to five shoreline positions mapped between the mid-1800s to 1994 were used to analyze changes along the Massachusetts shore. Seventy-six shoreline change maps with accompanying data tables and a Technical Report were produced. The results of this study reveal that approximately two-thirds of the Massachusetts shore is eroding, with 68% of the shore exhibiting a long-term erosional trend, 30% showing long-term accretion, and 2% showing no net change. ln some areas, erosion rates have accelerated based on a comparison study of previous data that was conducted in 1997 (O'Connell, 1997). Ironically, coastal property that commands some of the highest real estate values in the Commonwealth also exhibits the highest consistent long-term average annual erosion rates. This paper describes the data sources used to map historic shorelines in Massachusetts, the methodology used to both plot a new shoreline and analyze the long-term historical data, and describes cautions necessary when interpreting and applying shoreline change data, with site-specific examples along the Massachusetts shore.

Scanning and georeferencing historical USGS quadrangles

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fishburn, Kristin A.; Davis, Larry R.; Allord, Gregory J.

2017-06-23

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Geospatial Program is scanning published USGS 1:250,000-scale and larger topographic maps printed between 1884, the inception of the topographic mapping program, and 2006. The goal of this project, which began publishing the Historical Topographic Map Collection in 2011, is to provide access to a digital repository of USGS topographic maps that is available to the public at no cost. For more than 125 years, USGS topographic maps have accurately portrayed the complex geography of the Nation. The USGS is the Nation’s largest producer of traditional topographic maps, and, prior to 2006, USGS topographic maps were created using traditional cartographic methods and printed using a lithographic process. The next generation of topographic maps, US Topo, is being released by the USGS in digital form, and newer technologies make it possible to also deliver historical maps in the same electronic format that is more publicly accessible.

Cortical Cartography and Caret Software

PubMed Central

Van Essen, David C.

2011-01-01

Caret software is widely used for analyzing and visualizing many types of fMRI data, often in conjunction with experimental data from other modalities. This article places Caret’s development in a historical context that spans three decades of brain mapping – from the early days of manually generated flat maps to the nascent field of human connectomics. It also highlights some of Caret’s distinctive capabilities. This includes the ease of visualizing data on surfaces and/or volumes and on atlases as well as individual subjects. Caret can display many types of experimental data using various combinations of overlays (e.g., fMRI activation maps, cortical parcellations, areal boundaries), and it has other features that facilitate the analysis and visualization of complex neuroimaging datasets. PMID:22062192

1. Photocopy of Map (from the Historical Museum of Southeast ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

1. Photocopy of Map (from the Historical Museum of Southeast Florida and the Caribbean, Miami, Florida, G.E. Merrick Collection) W.C. Bliss, Engineer 1924 MAP OF CORAL GABLES - Coral Gables (Entrances, Streets, Gates, & Squares), Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FL

Standard for the U.S. Geological Survey Historical Topographic Map Collection

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allord, Gregory J.; Fishburn, Kristin A.; Walter, Jennifer L.

2014-01-01

This document defines the digital map product of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Historical Topographic Map Collection (HTMC). The HTMC is a digital archive of about 190,000 printed topographic quadrangle maps published by the USGS from the inception of the topographic mapping program in 1884 until the last paper topographic map using lithographic printing technology was published in 2006. The HTMC provides a comprehensive digital repository of all scales and all editions of USGS printed topographic maps that is easily discovered, browsed, and downloaded by the public at no cost. Each printed topographic map is scanned “as is” and captures the content and condition of each map. The HTMC provides ready access to maps that are no longer available for distribution in print. A new generation of topographic maps called “US Topo” was defined in 2009. US Topo maps, though modeled on the legacy 7.5-minute topographic maps, conform to different standards. For more information on the HTMC, see the project Web site at: http://nationalmap.gov/historical/.

A pigment analysis tool for hyperspectral images of cultural heritage artifacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Di; Messinger, David W.; Howell, David

2017-05-01

The Gough Map, in the collection at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, is one of the earliest surviving maps of Britain. Previous research deemed that it was likely created over the 15th century and afterwards it was extensively revised more than once. In 2015, the Gough Map was imaged using a hyperspectral imaging system at the Bodleian Library. The collection of the hyperspectral image (HSI) data was aimed at faded text enhancement for reading and pigment analysis for the material diversity of its composition and potentially the timeline of its creation. In this research, we introduce several methods to analyze the green pigments in the Gough Map, especially the number and spatial distribution of distinct green pigments. One approach, called the Gram Matrix, has been used to estimate the material diversity in a scene (i.e., endmember selection and dimensionality estimation). Here, we use the Gram Matrix technique to study the within-material differences of pigments in the Gough map with common visual color. We develop a pigment analysis tool that extracts visually common pixels, green pigments in this case, from the Gough Map and estimates its material diversity. It reveals that the Gough Map consists of at least six kinds of dominant green pigments. Both historical geographers and cartographic historians will benefit from this work to analyze the pigment diversity using HSI of cultural heritage artifacts.

Characterization of Wind Patterns over Texas Using Self-Organizing Maps: Impact on Dallas-Fort Worth Long Term Ozone Trends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotsakis, A.; Choi, Y.; Souri, A.; Jeon, W.; Flynn, J. H., III

2017-12-01

From the years 2000 to 2014, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) has seen a decrease in ozone exceedances due to decreased emissions of ozone precursors. In this study, a wind pattern analysis was done to gain a better understanding of the meteorological patterns that have historically contributed to ozone exceedances over the DFW area. Long-term trends in ozone and the seasonal distribution of ozone exceedances were analyzed using surface monitoring data. Using a clustering algorithm called self-organizing maps, characteristic regional wind patterns from 2000-2014 were determined. For each of the wind pattern clusters, the frequency over the last 15 years and average ozone from monitors across DFW was analyzed. Finally, model simulations were performed to determine if pollution transported out of Houston affected incoming background ozone into DFW.

Comparison of the Effects of Episodic Mapping and Traditional Notetaking on the Recall of Historical Text.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denner, Peter R.

This study examined the effects of episodic-mapping, traditional notetaking, and rereading on eighth-grade students' recall of historical text. Episodic-maps are a kind of notetaking procedure that requires students to represent ideas from a text in the form of a graphic diagram. As predicted, both episodic-mapping and traditional notetaking…

Hyperspectral analysis of cultural heritage artifacts: pigment material diversity in the Gough Map of Britain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Di; Messinger, David W.; Howell, David

2017-08-01

The Gough Map, one of the earliest surviving maps of Britain, was created and extensively revised over the 15th century. In 2015, the map was imaged using a hyperspectral imaging system while in the collection at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University. The goal of the collection of the hyperspectral image (HSI) of the Gough Map was to address questions such as enhancement of faded text for reading and analysis of the pigments used during its creation and revision. In particular, pigment analysis of the Gough Map will help historians understand the material diversity of its composition and potentially the timeline of, and methods used in, the creation and revision of the map. Multiple analysis methods are presented to analyze a particular pigment in the Gough Map with an emphasis on understanding the within-material diversity, i.e., the number and spatial layout of distinct red pigments. One approach for understanding the number of distinct materials in a scene (i.e., endmember selection and dimensionality estimation) is the Gram matrix approach. Here, this method is used to study the within-material differences of pigments in the map with common visual color. The application is a pigment analysis tool that extracts visually common pixels (here, the red pigments) from the Gough Map and estimates the material diversity of the pixels. Results show that the Gough Map is composed of at least five kinds of dominant red pigments with a particular spatial pattern. This research provides a useful tool for historical geographers and cartographic historians to analyze the material diversity of HSI of cultural heritage artifacts.

Historical analysis and visualization of the retreat of Findelengletscher, Switzerland, 1859-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rastner, P.; Joerg, P. C.; Huss, M.; Zemp, M.

2016-10-01

Since the end of the Little Ice Age around 1850, glaciers in Europe have strongly retreated. Thanks to early topographic surveys in Switzerland, accurate maps are available, which enable us to trace glacier changes back in time. The earliest map for all of Switzerland that is usable for a detailed analysis is the Dufour map from around 1850 with subsequent topographic maps on a 20 year interval. Despite the large public and scientific interest in glacier changes through time, this historic dataset has not yet been fully utilized for topographic change assessment or visualization of historic glacier extents. In this study, we use eleven historical topographic maps and more recent digital datasets for the region of Zermatt to analyze geometric changes (length, area and volume) of Findelengletscher as well as for creating animations of glacier evolution through time for use in public communication. All maps were georeferenced, the contour lines digitized, and digital elevation models (DEMs) created and co-registered. Additional digital data like the SRTM X-band DEM and high resolution laser scanning data were used to extend the analysis until 2010. Moreover, one independent DEM from aerial photogrammetry was used for comparison. During the period 1859-2010, Findelengletscher lost 3.5 km of its length (6.9 km in 2010), 4.42 ± 0.13 km2 of its area (15.05 ± 0.45 km2 in 2010) and 1.32 ± 0.52 km3 of its volume. The average rate of thickness loss is 0.45 ± 0.042 m yr- 1 for the 151 years period. Four periods with high thickness change from - 0.56 m ± 0.28 yr- 1 (1859-1881), - 0.40 ± 0.08 m yr- 1 (1937-1965), - 0.90 ± 0.31 m yr- 1 (1995-2000) and - 1.18 ± 0.02 m yr- 1 (2000-2005) have been identified. Small positive thickness changes were found for the periods 1890-1909 (+ 0.09 ± 0.46 m yr- 1) and 1988-1995 (+ 0.05 ± 0.24 m yr- 1). During its retreat with intermittent periods of advance, the glacier separated into three parts. The above changes are demonstrated through an animation (available from the supplementary material), which has been created to inform the general public.

Documentation of Historical Underground Object in Skorkov Village with Selected Measuring Methods, Data Analysis and Visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dlesk, A.

2016-06-01

The author analyzes current methods of 3D documentation of historical tunnels in Skorkov village, which lies at the Jizera river, approximately 30 km away from Prague. The area is known as a former military camp from Thirty Years' War in 17th Century. There is an extensive underground compound with one entrance corridor and two transverse, situated approximately 2 to 5 m under the local development. The object has been partly documented by geodetic polar method, intersection photogrammetry, image-based modelling and laser scanning. Data have been analyzed and methods have been compared. Then the 3D model of object has been created and compound with cadastral data, orthophoto, historical maps and digital surface model which was made by photogrammetric method using remotely piloted aircraft system. Then the measuring has been realized with ground penetrating radar. Data have been analyzed and the result compared with real status. All the data have been combined and visualized into one 3D model. Finally, the discussion about advantages and disadvantages of used measuring methods has been livened up. The tested methodology has been also used for other documentation of historical objects in this area. This project has been created as a part of research at EuroGV. s.r.o. Company lead by Ing. Karel Vach CSc. in cooperation with prof. Dr. Ing. Karel Pavelka from Czech Technical University in Prague and Miloš Gavenda, the renovator.

Geospatial Assessment of Cholera in a Rapidly Urbanizing Environment.

PubMed

Olanrewaju, Olajumoke Esther; Adepoju, Kayode Adewale

2017-01-01

This study mapped out and investigated the spatial relationship between cholera incidences and environmental risk factors in the study area. The study area was stratified into eight zones. Water samples from each zone were collected and analyzed to determine the colony forming units. GIS layers including housing density, digitized roads, rivers, buildings, and cholera incidence data from hospital archives were also collected and analyzed using ArcGIS 10.1. It was observed that there was an association between the ERFs ( p < 0.001). Similarly, 18 out of the 44 waste dump sites, seven out of 18 markets, and two out of 36 abattoirs were found near the historical cholera cases. Similarly, 4 (21.1%) locations were traced to be predominantly close to rivers and waste dump site. All the historical cholera cases were found adjoining to roads and buildings. Highest CFU count was found in the wells and streams of areas with a cluster of all the environmental risk factors and high housing density. This study revealed that waste dump sites and market had the highest predisposing attribute while the least was abattoir. The uniqueness of the study lies in the combination of mapping and microbial analyses to identify and assess the pattern of cholera risk and also to provide clear information for development of strategies for environmental supervision.

Land-use and land-cover scenarios and spatial modeling at the regional scale

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sohl, Terry L.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.

2012-01-01

Land-use and land-cover (LULC) change has altered a large part of the earth's surface. Scenarios of potential future LULC change are required in order to better manage potential impacts on biodiversity, carbon fluxes, climate change, hydrology, and many other ecological processes. The U.S. Geological Survey is analyzing potential future LULC change in the United States, using an approach based on scenario construction and spatially explicit modeling. Similar modeling techniques are being used to produce historical LULC maps from 1940 to present. With the combination of backcast and forecast LULC data, the USGS is providing consistent LULC data for historical, current, and future time frames to support a variety of research applications.

22. Historic American Buildings Survey Alameda County Recorder Office Map ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

22. Historic American Buildings Survey Alameda County Recorder Office Map Book 6, page 17 October 1960 SURVEY OF 1868 - Mission San Jose de Guadalupe, Mission & Washington Boulevards, Fremont, Alameda County, CA

Hgis and Archive Researches: a Tool for the Study of the Ancient Mill Channel of Cesena (italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bitelli, G.; Bartolini, F.; Gatta, G.

2016-06-01

The present study aims to demonstrate the usefulness of GIS to support archive searches and historical studies (e.g. related to industrial archaeology), in the case of an ancient channel for mill powering near Cesena (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), whose history is weaved together with the history of the Compagnia dei Molini di Cesena mill company, the most ancient limited company in Italy. Several historical maps (about 40 sheets in total) inherent the studied area and 80 archive documents (drawings, photos, specifications, administrative acts, newspaper articles), over a period of more than 600 years, were collected. Once digitized, historical maps were analysed, georeferenced and mosaicked where necessary. Subsequently, in all the maps the channel with its four mills and the Savio river were vectorized. All the additional archive documents were digitized, catalogued and stored. Using the QGIS open source platform, a Historical GIS was created, encompassing the current cartographic base and all historical maps, with their vectorized elements; each archive document was linked to the proper historical map, so that the document can be immediately retrieved and visualized. In such a HGIS, the maps form the base for a spatial and temporal navigation, facilitated by a specific interface; the external documents linked to them complete the description of the represented elements. This simple and interactive tool offers a new approach to archive searches, as it allows reconstruction in space and time of the evolution of the ancient channel and the history of this important mill company.

Scanning and georeferencing historical USGS quadrangles

USGS Publications Warehouse

Davis, Larry R.; Allord, G.J.

2011-01-01

The USGS Historical Quadrangle Scanning Project (HQSP) is scanning all scales and all editions of approximately 250,000 topographic maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since the inception of the topographic mapping program in 1884. This scanning will provide a comprehensive digital repository of USGS topographic maps, available to the public at no cost. This project serves the dual purpose of creating a master catalog and digital archive copies of the irreplaceable collection of topographic maps in the USGS Reston Map Library as well as making the maps available for viewing and downloading from the USGS Store and The National Map Viewer.

An Integrated 3S and Historical Materials Analysis of the Keriya Paleoriver, NW China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Lei; Wang, Xinyuan; Cai, Heng

2014-03-01

Combining analysis of 3S (RS, GIS and GPS) and historical materials (historical records, ancient map and academic and literary writings) allows mapping of the Keriya Paleoriver of Southern Xinjiang, NW China. Keriya Paleoriver, one of the ancient Four Green Corridors which passes through the Taklimakan Desert from south to north in the Tarim Basin, recorded changes of the climate-environment in the ancient Silk Road of the region. According to the archaeological data, historical materials and paleoclimates information, its eco-environment and climate have had great changes since the 1.09Ma B.P., especially during the last 2,000 years, which has led to many famous ancient cities to be abandoned and the route of the ancient Silk Road to be moved southward. Using RS (optical and radar imagery), GIS (mapping and spatial analysis) and GPS (study area investigation), we mapped a major paleodrainage system of Keriya River, which have linked the Kunlun Mountains to the Tienshan Mountains through the Taklimakan Desert, possibly as far back as the early Pleistocene. This study illustrates the capability of the 3S and historical materials, in mapping the Keriya Paleoriver drainage networks and archaeological study on the ancient Silk Road.

7. Historic American Buildings Survey Photocopy taken from Sanborn Map ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

7. Historic American Buildings Survey Photocopy taken from Sanborn Map at Assessor's Office City-County Building, Indianapolis, Indiana PLAN OF FACTORY - Duesenberg Automobile Company Factory, West Washington & Harding Streets, Indianapolis, Marion County, IN

Duality and 'particle' democracy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castellani, Elena

2017-08-01

Weak/strong duality is usually accompanied by what seems a puzzling ontological feature: the fact that under this kind of duality what is viewed as 'elementary' in one description gets mapped to what is viewed as 'composite' in the dual description. This paper investigates the meaning of this apparent 'particle democracy', as it has been called, by adopting an historical approach. The aim is to clarify the nature of the correspondence between 'dual particles' in the light of a historical analysis of the developments of the idea of weak/strong duality, starting with Dirac's electric-magnetic duality and its successive generalizations in the context of (Abelian and non-Abelian) field theory, to arrive at its first extension to string theory. This analysis is then used as evidential basis for discussing the 'elementary/composite' divide and, after taking another historical detour by analyzing an instructive analogy case (DHS duality and related nuclear democracy), drawing some conclusions on the particle-democracy issue.

49 CFR 1105.8 - Historic Reports.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... historic information: (1) A U.S.G.S. topographic map (or an alternate map drawn to scale and sufficiently... seen from the railroad right-of-way (or other public rights-of-way adjacent to the property) and a...

Mapping Prehistoric, Historic, and Channel Sediment Distribution, South Fork Noyo River: A Tool For Understanding Sources, Storage, and Transport

Treesearch

Rich D. Koehler; Keith I. Kelson; Graham Matthews; K.H. Kang; Andrew D. Barron

2007-01-01

The South Fork Noyo River (SFNR) watershed in coastal northern California contains large volumes of historic sediment that were delivered to channels in response to past logging operations. This sediment presently is stored beneath historic terraces and in present-day channels. We conducted geomorphic mapping on the SFNR valley floor to assess the volume and location...

Manifestation of a neuro-fuzzy model to produce landslide susceptibility map using remote sensing data derived parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pradhan, Biswajeet; Lee, Saro; Buchroithner, Manfred

Landslides are the most common natural hazards in Malaysia. Preparation of landslide suscep-tibility maps is important for engineering geologists and geomorphologists. However, due to complex nature of landslides, producing a reliable susceptibility map is not easy. In this study, a new attempt is tried to produce landslide susceptibility map of a part of Cameron Valley of Malaysia. This paper develops an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) based on a geographic information system (GIS) environment for landslide susceptibility mapping. To ob-tain the neuro-fuzzy relations for producing the landslide susceptibility map, landslide locations were identified from interpretation of aerial photographs and high resolution satellite images, field surveys and historical inventory reports. Landslide conditioning factors such as slope, plan curvature, distance to drainage lines, soil texture, lithology, and distance to lineament were extracted from topographic, soil, and lineament maps. Landslide susceptible areas were analyzed by the ANFIS model and mapped using the conditioning factors. Furthermore, we applied various membership functions (MFs) and fuzzy relations to produce landslide suscep-tibility maps. The prediction performance of the susceptibility map is checked by considering actual landslides in the study area. Results show that, triangular, trapezoidal, and polynomial MFs were the best individual MFs for modelling landslide susceptibility maps (86

Stoneflies (Plecoptera) of the Gunnison Basin: A Geographical Study of Current Versus Historical Distributions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, J.; Townsend, A.; Alexander, K.

2005-05-01

We compared the stonefly diversity sampled from 11 selected sites in the Gunnison River Basin over the last three years to the stonefly diversity recorded by Knight (1965) from the same or nearby sites. The 11 sites in this study were chosen from the 22 sites reported by Knight (1965) because they represented mainstem Gunnison River sites that would be predicted to experience the most alteration due to anthropogenic changes such as the construction of impoundments, differences in land use patterns, and effects from the increase in human population of the region. We have been unable to locate ten of the stonefly species that were historically found and we presume that they have gone locally extinct or have become increasingly rare. We have also found six species present today that were not historically reported from Knight (1965). Maps showing current and historical stonefly diversity and distribution have been produced using ArcGIS and analyzed with relevant geographical data to form hypotheses to account for specific changes in the stonefly fauna of the basin.

Reconstructed historical land cover and biophysical parameters for studies of land-atmosphere interactions within the eastern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Steyaert, Louis T.; Knox, R.G.

2008-01-01

Over the past 350 years, the eastern half of the United States experienced extensive land cover changes. These began with land clearing in the 1600s, continued with widespread deforestation, wetland drainage, and intensive land use by 1920, and then evolved to the present-day landscape of forest regrowth, intensive agriculture, urban expansion, and landscape fragmentation. Such changes alter biophysical properties that are key determinants of land-atmosphere interactions (water, energy, and carbon exchanges). To understand the potential implications of these land use transformations, we developed and analyzed 20-km land cover and biophysical parameter data sets for the eastern United States at 1650, 1850, 1920, and 1992 time slices. Our approach combined potential vegetation, county-level census data, soils data, resource statistics, a Landsat-derived land cover classification, and published historical information on land cover and land use. We reconstructed land use intensity maps for each time slice and characterized the land cover condition. We combined these land use data with a mutually consistent set of biophysical parameter classes, to characterize the historical diversity and distribution of land surface properties. Time series maps of land surface albedo, leaf area index, a deciduousness index, canopy height, surface roughness, and potential saturated soils in 1650, 1850, 1920, and 1992 illustrate the profound effects of land use change on biophysical properties of the land surface. Although much of the eastern forest has returned, the average biophysical parameters for recent landscapes remain markedly different from those of earlier periods. Understanding the consequences of these historical changes will require land-atmosphere interactions modeling experiments.

Reconstructing 800 years of historical eruptive activity at Popocatépetl Volcano, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin-Del Pozzo, Ana Lillian; Rodríguez, Alan; Portocarrero, Jorge

2016-03-01

Pictorial and written documents spanning 800 years were analyzed for information about historical eruptions at Popocatépetl volcano. These documents were prepared by several indigenous groups as well as by the Spanish conquistadors and missionaries during their military campaigns and long-term evangelization and colonization and later on, by Indian nobles and Spanish historians. Pre-Columbian drawings show flames coming out of Popocatépetl's crater while later descriptions from the Spanish colonial period in Mexico (1521 to 1821) refer to ash emission and ballistics, lahars, and some pumice falls, similar to what were depicted in the thirteenth to sixteenth century drawings. Graphic information from the pre-Columbian codices, colonial maps, and paintings referring to the eruptions were correlated with historical accounts and religious chronicles, thereby leading to the reconstruction of a more detailed sequence of eruptive events. From such information, it was possible for us to prepare ash distribution maps for the 1540, 1592, and 1664 eruptions. Most of the known historical eruptions seem to be similar to those that have been occurring at Popocatépetl since 1994, indicating the importance of ash emission and crater dome formation throughout its recent eruptive history. The strongest eruptions occurred in 1510, 1519, 1540, 1580, 1664, and 2001; these produced widespread ash falls that affected both populated and rural areas. Duration of eruptive episodes during the past 800 years were estimated to have ranged from less than a year to more than 30 years, separated by repose periods ranging between 7 and over 100 years.

TerraSAR-X time-series interferometry detects human-induce subsidence in the Historical Centre of Hanoi, Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le, Tuan; Chang, Chung-Pai; Nguyen, Xuan

2016-04-01

Hanoi was the capital of 12 Vietnamese dynasties, where the most historical relics, archaeological ruins and ancient monuments are located over Vietnam. However, those heritage assets are threatened by the land subsidence process occurred in recent decades, which mainly triggered by massive groundwater exploitation and construction activities. In this work, we use a set of high resolution TerraSAR-X images to map small-scale land subsidence patterns in the Historical Centre of Hanoi from April 2012 to November 2013. Images oversampling is integrated into the Small Baseline InSAR processing chain in order to enlarge the monitoring coverage by increasing the point-wise measurements, maintaining the monitoring scale of single building and monument. We analyzed over 2.4 million radar targets on 13.9 km2 area of interest based on 2 main sites: The Citadel, the Old Quarter and French Quarter. The highest subsidence rate recorded is -14.2 mm/year. Most of the heritage assets are considered as stable except the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and the Ceramic Mosaic Mural with the subsidence rates are -14.2 and -13.7 mm/year, respectively. Eventually, optical image and soil properties map are used to determine the causes of subsidence patterns. The result shows the strong relationships between the existing construction sites, the component of sediments and land subsidence processes that occurred in the study site.

Historical Maps Potential on the Assessment of the Hydromorphological Changes in Large Rivers: Towards Sustainable Rivers Management under Altered Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuriqi, Alban; Rosário Fernandes, M.; Santos, Artur; Ferreira, M. Teresa

2017-04-01

Hydromorphological patterns changes in large rivers, result from a long history of human interventions. In this study, we evaluate the causes and effects of hydromorphological alterations in the Iberian Minho River using a planform change analysis. We performed a temporal comparison using historical maps (nineteen century) and contemporaneous maps. The studied river was divided in 2.5 km long river stretches in a total of 25 sampling units. The historical maps were initially georeferenced for the WGS84 coordinate system. We used Geographic Information System (GIS) to extract the hydromorphological features and to store and organised the spatial data. The hydromorphological features (sinuosity index, braiding intensity, river corridor and active channel width, lotic and lentic habitats) were mapped by visual interpretation of the historical and the contemporaneous maps on a scale 1:2500 by applying the same methodology. Also, we analysed certain Indicators of Hydrological Alteration (IHA) based on pre- and post-dam daily streamflow data obtained from the Spanish Water Information System (SIA). The results revealed a significant reduction in the active channel width and all sinuosity indexes representing an overall degradation of river conditions. We also noticed a drastic diminution in the number and total area of lentic habitats causing fish habitat shifts. Changes were less evident in upstream sampling units due to diverse Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) changes combine with some geological constraints. These responses were consistent with reductions in mean annual discharge, flood disturbance decrease and minimum flow increase during the summer season. This work allows to understand the evolutionary trajectory of large fluvial system over more than 100 years and to implement concrete measures for sustainable river management. Keywords: historical maps, large rivers, flow alteration, sinuosity index, lotic and lentic habitats, regulated rivers, river restoration.

SOM neural network fault diagnosis method of polymerization kettle equipment optimized by improved PSO algorithm.

PubMed

Wang, Jie-sheng; Li, Shu-xia; Gao, Jie

2014-01-01

For meeting the real-time fault diagnosis and the optimization monitoring requirements of the polymerization kettle in the polyvinyl chloride resin (PVC) production process, a fault diagnosis strategy based on the self-organizing map (SOM) neural network is proposed. Firstly, a mapping between the polymerization process data and the fault pattern is established by analyzing the production technology of polymerization kettle equipment. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm with a new dynamical adjustment method of inertial weights is adopted to optimize the structural parameters of SOM neural network. The fault pattern classification of the polymerization kettle equipment is to realize the nonlinear mapping from symptom set to fault set according to the given symptom set. Finally, the simulation experiments of fault diagnosis are conducted by combining with the industrial on-site historical data of the polymerization kettle and the simulation results show that the proposed PSO-SOM fault diagnosis strategy is effective.

Mapping Vulnerability to Disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1900-2007

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maynard-Ford, Miriam C.; Phillips, Emily C.; Chirico, Peter G.

2008-01-01

The vulnerability of a population and its infrastructure to disastrous events is a factor of both the probability of a hazardous event occurring and the community's ability to cope with the resulting impacts. Therefore, the ability to accurately identify vulnerable populations and places in order to prepare for future hazards is of critical importance for disaster mitigation programs. This project created maps of higher spatial resolution of vulnerability to disaster in Latin America and the Caribbean from 1900 to 2007 by mapping disaster data by first-level administrative boundaries with the objective of identifying geographic trends in regional occurrences of disasters and vulnerable populations. The method of mapping by administrative level is an improvement on displaying and analyzing disasters at the country level and shows the relative intensity of vulnerability within and between countries in the region. Disaster mapping at the country level produces only a basic view of which countries experience various types of natural disasters. Through disaggregation, the data show which geographic areas of these countries, including populated areas, are historically most susceptible to different hazard types.

Historical Perspectives and Recommendations for revision of the Agricultural Handbook 296

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

While the most recent edition of Agriculture Handbook 296 was released in 2006, many of the geographic boundaries consistently mimic historic map products of generalized regional and national soil-survey maps (some dating back to the 1930s). Furthermore, the underlying concepts and technologies used...

U.S. stock market interaction network as learned by the Boltzmann machine

DOE PAGES

Borysov, Stanislav S.; Roudi, Yasser; Balatsky, Alexander V.

2015-12-07

Here, we study historical dynamics of joint equilibrium distribution of stock returns in the U.S. stock market using the Boltzmann distribution model being parametrized by external fields and pairwise couplings. Within Boltzmann learning framework for statistical inference, we analyze historical behavior of the parameters inferred using exact and approximate learning algorithms. Since the model and inference methods require use of binary variables, effect of this mapping of continuous returns to the discrete domain is studied. The presented results show that binarization preserves the correlation structure of the market. Properties of distributions of external fields and couplings as well as themore » market interaction network and industry sector clustering structure are studied for different historical dates and moving window sizes. We demonstrate that the observed positive heavy tail in distribution of couplings is related to the sparse clustering structure of the market. We also show that discrepancies between the model’s parameters might be used as a precursor of financial instabilities.« less

Historical Topographic Map Collection bookmark

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fishburn, Kristin A.; Allord, Gregory J.

2017-06-29

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Geospatial Program is scanning published USGS 1:250,000-scale and larger topographic maps printed between 1884, the inception of the topographic mapping program, and 2006. The goal of this project, which began publishing the historical scanned maps in 2011, is to provide a digital repository of USGS topographic maps, available to the public at no cost. For more than 125 years, USGS topographic maps have accurately portrayed the complex geography of the Nation. The USGS is the Nation’s largest producer of printed topographic maps, and prior to 2006, USGS topographic maps were created using traditional cartographic methods and printed using a lithographic printing process. As the USGS continues the release of a new generation of topographic maps (US Topo) in electronic form, the topographic map remains an indispensable tool for government, science, industry, land management planning, and leisure.

Hydrography change detection: the usefulness of surface channels derived From LiDAR DEMs for updating mapped hydrography

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poppenga, Sandra K.; Gesch, Dean B.; Worstell, Bruce B.

2013-01-01

The 1:24,000-scale high-resolution National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) mapped hydrography flow lines require regular updating because land surface conditions that affect surface channel drainage change over time. Historically, NHD flow lines were created by digitizing surface water information from aerial photography and paper maps. Using these same methods to update nationwide NHD flow lines is costly and inefficient; furthermore, these methods result in hydrography that lacks the horizontal and vertical accuracy needed for fully integrated datasets useful for mapping and scientific investigations. Effective methods for improving mapped hydrography employ change detection analysis of surface channels derived from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) digital elevation models (DEMs) and NHD flow lines. In this article, we describe the usefulness of surface channels derived from LiDAR DEMs for hydrography change detection to derive spatially accurate and time-relevant mapped hydrography. The methods employ analyses of horizontal and vertical differences between LiDAR-derived surface channels and NHD flow lines to define candidate locations of hydrography change. These methods alleviate the need to analyze and update the nationwide NHD for time relevant hydrography, and provide an avenue for updating the dataset where change has occurred.

Queer Pedagogies Out of Place and Time: Redrawing the Boundaries of Youth, Sexual and Gender Difference, and Education.

PubMed

Marshall, Daniel

2016-01-01

For this contribution to the "Cartographies" section of the special issue on "Mapping Queer Bioethics," the author focuses on the concept of spatialized time as made material in the location of historical places, in particular as it relates to a reconsideration of approaches to Australian queer/LGBT youth education. Accordingly, the author employs historical maps as illustrative examples of spatialized time, reflecting on the relationships between historical knowledge and queer youth education.

Agricultural cropland mapping using black-and-white aerial photography, Object-Based Image Analysis and Random Forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vogels, M. F. A.; de Jong, S. M.; Sterk, G.; Addink, E. A.

2017-02-01

Land-use and land-cover (LULC) conversions have an important impact on land degradation, erosion and water availability. Information on historical land cover (change) is crucial for studying and modelling land- and ecosystem degradation. During the past decades major LULC conversions occurred in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America as a consequence of a growing population and economy. Most distinct is the conversion of natural vegetation into cropland. Historical LULC information can be derived from satellite imagery, but these only date back until approximately 1972. Before the emergence of satellite imagery, landscapes were monitored by black-and-white (B&W) aerial photography. This photography is often visually interpreted, which is a very time-consuming approach. This study presents an innovative, semi-automated method to map cropland acreage from B&W photography. Cropland acreage was mapped on two study sites in Ethiopia and in The Netherlands. For this purpose we used Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) and a Random Forest classification on a set of variables comprising texture, shape, slope, neighbour and spectral information. Overall mapping accuracies attained are 90% and 96% for the two study areas respectively. This mapping method increases the timeline at which historical cropland expansion can be mapped purely from brightness information in B&W photography up to the 1930s, which is beneficial for regions where historical land-use statistics are mostly absent.

a Virtual Hub Brokering Approach for Integration of Historical and Modern Maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruno, N.; Previtali, M.; Barazzetti, L.; Brumana, R.; Roncella, R.

2016-06-01

Geospatial data are today more and more widespread. Many different institutions, such as Geographical Institutes, Public Administrations, collaborative communities (e.g., OSM) and web companies, make available nowadays a large number of maps. Besides this cartography, projects of digitizing, georeferencing and web publication of historical maps have increasingly spread in the recent years. In spite of these variety and availability of data, information overload makes difficult their discovery and management: without knowing the specific repository where the data are stored, it is difficult to find the information required and problems of interconnection between different data sources and their restricted interoperability limit a wide utilization of available geo-data. This paper aims to describe some actions performed to assure interoperability between data, in particular spatial and geographic data, gathered from different data providers, with different features and referring to different historical periods. The article summarizes and exemplifies how, starting from projects of historical map digitizing and Historical GIS implementation, respectively for the Lombardy and for the city of Parma, the interoperability is possible in the framework of the ENERGIC OD project. The European project ENERGIC OD, thanks to a specific component - the virtual hub - based on a brokering framework, copes with the previous listed problems and allows the interoperability between different data sources.

A Systematic Review of Mapping Strategies for the Sonification of Physical Quantities

PubMed Central

Dubus, Gaël; Bresin, Roberto

2013-01-01

The field of sonification has progressed greatly over the past twenty years and currently constitutes an established area of research. This article aims at exploiting and organizing the knowledge accumulated in previous experimental studies to build a foundation for future sonification works. A systematic review of these studies may reveal trends in sonification design, and therefore support the development of design guidelines. To this end, we have reviewed and analyzed 179 scientific publications related to sonification of physical quantities. Using a bottom-up approach, we set up a list of conceptual dimensions belonging to both physical and auditory domains. Mappings used in the reviewed works were identified, forming a database of 495 entries. Frequency of use was analyzed among these conceptual dimensions as well as higher-level categories. Results confirm two hypotheses formulated in a preliminary study: pitch is by far the most used auditory dimension in sonification applications, and spatial auditory dimensions are almost exclusively used to sonify kinematic quantities. To detect successful as well as unsuccessful sonification strategies, assessment of mapping efficiency conducted in the reviewed works was considered. Results show that a proper evaluation of sonification mappings is performed only in a marginal proportion of publications. Additional aspects of the publication database were investigated: historical distribution of sonification works is presented, projects are classified according to their primary function, and the sonic material used in the auditory display is discussed. Finally, a mapping-based approach for characterizing sonification is proposed. PMID:24358192

Facilitating the Funding for the Conservation Through Tradeable Development Rights: AN Approach Through Mapping and Analyzing the Built Heritage at Ahmedabad, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Routh, R.; Shah, P.

2013-07-01

In India, most of the built heritage is still retained by private ownership, who usually are un inproficient to provide the monetary support for the upkeep of the building. In such a scenario, the property goes into deterioration and is gradually lost. In response to this, the Ahmedabad Urban Develepment Authority (AUDA) have introduced a policy named Tradable Development Rights (TDR) for listed structures within the historic core of Ahmedabad, which will help in generating revenue for conservation of the built heritage. This paper discusses an apparatus which will assist the process of TDR by forming a common platform between the stakeholders to increase efficiency in the procurement and transaction procedure. The system comprises of a procedure which puts all the listed properties on an interactive map, classified according to the grade assigned to each along with the present physical condition of the building, along with information such as the heritage value, contact details, available FSI through TDR and at what amount. The map has been developed using Open Source GIS, and will act as a model for mapping and managing the inventory generated for Ahmedabad. This will help the builders approach the properties which have been graded in terms of importance and urgency as well as simultaneously providing public awareness by through necessary information which the property owner should know to avail the monetary benefits through TDR. The paper also highlights a comparative analysis and benefits of procuring the FSI available through TDR for the historic core.

Gregoriano cadastre (1818-35) from old maps to a GIS of historical landscape data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frazzica, V.; Galletti, F.; Orciani, M.; Colosi, L.; Cartaro, A.

2009-04-01

Our analysis covered specifically an area located along the "internal Marche ridge" of the Apennines, in the province of Ancona (Marche Region, Italy). The cartographical working-out for our historical analysis has been conduct drawing up maps originating from the nineteenth century Gregoriano Cadastre (Catasto Gregoriano) maps preserved in the State Archive of Rome, which have been reproduced in digital format, georeferenced and vectorialized. With the creation of a database, it has been possible to add to the maps the information gathered from the property registers concerning crop production and socioeconomic variables, in order to set up a Geographical Information System (G.I.S.). The combination of the database with the digitalized maps has allowed to create an univocal relation between each parcel and the related historical data, obtaining an information system which integrally and completely evidences the original cadastre data as a final result. It was also possible to create a three-dimensional model of the historical landscapes which permits to visualize the cultural diversification of that historical period. The integration in Territorial Information System (S.I.T.) of historical information from Gregoriano Cadastre, of socio-economic analyses concerning business changes and in parallel the study of the transformations of territorial framework, showed to be a very important instrument for the area planning, allowing to identify specific planning approaches not only for urban settlement but also for restoration of variety and complexity of agricultural landscape. The work opens further research in various directions, identifying some pilot areas which test new managerial models, foreseeing simulation of management impacts both on business profitability and landscape configuration. The future development of the project is also the upgrade and evolution of the database, followed by the acquisition of data related to the following historical periods. It'll also allow to improve the three-dimensional model (rendering) of the landscape described in the Gregoriano Cadastre.

Potential of Pest and Host Phenological Data in the Attribution of Regional Forest Disturbance Detection Maps According to Causal Agent

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph; Hargrove, William; Norman Steve; Christie, William

2014-01-01

Near real time forest disturbance detection maps from MODIS NDVI phenology data have been produced since 2010 for the conterminous U.S., as part of the on-line ForWarn national forest threat early warning system. The latter has been used by the forest health community to identify and track many regional forest disturbances caused by multiple biotic and abiotic damage agents. Attribution of causal agents for detected disturbances has been a goal since project initiation in 2006. Combined with detailed cover type maps, geospatial pest phenology data offer a potential means for narrowing the candidate causal agents responsible for a given biotic disturbance. U.S. Aerial Detection Surveys (ADS) employ such phenology data. Historic ADS products provide general locational data on recent insect-induced forest type specific disturbances that may help in determining candidate causal agents for MODIS-based disturbance maps, especially when combined with other historic geospatial disturbance data (e.g., wildfire burn scars and drought maps). Historic ADS disturbance detection polygons can show severe and extensive regional forest disturbances, though they also can show polygons with sparsely scattered or infrequent disturbances. Examples will be discussed that use various historic disturbance data to help determine potential causes of MODIS-detected regional forest disturbance anomalies.

Use of IKONOS Data for Mapping Cultural Resources of Stennis Space Center, Mississippi

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph P.; Giardino, Marco

2002-01-01

Cultural resource surveys are important for compliance with Federal and State law. Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi is researching, developing, and validating remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) methods for aiding cultural resource assessments on the center's own land. The suitability of IKONOS satellite imagery for georeferencing scanned historic maps is examined in this viewgraph presentation. IKONOS data can be used to map historic buildings and farmland in Gainsville, MS, and plan archaeological surveys.

Dynamic connectivity in the Southern California Bight and Georges Bank: Identifying ecosystem interactions using chaotic time series analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, H.; Deyle, E. R.; Hsieh, C.; Sugihara, G.

2012-12-01

We used convergent cross mapping (CCM), a method grounded in nonlinear dynamical systems theory to analyze long-term time series of fish species from the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations ichthyoplankton (isolated to the Southern California Bight [SCB]) and NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center trawl survey (isolated to the Georges Bank [GB] region) data sets. CCM gives a nonparametric indicator of the realized dynamic influence that one species has on another (i.e. how much the abundance of X at a particular time is dependent on the historical abundance of Y). We found there are more interactions between species in SCB compared to GB. An analysis of the interaction matrix showed that there is also more structure in the connectivity network of SCB compared to GB. We attribute this difference in connectivity to historical overexploitation of fish stocks in the North Atlantic, and reproduce this effect in simple multi-species fishery models. We discuss the implications of these results for ecosystem-based management and for restoration efforts.; Connectivity Networks for Fishes in the Southern California Bight (SCB) and Georges Bank (GB) as determined using cross-mapping.

Lessons learned in historical mapping of conifer and oak in the North Coast

Treesearch

Melissa V. Eitzel; Maggi Kelly; Lenya N. Quinn-Davidson

2015-01-01

Conifer encroachment into oak woodlands is becoming a pressing concern for oak conservation, particularly in California's north coast. We use Object-Based Image Analysis (OBIA) with historical aerial imagery from 1948 and recent high-spatial-resolution images from 2009 to explore the potential for mapping encroachment using remote sensing. We find that pre-...

7. Detail, 1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Carlin, Nevada, in ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

7. Detail, 1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, Carlin, Nevada, in collection of Nevada Historical Society, Reno; credit Nevada Historical Society. Engine Stores Building is adjacent to R.R. Repair Shop, and is shown containing Library, Cooper Shop, Office, Ware Room, and Boiler & Engine Room. - Southern Pacific Railroad, Carlin Shops, Foot of Sixth Street, Carlin, Elko County, NV

Using historical and projected future climate model simulations as drivers of agricultural and biological models (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefanova, L. B.

2013-12-01

Climate model evaluation is frequently performed as a first step in analyzing climate change simulations. Atmospheric scientists are accustomed to evaluating climate models through the assessment of model climatology and biases, the models' representation of large-scale modes of variability (such as ENSO, PDO, AMO, etc) and the relationship between these modes and local variability (e.g. the connection between ENSO and the wintertime precipitation in the Southeast US). While these provide valuable information about the fidelity of historical and projected climate model simulations from an atmospheric scientist's point of view, the application of climate model data to fields such as agriculture, ecology and biology may require additional analyses focused on the particular application's requirements and sensitivities. Typically, historical climate simulations are used to determine a mapping between the model and observed climate, either through a simple (additive for temperature or multiplicative for precipitation) or a more sophisticated (such as quantile matching) bias correction on a monthly or seasonal time scale. Plants, animals and humans however are not directly affected by monthly or seasonal means. To assess the impact of projected climate change on living organisms and related industries (e.g. agriculture, forestry, conservation, utilities, etc.), derivative measures such as the heating degree-days (HDD), cooling degree-days (CDD), growing degree-days (GDD), accumulated chill hours (ACH), wet season onset (WSO) and duration (WSD), among others, are frequently useful. We will present a comparison of the projected changes in such derivative measures calculated by applying: (a) the traditional temperature/precipitation bias correction described above versus (b) a bias correction based on the mapping between the historical model and observed derivative measures themselves. In addition, we will present and discuss examples of various application-based climate model evaluations, such as: (a) agricultural crop yield estimates and (b) species population viability estimates modeled using observed climate data vs. historical climate simulations.

Research note: Mapping spatial patterns in sewer age, material, and proximity to surface waterways to infer sewer leakage hotspots

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hopkins, Kristina G.; Bain, Daniel J.

2018-01-01

Identifying areas where deteriorating sewer infrastructure is in close proximity to surface waterways is needed to map likely connections between sewers and streams. We present a method to estimate sewer installation year and deterioration status using historical maps of the sewer network, parcel-scale property assessment data, and pipe material. Areas where streams were likely buried into the sewer system were mapped by intersecting the historical stream network derived from a 10-m resolution digital elevation model with sewer pipe locations. Potential sewer leakage hotspots were mapped by identifying where aging sewer pipes are in close proximity (50-m) to surface waterways. Results from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA), indicated 41% of the historical stream length was lost or buried and the potential interface between sewers and streams is great. The co-location of aging sewer infrastructure (>75 years old) near stream channels suggests that 42% of existing streams are located in areas with a high potential for sewer leakage if sewer infrastructure fails. Mapping the sewer-stream interface provides an approach to better understand areas were failing sewers may contribute a disproportional amount of nutrients and other pathogens to surface waterways.

Mapping Violence, Naming Life: A History of Anti-Black Oppression in the Higher Education System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mustaffa, Jalil Bishop

2017-01-01

The article will provide a historical overview of anti-Black violence in the higher education system across three time periods: Colonial Era, Post-Civil War, and the mid-to-late twentieth century. Mapping violence demands a focus on how higher education historically has practiced anti-Black oppression coupled with how Black people have practiced…

Historical U.S. cropland areas and the potential for bioenergy production on abandoned croplands.

PubMed

Zumkehr, A; Campbell, J E

2013-04-16

Agriculture is historically a dominant form of global environmental degradation, and the potential for increased future degradation may be driven by growing demand for food and biofuels. While these impacts have been explored using global gridded maps of croplands, such maps are based on relatively coarse spatial data. Here, we apply high-resolution cropland inventories for the conterminous U.S. with a land-use model to develop historical gridded cropland areas for the years 1850-2000 and year 2000 abandoned cropland maps. While the historical cropland maps are consistent with generally accepted land-use trends, our U.S. abandoned cropland estimates of 68 Mha are as much as 70% larger than previous gridded estimates due to a reduction in aggregation effects. Renewed cultivation on the subset of abandoned croplands that have not become forests or urban lands represents one approach to mitigating the future expansion of agriculture. Potential bioenergy production from these abandoned lands using a wide range of biomass yields and conversion efficiencies has an upper-limit of 5-30% of the current U.S. primary energy demand or 4-30% of the current U.S. liquid fuel demand.

Map Resource Packet: Course Models for the History-Social Science Framework, Grade Seven.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento.

This packet of maps is an auxiliary resource to the "World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times. Course Models for the History-Social Science Framework, Grade Seven." The set includes: outline, precipitation, and elevation maps; maps for locating key places; landform maps; and historical maps. The list of maps are…

Historical Epidemics Cartography Generated by Spatial Analysis: Mapping the Heterogeneity of Three Medieval "Plagues" in Dijon

PubMed Central

Galanaud, Pierre; Galanaud, Anne; Giraudoux, Patrick

2015-01-01

Objectives This work was designed to adapt Geographical Information System-based spatial analysis to the study of historical epidemics. We mapped "plague" deaths during three epidemics of the early 15th century, analyzed spatial distributions by applying the Kulldorff's method, and determined their relationships with the distribution of socio-professional categories in the city of Dijon. Materials and Methods Our study was based on a database including 50 annual tax registers (established from 1376 to 1447) indicating deaths and survivors among the heads of households, their home location, tax level and profession. The households of the deceased and survivors during 6 years with excess mortality were individually located on a georeferenced medieval map, established by taking advantage of the preserved geography of the historical center of Dijon. We searched for clusters of heads of households characterized by shared tax levels (high-tax payers, the upper decile; low-tax payers, the half charged at the minimum level) or professional activities and for clusters of differential mortality. Results High-tax payers were preferentially in the northern intramural part, as well as most wealthy or specialized professionals, whereas low-tax payers were preferentially in the southern part. During two epidemics, in 1400–1401 and 1428, areas of higher mortality were found in the northern part whereas areas of lower mortality were in the southern one. A high concentration of housing and the proximity to food stocks were common features of the most affected areas, creating suitable conditions for rats to pullulate. A third epidemic, lasting from 1438 to 1440 had a different and evolving geography: cases were initially concentrated around the southern gate, at the confluence of three rivers, they were then diffuse, and ended with residual foci of deaths in the northern suburb. Conclusion Using a selected historical source, we designed an approach allowing spatial analysis of urban medieval epidemics. Our results fit with the view that the 1400–1401 epidemic was a Black Death recurrence. They suggest that this was also the case in 1428, whereas in 1438–1440 a different, possibly waterborne, disease was involved. PMID:26625117

Application of 3D laser scanning technology in historical building preservation: a case study of a Chinese temple

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Yu Min; Lu, Nien Hua; Wu, Tsung Chiang

2005-06-01

This study applies 3D Laser scanning technology to develop a high-precision measuring system for digital survey of historical building. It outperformed other methods in obtaining abundant high-precision measuring points and computing data instantly. In this study, the Pei-tien Temple, a Chinese Taoism temple in southern Taiwan famous for its highly intricate architecture and more than 300-year history, was adopted as the target to proof the high accuracy and efficiency of this system. By using French made MENSI GS-100 Laser Scanner, numerous measuring points were precisely plotted to present the plane map, vertical map and 3D map of the property. Accuracies of 0.1-1 mm in the digital data have consistently been achieved for the historical heritage measurement.

A Century of the Evolution of the Urban Area in Shenyang, China

PubMed Central

Liu, Miao; Xu, Yanyan; Hu, Yuanman; Li, Chunlin; Sun, Fengyun; Chen, Tan

2014-01-01

Analyzing spatiotemporal characteristics of the historical urbanization process is essential in understanding the dynamics of urbanization and scientifically planned urban development. Based on historical urban area maps and remote sensing images, this study examined the urban expansion of Shenyang from 1910 to 2010 using area statistics, typology identification, and landscape metrics approaches. The population and gross domestic product were analyzed as driving factors. The results showed that the urban area of Shenyang increased 43.39-fold during the study period and that the growth rate has accelerated since the 1980s. Three urban growth types were distinguished: infilling, edge-expansion, and spontaneous growth. Edge-expansion was the primary growth type. Infilling growth became the main growth type in the periods 1946–70, 1988–97, and 2004–10. Spontaneous growth was concentrated in the period of 1997 to 2000. The results of landscape metrics indicate that the urban landscape of Shenyang originally was highly aggregated, but has become increasingly fragmented. The urban fringe area was the traditional hot zone of urbanization. Shenyang was mainly located north of the Hun River before 1980; however, the south side of the river has been the hot zone of urbanization since the 1980s. The increase of urban area strongly correlated with the growth of GDP and population. Over a long time scale, the urbanization process has been affected by major historical events. PMID:24893167

Learners as Historians: Making History Come Alive through Historical Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pappas, Marjorie L.

2007-01-01

Historians explore historical accounts, memoirs, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, speeches, historical documents, relevant legislation, maps, ship manifests, genealogical records, official certificates, photographs, and paintings. In short, historians examine any official or unofficial document that might provide relevant information about…

Analysis of Multipsectral Time Series for supporting Forest Management Plans

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simoniello, T.; Carone, M. T.; Costantini, G.; Frattegiani, M.; Lanfredi, M.; Macchiato, M.

2010-05-01

Adequate forest management requires specific plans based on updated and detailed mapping. Multispectral satellite time series have been largely applied to forest monitoring and studies at different scales tanks to their capability of providing synoptic information on some basic parameters descriptive of vegetation distribution and status. As a low expensive tool for supporting forest management plans in operative context, we tested the use of Landsat-TM/ETM time series (1987-2006) in the high Agri Valley (Southern Italy) for planning field surveys as well as for the integration of existing cartography. As preliminary activity to make all scenes radiometrically consistent the no-change regression normalization was applied to the time series; then all the data concerning available forest maps, municipal boundaries, water basins, rivers, and roads were overlapped in a GIS environment. From the 2006 image we elaborated the NDVI map and analyzed the distribution for each land cover class. To separate the physiological variability and identify the anomalous areas, a threshold on the distributions was applied. To label the non homogenous areas, a multitemporal analysis was performed by separating heterogeneity due to cover changes from that linked to basilar unit mapping and classification labelling aggregations. Then a map of priority areas was produced to support the field survey plan. To analyze the territorial evolution, the historical land cover maps were elaborated by adopting a hybrid classification approach based on a preliminary segmentation, the identification of training areas, and a subsequent maximum likelihood categorization. Such an analysis was fundamental for the general assessment of the territorial dynamics and in particular for the evaluation of the efficacy of past intervention activities.

HISTORICAL COASTAL WETLANDS OF PRUDENCE ISLAND

EPA Science Inventory

Historical maps are useful tools to assess long-term change. The topographic surveys (T-charts) produced by the U.S. Coast and Geodedetic Survey, predecessor of the U.S.Geologic Survey (USGS), provide a rich source of information on historical environmental features dating back t...

Spatial cyberinfrastructures, ontologies, and the humanities.

PubMed

Sieber, Renee E; Wellen, Christopher C; Jin, Yuan

2011-04-05

We report on research into building a cyberinfrastructure for Chinese biographical and geographic data. Our cyberinfrastructure contains (i) the McGill-Harvard-Yenching Library Ming Qing Women's Writings database (MQWW), the only online database on historical Chinese women's writings, (ii) the China Biographical Database, the authority for Chinese historical people, and (iii) the China Historical Geographical Information System, one of the first historical geographic information systems. Key to this integration is that linked databases retain separate identities as bases of knowledge, while they possess sufficient semantic interoperability to allow for multidatabase concepts and to support cross-database queries on an ad hoc basis. Computational ontologies create underlying semantics for database access. This paper focuses on the spatial component in a humanities cyberinfrastructure, which includes issues of conflicting data, heterogeneous data models, disambiguation, and geographic scale. First, we describe the methodology for integrating the databases. Then we detail the system architecture, which includes a tier of ontologies and schema. We describe the user interface and applications that allow for cross-database queries. For instance, users should be able to analyze the data, examine hypotheses on spatial and temporal relationships, and generate historical maps with datasets from MQWW for research, teaching, and publication on Chinese women writers, their familial relations, publishing venues, and the literary and social communities. Last, we discuss the social side of cyberinfrastructure development, as people are considered to be as critical as the technical components for its success.

The 20th-Century Topographic Survey as Source Data for Long-Term Landscape Studies at Local and Regional Scales

USGS Publications Warehouse

Varanka, Dalia

2006-01-01

Historical topographic maps are the only systematically collected data resource covering the entire nation for long-term landscape change studies over the 20th century for geographical and environmental research. The paper discusses aspects of the historical U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps that present constraints on the design of a database for such studies. Problems involved in this approach include locating the required maps, understanding land feature classification differences between topographic vs. land use/land cover maps, the approximation of error between different map editions of the same area, and the identification of true changes on the landscape between time periods. Suggested approaches to these issues are illustrated using an example of such a study by the author.

[Health statistics aren't born in a cabbage patch: Jesuits, political arithmetic, stigmergy and oligopticons].

PubMed

Carvajal, Yuri; Yuing, Tuillang

2013-04-01

By analyzing the content and network of production of a map from 1751, created by the circular mission of the Jesuits in Chiloé (an archipelago located off the southern coast of Chile), that contains birth, death and population data, this article discusses the role that health statistics play historically, philosophically, technically and sociologically. In doing so, the article seeks to comprehend the genesis of a process of production of data and references in order to debate what health statistics are composed of, what ends they are used for, what their connection is to the formation of collectives and the differential conditions of possibility that exist for producing statistics. We attempt to develop hypotheses that demonstrate statistics as a hybrid articulation between diverse elements, epistemological, biopolitical, historical and philosophical in nature, with facets at once religious and demographic, ontological and ethnic, scientific and governmental.

The missing history of Bohm's hidden variables theory: The Ninth Symposium of the Colston Research Society, Bristol, 1957

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kožnjak, Boris

2018-05-01

In this paper, I analyze the historical context, scientific and philosophical content, and the implications of the thus far historically largely neglected Ninth Symposium of the Colston Research Society held in Bristol at the beginning of April 1957, the first major international event after World War II gathering eminent physicists and philosophers to discuss the foundational questions of quantum mechanics, in respect to the early reception of the causal quantum theory program mapped and defended by David Bohm during the five years preceding the Symposium. As will be demonstrated, contrary to the almost unanimously negative and even hostile reception of Bohm's ideas on hidden variables in the early 1950s, in the close aftermath of the 1957 Colston Research Symposium Bohm's ideas received a more open-minded and ideologically relaxed critical rehabilitation, in which the Symposium itself played a vital and essential part.

Mapping Early American History: Beyond What Happened Where

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milson, Andrew J.

2014-01-01

American history demands to be mapped. The stories of exploration, the colonies, the Louisiana Purchase, and so on are incomplete without maps to locate historical places, events, and conflicts. Yet maps can do more for the history teacher than simply illustrating what happened where or what territory was acquired when. Maps also provide clues…

Geoscience data visualization and analysis using GeoMapApp

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrini, Vicki; Carbotte, Suzanne; Ryan, William; Chan, Samantha

2013-04-01

Increased availability of geoscience data resources has resulted in new opportunities for developing visualization and analysis tools that not only promote data integration and synthesis, but also facilitate quantitative cross-disciplinary access to data. Interdisciplinary investigations, in particular, frequently require visualizations and quantitative access to specialized data resources across disciplines, which has historically required specialist knowledge of data formats and software tools. GeoMapApp (www.geomapapp.org) is a free online data visualization and analysis tool that provides direct quantitative access to a wide variety of geoscience data for a broad international interdisciplinary user community. While GeoMapApp provides access to online data resources, it can also be packaged to work offline through the deployment of a small portable hard drive. This mode of operation can be particularly useful during field programs to provide functionality and direct access to data when a network connection is not possible. Hundreds of data sets from a variety of repositories are directly accessible in GeoMapApp, without the need for the user to understand the specifics of file formats or data reduction procedures. Available data include global and regional gridded data, images, as well as tabular and vector datasets. In addition to basic visualization and data discovery functionality, users are provided with simple tools for creating customized maps and visualizations and to quantitatively interrogate data. Specialized data portals with advanced functionality are also provided for power users to further analyze data resources and access underlying component datasets. Users may import and analyze their own geospatial datasets by loading local versions of geospatial data and can access content made available through Web Feature Services (WFS) and Web Map Services (WMS). Once data are loaded in GeoMapApp, a variety options are provided to export data and/or 2D/3D visualizations into common formats including grids, images, text files, spreadsheets, etc. Examples of interdisciplinary investigations that make use of GeoMapApp visualization and analysis functionality will be provided.

Pettaquamscutt Cove Salt Marsh: Environmental Conditions and Historical Ecological Change

EPA Science Inventory

Using historic air photos and U.S. Coast Survey maps, historic vegetation changes were identified. Using surveys of vegetation and elevation, we measure elevation of Narrow River salt marshes, and compare it with other salt marshes in Rhode Island and neighboring states. Water ...

18 CFR 415.43 - Mapped and unmapped delineations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... data submitted, soil surveys, historic flood maps, high water marks and other empirical data, the... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2013-04-01 2012-04-01 true Mapped and unmapped... ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL BASIN REGULATIONS-FLOOD PLAIN REGULATIONS Administration § 415.43 Mapped and unmapped...

18 CFR 415.43 - Mapped and unmapped delineations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... data submitted, soil surveys, historic flood maps, high water marks and other empirical data, the... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Mapped and unmapped... ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL BASIN REGULATIONS-FLOOD PLAIN REGULATIONS Administration § 415.43 Mapped and unmapped...

18 CFR 415.43 - Mapped and unmapped delineations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... data submitted, soil surveys, historic flood maps, high water marks and other empirical data, the... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Mapped and unmapped... ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL BASIN REGULATIONS-FLOOD PLAIN REGULATIONS Administration § 415.43 Mapped and unmapped...

Utilization of Historical Maps in the Land Use Change Impact Studies: A Case Study from Myjava River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valent, P.; Rončák, P.; Maliariková, M.; Behan, Š.

2016-12-01

The way land is used has a significant impact on many hydrological processes that determine the generation of flood runoff or soil erosion. Advancements in remote sensing which took place in the second half of the 20th century have led to the rise of a new research area focused on analyses of land use changes and their impact on hydrological processes. This study deals with an analysis of the changes in land use over a period of almost three centuries in the Myjava River catchment, which has an outlet at Šaštín-Stráže. In order to obtain information about the way the land was used in the past, three historical mappings representing various periods were used: the first (1st) military mapping (1764-1787), second (2nd) military mapping (1807-1869), and a military topographic mapping (1953-1957). The historical mappings have been manually vectorised in an ArcGIS environment to identify various land use categories. The historical evolution of land use was further compared with a concurrent land use mapping, which was undertaken in 2010 and exploited remote sensing techniques. The study also quantifies the impact of these changes on the long-term catchment runoff as well as their impact on flows induced by extreme precipitation events. This analysis was performed using the WetSpa distributed hydrological model, which enables the simulation of catchment runoff in a daily time step. The analysis showed that the selected catchment has undergone significant changes in land use, mainly characterized by massive deforestation at the end of the 18th century and land consolidation in the middle of the 20th century induced by communist collectivisation. The hydrological simulations demonstrated that the highest and lowest mean annual runoffs were simulated in the first (1st military mapping) and the last (concurrent land use monitoring) time intervals respectively with the smallest and largest percentages of forested areas.

A Novel Web Application to Analyze and Visualize Extreme Heat Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, G.; Jones, H.; Trtanj, J.

2016-12-01

Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States annually and is expected to increase with our warming climate. However, most of these deaths are preventable with proper tools and services to inform the public about heat waves. In this project, we have investigated the key indicators of a heat wave, the vulnerable populations, and the data visualization strategies of how those populations most effectively absorb heat wave data. A map-based web app has been created that allows users to search and visualize historical heat waves in the United States incorporating these strategies. This app utilizes daily maximum temperature data from NOAA Global Historical Climatology Network which contains about 2.7 million data points from over 7,000 stations per year. The point data are spatially aggregated into county-level data using county geometry from US Census Bureau and stored in Postgres database with PostGIS spatial capability. GeoServer, a powerful map server, is used to serve the image and data layers (WMS and WFS). The JavaScript-based web-mapping platform Leaflet is used to display the temperature layers. A number of functions have been implemented for the search and display. Users can search for extreme heat events by county or by date. The "by date" option allows a user to select a date and a Tmax threshold which then highlights all of the areas on the map that meet those date and temperature parameters. The "by county" option allows the user to select a county on the map which then retrieves a list of heat wave dates and daily Tmax measurements. This visualization is clean, user-friendly, and novel because while this sort of time, space, and temperature measurements can be found by querying meteorological datasets, there does not exist a tool that neatly packages this information together in an easily accessible and non-technical manner, especially in a time where climate change urges a better understanding of heat waves.

Integrating terrestrial LiDAR and stereo photogrammetry to map the Tolay lakebed in northern San Francisco Bay

USGS Publications Warehouse

Woo, Isa; Storesund,; Takekawa, John Y.; Gardiner, Rachel J.; Ehret,

2009-01-01

The Tolay Creek Watershed drains approximately 3,520 ha along the northern edge of San Francisco Bay. Surrounded by a mosaic of open space conservation easements and public wildlife areas, it is one of the only watersheds in this urbanized estuary that is protected from its headwaters to the bay. Tolay Lake is a seasonal, spring-fed lake found in the upper watershed that historically extended over 120 ha. Although the lakebed was farmed since the early 1860s, the majority of the lakebed was recently acquired by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department to restore its natural habitat values. As part of the restoration planning process, we produced a digital elevation model (DEM) of the historic extent of Tolay Lake by integrating terrestrial LiDAR (light detection and ranging) and stereo photogrammetry datasets, and real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) surveys. We integrated the data, generated a DEM of the lakebed and upland areas, and analyzed errors. The accuracy of the composite DEM was verified using spot elevations obtained from the RTK GPS. Thus, we found that by combining photogrammetry, terrestrial LiDAR, and RTK GPS, we created an accurate baseline elevation map to use in watershed restoration planning and design.

The World in Spatial Terms: Mapmaking and Map Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ekiss, Gale Olp; Trapido-Lurie, Barbara; Phillips, Judy; Hinde, Elizabeth

2007-01-01

Maps and mapping activities are essential in the primary grades. Maps are truly ubiquitous today, as evidenced by the popularity of websites such as Google Earth and Mapquest, and by devices such as Global Positioning System (GPS) units in cars, planes, and boats. Maps can give visual settings to travel stories and historical narratives and can…

Representing Historical Knowledge in Geographic Information Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grossner, Karl Eric

2010-01-01

A growing number of historical scholars in social science and humanities fields are using geographic information systems (GIS) to help investigate spatial questions and map their findings. The nature of historical data and historiographic practices present several challenges in using GIS that have been addressed only partially to date. For…

Contribution to understanding the post-mining landscape - Application of airborn LiDAR and historical maps at the example from Silesian Upland (Poland)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gawior, D.; Rutkiewicz, P.; Malik, I.; Wistuba, M.

2017-11-01

LiDAR data provide new insights into the historical development of mining industry recorded in the topography and landscape. In the study on the lead ore mining in the 13th-17th century we identified remnants of mining activity in relief that are normally obscured by dense vegetation. The industry in Tarnowice Plateau was based on exploitation of galena from the bedrock. New technologies, including DEM from airborne LiDAR provide show that present landscape and relief of post-mining area under study developed during several, subsequent phases of exploitation when different techniques of exploitation were used and probably different types of ores were exploited. Study conducted on the Tarnowice Plateau proved that combining GIS visualization techniques with historical maps, among all geological maps, is a promising approach in reconstructing development of anthropogenic relief and landscape..

Mapping America in 1880: The Urban Transition Historical GIS Project

PubMed Central

Logan, John R.; Jindrich, Jason; Shin, Hyoungjin; Zhang, Weiwei

2011-01-01

The Urban Transition Historical GIS Project is a new data resource for United States counties and cities that takes advantage of NAPP’s 100% digital transcription of records from the 1880 Census. It has developed several additional resources to make possible analysis of social patterns at the level of individuals and households while also taking into account information about their communities. One key contribution is the creation of historically accurate GIS maps showing the boundaries of enumeration districts in 39 major cities. These materials are now publicly available through a web-based mapping system. Addresses of all households in these cities are also being geocoded, a step that will enable spatial analyses of residential patterns at any geographic scale. Preliminary analyses demonstrate the utility of multiple scales and the ability to combine information about individuals with data about their neighborhoods. PMID:21475614

Object-Based Retro-Classification Of A Agricultural Land Use: A Case Study Of Irrigated Croplands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubovyk, Olena; Conrad, Christopher; Khamzina, Asia; Menz, Gunter

2013-12-01

Availability of the historical crop maps is necessary for the assessment of land management practices and their effectiveness, as well as monitoring of environmental impacts of land uses. Lack of accurate current and past land-use information forestalls assessment of the occurred changes and their consequences and, thus, complicates knowledge-driven agrarian policy development. At the same time, lack of the sampling dataset for the past years often restrict mapping of historical land use. We proposed a methodology for a retro-assessment of several crops, based on multitemporal Landsat 5 TM imagery and a limited sampling dataset. The overall accuracy of the retro-map was 81% while accuracies for specific crop classes varied from 60% to 93%. If further elaborated, the developed method could be a useful tool for the generation of historical data on agricultural land use.

The Use of Handheld X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Technology in Unraveling the Eruptive History of the San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, Kelsey E.; Evans, C. A.; Hodges, K. V.

2012-01-01

While traditional geologic mapping includes the examination of structural relationships between rock units in the field, more advanced technology now enables us to simultaneously collect and combine analytical datasets with field observations. Information about tectonomagmatic processes can be gleaned from these combined data products. Historically, construction of multi-layered field maps that include sample data has been accomplished serially (first map and collect samples, analyze samples, combine data, and finally, readjust maps and conclusions about geologic history based on combined data sets). New instruments that can be used in the field, such as a handheld xray fluorescence (XRF) unit, are now available. Targeted use of such instruments enables geologists to collect preliminary geochemical data while in the field so that they can optimize scientific data return from each field traverse. Our study tests the application of this technology and projects the benefits gained by real-time geochemical data in the field. The integrated data set produces a richer geologic map and facilitates a stronger contextual picture for field geologists when collecting field observations and samples for future laboratory work. Real-time geochemical data on samples also provide valuable insight regarding sampling decisions by the field geologist

Assessing the accuracy of the Second Military Survey for the Doren Landslide (Vorarlberg, Austria)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zámolyi, András.; Székely, Balázs; Biszak, Sándor

2010-05-01

Reconstruction of the early and long-term evolution of landslide areas is especially important for determining the proportion of anthropogenic influence on the evolution of the region affected by mass movements. The recent geologic and geomorphological setting of the prominent Doren landslide in Vorarlberg (Western Austria) has been studied extensively by various research groups and civil engineering companies. Civil aerial imaging of the area dates back to the 1950's. Modern monitoring techniques include aerial imaging as well as airborne and terrestrial laser scanning (LiDAR) providing us with almost yearly assessment of the changing geomorphology of the area. However, initiation of the landslide occurred most probably earlier than the application of these methods, since there is evidence that the landslide was already active in the 1930's. For studying the initial phase of landslide formation one possibility is to get back on information recorded on historic photographs or historic maps. In this case study we integrated topographic information from the map sheets of the Second Military Survey of the Habsburg Empire that was conducted in Vorarlberg during the years 1816-1821 (Kretschmer et al., 2004) into a comprehensive GIS. The region of interest around the Doren landslide was georeferenced using the method of Timár et al. (2006) refined by Molnár (2009) thus providing a geodetically correct positioning and the possibility of matching the topographic features from the historic map with features recognized in the LiDAR DTM. The landslide of Doren is clearly visible in the historic map. Additionally, prominent geomorphologic features such as morphological scarps, rills and gullies, mass movement lobes and the course of the Weißach rivulet can be matched. Not only the shape and character of these elements can be recognized and matched, but also the positional accuracy is adequate for geomorphological studies. Since the settlement structure is very stable in the region, and in the historical map sheets the individual buildings were also mapped, it is possible to match several buildings with their present-day counterparts. We used matched geomorphologic features and buildings for deriving RMSE values, which range around 26 m. Orientation of major scarps and conspicuous geomorphologic features derived from the historic map and on the LiDAR DTM show a good correlation which confirms the long-term existence of these elements. Evidence from field geologic measurements provide the possible link of these elements to structural geologic features. Furthermore there is strong indication for that the landslide had been in a somewhat other state in the 19th century and the scarp retreat rate could have increased in the second half of the 20th century. Kretschmer, I., Dörflinger, J., Wawrick, F. (2004): Österreichische Kartographie. Wiener Schiften zur Geographie und Kartographie - Band 15. Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung der Universität Wien, Wien. Molnár, G. (2009): Making a georeferenced mosaic of historical map series using constrained polynomial fit. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 11, ISSN 10297006. Timár, G., Molnár, G., Székely, B., Biszak, S., Varga, J., Jankó, A. (2006): Digitized maps of the Habsburg Empire - The map sheets of the second military survey and their georeferenced version. Arcanum, Budapest, 59 p. ISBN 963-7374-33-7

Historical evolution of disease mapping in general and specifically of cancer mapping.

PubMed

Howe, G M

1989-01-01

The presentation of areal data in epidemiology is illustrated by such mapping techniques as dots (spots), shading (choropleth, thematic) and isolines (isopleths). Examples are also given of computer-assisted cartography (computer graphics) which employs hardware and software components of digital computers, together with the use of geographical and demographic base maps.

Spatial variability of "Did You Feel It?" intensity data: insights into sampling biases in historical earthquake intensity distributions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hough, Susan E.

2013-01-01

Recent parallel development of improved quantitative methods to analyze intensity distributions for historical earthquakes and of web‐based systems for collecting intensity data for modern earthquakes provides an opportunity to reconsider not only important individual historical earthquakes but also the overall characterization of intensity distributions for historical events. The focus of this study is a comparison between intensity distributions of historical earthquakes with those from modern earthquakes for which intensities have been determined by the U.S. Geological Survey “Did You Feel It?” (DYFI) website (see Data and Resources). As an example of a historical earthquake, I focus initially on the 1843 Marked Tree, Arkansas, event. Its magnitude has been previously estimated as 6.0–6.2. I first reevaluate the macroseismic effects of this earthquake, assigning intensities using a traditional approach, and estimate a preferred magnitude of 5.4. Modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) values for the Marked Tree earthquake are higher, on average, than those from the 2011 >Mw 5.8 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake for distances ≤500  km but comparable or lower on average at larger distances, with a smaller overall felt extent. Intensity distributions for other moderate historical earthquakes reveal similar discrepancies; the discrepancy is also even more pronounced using earlier published intensities for the 1843 earthquake. I discuss several hypotheses to explain the discrepancies, including the possibility that intensity values associated with historical earthquakes are commonly inflated due to reporting/sampling biases. A detailed consideration of the DYFI intensity distribution for the Mineral earthquake illustrates how reporting and sampling biases can account for historical earthquake intensity biases as high as two intensity units and for the qualitative difference in intensity distance decays for modern versus historical events. Thus, intensity maps for historical earthquakes tend to imply more widespread damage patterns than are revealed by intensity distributions of modern earthquakes of comparable magnitude. However, intensity accounts of historical earthquakes often include fragmentary accounts suggesting long‐period shaking effects that will likely not be captured fully in historical intensity distributions.

Glacier Changes in the Nanga Parbat Region, NW Himalaya: A longitudinal study over 160 years (1856-2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nüsser, Marcus; Schmidt, Susanne

2017-04-01

Against the background of the prominent Himalayan glacier debate of the past decade, global concerns were raised about the severe consequences of detected and expected changes in the South Asian cryosphere. Due to the lack of historical glaciological data in the Himalayan region, studies of glacier changes over long time periods are rare. The present study seeks to analyze and quantify glacier changes in the Nanga Parbat region between 1856 and 2016. Due to the steep topography and great vertical span, the debris-covered glaciers of the mountain massif are largely fed by avalanches of different size. This impact of snow and ice re-distribution by avalanches is often neglected in glacier mass-balances. Therefore, an integrated approach was used to investigate the glacier changes and the impact of avalanches. This approach includes (1) a re-photographic survey with images from several expeditions between 1934 and 2010, (2) mapping during own field surveys between 1992 and 2010, as well as (3) the analyses of remote sensing data (Corona, QuickBird, KompSat, Landsat, etc. and DEM) and (4) historical topographic maps. The re-photographic survey allows for direct comparisons and illustrates glacier changes over a span of seventy years. Changes of glacier lengths were quantified by using remote sensing data and the topographic map of 1934. In order to calculate glacier surface changes, a digital elevation model (DEM) with a spatial resolution of 30 x 30 m2 was derived from the digitized contour lines of the topographic map from 1934 and compared to SRTM-DEM (30 x 30 m2) and ALOS-DSM. Based on remote sensing time-series, avalanche deposits on glaciers were mapped in order to identify their magnitude and frequencies. To calculate the potential glacier catchment, area of steep rock walls and the ratio between accumulation and ablation zones were calculated for each glacier basin. Our field based investigations show that the glaciers in the Rupal Valley are characterized by small retreating rates since 1856, when Adolph Schlagintweit mapped them for the first time; others such as the Raikot Glacier on the northern side of the Nanga Parbat are fluctuating since 1934.

Spatial cyberinfrastructures, ontologies, and the humanities

PubMed Central

Sieber, Renee E.; Wellen, Christopher C.; Jin, Yuan

2011-01-01

We report on research into building a cyberinfrastructure for Chinese biographical and geographic data. Our cyberinfrastructure contains (i) the McGill-Harvard-Yenching Library Ming Qing Women's Writings database (MQWW), the only online database on historical Chinese women's writings, (ii) the China Biographical Database, the authority for Chinese historical people, and (iii) the China Historical Geographical Information System, one of the first historical geographic information systems. Key to this integration is that linked databases retain separate identities as bases of knowledge, while they possess sufficient semantic interoperability to allow for multidatabase concepts and to support cross-database queries on an ad hoc basis. Computational ontologies create underlying semantics for database access. This paper focuses on the spatial component in a humanities cyberinfrastructure, which includes issues of conflicting data, heterogeneous data models, disambiguation, and geographic scale. First, we describe the methodology for integrating the databases. Then we detail the system architecture, which includes a tier of ontologies and schema. We describe the user interface and applications that allow for cross-database queries. For instance, users should be able to analyze the data, examine hypotheses on spatial and temporal relationships, and generate historical maps with datasets from MQWW for research, teaching, and publication on Chinese women writers, their familial relations, publishing venues, and the literary and social communities. Last, we discuss the social side of cyberinfrastructure development, as people are considered to be as critical as the technical components for its success. PMID:21444819

Multisensor monitoring of deforestation in the Guinea Highlands of West Africa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gilruth, Peter T.; Hutchinson, Charles F.

1990-01-01

Multiple remote sensing systems were used to assess deforestation in the Guinea Highlands (Fouta Djallon) of West Africa. Sensor systems included: (1) historical (1953) and current (1989) aerial mapping photography; (2) current large-scale, small format (35mm) aerial photography; (3) current aerial video imagery; and (4) historical (1973) and recent (1985) LANDSAT MSS. Photographic and video data were manually interpreted and incorporated in a vector-based geographic information system (GIS). LANDSAT data were digitally classified. General results showed an increase in permanent and shifting agriculture over the past 35 years. This finding is consistent with hypothesized strategies to increase agricultural production through a shortening of the fallow period in areas of shifting cultivation. However, results also show that the total area of both permanent and shifting agriculture had expanded at the expense of natural vegetation and an increase in erosion. Although sequential LANDSAT MSS cannot be used in this region to accurately map land over, the location, direction and magnitude of changes can be detected in relative terms. Historical and current aerial photography can be used to map agricultural land use changes with some accuracy. Video imagery is useful as ancillary data for mapping vegetation. The most prudent approach to mapping deforestation would incorporate a multistage approach based on these sensors.

Toward Building a New Seismic Hazard Model for Mainland China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rong, Y.; Xu, X.; Chen, G.; Cheng, J.; Magistrale, H.; Shen, Z.

2015-12-01

At present, the only publicly available seismic hazard model for mainland China was generated by Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program in 1999. We are building a new seismic hazard model by integrating historical earthquake catalogs, geological faults, geodetic GPS data, and geology maps. To build the model, we construct an Mw-based homogeneous historical earthquake catalog spanning from 780 B.C. to present, create fault models from active fault data using the methodology recommended by Global Earthquake Model (GEM), and derive a strain rate map based on the most complete GPS measurements and a new strain derivation algorithm. We divide China and the surrounding regions into about 20 large seismic source zones based on seismotectonics. For each zone, we use the tapered Gutenberg-Richter (TGR) relationship to model the seismicity rates. We estimate the TGR a- and b-values from the historical earthquake data, and constrain corner magnitude using the seismic moment rate derived from the strain rate. From the TGR distributions, 10,000 to 100,000 years of synthetic earthquakes are simulated. Then, we distribute small and medium earthquakes according to locations and magnitudes of historical earthquakes. Some large earthquakes are distributed on active faults based on characteristics of the faults, including slip rate, fault length and width, and paleoseismic data, and the rest to the background based on the distributions of historical earthquakes and strain rate. We evaluate available ground motion prediction equations (GMPE) by comparison to observed ground motions. To apply appropriate GMPEs, we divide the region into active and stable tectonics. The seismic hazard will be calculated using the OpenQuake software developed by GEM. To account for site amplifications, we construct a site condition map based on geology maps. The resulting new seismic hazard map can be used for seismic risk analysis and management, and business and land-use planning.

Probabilistic Flood Maps to support decision-making: Mapping the Value of Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alfonso, L.; Mukolwe, M. M.; Di Baldassarre, G.

2016-02-01

Floods are one of the most frequent and disruptive natural hazards that affect man. Annually, significant flood damage is documented worldwide. Flood mapping is a common preimpact flood hazard mitigation measure, for which advanced methods and tools (such as flood inundation models) are used to estimate potential flood extent maps that are used in spatial planning. However, these tools are affected, largely to an unknown degree, by both epistemic and aleatory uncertainty. Over the past few years, advances in uncertainty analysis with respect to flood inundation modeling show that it is appropriate to adopt Probabilistic Flood Maps (PFM) to account for uncertainty. However, the following question arises; how can probabilistic flood hazard information be incorporated into spatial planning? Thus, a consistent framework to incorporate PFMs into the decision-making is required. In this paper, a novel methodology based on Decision-Making under Uncertainty theories, in particular Value of Information (VOI) is proposed. Specifically, the methodology entails the use of a PFM to generate a VOI map, which highlights floodplain locations where additional information is valuable with respect to available floodplain management actions and their potential consequences. The methodology is illustrated with a simplified example and also applied to a real case study in the South of France, where a VOI map is analyzed on the basis of historical land use change decisions over a period of 26 years. Results show that uncertain flood hazard information encapsulated in PFMs can aid decision-making in floodplain planning.

Combining remote sensing image with DEM to identify ancient Minqin Oasis, northwest of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yaowen

2008-10-01

The developing and desertification process of Minqin oasis is representative in the whole arid area of northwest China. Combining Remote Sensing image with Digital Elevation Model (DEM) can produce the three-dimensional image of the research area which can give prominence to the spatial background of historical geography phenomenon's distribution, providing the conditions for extracting and analyzing historical geographical information thoroughly. This research rebuilds the ancient artificial Oasis based on the three-dimensional images produced by the TM digital Remote Sensing image and DEM created using 1:100000 topographic maps. The result indicates that the whole area of the ancient artificial oasis in Minqin Basin over the whole historical period reaches 321km2, in the form of discontinuous sheet, separated on the two banks of ancient Shiyang River and its branches, namely, Xishawo area, west to modern Minqin Basin and Zhongshawo area, in the center of the oasis. Except for a little of the ancient oasis unceasingly used by later people, most of it became desert. The combination of digital Remote Sensing image and DEM can integrate the advantages of both in identifying ancient oasis and improve the interpreting accuracy greatly.

Understanding and Mapping Water Quality for Lawrence, MA

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA has created new maps of the lower Merrimack River that provide an overview of historic water quality data (E. coli concentrations); flood zones, precipitation, and combined sewer overflows (CSOs).

18 CFR 415.43 - Mapped and unmapped delineations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... data submitted, soil surveys, historic flood maps, high water marks and other empirical data, the... establish the flood protection elevation for the particular site. (c) Pending the preparation and completion...

18 CFR 415.43 - Mapped and unmapped delineations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... data submitted, soil surveys, historic flood maps, high water marks and other empirical data, the... establish the flood protection elevation for the particular site. (c) Pending the preparation and completion...

Earthquakes in South Carolina and Vicinity 1698-2009

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dart, Richard L.; Talwani, Pradeep; Stevenson, Donald

2010-01-01

This map summarizes more than 300 years of South Carolina earthquake history. It is one in a series of three similar State earthquake history maps. The current map and the previous two for Virginia and Ohio are accessible at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1017/ and http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1221/. All three State earthquake maps were collaborative efforts between the U.S. Geological Survey and respective State agencies. Work on the South Carolina map was done in collaboration with the Department of Geological Sciences, University of South Carolina. As with the two previous maps, the history of South Carolina earthquakes was derived from letters, journals, diaries, newspaper accounts, academic journal articles, and, beginning in the early 20th century, instrumental recordings (seismograms). All historical (preinstrumental) earthquakes that were large enough to be felt have been located based on felt reports. Some of these events caused damage to buildings and their contents. The more recent widespread use of seismographs has allowed many smaller earthquakes, previously undetected, to be recorded and accurately located. The seismicity map shows historically located and instrumentally recorded earthquakes in and near South Carolina

Genealogical Research. An Introduction to the Resources of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Revised and Enlarged.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danky, James P., Ed.

This resource guide provides an introduction to the resources of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for the beginner as well as the experienced researcher. Introductory material includes a map showing the location of the Historical Society and provides information about parking, library hours, telephone numbers, and mailing address.…

Historical Earthquake Scenarios and Effects on the Ancient City of İstanbul (A.D. 478 - 1999)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Şahin, Murat; Elitez, İrem; Özmen, Aybars; Yaltırak, Cenk

2016-04-01

Active fault mapping is one of the most important subject in the active tectonic studies. The consistency of the active fault maps with the reality is curial for the settlements and socio-economic conditions. The Marmara region is one of the precious area where the longest duration settlement and civilization are observed along a fault system. The Marmara Sea and its surrounding area are unique on the earth which has the remarkable history of 1500 years in non-instrumental period. Because, İstanbul was the capital city of both Byzantium and Ottoman Empire and the historical records of İstanbul are reliable for this environment such as A.D. 1509 earthquake known as 'little apocalypse'. Although the active faults of the Marmara Sea have studied and mapped by many researchers, there are only three different main fault model suggested for the Marmara Sea. These are single fault model (Le Pichon et al., 2001), pull-apart model (Armijo et al., 2005) and horsetail model (Yaltırak, 2002; 2015). Yaltırak (2015) grouped the 38 destructive historical earthquakes according to their felt area for these three fault models in the Marmara region. In this study we have modelled the Modified Mercalli Intensities (MMI) of historical buildings and cross checked with damages on the related structure in order to investigate the consistency of fault pattern with historical earthquakes. In this study three-stage evaluation has been made. In the first stage, three models that differ from each other were prepared on a database in commercial ArcGIS software. Mw values were calculated for each segment according to their lengths, seismogenic depths and 18 mm/yr accumulation by using the equation of Kanamori (1977). In the second stage, the 1:25000-scale geological map of the ancient city of İstanbul was revised according to Vs30 data of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The exact location of the historical constructions in the İstanbul have been plotted by using non-commercial high-resolution satellite images and archaeological maps. The third stage is the calculation of g-acceleration by using attenuation relation of Boore et al. (1993 and 1997). In order to calculate the MMI values for this study, we used the PGA-MMI equation of Bilal and Askan (2010). The MMI data sets produced in ArcGIS 10.2 utilized to generate the images by using the Generic Mapping Tool (GMT). In conclusion, one of the fault patterns (Le Pichon et al., 2001) has major contradictions with historical earthquake records and the other (Armijo et al., 2005) has incompatibilities with records as much as the first one. The remarkable correlation between the active faults and the damages of historical earthquakes on the constructions in ancient city of İstanbul is observed in the third model (Yaltırak, 2002; 2015).

A climatology of late-spring freezes in the northeastern United States.

Treesearch

Brian E. Potter; Thomas W. Cate

1999-01-01

Presents maps of late-spring freeze characteristics for the northeastern and north central United States based on heat-sum thresholds and historic climate data. Discusses patterns seen in the maps. Provides examples and ways these maps could be used by resource managers and research scientists.

ShakeMap-based prediction of earthquake-induced mass movements in Switzerland calibrated on historical observations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cauzzi, Carlo; Fah, Donat; Wald, David J.; Clinton, John; Losey, Stephane; Wiemer, Stefan

2018-01-01

In Switzerland, nearly all historical Mw ~ 6 earthquakes have induced damaging landslides, rockslides and snow avalanches that, in some cases, also resulted in damage to infrastructure and loss of lives. We describe the customisation to Swiss conditions of a globally calibrated statistical approach originally developed to rapidly assess earthquake-induced landslide likelihoods worldwide. The probability of occurrence of such earthquake-induced effects is modelled through a set of geospatial susceptibility proxies and peak ground acceleration. The predictive model is tuned to capture the observations from past events and optimised for near-real-time estimates based on USGS-style ShakeMaps routinely produced by the Swiss Seismological Service. Our emphasis is on the use of high-resolution geospatial datasets along with additional local information on ground failure susceptibility. Even if calibrated on historic events with moderate magnitudes, the methodology presented in this paper yields sensible results also for low-magnitude recent events. The model is integrated in the Swiss ShakeMap framework. This study has a high practical relevance to many Swiss ShakeMap stakeholders, especially those managing lifeline systems, and to other global users interested in conducting a similar customisation for their region of interest.

Geochemical maps of stream sediments in central Colorado, from New Mexico to Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eppinger, Robert G.; Giles, Stuart A.; Klein, Terry L.

2015-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey has completed a series of geologic, mineral resource, and environmental assessment studies in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado, from Leadville eastward to the range front and from New Mexico to the Wyoming border. Regional stream-sediment geochemical maps, useful for assessing mineral resources and environmental effects of historical mining activities, were produced as part of the study. The data portrayed in this 56-parameter portfolio of landscape geochemical maps serve as a geochemical baseline for the region, indicate element abundances characteristic of various lithologic terranes, and identify gross anthropogenic effects of historical mining. However, although reanalyzed in this study by modern, sensitive methods, the majority of the stream-sediment samples were collected in the 1970s. Thus, metal concentrations portrayed in these maps represent stream-sediment geochemistry at the time of collection.

Genealogical Research. An Introduction to the Resources of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danky, James P., Ed.

Originally prepared for and delivered at a 1978 workshop about the resources of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, the four essays in this pamphlet provide a series of guides to the archives, maps, printed materials, and other sources of genealogical data located in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. All four essays were written by…

The HISTMAG database: combining historical, archaeomagnetic and volcanic data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arneitz, Patrick; Leonhardt, Roman; Schnepp, Elisabeth; Heilig, Balázs; Mayrhofer, Franziska; Kovacs, Peter; Hejda, Pavel; Valach, Fridrich; Vadasz, Gergely; Hammerl, Christa; Egli, Ramon; Fabian, Karl; Kompein, Niko

2017-09-01

Records of the past geomagnetic field can be divided into two main categories. These are instrumental historical observations on the one hand, and field estimates based on the magnetization acquired by rocks, sediments and archaeological artefacts on the other hand. In this paper, a new database combining historical, archaeomagnetic and volcanic records is presented. HISTMAG is a relational database, implemented in MySQL, and can be accessed via a web-based interface (http://www.conrad-observatory.at/zamg/index.php/data-en/histmag-database). It combines available global historical data compilations covering the last ∼500 yr as well as archaeomagnetic and volcanic data collections from the last 50 000 yr. Furthermore, new historical and archaeomagnetic records, mainly from central Europe, have been acquired. In total, 190 427 records are currently available in the HISTMAG database, whereby the majority is related to historical declination measurements (155 525). The original database structure was complemented by new fields, which allow for a detailed description of the different data types. A user-comment function provides the possibility for a scientific discussion about individual records. Therefore, HISTMAG database supports thorough reliability and uncertainty assessments of the widely different data sets, which are an essential basis for geomagnetic field reconstructions. A database analysis revealed systematic offset for declination records derived from compass roses on historical geographical maps through comparison with other historical records, while maps created for mining activities represent a reliable source.

Historical land-use and landscape change in southern Sweden and implications for present and future biodiversity

PubMed Central

Cui, Qiao-Yu; Gaillard, Marie-José; Lemdahl, Geoffrey; Stenberg, Li; Sugita, Shinya; Zernova, Ganna

2014-01-01

The two major aims of this study are (1) To test the performance of the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA) to quantify past landscape changes using historical maps and related written sources, and (2) to use the LRA and map reconstructions for a better understanding of the origin of landscape diversity and the recent loss of species diversity. Southern Sweden, hemiboreal vegetation zone. The LRA was applied on pollen records from three small bogs for four time windows between AD 1700 and 2010. The LRA estimates of % cover for woodland/forest, grassland, wetland, and cultivated land were compared with those extracted from historical maps within 3-km radius around each bog. Map-extracted land-use categories and pollen-based LRA estimates (in % cover) of the same land-use categories show a reasonable agreement in several cases; when they do not agree, the assumptions used in the data (maps)-model (LRA) comparison are a better explanation of the discrepancies between the two than possible biases of the LRA modeling approach. Both the LRA reconstructions and the historical maps reveal between-site differences in landscape characteristics through time, but they demonstrate comparable, profound transformations of the regional and local landscapes over time and space due to the agrarian reforms in southern Sweden during the 18th and 19th centuries. The LRA was found to be the most reasonable approach so far to reconstruct quantitatively past landscape changes from fossil pollen data. The existing landscape diversity in the region at the beginning of the 18th century had its origin in the long-term regional and local vegetation and land-use history over millennia. Agrarian reforms since the 18th century resulted in a dramatic loss of landscape diversity and evenness in both time and space over the last two centuries leading to a similarly dramatic loss of species (e.g., beetles). PMID:25478148

Comparison of Probabilistic Coastal Inundation Maps Based on Historical Storms and Statistically Modeled Storm Ensemble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, X.; Sheng, Y.; Condon, A. J.; Paramygin, V. A.; Hall, T.

2012-12-01

A cost effective method, JPM-OS (Joint Probability Method with Optimal Sampling), for determining storm response and inundation return frequencies was developed and applied to quantify the hazard of hurricane storm surges and inundation along the Southwest FL,US coast (Condon and Sheng 2012). The JPM-OS uses piecewise multivariate regression splines coupled with dimension adaptive sparse grids to enable the generation of a base flood elevation (BFE) map. Storms are characterized by their landfall characteristics (pressure deficit, radius to maximum winds, forward speed, heading, and landfall location) and a sparse grid algorithm determines the optimal set of storm parameter combinations so that the inundation from any other storm parameter combination can be determined. The end result is a sample of a few hundred (197 for SW FL) optimal storms which are simulated using a dynamically coupled storm surge / wave modeling system CH3D-SSMS (Sheng et al. 2010). The limited historical climatology (1940 - 2009) is explored to develop probabilistic characterizations of the five storm parameters. The probability distributions are discretized and the inundation response of all parameter combinations is determined by the interpolation in five-dimensional space of the optimal storms. The surge response and the associated joint probability of the parameter combination is used to determine the flood elevation with a 1% annual probability of occurrence. The limited historical data constrains the accuracy of the PDFs of the hurricane characteristics, which in turn affect the accuracy of the BFE maps calculated. To offset the deficiency of limited historical dataset, this study presents a different method for producing coastal inundation maps. Instead of using the historical storm data, here we adopt 33,731 tracks that can represent the storm climatology in North Atlantic basin and SW Florida coasts. This large quantity of hurricane tracks is generated from a new statistical model which had been used for Western North Pacific (WNP) tropical cyclone (TC) genesis (Hall 2011) as well as North Atlantic tropical cyclone genesis (Hall and Jewson 2007). The introduction of these tracks complements the shortage of the historical samples and allows for more reliable PDFs required for implementation of JPM-OS. Using the 33,731 tracks and JPM-OS, an optimal storm ensemble is determined. This approach results in different storms/winds for storm surge and inundation modeling, and produces different Base Flood Elevation maps for coastal regions. Coastal inundation maps produced by the two different methods will be discussed in detail in the poster paper.

Modern erosion rates and loss of coastal features and sites, Beaufort Sea coastline, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, Benjamin M.; Hinkel, Kenneth M.; Arp, C.D.; Eisner, Wendy R.

2008-01-01

This study presents modern erosion rate measurements based upon vertical aerial photography captured in 1955, 1979, and 2002 for a 100 km segment of the Beaufort Sea coastline. Annual erosion rates from 1955 to 2002 averaged 5.6 m a-1. However, mean erosion rates increased from 5.0 m a-1 in 1955-79 to 6.2 m a-1 in 1979-2002. Furthermore, from the first period to the second, erosion rates increased at 60% (598) of the 992 sites analyzed, decreased at 31% (307), and changed less than ?? 30 cm at 9% (87). Historical observations and quantitative studies over the past 175 years allowed us to place our erosion rate measurements into a longer-term context. Several of the coastal features along this stretch of coastline received Western place names during the Dease and Simpson expedition in 1837, and the majority of those features had been lost by the early 1900s as a result of coastline erosion, suggesting that erosion has been active over at least the historical record. Incorporation of historical and modern observations also allowed us to detect the loss of both cultural and historical sites and modern infrastructure. U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps reveal a number of known cultural and historical sites, as well as sites with modern infrastructure constructed as recently as the 1950s, that had disappeared by the early 2000s as a result of coastal erosion. We were also able to identify sites that are currently being threatened by an encroaching coastline. Our modern erosion rate measurements can potentially be used to predict when a historical site or modern infrastructure will be affected if such erosion rates persist. ?? The Arctic Institute of North America.

Analyzing Future Flooding under Climate Change Scenario using CMIP5 Streamflow Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyaupane, Narayan; Parajuli, Ranjan; Kalra, Ajay

2017-12-01

Flooding is the most severe and costlier natural hazard in US. The effect of climate change has intensified the scenario in recent years. Flood prevention practice along with proper understanding of flooding event can mitigate the risk of such hazard. The flood plain mapping is one of the technique to quantify the severity of the flooding. Carson City, which is one of the agricultural area in the desert of Nevada has experienced peak flood in recent year. The underlying probability distribution for the area, latest Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) streamflow data of Carson River were analyzed for 27 different statistical distributions. The best fitted distribution underlying was used to forecast the 100yr flood (design flood). The data from 1950-2099 derived from 31 model and total 97 projections were used to predict the future streamflow. Delta change method is adopted to quantify the amount of future (2050-2099) flood. To determine the extent of flooding 3 scenarios (i) historic design flood, (ii) 500yr flood and (iii) future 100yr flood were routed on a HEC-RAS model, prepared using available terrain data. Some of the climate projection shows extreme increase in future design flood. The future design flood could be more than the historic 500yr flood. At the same time, the extent of flooding could go beyond the historic flood of 0.2% annual probability. This study suggests an approach to quantify the future flood and floodplain using climate model projections. The study would provide helpful information to the facility manager, design engineer and stake holders.

Fact Book 1992: University of Alaska Fairbanks.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaylord, Thomas; And Others

This publication presents information on the University of Alaska Fairbanks in seven sections. The first section, "Historical and General Information" details the legal establishment, mission, historical highlights, map, organizational structure, accreditation, Board of Regents, Standing Committees and advisory groups, songs, presidents…

14. Historic American Buildings Survey, Photocopy of: Plate #66 of ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

14. Historic American Buildings Survey, Photocopy of: Plate #66 of New Century Atlas, Oneida County, New York (Philadelphia: New Century Map Company, 1907) Courtesy: New York State Library. - Barnes-Mudge House, 115 East Dominick Street, Rome, Oneida County, NY

The Effect of Thinking Maps on Fifth Grade Science Achievement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudson, Darlene

Informational texts, such as those found in science education, have historically been reserved for secondary students. With the increased emphasis on elementary students' academic accountability, these high impact instructional strategies must also be utilized to support subject matter comprehension for younger students. This causal-comparative study, grounded in cognitive learning theory, sought to discover if 2 years of implementation and use of Thinking Maps, a visual tool program, had an effect on student achievement in elementary science as measured by Georgia's statewide assessment known as the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). Achievement data of 2 groups that received Thinking Maps instruction for 2 years was compared to 1 group that did not. An analysis of covariance was used to analyze the assessment data. The findings suggest that the students who did not use Thinking Maps performed significantly better than those who did use Thinking Maps, even though both groups showed positive mean score gains from 2010 to 2012 on the science portion of the CRCT. Limitations of the study, such as the lack of randomization and manipulation of the independent variable, suggest that further research is needed to fairly evaluate the program and its effectiveness. Also, the instructional setting and amount of time used for science instruction in the elementary classroom warrants additional investigation. Findings related to the implementation and use of graphic tools such as Thinking Maps will help school systems choose professional learning opportunities and effective instructional strategies to develop content literacy.

Synchrotron-based FTIR microspectroscopy for the mapping of photo-oxidation and additives in acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene model samples and historical objects.

PubMed

Saviello, Daniela; Pouyet, Emeline; Toniolo, Lucia; Cotte, Marine; Nevin, Austin

2014-09-16

Synchrotron-based Fourier transform infrared micro-spectroscopy (SR-μFTIR) was used to map photo-oxidative degradation of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and to investigate the presence and the migration of additives in historical samples from important Italian design objects. High resolution (3×3 μm(2)) molecular maps were obtained by FTIR microspectroscopy in transmission mode, using a new method for the preparation of polymer thin sections. The depth of photo-oxidation in samples was evaluated and accompanied by the formation of ketones, aldehydes, esters, and unsaturated carbonyl compounds. This study demonstrates selective surface oxidation and a probable passivation of material against further degradation. In polymer fragments from design objects made of ABS from the 1960s, UV-stabilizers were detected and mapped, and microscopic inclusions of proteinaceous material were identified and mapped for the first time. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Monitoring biomedical literature for post-market safety purposes by analyzing networks of text-based coded information.

PubMed

Botsis, Taxiarchis; Foster, Matthew; Kreimeyer, Kory; Pandey, Abhishek; Forshee, Richard

2017-01-01

Literature review is critical but time-consuming in the post-market surveillance of medical products. We focused on the safety signal of intussusception after the vaccination of infants with the Rotashield Vaccine in 1999 and retrieved all PubMed abstracts for rotavirus vaccines published after January 1, 1998. We used the Event-based Text-mining of Health Electronic Records system, the MetaMap tool, and the National Center for Biomedical Ontologies Annotator to process the abstracts and generate coded terms stamped with the date of publication. Data were analyzed in the Pattern-based and Advanced Network Analyzer for Clinical Evaluation and Assessment to evaluate the intussusception-related findings before and after the release of the new rotavirus vaccines in 2006. The tight connection of intussusception with the historical signal in the first period and the absence of any safety concern for the new vaccines in the second period were verified. We demonstrated the feasibility for semi-automated solutions that may assist medical reviewers in monitoring biomedical literature.

Mapping structural covariance networks of facial emotion recognition in early psychosis: A pilot study.

PubMed

Buchy, Lisa; Barbato, Mariapaola; Makowski, Carolina; Bray, Signe; MacMaster, Frank P; Deighton, Stephanie; Addington, Jean

2017-11-01

People with psychosis show deficits recognizing facial emotions and disrupted activation in the underlying neural circuitry. We evaluated associations between facial emotion recognition and cortical thickness using a correlation-based approach to map structural covariance networks across the brain. Fifteen people with an early psychosis provided magnetic resonance scans and completed the Penn Emotion Recognition and Differentiation tasks. Fifteen historical controls provided magnetic resonance scans. Cortical thickness was computed using CIVET and analyzed with linear models. Seed-based structural covariance analysis was done using the mapping anatomical correlations across the cerebral cortex methodology. To map structural covariance networks involved in facial emotion recognition, the right somatosensory cortex and bilateral fusiform face areas were selected as seeds. Statistics were run in SurfStat. Findings showed increased cortical covariance between the right fusiform face region seed and right orbitofrontal cortex in controls than early psychosis subjects. Facial emotion recognition scores were not significantly associated with thickness in any region. A negative effect of Penn Differentiation scores on cortical covariance was seen between the left fusiform face area seed and right superior parietal lobule in early psychosis subjects. Results suggest that facial emotion recognition ability is related to covariance in a temporal-parietal network in early psychosis. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optically Mapping Multiple Bacterial Genomes Simultaneously in a Single Run

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-21

sequence orientation. We have demonstrated mapping of Shigella dysenteriae and Escherichia coli simultaneously, despite their very close phylogenetic...relationship ( Shigella and Escherichia coli are generally considered to be within a single species, but are segregated at the genus level for historical...reasons [4]); two clones of Shigella would likely not map together successfully using the mixed DNA method. Similarly, based on reference maps being

Historical shoreline mapping (I): improving techniques and reducing positioning errors

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thieler, E. Robert; Danforth, William W.

1994-01-01

A critical need exists among coastal researchers and policy-makers for a precise method to obtain shoreline positions from historical maps and aerial photographs. A number of methods that vary widely in approach and accuracy have been developed to meet this need. None of the existing methods, however, address the entire range of cartographic and photogrammetric techniques required for accurate coastal mapping. Thus, their application to many typical shoreline mapping problems is limited. In addition, no shoreline mapping technique provides an adequate basis for quantifying the many errors inherent in shoreline mapping using maps and air photos. As a result, current assessments of errors in air photo mapping techniques generally (and falsely) assume that errors in shoreline positions are represented by the sum of a series of worst-case assumptions about digitizer operator resolution and ground control accuracy. These assessments also ignore altogether other errors that commonly approach ground distances of 10 m. This paper provides a conceptual and analytical framework for improved methods of extracting geographic data from maps and aerial photographs. We also present a new approach to shoreline mapping using air photos that revises and extends a number of photogrammetric techniques. These techniques include (1) developing spatially and temporally overlapping control networks for large groups of photos; (2) digitizing air photos for use in shoreline mapping; (3) preprocessing digitized photos to remove lens distortion and film deformation effects; (4) simultaneous aerotriangulation of large groups of spatially and temporally overlapping photos; and (5) using a single-ray intersection technique to determine geographic shoreline coordinates and express the horizontal and vertical error associated with a given digitized shoreline. As long as historical maps and air photos are used in studies of shoreline change, there will be a considerable amount of error (on the order of several meters) present in shoreline position and rate-of- change calculations. The techniques presented in this paper, however, provide a means to reduce and quantify these errors so that realistic assessments of the technological noise (as opposed to geological noise) in geographic shoreline positions can be made.

Analysis of historical forest fire regime in Madrid region (1984-2010) and its relation with land-use/land-cover changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gómez-Nieto, Israel; Martín, María del Pilar; Salas, Francisco Javier; Gallardo, Marta

2013-04-01

Understanding the interaction between natural and socio-economic factors that determine fire regime is essential to make accurate projections and impact assessments. However, this requires having accurate historical, systematic, homogeneous and spatially explicit information on fire occurrence. Fire databases usually have serious limitations in this regard; therefore other sources of information, such as remote sensing, have emerged as alternatives to generate optimal fire maps on various spatial and temporal scales. Several national and international projects work in order to generate information to study the factors that determine the current fire regime and its future evolution. This work is included in the framework of the project "Forest fires under climate, social and economic Changes in Europe, the Mediterranean and other fire-affected areas of the World" (FUME http://www.fumeproject.eu), which aims to study the changes and factors related to fire regimes through time to determine the potential impacts on vegetation in Mediterranean regions and concrete steps to address future risk scenarios. We analyzed the changes in the fire regime in Madrid region (Spain) in the past three decades (1984-2010) and its relation to land use changes. We identified and mapped fires that have occurred in the region during those years using Landsat satellite images by combining digital techniques and visual analysis. The results show a clear cyclical behaviour of the fire, with years of high incidence (as 1985, 2000 and 2003, highlighted by the number of fires and the area concerned, over 2000 ha) followed by another with a clear occurrence decrease. At the same time, we analyzed the land use changes that have occurred in Madrid region between the early 80s and mid-2000s using as reference the CORINE Land-cover maps (1990, 2000 and 2006) and the Vegetation and Land Use map of the Community of Madrid, 1982. We studied the relationship between fire regimes and observed land-use and land-cover changes in the periods analyzed, it was determined that between years 1984 and 2006 most of the burned area remained pre-fire cover type (above 80% of the area). However, in areas that experienced change, the most important transitions were recorded in wooded areas, especially conifers, which became shrubs or sparsely vegetated areas, followed by non-irrigated crops, which were replaced by grasslands or industrial areas, and sparse vegetation which changed to shrubs. Finally, the analysis of land-use changes over burned areas situated shrubland as the most favored type of cover, either as a result of a vegetative degradation process after intense burning of wooded areas, especially conifers, or as stage of natural increase in areas previously covered by sparsely vegetation.

Historic trail map of the La Junta 1 degree x 2 degree quadrangle, southeastern Colorado and western Kansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Scott, Glenn R.; Louden, Richard H.; Brunstein, F. Craig; Quesenberry, Carol A.

2008-01-01

This historic trail map of the La Junta quadrangle contains all or part of eight Colorado and Kansas counties. Many of the historic trails in the La Junta quadrangle were used by Indians long before the white man reached the area. The earliest recorded use of the trails by white men in the quadrangle was in the 1820s when traders brought goods from St. Louis for barter with the Indians and for commerce with the Mexican settlements in New Mexico. The map and accompanying pamphlet include an introduction and the method of preparation used by the authors. The pamphlet includes a description of the early explorers along the Arkansas River and on the Santa Fe Trail, as well as roads established or proposed under General Assembly session law, Colorado Territorial corporations and charters, 1859-1876, and freighting companies. Stage companies that probably operated in the La Junta quadrangle also are described. The authors include a section on railroads in the quadrangle and north of the quadrangle along the Arkansas River. Military and civilian camps, forts, and bases are reported. Moreover, fossils and plants in the quadrangle are described. Indian tribes - Early Man or paleo-Indians, Archaic Indians, prehistoric and historic Indians, and historic Indian tribes in the quadrangle - are reported. Authors include place names within and along freight routes leading to the La Junta quadrangle. A full description of the contents along with three figures can be found in the Introduction.

Weather.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruth, Amy, Ed.

1996-01-01

This theme issue of "The Goldfinch" focuses on weather in Iowa and weather lore. The bulletin contains historical articles, fiction, activities, and maps. The table of contents lists: (1) "Wild Rosie's Map"; (2) "History Mystery"; (3) "Iowa's Weather History"; (4) "Weather Wonders"; (6)…

Earthquakes in Virginia and vicinity 1774 - 2004

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tarr, Arthur C.; Wheeler, Russell L.

2006-01-01

This map summarizes two and a third centuries of earthquake activity. The seismic history consists of letters, journals, diaries, and newspaper and scholarly articles that supplement seismograph recordings (seismograms) dating from the early twentieth century to the present. All of the pre-instrumental (historical) earthquakes were large enough to be felt by people or to cause shaking damage to buildings and their contents. Later, widespread use of seismographs meant that tremors too small or distant to be felt could be detected and accurately located. Earthquakes are a legitimate concern in Virginia and parts of adjacent States. Moderate earthquakes cause slight local damage somewhere in the map area about twice a decade on the average. Additionally, many buildings in the map area were constructed before earthquake protection was added to local building codes. The large map shows all historical and instrumentally located earthquakes from 1774 through 2004.

Vegetation inventory, mapping, and classification report, Fort Bowie National Historic Site

USGS Publications Warehouse

Studd, Sarah; Fallon, Elizabeth; Crumbacher, Laura; Drake, Sam; Villarreal, Miguel

2013-01-01

A vegetation mapping and characterization effort was conducted at Fort Bowie National Historic Site in 2008-10 by the Sonoran Desert Network office in collaboration with researchers from the Office of Arid lands studies, Remote Sensing Center at the University of Arizona. This vegetation mapping effort was completed under the National Park Service Vegetation Inventory program which aims to complete baseline mapping inventories at over 270 national park units. The vegetation map data was collected to provide park managers with a digital map product that met national standards of spatial and thematic accuracy, while also placing the vegetation into a regional and even national context. Work comprised of three major field phases 1) concurrent field-based classification data collection and mapping (map unit delineation), 2) development of vegetation community types at the National Vegetation Classification alliance or association level and 3) map accuracy assessment. Phase 1 was completed in late 2008 and early 2009. Community type descriptions were drafted to meet the then-current hierarchy (version 1) of the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) and these were applied to each of the mapped areas. This classification was developed from both plot level data and censused polygon data (map units) as this project was conducted as a concurrent mapping and classification effort. The third stage of accuracy assessment completed in the fall of 2010 consisted of a complete census of each map unit and was conducted almost entirely by park staff. Following accuracy assessment the map was amended where needed and final products were developed including this report, a digital map and full vegetation descriptions. Fort Bowie National Historic Site covers only 1000 acres yet has a relatively complex landscape, topography and geology. A total of 16 distinct communities were described and mapped at Fort Bowie NHS. These ranged from lush riparian woodlands lining the ephemeral washes dominated by Ash (Fraxinus), Walnut (Juglans) and Hackberry (Celtis) to drier upland sites typical of desert scrub and semi-desert grassland communities. These shrublands boast a diverse mixture of shrubs, succulents and perennial grasses. In many places the vegetation could be seen to echo the history of the fort site, with management of shrub encroachment apparent in the grasslands and the paucity of trees evidence of historic cutting for timber and fire wood. Seven of the 16 vegetation types were ‘accepted’ types within the NVC while the others have been described here as specific to FOBO and have proposed status within the NVC. The map was designed to facilitate ecologically-based natural resources management and research. The map is in digital format within a geodatabase structure that allows for complex relationships to be established between spatial and tabular data, and makes accessing the product easy and seamless. The GIS format allows user flexibility and will also enable updates to be made as new information becomes available (such as revised NVC codes or vegetation type names) or in the event of major disturbance events that could impact the vegetation.

Evidence, exaggeration, and error in historical accounts of chaparral wildfires in California.

PubMed

Goforth, Brett R; Minnich, Richard A

2007-04-01

For more than half a century, ecologists and historians have been integrating the contemporary study of ecosystems with data gathered from historical sources to evaluate change over broad temporal and spatial scales. This approach is especially useful where ecosystems were altered before formal study as a result of natural resources management, land development, environmental pollution, and climate change. Yet, in many places, historical documents do not provide precise information, and pre-historical evidence is unavailable or has ambiguous interpretation. There are similar challenges in evaluating how the fire regime of chaparral in California has changed as a result of fire suppression management initiated at the beginning of the 20th century. Although the firestorm of October 2003 was the largest officially recorded in California (approximately 300,000 ha), historical accounts of pre-suppression wildfires have been cited as evidence that such a scale of burning was not unprecedented, suggesting the fire regime and patch mosaic in chaparral have not substantially changed. We find that the data do not support pre-suppression megafires, and that the impression of large historical wildfires is a result of imprecision and inaccuracy in the original reports, as well as a parlance that is beset with hyperbole. We underscore themes of importance for critically analyzing historical documents to evaluate ecological change. A putative 100 mile long by 10 mile wide (160 x 16 km) wildfire reported in 1889 was reconstructed to an area of chaparral approximately 40 times smaller by linking local accounts to property tax records, voter registration rolls, claimed insurance, and place names mapped with a geographical information system (GIS) which includes data from historical vegetation surveys. We also show that historical sources cited as evidence of other large chaparral wildfires are either demonstrably inaccurate or provide anecdotal information that is immaterial in the appraisal of pre-suppression fire size. Since historical evidence is inadequate for reconstructing a statistical distribution of pre-suppression fire sizes to compare with post-suppression data, other more propitious methods of evaluating change are discussed.

USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Frankel, A.D.; Mueller, C.S.; Barnhard, T.P.; Leyendecker, E.V.; Wesson, R.L.; Harmsen, S.C.; Klein, F.W.; Perkins, D.M.; Dickman, N.C.; Hanson, S.L.; Hopper, M.G.

2000-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently completed new probabilistic seismic hazard maps for the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. These hazard maps form the basis of the probabilistic component of the design maps used in the 1997 edition of the NEHRP Recommended Provisions for Seismic Regulations for New Buildings and Other Structures, prepared by the Building Seismic Safety Council arid published by FEMA. The hazard maps depict peak horizontal ground acceleration and spectral response at 0.2, 0.3, and 1.0 sec periods, with 10%, 5%, and 2% probabilities of exceedance in 50 years, corresponding to return times of about 500, 1000, and 2500 years, respectively. In this paper we outline the methodology used to construct the hazard maps. There are three basic components to the maps. First, we use spatially smoothed historic seismicity as one portion of the hazard calculation. In this model, we apply the general observation that moderate and large earthquakes tend to occur near areas of previous small or moderate events, with some notable exceptions. Second, we consider large background source zones based on broad geologic criteria to quantify hazard in areas with little or no historic seismicity, but with the potential for generating large events. Third, we include the hazard from specific fault sources. We use about 450 faults in the western United States (WUS) and derive recurrence times from either geologic slip rates or the dating of pre-historic earthquakes from trenching of faults or other paleoseismic methods. Recurrence estimates for large earthquakes in New Madrid and Charleston, South Carolina, were taken from recent paleoliquefaction studies. We used logic trees to incorporate different seismicity models, fault recurrence models, Cascadia great earthquake scenarios, and ground-motion attenuation relations. We present disaggregation plots showing the contribution to hazard at four cities from potential earthquakes with various magnitudes and distances.

Thaw in the Cold War: Eisenhower and Khrushchev at Gettysburg. Teaching with Historic Places.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Register of Historic Places, Washington, DC. Interagency Resources Div.

Using primary documents, maps, and visual data, this lesson packet describes how President Dwight Eisenhower working at his Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, farm, which is on the Historic Register of Historic Places, used personal diplomacy to help ease the tensions of the Cold War. The lesson materials can be used in U.S. history units on the Cold War,…

Scientific visualization of glacier changes for public communication: the example of Findelengletscher, Switzerland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rastner, Philipp; Jörg, Philipp Claudio; Huss, Matthias; Zemp, Michael

2013-04-01

The melting of glaciers and ice caps has been recognized as one of the best natural indicators for global climate change. In Switzerland, the early onset of both glacier research and detailed mapping of the country resulted in a wealth of historical material documenting glacier changes over the past 160 years. Fife years ago, the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg, along with the Swiss energy utility Axpo, launched the Glacier Laserscanning Experiment Obervallis (GLAXPO). In this project three laserscanning flights were performed on Findelengletscher in order to create high resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEM). These DEM provide a precise mapping of the glacier surface topography and serve as reference surface for the co-registration of past DEMs computed from digitized historical maps. In addition to that distributed numerical glacier models were run with ensembles of climate change scenarios in order to calculate glacier changes over the 21st century. The present work makes use of this great data pool for a scientifically correct visualization of 3-dimensional changes of Findelengletscher from AD 1850 to 2100 for public communication. We therefore collected ten different historical maps with the earliest dating from 1862 (plane survey sheet of the Dufour map). The pre-processing included georeferencing and digitalization of contour lines for the creation of different historical DEMs. Afterwards all historical DEMs were co-registered to one of the latest high resolution laserscanning DEM (from 2005). In between years with available DEMs, surface changes were interpolated linearly to create a sequence for the computer animation. For future developments, modeled glacier elevation changes where added/subtracted from the latest DEM (from 2010). Finally, two animations, showing glacier changes from 1850-2010 and 2010-2100, were composed and rendered in the animation program Visual Nature Studio 3. In cooperation with professional booth and model builders, these animations were set up as a glacier exhibit including an interactive touchscreen, a large panoramic view of the Findelen Valley, and an additional interactive monitor providing related background information in French and German. Beginning of 2013, the glacier exhibit was launched as permanent part of the Axporama visitor center and ready for more than 10,000 public visitors a year.

63. Photocopy of photograph, no date. MAP OF POTOMAC EDISON ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

63. Photocopy of photograph, no date. MAP OF POTOMAC EDISON COMPANY SYSTEM. (Courtesy of the Potomac Edison Company Library (Hagerstown, MD), Historical Data Files - Dam No. 5 Hydroelectric Plant, On Potomac River, Hedgesville, Berkeley County, WV

Introducing ShakeMap to potential users in Puerto Rico using scenarios of damaging historical and probable earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huerfano, V. A.; Cua, G.; von Hillebrandt, C.; Saffar, A.

2007-12-01

The island of Puerto Rico has a long history of damaging earthquakes. Major earthquakes from off-shore sources have affected Puerto Rico in 1520, 1615, 1670, 1751, 1787, 1867, and 1918 (Mueller et al, 2003; PRSN Catalogue). Recent trenching has also yielded evidence of possible M7.0 events inland (Prentice, 2000). The high seismic hazard, large population, high tsunami potential and relatively poor construction practice can result in a potentially devastating combination. Efficient emergency response in event of a large earthquake will be crucial to minimizing the loss of life and disruption of lifeline systems in Puerto Rico. The ShakeMap system (Wald et al, 2004) developed by the USGS to rapidly display and disseminate information about the geographical distribution of ground shaking (and hence potential damage) following a large earthquake has proven to be a vital tool for post earthquake emergency response efforts, and is being adopted/emulated in various seismically active regions worldwide. Implementing a robust ShakeMap system is among the top priorities of the Puerto Rico Seismic Network. However, the ultimate effectiveness of ShakeMap in post- earthquake response depends not only on its rapid availability, but also on the effective use of the information it provides. We developed ShakeMap scenarios of a suite of damaging historical and probable earthquakes that severely impact San Juan, Ponce, and Mayagüez, the 3 largest cities in Puerto Rico. Earthquake source parameters were obtained from McCann and Mercado (1998); and Huérfano (2004). For historical earthquakes that generated tsunamis, tsunami inundation maps were generated using the TIME method (Shuto, 1991). The ShakeMap ground shaking maps were presented to local and regional governmental and emergency response agencies at the 2007 Annual conference of the Puerto Rico Emergency Management and Disaster Administration in San Juan, PR, and at numerous other emergency management talks and training sessions. Economic losses are estimated using the ShakeMap scenario ground motions (Saffar, 2007). The calibration tasks necessary in generating these scenarios (developing Vs30 maps, attenuation relationships) complement the on-going efforts of the Puerto Rico Seismic Network to generate ShakeMaps in real-time.

Multiple Statistical Models Based Analysis of Causative Factors and Loess Landslides in Tianshui City, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, Xing; Meng, Xingmin; Ye, Weilin; Wu, Weijiang; Liu, Xingrong; Wei, Wanhong

2018-03-01

Tianshui City is one of the mountainous cities that are threatened by severe geo-hazards in Gansu Province, China. Statistical probability models have been widely used in analyzing and evaluating geo-hazards such as landslide. In this research, three approaches (Certainty Factor Method, Weight of Evidence Method and Information Quantity Method) were adopted to quantitively analyze the relationship between the causative factors and the landslides, respectively. The source data used in this study are including the SRTM DEM and local geological maps in the scale of 1:200,000. 12 causative factors (i.e., altitude, slope, aspect, curvature, plan curvature, profile curvature, roughness, relief amplitude, and distance to rivers, distance to faults, distance to roads, and the stratum lithology) were selected to do correlation analysis after thorough investigation of geological conditions and historical landslides. The results indicate that the outcomes of the three models are fairly consistent.

Documentation & Condition Mapping for Restoration & Revitalisation of Historic Sheesh Mahal & Char Bagh Complex in Patiala (punjab), India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dasgupta, S.

2017-08-01

Located in the Northern State of Punjab, the historic city of Patiala has always been a centre of culture in north India, and has seen the evolution of its own distinct style of architecture with Rajput and Mughal influences. The city is renowned for its rich architectural heritage, Music, Craft, Sports and Cuisine. The fourth Maharaja Narinder Singh was a great patron of art, architecture and music and it was during his time that several palaces like the Moti Bagh Palace, Sheesh Mahal and Banasur Bagh were designed followed by Baradari Palace. Later it was Maharaja Bhupinder Singh (1900-1938) who made Patiala State famous with his lavish lifestyle.This paper describes the process followed for Documentation and condition assessment of the historic Sheesh Mahal & Char Bagh Complex in order to restore and revitalise the palace building and the Mughal garden. The exercise included Archival research, Field surveys, Condition Mapping, inventories using traditional methods as well as GIS and preparation of restoration & conservation solutions along with post conservation management manual. The Major challenges encountered were identifying the correct documentation methodology for mapping as well as managing the large database generated on site. The Documentation and Mapping was used as a significant tool to guide towards the conservation and Management strategy of the complex.

Maintenance and recovery of agricultural terraces to reduce geo-hydrological hazards: the Santa Giulia in Centaura (Liguria, Italy) and Valstagna (Veneto, Italy) case studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giostrella, Paola; Ferrarese, Francesco; Faccini, Francesco; Brandolini, Pierluigi; Lazzeri, Riccardo; Melillo, Massimo; Mozzi, Paolo; Varotto, Mauro; Tarolli, Paolo; Guzzetti, Fausto

2015-04-01

Throughout the World, men have built terraced landscapes to gain ground suitable for cultivation in steep terrain. Beyond the historical and cultural importance of terraced slopes, terraces have played an important role for soil conservation and water management. In many areas, their abandonment has led to more frequent and/or abundant geo-hydrological hazards. We analyse two terraced areas in northern Italy, including (i) the Valstagna prealpine terraces (Veneto) where the Republic of Venice initiated the cultivation of tobacco in 1600, and (ii) the coastal terraces of Santa Giulia di Centaura (Liguria) where terraces host vineyards and olive groves since 2000 years. Using a combination of direct and indirect mapping methods and tools, including LiDAR topographic surveys, the visual interpretation of aerial photographs and the analysis of historical maps, we performed a systematic mapping of the terraces. Using the available maps, we determined statistics for the width, height and extent of stonewalls and we evaluated the historical evolution of the terraces for the past 50 years, considering changes in land use, the expansion of forest, and the changes in the precipitation regime. Finally, through a preliminary cost-benefit analysis, we propose good practices to help the recovery of the terraces in the two study areas.

National Assessment of Oil and Gas Project: Areas of Historical Oil and Gas Exploration and Production in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Biewick, Laura

2008-01-01

This report contains maps and associated spatial data showing historical oil and gas exploration and production in the United States. Because of the proprietary nature of many oil and gas well databases, the United States was divided into cells one-quarter square mile and the production status of all wells in a given cell was aggregated. Base-map reference data are included, using the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Map, the USGS and American Geological Institute (AGI) Global GIS, and a World Shaded Relief map service from the ESRI Geography Network. A hardcopy map was created to synthesize recorded exploration data from 1859, when the first oil well was drilled in the U.S., to 2005. In addition to the hardcopy map product, the data have been refined and made more accessible through the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. The cell data are included in a GIS database constructed for spatial analysis via the USGS Internet Map Service or by importing the data into GIS software such as ArcGIS. The USGS internet map service provides a number of useful and sophisticated geoprocessing and cartographic functions via an internet browser. Also included is a video clip of U.S. oil and gas exploration and production through time.

77 FR 5403 - Conservation of Antarctic Animals and Plants

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-03

... Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPA), Antarctic Specially Managed Areas (ASMA) and Historical Sites or... managed area (ASMA 7) and five historical sites and monuments in Antarctica (HSM 83-87). Public... Antarctic Specially Managed Areas (ASMA). Detailed maps and descriptions of the sites and complete...

Chapter 8 - Mapping existing vegetation composition and structure for the LANDFIRE Prototype Project

Treesearch

Zhiliang Zhu; James Vogelmann; Donald Ohlen; Jay Kost; Xuexia Chen; Brian Tolk

2006-01-01

The Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools Prototype Project, or LANDFIRE Prototype Project, required the mapping of existing vegetation composition (cover type) and structural stages at a 30-m spatial resolution to provide baseline vegetation data for the development of wildland fuel maps and for comparison to simulated historical vegetation reference...

Grid generation using classical techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moretti, G.

1980-01-01

A brief historical review of conformal mapping and its applications to problems in fluid mechanics and electromagnetism is presented. The use of conformal mapping as a grid generator is described. The philosophy of the 'closed form' approach and its application to a Neumann problem is discussed. Karman-Trefftz mappings and grids for ablated, three dimensional bodies are also discussed.

In Search of L1 Evidence for Diachronic Reanalysis: Mapping Modal Verbs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cournane, Ailís

2014-01-01

The lexical mapping of abstract functional words like modal verbs is an open problem in acquisition (e.g., Gleitman et al. 2005). In diachronic linguistics it has been proposed that learner mapping errors are responsible for innovations in the historical record (see Kiparsky 1974; Roberts & Roussou 2003, among others). This suggests that child…

Teaching the Interpretation of Maps and Landscapes through Examples from Four Books. Special Review Section.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelly, James L.

1994-01-01

Asserts that geography teachers teach how to derive information about history and culture from maps, photographs, and observations of real landscapes. Reviews four books: (1) "From Sea Charts to Satellite Images;" (2) "Historic Illinois From the Air;" (3) "Cultural Geography on Topographic Maps;" and (4) "US 40." Includes suggested student…

Assessing ecological departure from reference conditions with the Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) Mapping Tool

Treesearch

Stephen W. Barrett; Thomas DeMeo; Jeffrey L. Jones; J.D. Zeiler; Lee C. Hutter

2006-01-01

Knowledge of ecological departure from a range of reference conditions provides a critical context for managing sustainable ecosystems. Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) is a qualitative measure characterizing possible departure from historical fire regimes. The FRCC Mapping Tool was developed as an ArcMap extension utilizing the protocol identified by the Interagency...

Mapping relative fire regime condition class for the Western United States

Treesearch

James P. Menakis; Melanie Miller; Thomas Thompson

2004-01-01

In 1999, a coarse-scale map of Fire Regime Condition Classes (FRCC) was developed for the conterminous United States (US) to help address contemporary fire management issues and to quantify changes in fuels from historical conditions. This map and its associated data have been incorporated into national policies (National Fire Plan, Forest Health Initiative) and...

Historical and current forest landscapes in eastern Oregon and Washington Part II: Linking vegetation characteristics to potential fire behavior and related smoke production.

Treesearch

Mark H. Huff; Roger D. Ottmar; Ernesto Alvarado; Robert E. Vihnanek; John F. Lehmkuhl; Paul F. Hessburg; Richard L. Everett

1995-01-01

We compared the potential fire behavior and smoke production of historical and current time periods based on vegetative conditions in forty-nine 5100- to 13 5OO-hectare watersheds in six river basins in eastern Oregon and Washington. Vegetation composition, structure, and patterns were attributed and mapped from aerial photographs taken from 1932 to 1959 (historical)...

Annual accumulation over the Greenland ice sheet interpolated from historical and newly compiled observation data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shen, Dayong; Liu, Yuling; Huang, Shengli

2012-01-01

The estimation of ice/snow accumulation is of great significance in quantifying the mass balance of ice sheets and variation in water resources. Improving the accuracy and reducing uncertainty has been a challenge for the estimation of annual accumulation over the Greenland ice sheet. In this study, we kriged and analyzed the spatial pattern of accumulation based on an observation data series including 315 points used in a recent research, plus 101 ice cores and snow pits and newly compiled 23 coastal weather station data. The estimated annual accumulation over the Greenland ice sheet is 31.2 g cm−2 yr−1, with a standard error of 0.9 g cm−2 yr−1. The main differences between the improved map developed in this study and the recently published accumulation maps are in the coastal areas, especially southeast and southwest regions. The analysis of accumulations versus elevation reveals the distribution patterns of accumulation over the Greenland ice sheet.

Identification, prediction, and mitigation of sinkhole hazards in evaporite karst areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gutierrez, F.; Cooper, A.H.; Johnson, K.S.

2008-01-01

Sinkholes usually have a higher probability of occurrence and a greater genetic diversity in evaporite terrains than in carbonate karst areas. This is because evaporites have a higher solubility and, commonly, a lower mechanical strength. Subsidence damage resulting from evaporite dissolution generates substantial losses throughout the world, but the causes are only well understood in a few areas. To deal with these hazards, a phased approach is needed for sinkhole identification, investigation, prediction, and mitigation. Identification techniques include field surveys and geomorphological mapping combined with accounts from local people and historical sources. Detailed sinkhole maps can be constructed from sequential historical maps, recent topographical maps, and digital elevation models (DEMs) complemented with building-damage surveying, remote sensing, and high-resolution geodetic surveys. On a more detailed level, information from exposed paleosubsidence features (paleokarst), speleological explorations, geophysical investigations, trenching, dating techniques, and boreholes may help in investigating dissolution and subsidence features. Information on the hydrogeological pathways including caves, springs, and swallow holes are particularly important especially when corroborated by tracer tests. These diverse data sources make a valuable database-the karst inventory. From this dataset, sinkhole susceptibility zonations (relative probability) may be produced based on the spatial distribution of the features and good knowledge of the local geology. Sinkhole distribution can be investigated by spatial distribution analysis techniques including studies of preferential elongation, alignment, and nearest neighbor analysis. More objective susceptibility models may be obtained by analyzing the statistical relationships between the known sinkholes and the conditioning factors. Chronological information on sinkhole formation is required to estimate the probability of occurrence of sinkholes (number of sinkholes/km2 year). Such spatial and temporal predictions, frequently derived from limited records and based on the assumption that past sinkhole activity may be extrapolated to the future, are non-corroborated hypotheses. Validation methods allow us to assess the predictive capability of the susceptibility maps and to transform them into probability maps. Avoiding the most hazardous areas by preventive planning is the safest strategy for development in sinkhole-prone areas. Corrective measures could be applied to reduce the dissolution activity and subsidence processes. A more practical solution for safe development is to reduce the vulnerability of the structures by using subsidence-proof designs. ?? 2007 Springer-Verlag.

Data in the Classroom: New Tools for Engaging Students with Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dean, A.; Pisut, D.

2017-12-01

The ability to understand and analyze data effectively can increase students ability to understand current and historical global change. Since 2009, NOAA Data in the Classroom Project has been offering formal education resources and tools aimed at helping teachers to build data and environmental literacy in their classrooms. Currently, NOAA is modernizing its Data in the Classroom resources using a web application within Esri's web-based GIS platform, Story Maps. Story Maps have been used for a wide variety of purposes, including teaching and instruction, for more than a decade. This technology can help to engage students in a story, like El Niño, while harnessing the power of data - using maps, data visualizations and data query tools. The aim is to create an effective education tool that allows students access to user-friendly, relevant data sets from NOAA, ultimately providing the opportunity to explore dynamic Earth processes and understand the impact of environmental events on a regional or global scale. This presentation will include demonstrations of the recently launched web-based curricular modules, highlighting the Esri web technology used to build and distribute each module and the interactive data tools that are unique to this project.

Geographic Names of Iceland's Glaciers: Historic and Modern

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sigurðsson, Oddur; Williams, Richard S.

2008-01-01

Climatic changes and resulting glacier fluctuations alter landscapes. In the past, such changes were noted by local residents who often documented them in historic annals; eventually, glacier variations were recorded on maps and scientific reports. In Iceland, 10 glacier place-names are to be found in Icelandic sagas, and one of Iceland's ice caps, Snaefellsjokull, appeared on maps of Iceland published in the 16th century. In the late 17th century, the first description of eight of Iceland's glaciers was written. Therefore, Iceland distinguishes itself in having a more than 300-year history of observations by Icelanders on its glaciers. A long-term collaboration between Oddur Sigurdsson and Richard S. Williams, Jr., led to the authorship of three books on the glaciers of Iceland. Much effort has been devoted to documenting historical glacier research and related nomenclature and to physical descriptions of Icelandic glaciers by Icelanders and other scientists from as far back as the Saga Age to recent (2008) times. The first book, Icelandic Ice Mountains, was published by the Icelandic Literary Society in 2004 in cooperation with the Icelandic Glaciological Society and the International Glaciological Society. Icelandic Ice Mountains was a glacier treatise written by Sveinn Palsson in 1795 and is the first English translation of this important scientific document. Icelandic Ice Mountains includes a Preface, including a summary of the history and facsimiles of page(s) from the original manuscript, a handwritten copy, and an 1815 manuscript (without maps and drawings) by Sveinn Palsson on the same subject which he wrote for Rev. Ebenezer Henderson; an Editor's Introduction; 82 figures, including facsimiles of Sveinn Palsson's original maps and perspective drawings, maps, and photographs to illustrate the text; a comprehensive Index of Geographic Place-Names and Other Names in the treatise; References, and 415 Endnotes. Professional Paper 1746 (this book) is the second of the three books; it is being published in both English and Icelandic editions. This book provides information about all named glaciers in Iceland, historic and modern. Descriptions, with geographic coordinates, and bibliographic citations to all glacier place-names on published maps, books, and scientific articles are included. Maps, oblique aerial photographs, ground photographs, and satellite images document each of the 269 modern named glaciers of Iceland. The third book, Glaciers of Iceland, is Chapter D of the 11-chapter [volume] U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386-A-K. Chapter D includes a 1:500,000-scale Map of the Glaciers of Iceland; it is a comprehensive historical and modern review and assessment of what is currently known about glaciers in Iceland's eight Regional Glacier Groups from a review of the scientific literature and from analysis of maps and remotely sensed data (ground, airborne, and satellite); topics include geology and geography, climate and climate variability, types of glaciers, history of glacier variation (including the 21 surge-type glaciers), and frequency and magnitude of volcanic and lacustrine jokulhlaups.

Assessing natural hazard risk using images and data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mccullough, H. L.; Dunbar, P. K.; Varner, J. D.; Mungov, G.

2012-12-01

Photographs and other visual media provide valuable pre- and post-event data for natural hazard assessment. Scientific research, mitigation, and forecasting rely on visual data for risk analysis, inundation mapping and historic records. Instrumental data only reveal a portion of the whole story; photographs explicitly illustrate the physical and societal impacts from the event. Visual data is rapidly increasing as the availability of portable high resolution cameras and video recorders becomes more attainable. Incorporating these data into archives ensures a more complete historical account of events. Integrating natural hazards data, such as tsunami, earthquake and volcanic eruption events, socio-economic information, and tsunami deposits and runups along with images and photographs enhances event comprehension. Global historic databases at NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) consolidate these data, providing the user with easy access to a network of information. NGDC's Natural Hazards Image Database (ngdc.noaa.gov/hazardimages) was recently improved to provide a more efficient and dynamic user interface. It uses the Google Maps API and Keyhole Markup Language (KML) to provide geographic context to the images and events. Descriptive tags, or keywords, have been applied to each image, enabling easier navigation and discovery. In addition, the Natural Hazards Map Viewer (maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/hazards) provides the ability to search and browse data layers on a Mercator-projection globe with a variety of map backgrounds. This combination of features creates a simple and effective way to enhance our understanding of hazard events and risks using imagery.

33 CFR 137.50 - Reviews of historical sources of information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... information. 137.50 Section 137.50 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND...: STANDARDS FOR CONDUCTING ALL APPROPRIATE INQUIRIES UNDER THE INNOCENT LAND-OWNER DEFENSE Standards and... insurance maps, building department records, chain of title documents, and land use records. (b) Historical...

33 CFR 137.50 - Reviews of historical sources of information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... information. 137.50 Section 137.50 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND...: STANDARDS FOR CONDUCTING ALL APPROPRIATE INQUIRIES UNDER THE INNOCENT LAND-OWNER DEFENSE Standards and... insurance maps, building department records, chain of title documents, and land use records. (b) Historical...

33 CFR 137.50 - Reviews of historical sources of information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... information. 137.50 Section 137.50 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND...: STANDARDS FOR CONDUCTING ALL APPROPRIATE INQUIRIES UNDER THE INNOCENT LAND-OWNER DEFENSE Standards and... insurance maps, building department records, chain of title documents, and land use records. (b) Historical...

33 CFR 137.50 - Reviews of historical sources of information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... information. 137.50 Section 137.50 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND...: STANDARDS FOR CONDUCTING ALL APPROPRIATE INQUIRIES UNDER THE INNOCENT LAND-OWNER DEFENSE Standards and... insurance maps, building department records, chain of title documents, and land use records. (b) Historical...

33 CFR 137.50 - Reviews of historical sources of information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... information. 137.50 Section 137.50 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND...: STANDARDS FOR CONDUCTING ALL APPROPRIATE INQUIRIES UNDER THE INNOCENT LAND-OWNER DEFENSE Standards and... insurance maps, building department records, chain of title documents, and land use records. (b) Historical...

Soil mapping and process modeling for sustainable land use management: a brief historical review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brevik, Eric C.; Pereira, Paulo; Muñoz-Rojas, Miriam; Miller, Bradley A.; Cerdà, Artemi; Parras-Alcántara, Luis; Lozano-García, Beatriz

2017-04-01

Basic soil management goes back to the earliest days of agricultural practices, approximately 9,000 BCE. Through time humans developed soil management techniques of ever increasing complexity, including plows, contour tillage, terracing, and irrigation. Spatial soil patterns were being recognized as early as 3,000 BCE, but the first soil maps didn't appear until the 1700s and the first soil models finally arrived in the 1880s (Brevik et al., in press). The beginning of the 20th century saw an increase in standardization in many soil science methods and wide-spread soil mapping in many parts of the world, particularly in developed countries. However, the classification systems used, mapping scale, and national coverage varied considerably from country to country. Major advances were made in pedologic modeling starting in the 1940s, and in erosion modeling starting in the 1950s. In the 1970s and 1980s advances in computing power, remote and proximal sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), and statistics and spatial statistics among other numerical techniques significantly enhanced our ability to map and model soils (Brevik et al., 2016). These types of advances positioned soil science to make meaningful contributions to sustainable land use management as we moved into the 21st century. References Brevik, E., Pereira, P., Muñoz-Rojas, M., Miller, B., Cerda, A., Parras-Alcantara, L., Lozano-Garcia, B. Historical perspectives on soil mapping and process modelling for sustainable land use management. In: Pereira, P., Brevik, E., Muñoz-Rojas, M., Miller, B. (eds) Soil mapping and process modelling for sustainable land use management (In press). Brevik, E., Calzolari, C., Miller, B., Pereira, P., Kabala, C., Baumgarten, A., Jordán, A. 2016. Historical perspectives and future needs in soil mapping, classification and pedological modelling, Geoderma, 264, Part B, 256-274.

Range maps of terrestrial species in the interior Columbia River basin and northern portions of the Klamath and Great Basins.

Treesearch

Bruce G. Marcot; Barbara C. Wales; Rick Demmer

2003-01-01

Current range distribution maps are presented for 14 invertebrate, 26 amphibian, 26 reptile, 339 bird, and 125 mammal species and selected subspecies (530 total taxa) of the interior Columbia River basin and northern portions of the Klamath and Great Basins in the United States. Also presented are maps of historical ranges of 3 bird and 10 mammal species, and 6 maps of...

The Ebstorf Map: tradition and contents of a medieval picture of the world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pischke, G.

2014-07-01

The Ebstorf Map (Wilke, 2001; Kugler, 2007; Wolf, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009a, b), the largest medieval map of the world whose original has been lost, is not only a geographical map. In the Middle Ages, a map contained mystic, historical and religious motifs. Of central importance is Jesus Christ, who, in the Ebstorf Map, is part of the earth. The Ebstorf Map contains the knowledge of the time of its creation; it can be used for example as an atlas, as a chronicle of the world, or as an illustrated Bible.

Visual geography

USGS Publications Warehouse

,; ,; ,

1991-01-01

Maps are, among other things, a way of making geography visual. They are world views, ways of thinking, and ways of communicating. They depict our world and guide us through it. Visual Geography probes the essence of maps and mapmaking. It follows the story of cartography through the millennia, across the globe, and beyond the solar system. It includes some of the world's most beautiful and enduring maps, some of its most historic - a map in Columbus' hand, the map that was carried to the Moon, the first map to show America - and it examines the urge to map, to measure our world, and to record it graphically.

Joint USGS/USEPA Pathogens in Soils Geographic ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Online interactive maps In order to protect the environment from current and potential threats posed by uncontrolled intentional releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants, the biothreat research community recognizes the needs to be able to detect threats in the appropriate matrices and also consider whether a detected constituent is naturally occurring or a contaminant associated with an accidental or purposeful release. Therefore, sensitive and specific methods for processing and analyzing environmental samples as well as methods to determine the existing risk to the public from endemic microorganisms are needed. Background data is also an important variable for assessing and managing the risks posed by a contaminated site. The EPA has collaborated with the USGS to analyze over 4800 soil samples collected during the USGS North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project for the presence of Bacillus anthracis and a subset of those samples for the presence of Yersinia pestis, and Francisella tularensis. EPA and USGS scientists correlated occurrences with geochemical constituents (> 40 major and trace elements), historical outbreak data, and climate data by creating online interactive maps using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) platform. This on-going nationwide survey can be used as an investigative tool by animal and public health scientists and emergency responders determine the potential for disease outbreaks and persistenc

Influence of the Saros Fault on the Periodicity of Earthquake Activity (Gelibolu Peninsula, NW Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

İpek Gültekin, Derya; Karakoç, Okan; Şahin, Murat; Elitez, İrem; Yaltırak, Cenk

2017-04-01

Active faults are vital in terms of settlement and socio-economic aspects of a region. For this reason, it is important to determine the characteristics and impact areas of active faults correctly. The Marmara region is a tectonically active region located in the northwestern Anatolia. The northern part of the North Anatolian Fault, which was named the Saros Fault, passes through the westernmost part of this region. The Saros Fault is a 52 km-long and NE-SW-trending right-lateral strike-slip fault. In this study, the seismicity of the Gelibolu Peninsula has been examined in the light of historical records. When considering the historical records, 545, 986, 1354 and 1756 earthquakes led to damage on the settlements close to the Saros Fault. The dates of historical earthquakes were calculated by integration of previously published empirical formulas, year difference between events and velocity of GPS vectors. The acceleration map (PGA MAPS) of the region has been produced by taking into account these earthquake magnitudes, fault geometry and geology of the region, and consequently, it was seen that these maps overlap quite well with the damage records of historical earthquakes. Considering the periodicity of the Saros Fault, which majorly controls the seismicity in the region, it is aimed to find an answer to the question "how does a recent earthquake affect the region?" by the help of historical earthquake records and PGA modelling. In conclusion, our data showed that PGA values are dominant in the northern side of the Gelibolu Peninsula and this region may be affected by a magnitude 7.3 earthquake.

A Time Sequence-Oriented Concept Map Approach to Developing Educational Computer Games for History Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chu, Hui-Chun; Yang, Kai-Hsiang; Chen, Jing-Hong

2015-01-01

Concept maps have been recognized as an effective tool for students to organize their knowledge; however, in history courses, it is important for students to learn and organize historical events according to the time of their occurrence. Therefore, in this study, a time sequence-oriented concept map approach is proposed for developing a game-based…

Earthquakes in Arkansas and vicinity 1699-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dart, Richard L.; Ausbrooks, Scott M.

2011-01-01

This map summarizes approximately 300 years of earthquake activity in Arkansas. It is one in a series of similar State earthquake history maps. Work on the Arkansas map was done in collaboration with the Arkansas Geological Survey. The earthquake data plotted on the map are from several sources: the Arkansas Geological Survey, the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. In addition to earthquake locations, other materials presented include seismic hazard and isoseismal maps and related text. Earthquakes are a legitimate concern in Arkansas and parts of adjacent states. Arkansas has undergone a number of significant felt earthquakes since 1811. At least two of these events caused property damage: a magnitude 4.7 earthquake in 1931, and a magnitude 4.3 earthquake in 1967. The map shows all historical and instrumentally located earthquakes in Arkansas and vicinity between 1811 and 2010. The largest historic earthquake in the vicinity of the State was an intensity XI event, on December 16, 1811; the first earthquake in the New Madrid sequence. This violent event and the earthquakes that followed caused considerable damage to the then sparsely settled region.

Historical Perspectives on School Psychology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grimley, Liam K., Ed.

This monograph was created to stimulate more thorough study of the history of school psychology. In the first section, "Mapping the Territory for Historical Study of School Psychology," by Liam K. Grimley, some fundamental questions are raised about what should be studied in the history of school psychology, how that study might be…

Earthquakes in Mississippi and vicinity 1811-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dart, Richard L.; Bograd, Michael B.E.

2011-01-01

This map summarizes two centuries of earthquake activity in Mississippi. Work on the Mississippi map was done in collaboration with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Geology. The earthquake data plotted on the map are from several sources: the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, and the Arkansas Geological Survey. In addition to earthquake locations, other materials include seismic hazard and isoseismal maps and related text. Earthquakes are a legitimate concern in Mississippi and parts of adjacent States. Mississippi has undergone a number of felt earthquakes since 1811. At least two of these events caused property damage: a magnitude 4.7 earthquake in 1931, and a magnitude 4.3 earthquake in 1967. The map shows all historical and instrumentally located earthquakes in Mississippi and vicinity between 1811 and 2010. The largest historic earthquake in the vicinity of the State was an intensity XI event, on December 16, 1811; the first earthquake in the New Madrid sequence. This violent event and the earthquakes that followed caused considerable damage to the then sparsely settled region.

Fine-scale maps of recombination rates and hotspots in the mouse genome.

PubMed

Brunschwig, Hadassa; Levi, Liat; Ben-David, Eyal; Williams, Robert W; Yakir, Benjamin; Shifman, Sagiv

2012-07-01

Recombination events are not uniformly distributed and often cluster in narrow regions known as recombination hotspots. Several studies using different approaches have dramatically advanced our understanding of recombination hotspot regulation. Population genetic data have been used to map and quantify hotspots in the human genome. Genetic variation in recombination rates and hotspots usage have been explored in human pedigrees, mouse intercrosses, and by sperm typing. These studies pointed to the central role of the PRDM9 gene in hotspot modulation. In this study, we used single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from whole-genome resequencing and genotyping studies of mouse inbred strains to estimate recombination rates across the mouse genome and identified 47,068 historical hotspots--an average of over 2477 per chromosome. We show by simulation that inbred mouse strains can be used to identify positions of historical hotspots. Recombination hotspots were found to be enriched for the predicted binding sequences for different alleles of the PRDM9 protein. Recombination rates were on average lower near transcription start sites (TSS). Comparing the inferred historical recombination hotspots with the recent genome-wide mapping of double-strand breaks (DSBs) in mouse sperm revealed a significant overlap, especially toward the telomeres. Our results suggest that inbred strains can be used to characterize and study the dynamics of historical recombination hotspots. They also strengthen previous findings on mouse recombination hotspots, and specifically the impact of sequence variants in Prdm9.

Assessment of landslide distribution map reliability in Niigata prefecture - Japan using frequency ratio approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahardianto, Trias; Saputra, Aditya; Gomez, Christopher

2017-07-01

Research on landslide susceptibility has evolved rapidly over the few last decades thanks to the availability of large databases. Landslide research used to be focused on discreet events but the usage of large inventory dataset has become a central pillar of landslide susceptibility, hazard, and risk assessment. Indeed, extracting meaningful information from the large database is now at the forth of geoscientific research, following the big-data research trend. Indeed, the more comprehensive information of the past landslide available in a particular area is, the better the produced map will be, in order to support the effective decision making, planning, and engineering practice. The landslide inventory data which is freely accessible online gives an opportunity for many researchers and decision makers to prevent casualties and economic loss caused by future landslides. This data is advantageous especially for areas with poor landslide historical data. Since the construction criteria of landslide inventory map and its quality evaluation remain poorly defined, the assessment of open source landslide inventory map reliability is required. The present contribution aims to assess the reliability of open-source landslide inventory data based on the particular topographical setting of the observed area in Niigata prefecture, Japan. Geographic Information System (GIS) platform and statistical approach are applied to analyze the data. Frequency ratio method is utilized to model and assess the landslide map. The outcomes of the generated model showed unsatisfactory results with AUC value of 0.603 indicate the low prediction accuracy and unreliability of the model.

Regional coseismic landslide hazard assessment without historical landslide inventories: A new approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kritikos, Theodosios; Robinson, Tom R.; Davies, Tim R. H.

2015-04-01

Currently, regional coseismic landslide hazard analyses require comprehensive historical landslide inventories as well as detailed geotechnical data. Consequently, such analyses have not been possible where these data are not available. A new approach is proposed herein to assess coseismic landslide hazard at regional scale for specific earthquake scenarios in areas without historical landslide inventories. The proposed model employs fuzzy logic and geographic information systems to establish relationships between causative factors and coseismic slope failures in regions with well-documented and substantially complete coseismic landslide inventories. These relationships are then utilized to estimate the relative probability of landslide occurrence in regions with neither historical landslide inventories nor detailed geotechnical data. Statistical analyses of inventories from the 1994 Northridge and 2008 Wenchuan earthquakes reveal that shaking intensity, topography, and distance from active faults and streams are the main controls on the spatial distribution of coseismic landslides. Average fuzzy memberships for each factor are developed and aggregated to model the relative coseismic landslide hazard for both earthquakes. The predictive capabilities of the models are assessed and show good-to-excellent model performance for both events. These memberships are then applied to the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake, using only a digital elevation model, active fault map, and isoseismal data, replicating prediction of a future event in a region lacking historic inventories and/or geotechnical data. This similarly results in excellent model performance, demonstrating the model's predictive potential and confirming it can be meaningfully applied in regions where previous methods could not. For such regions, this method may enable a greater ability to analyze coseismic landslide hazard from specific earthquake scenarios, allowing for mitigation measures and emergency response plans to be better informed of earthquake-related hazards.

Assessing land ownership as a driver of change in the distribution, structure, and composition of California's forests.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Easterday, K.; Kelly, M.; McIntyre, P. J.

2015-12-01

Climate change is forecasted to have considerable influence on the distribution, structure, and function of California's forests. However, human interactions with forested landscapes (e.g. fire suppression, resource extraction and etc.) have complicated scientific understanding of the relative contributions of climate change and anthropogenic land management practices as drivers of change. Observed changes in forest structure towards smaller, denser forests across California have been attributed to both climate change (e.g. increased temperatures and declining water availability) and management practices (e.g. fire suppression and logging). Disentangling how these drivers of change act both together and apart is important to developing sustainable policy and land management practices as well as enhancing knowledge of human and natural system interactions. To that end, a comprehensive historical dataset - the Vegetation Type Mapping project (VTM) - and a modern forest inventory dataset (FIA) are used to analyze how spatial variations in vegetation composition and structure over a ~100 year period can be explained by land ownership.Climate change is forecasted to have considerable influence on the distribution, structure, and function of California's forests. However, human interactions with forested landscapes (e.g. fire suppression, resource extraction and etc.) have complicated scientific understanding of the relative contributions of climate change and anthropogenic land management practices as drivers of change. Observed changes in forest structure towards smaller, denser forests across California have been attributed to both climate change (e.g. increased temperatures and declining water availability) and management practices (e.g. fire suppression and logging). Disentangling how these drivers of change act both together and apart is important to developing sustainable policy and land management practices as well as enhancing knowledge of human and natural system interactions. To that end, a comprehensive historical dataset - the Vegetation Type Mapping project (VTM) - and a modern forest inventory dataset (FIA) are used to analyze how spatial variations in vegetation composition and structure over a ~100 year period can be explained by land ownership.

Shifting Patterns of Pasturelands and Stocking Rates of Cattle in Brazil: 1940 to 2012

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dias, L. C. P.; Santos, A.; Pimenta, F. M.; Costa, M. H.

2015-12-01

In this work, we investigate the shifting in historical patterns of pastureland (natural and planted) in Brazil using a new high-resolution (approximately 1 km x 1 km) spatially explicit reconstruction of land use from 1940 to 2012 and stocking rate of cattle maps from 1990 to 2012. We also identified the top 5% (highest yields) pixels in the 2010 stocking rate map and we assessed the historical trends in intensification and extensification practices in Brazil. We focus our analyzes in Amazonia and Cerrado biomes, in Mato Grosso and Pará states, and in the new agricultural frontier called MATOPIBA - which is formed by Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia states. Natural pastureland expanded until the 1970s and, after that, most areas with natural pasture were replaced by planted pasture, which is more profitable. In 2012, natural pastures were still predominant in the Pampas (located in southern Rio Grande do Sul) and the Pantanal (located in western Mato Grosso do Sul). On the other hand, planted pastureland expanded in area between 1975 and 2012, especially in the Cerrado biome. Brazilian stocking rate of cattle increased, but remains close to 1.0 head/ha between 1990 and 2010 and the top 5% were about twice as high as the average in all regions analyzed. The yield gap (difference between average and the top 5% pixels) was largest in Pará state, where the stocking rate of cattle was below 50% of the potential given 2010 practices. The increase in cattle production in Amazonia biome and in the states of Mato Grosso and Pará came from both intensification and expansion of pasturelands. In contrast, pasturelands in Cerrado and MATOPIBA decreased in area while stocking rates of cattle increased gradually. Our results provide new insights about land use change and productivity in Brazilian territory that could guide future agricultural and conservation discussions, decisions, and policies.

Map showing recent (1997-98 El Nino) and historical landslides, Crow Creek and vicinity, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Coe, Jeffrey A.; Godt, Jonathan; Tachker, Pierre

2004-01-01

This report documents the spatial distribution of 3,800 landslides caused by 1997-98 El Ni?o winter rainfall in the vicinity of Crow Creek in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California. The report also documents 558 historical (pre-1997-98) landslides. Landslides were mapped from 1:12,000-scale aerial photographs and classified as either debris flows or slides. Slides include rotational and translational slides, earth flows, and complex slope movements. Debris flows and slides from the 1997-98 winter modified 1 percent of the surface of the 148.6 km2 study area. Debris flows were scattered throughout the area, regardless of the type of underlying bedrock geology. Slides, however, were concentrated in a soft sandstone, conglomerate, and clayey group of rock units. Digital map files accompany the report.

Mapping fire scars in a southern African savannah using Landsat imagery

Treesearch

A. T. Hudak; B. H. Brockett

2004-01-01

The spectral, spatial and temporal characteristics of the Landsat data record make it appropriate for mapping fire scars. Twenty-two annual fire scar maps from 1972-­2002 were produced from historical Landsat imagery for a semi-arid savannah landscape on the South Africa-­Botswana border, centred over Madikwe Game Reserve (MGR) in South Africa. A principal components...

Mosaicked Historic Airborne Imagery from Seward Peninsula, Alaska, Starting in the 1950's

DOE Data Explorer

Cherry, Jessica; Wirth, Lisa

2016-12-06

Historical airborne imagery for each Seward Peninsula NGEE Arctic site - Teller, Kougarok, Council - with multiple years for each site. This dataset includes mosaicked, geolocated and, where possible, orthorectified, historic airborne and recent satellite imagery. The older photos were sourced from USGS's Earth Explorer site and the newer, satellite imagery is from the Statewide Digital Mapping Initiative (SDMI) project managed by the Geographic Information Network of Alaska on behalf of the state of Alaska.

Use of GPR Surveys in Historical Archaeology Studies at Gainesville, Mississippi (22HA600)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodwin, Ben; Giardino, Marco; Spruce, Joseph P.

2002-01-01

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is used to study the underground remains of historic structures on the grounds of Stennis Space Center (SSC) in this viewgraph presentation. The main goal of the project described is to research, develop, and validate Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) methods for aiding cultural resource assessments within SSC. The project georeferences historic imagery and maps to assist archaeological RS, field surveys, and excavations.

Visual Texts and Historical Thinking: Teachers' Conceptions, Uses, and Reflections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Daniel Jude

2012-01-01

Visual texts, such as photographs, paintings, film, political cartoons, maps, charts, and graphs are important resources used for a variety of purposes in the history classroom. Aligning instructional use of visual texts to key developmental skills within the area of historical thinking should be a central concern to teachers of historical…

Intellectual Portraits: Politics, Professions and Identity in Twentieth-Century England

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Jane

2014-01-01

This article brings together six talented women historians in twentieth-century England whose scholarly productions helped shape modern historical practice but who are little known in the canonical accounts of history-writing in the period. The author is looking to map and describe historical communities from a grounded and qualitative perspective…

33 CFR 148.415 - When conducting site evaluation and pre-construction testing, what must be reported?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... objects of cultural, historical, or archeological significance; (2) Any adverse effect on the environment... (5) Any adverse effect on an object of cultural, historical, or archeological significance. (b...; (2) A chart, map, or plat of the area where the activities occurred; (3) The dates when the...

33 CFR 148.415 - When conducting site evaluation and pre-construction testing, what must be reported?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... objects of cultural, historical, or archeological significance; (2) Any adverse effect on the environment... (5) Any adverse effect on an object of cultural, historical, or archeological significance. (b...; (2) A chart, map, or plat of the area where the activities occurred; (3) The dates when the...

Quantitative classification of a historic northern Wisconsin (U.S.A.) landscape: mapping forests at regional scales

Treesearch

Lisa A. Schulte; David J. Mladenoff; Erik V. Nordheim

2002-01-01

We developed a quantitative and replicable classification system to improve understanding of historical composition and structure within northern Wisconsin's forests. The classification system was based on statistical cluster analysis and two forest metrics, relative dominance (% basal area) and relative importance (mean of relative dominance and relative density...

The Battle of Bunker Hill: Now We Are at War. Revised. Teaching with Historic Places.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brue, Sandy

This lesson describes and discusses the Battle of Bunker Hill (Massachusetts), which took place during the Revolutionary War. The lesson plan contains eight sections: (1) "About this Lesson"; (2) "Getting Started: Inquiry Question"; (3) "Setting the Stage: Historical Context"; (4) "Locating the Site: Maps"…

Engaging Students through Mapping Local History

PubMed Central

Mitchell, Katharyne; Elwood, Sarah

2015-01-01

This article argues that the integration of local history and geography through collaborative digital mapping can lead to greater interest in civic participation by early adolescent learners. In the study, twenty-nine middle school students were asked to research, represent, and discuss local urban sites of historical significance on an interactive Web platform. As students learned more about local community events, people, and historical forces, they became increasingly engaged with the material and enthusiastic about making connections to larger issues and processes. In the final session, students expressed interest in participating in their own communities through joining nonprofit organizations and educating others about community history and daily life. PMID:25635145

Digital geologic map and database of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park and Potomac River corridor, District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Southworth, C. Scott; Brezinski, David K.; Orndorff, Randall C.; Chirico, Peter G.; Lagueux, Kerry M.

2001-01-01

The Chesapeake and Ohio (CO) Canal National Historical Park is unique in that it is the only land within the National Park system that crosses 5 physiographic provinces along a major river. From Georgetown, District of Columbia (D.C.) to Cumberland, Maryland (Md.), the CO Canal provides an opportunity to examine the geologic history of the central Appalachian region and how the canal contributed to the development of this area. The geologic map data covers the 184.5-mile long park in a 2-mile wide corridor centered on the Potomac River

Engaging Students through Mapping Local History.

PubMed

Mitchell, Katharyne; Elwood, Sarah

2012-07-01

This article argues that the integration of local history and geography through collaborative digital mapping can lead to greater interest in civic participation by early adolescent learners. In the study, twenty-nine middle school students were asked to research, represent, and discuss local urban sites of historical significance on an interactive Web platform. As students learned more about local community events, people, and historical forces, they became increasingly engaged with the material and enthusiastic about making connections to larger issues and processes. In the final session, students expressed interest in participating in their own communities through joining nonprofit organizations and educating others about community history and daily life.

D Digitization and Mapping of Heritage Monuments and Comparison with Historical Drawings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiorillo, F.; Remondino, F.; Barba, S.; Santoriello, A.; De Vita, C. B.; Casellato, A.

2013-07-01

The paper presents the integration of different 3D recording techniques and instruments to survey the archaeological area of Paestum (Italy). Paestum was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1998, and still preserves the ruins of Greek and Roman times. Photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) acquisitions were integrated in order to exploit the advantages of the 3D surveying techniques and produce digital models, orthoimages, maps and other geometric representations useful for archaeological, architectural and cultural touristic purposes. The obtained 3D results are then compared to historical representations to show the high quality of such ancient manual drawings.

Clio's New Clothes: Reinvigorating the History Classroom through Historical Fiction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olsen, Gary R.

1986-01-01

Discusses public interest in historical novels and television programs. Argues that well-researched historical novels can be used in history classes to promote a deeper understanding of the past. Analyzes various types of historical fiction (e.g., historical romances and "alternative-path" stories) in terms of their historical integrity…

Sandia National Laboratories, Tonopah Test Range Fire Control Bunker (Building 09-51): Photographs and Written Historical and Descriptive Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ullrich, Rebecca A.

The Fire Control Bunker (Building 09-51) is a contributing element to the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Tonopah Test Range (TTR) Historic District. The SNL TTR Historic District played a significant role in U.S. Cold War history in the areas of stockpile surveillance and non-nuclear field testing of nuclear weapons design. The district covers approximately 179,200 acres and illustrates Cold War development testing of nuclear weapons components and systems. This report includes historical information, architectural information, sources of information, project information, maps, blueprints, and photographs.

Sandia National Laboratories, Tonopah Test Range Assembly Building 9B (Building 09-54): Photographs and Written Historical and Descriptive Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ullrich, Rebecca A.

Assembly Building 9B (Building 09-54) is a contributing element to the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Tonopah Test Range (TTR) Historic District. The SNL TTR Historic District played a significant role in U.S. Cold War history in the areas of stockpile surveillance and non-nuclear field testing of nuclear weapons designs. The district covers approximately 179,200 acres and illustrates Cold War development testing of nuclear weapons components and systems. This report includes historical information, architectural information, sources of information, project information, maps, blueprints, and photographs.

History as a guide to the future for cities: coastal storms and Jamaica Bay in New York City as an example.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanderson, E. W.; Orton, P. M.; Giampieri, M.; Spagnoli, C.

2015-12-01

History can provide a guide to the future by revealing the physical climatic and geomorphological dynamics with which cities must contend. We used historical maps from the U.S. Coast Survey and the Stevens Estuarine and Coastal Ocean Model (sECOM) to simulate how and where coastal flooding from storm surge affected the Jamaica Bay region of southeastern New York City at different points in time. This area, which houses approximately 1.2 million people today and the John F. Kennedy International Airport, was heavily impacted by coastal flooding during Hurricane Sandy. Historical analysis showed that the Rockaway Peninsula was an active barrier island system up until the early twentieth century, growing approximately 70 meters per year to the west between 1844 - 1891. Older historical maps made by American and European cartographers from 1524 - 1844 suggest that Jamaica Bay may have been a much more open system, with few or no interior marsh islands, at the time of European discovery. From these studies, we constructed digital terrain models and land cover maps for two historical periods: ca. 1870s and ca. 1609, and today. Storm simulations of hurricanes over the historical and present-day landscapes showed how a smaller inlet, shallower channel depths, and larger floodplains all can reduce the height of flooding inside the bay, and suggested a series of leverage experiments that test the efficacy of present-day green infrastructure interventions to lessen peak flood heights while maintaining tidal flushing. By combining history, modelling, and policy-relevant scenarios, we believe we have developed a reshreshing and accessible toolkit for policymakers thinking about resilience measures in coastal cities like New York.

High-throughput SNP genotyping of historical and modern samples of five bird species via sequence capture of ultraconserved elements.

PubMed

Lim, Haw Chuan; Braun, Michael J

2016-09-01

Sample availability limits population genetics research on many species, especially taxa from regions with high diversity. However, many such species are well represented in museum collections assembled before the molecular era. Development of techniques to recover genetic data from these invaluable specimens will benefit biodiversity science. Using a mixture of freshly preserved and historical tissue samples, and a sequence capture probe set targeting >5000 loci, we produced high-confidence genotype calls on thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in each of five South-East Asian bird species and their close relatives (N = 27-43). On average, 66.2% of the reads mapped to the pseudo-reference genome of each species. Of these mapped reads, an average of 52.7% was identified as PCR or optical duplicates. We achieved deeper effective sequencing for historical samples (122.7×) compared to modern samples (23.5×). The number of nucleotide sites with at least 8× sequencing depth was high, with averages ranging from 0.89 × 10(6)  bp (Arachnothera, modern samples) to 1.98 × 10(6)  bp (Stachyris, modern samples). Linear regression revealed that the amount of sequence data obtained from each historical sample (represented by per cent of the pseudo-reference genome recovered with ≥8× sequencing depth) was positively and significantly (P ≤ 0.013) related to how recently the sample was collected. We observed characteristic post-mortem damage in the DNA of historical samples. However, we were able to reduce the error rate significantly by truncating ends of reads during read mapping (local alignment) and conducting stringent SNP and genotype filtering. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

An atlas of ShakeMaps for selected global earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, Trevor I.; Wald, David J.; Hotovec, Alicia J.; Lin, Kuo-Wan; Earle, Paul S.; Marano, Kristin D.

2008-01-01

An atlas of maps of peak ground motions and intensity 'ShakeMaps' has been developed for almost 5,000 recent and historical global earthquakes. These maps are produced using established ShakeMap methodology (Wald and others, 1999c; Wald and others, 2005) and constraints from macroseismic intensity data, instrumental ground motions, regional topographically-based site amplifications, and published earthquake-rupture models. Applying the ShakeMap methodology allows a consistent approach to combine point observations with ground-motion predictions to produce descriptions of peak ground motions and intensity for each event. We also calculate an estimated ground-motion uncertainty grid for each earthquake. The Atlas of ShakeMaps provides a consistent and quantitative description of the distribution and intensity of shaking for recent global earthquakes (1973-2007) as well as selected historic events. As such, the Atlas was developed specifically for calibrating global earthquake loss estimation methodologies to be used in the U.S. Geological Survey Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) Project. PAGER will employ these loss models to rapidly estimate the impact of global earthquakes as part of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center's earthquake-response protocol. The development of the Atlas of ShakeMaps has also led to several key improvements to the Global ShakeMap system. The key upgrades include: addition of uncertainties in the ground motion mapping, introduction of modern ground-motion prediction equations, improved estimates of global seismic-site conditions (VS30), and improved definition of stable continental region polygons. Finally, we have merged all of the ShakeMaps in the Atlas to provide a global perspective of earthquake ground shaking for the past 35 years, allowing comparison with probabilistic hazard maps. The online Atlas and supporting databases can be found at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/shakemap/atlas.php/.

JournalMap: Discovering location-relevant knowledge from published studies for sustainable land use, preventing degradation, and restoring landscapes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Finding relevant knowledge and information to prevent land degradation and support restoration has historically involved researchers working from their own knowledge, querying people they know, and tediously searching topical literature reviews.To address this need we created JournalMap (http://www....

Engaging Students through Mapping Local History

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Katharyne; Elwood, Sarah

2012-01-01

This article argues that the integration of local history and geography through collaborative digital mapping can lead to greater interest in civic participation by early adolescent learners. In the study, twenty-nine middle school students were asked to research, represent, and discuss local urban sites of historical significance on an…

Valorisation of Como Historical Cadastral Maps Through Modern Web Geoservices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brovelli, M. A.; Minghini, M.; Zamboni, G.

2012-07-01

Cartographic cultural heritage preserved in worldwide archives is often stored in the original paper version only, thus restricting both the chances of utilization and the range of possible users. The Web C.A.R.T.E. system addressed this issue with regard to the precious cadastral maps preserved at the State Archive of Como. Aim of the project was to improve the visibility and accessibility of this heritage using the latest free and open source tools for processing, cataloguing and web publishing the maps. The resulting architecture should therefore assist the State Archive of Como in managing its cartographic contents. After a pre-processing consisting of digitization and georeferencing steps, maps were provided with metadata, compiled according to the current Italian standards and managed through an ad hoc version of the GeoNetwork Opensource geocatalog software. A dedicated MapFish-based webGIS client, with an optimized version also for mobile platforms, was built for maps publication and 2D navigation. A module for 3D visualization of cadastral maps was finally developed using the NASA World Wind Virtual Globe. Thanks to a temporal slidebar, time was also included in the system producing a 4D Graphical User Interface. The overall architecture was totally built with free and open source software and allows a direct and intuitive consultation of historical maps. Besides the notable advantage of keeping original paper maps intact, the system greatly simplifies the work of the State Archive of Como common users and together widens the same range of users thanks to the modernization of map consultation tools.

The Reconstruction of Greyfriars Kirkyard’s Sacred Space: From the Franciscan Order’s “Divinity Heaven Garden” into the Protestant’s “the Sacred Cemetery”

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xin; Cao, Lei; Ma, Yifeng

2017-08-01

The Scottish Reformation in the sixteenth century had a profound influence on the layout and function of Greyfriars Kirkyard. Since the Reformation it has been used in various ways such as a public cemetery, a weapon exhibition and military exercises site, and as the Covenanters prison. By exhaustively perusing historical documents, comparing different layouts in Edinburgh antique maps, and analyzing the epitaphs and engraved monuments within the cemetery, I have concluded the reconstructive principles of the sacred space represent three major shifts. The space has moved from sacred to secular from a single faith to multiple denominational and from an oppressive environment to a supportive one.

Identification of market trends with string and D2-brane maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bartoš, Erik; Pinčák, Richard

2017-08-01

The multidimensional string objects are introduced as a new alternative for an application of string models for time series forecasting in trading on financial markets. The objects are represented by open string with 2-endpoints and D2-brane, which are continuous enhancement of 1-endpoint open string model. We show how new object properties can change the statistics of the predictors, which makes them the candidates for modeling a wide range of time series systems. String angular momentum is proposed as another tool to analyze the stability of currency rates except the historical volatility. To show the reliability of our approach with application of string models for time series forecasting we present the results of real demo simulations for four currency exchange pairs.

Using the Stereotype Content Model to examine group depictions in Fascism: An Archival Approach.

PubMed

Durante, Federica; Volpato, Chiara; Fiske, Susan T

2010-04-01

The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) suggests potentially universal intergroup depictions. If universal, they should apply across history in archival data. Bridging this gap, we examined social groups descriptions during Italy's Fascist era. In Study 1, articles published in a Fascist magazine- La Difesa della Razza -were content analyzed, and results submitted to correspondence analysis. Admiration prejudice depicted ingroups; envious and contemptuous prejudices depicted specific outgroups, generally in line with SCM predictions. No paternalistic prejudice appeared; historical reasons might explain this finding. Results also fit the recently developed BIAS Map of behavioral consequences. In Study 2, ninety-six undergraduates rated the content-analysis traits on warmth and competence, without knowing their origin. They corroborated SCM's interpretations of the archival data.

Analyzing historical meteorological data for air quality analyses.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1979-01-01

The Research Council, in cooperation with the Data Processing and Environmental Quality Divisions, developed a set of three computer programs for analyzing historical meteorological data. These programs significantly improve the Department's ability ...

Historical and Political Gazeteer of Afghanistan. Volume 1, Badakhshan Province and Northeastern Afghanistan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adamec, Ludwig W., Ed.

Combining the most important geographical data with historical, political, and cultural information, this work, one of six volumes designed as a tool of research and a general reference source, updates and includes a previous publication compiled in 1914 with corrections and additions of maps and considerable new material to take into account…

Historical Writing on Science Education: A View of the Landscape

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rudolph, John L.

2008-01-01

This article surveys historical scholarship on science education over the last 15 years and lays out a map of the different approaches to writing about this topic found in a variety of disciplines and fields. The hope is to provide scholars interested in science education past and present a better understanding of how this enterprise has…

EnviroAtlas - Minimum Temperature 1950 - 2099 for the Conterminous United States

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The EnviroAtlas Climate Scenarios were generated from NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) Downscaled Climate Projections (NEX-DCP30) ensemble averages (the average of over 30 available climate models) for each of the four representative concentration pathways (RCP) for the contiguous U.S. at 30 arc-second (approx. 800 m2) spatial resolution. NEX-DCP30 mean monthly minimum temperature for the 4 RCPs (2.6, 4.5, 6.0, 8.5) were organized by season (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall) and annually for the years 2006 00e2?? 2099. Additionally, mean monthly minimum temperature for the ensemble average of all historic runs is organized similarly for the years 1950 00e2?? 2005. This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Precipitation 1950 - 2099 for the Conterminous United States

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The EnviroAtlas Climate Scenarios were generated from NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) Downscaled Climate Projections (NEX-DCP30) ensemble averages (the average of over 30 available climate models) for each of the four representative concentration pathways (RCP) for the contiguous U.S. at 30 arc-second (approx. 800 m2) spatial resolution. NEX-DCP30 mean monthly precipitation rate for the 4 RCPs (2.6, 4.5, 6.0, 8.5) were organized by season (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall) and annually for the years 2006 00e2?? 2099. Additionally, mean monthly precipitation rate for the ensemble average of all historic runs is organized similarly for the years 1950 00e2?? 2005. This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Maximum Temperature 1950 - 2099 for the Conterminous United States

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The EnviroAtlas Climate Scenarios were generated from NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) Downscaled Climate Projections (NEX-DCP30) ensemble averages (the average of over 30 available climate models) for each of the four representative concentration pathways (RCP) for the contiguous U.S. at 30 arc-second (approx. 800 m2) spatial resolution. NEX-DCP30 mean monthly maximum temperature for the 4 RCPs (2.6, 4.5, 6.0, 8.5) were organized by season (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall) and annually for the years 2006 00e2?? 2099. Additionally, mean monthly maximum temperature for the ensemble average of all historic runs is organized similarly for the years 1950 00e2?? 2005. This dataset was produced by the US EPA to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

A simple statistical method for analyzing flood susceptibility with incorporating rainfall and impervious surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiang, Shou-Hao; Chen, Chi-Farn

2016-04-01

Flood, as known as the most frequent natural hazard in Taiwan, has induced severe damages of residents and properties in urban areas. The flood risk is even more severe in Tainan since 1990s, with the significant urban development over recent decades. Previous studies have indicated that the characteristics and the vulnerability of flood are affected by the increase of impervious surface area (ISA) and the changing climate condition. Tainan City, in southern Taiwan is selected as the study area. This study uses logistic regression to functionalize the relationship between rainfall variables, ISA and historical flood events. Specifically, rainfall records from 2001 to 2014 were collected and mapped, and Landsat images of year 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2014 were used to generate the ISA with SVM (support vector machine) classifier. The result shows that rainfall variables and ISA are significantly correlated to the flood occurrence in Tainan City. With applying the logistic function, the likelihood of flood occurrence can be estimated and mapped over the study area. This study suggests the method is simple and feasible for rapid flood susceptibility mapping, when real-time rainfall observations can be available, and it has potential for future flood assessment, with incorporating climate change projections and urban growth prediction.

Assessment of the postagrogenic transformation of soddy-podzolic soils: Cartographic and analytic support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorokina, N. P.; Kozlov, D. N.; Kuznetsova, I. V.

2013-10-01

The results of experimental studies of the postagrogenic transformation of loamy soddy-podzolic soils on the southern slope of the Klin-Dmitrov Moraine Ridge are discussed. A chronosequence of soils (arable soils (cropland)-soils under fallow with meadow vegetation-soils under secondary forests of different ages-soils under a conventionally initial native forest) was examined, and the stages of the postagrogenic transformation of the automorphic soddy-podzolic soils were identified. The differentiation of the former plow horizon into the A1 and A1A2 horizons (according to the differences in the humus content, texture, and acidity) served as the major criterion of the soil transformation. A stage of textural differentiation with clay depletion from the uppermost layer was identified in the soils of the 20- to 60-year-old fallows. The specificity of the postagrogenic transformation of the soils on the slopes was demonstrated. From the methodological point of view, it was important to differentiate between the chronosequences of automorphic and semihydromorphic soils of the leveled interfluves and the soils of the slopes. For this purpose, a series of maps reflecting the history of the land use and the soil cover pattern was analyzed. The cartographic model included the attribute data of the soil surveys, the cartographic sources (a series of historical maps of the land use, topographic maps, remote sensing data, and a digital elevation model), and two base maps: (a) the integral map of the land use and (b) the map of the soil combinations with the separation of the zonal automorphic, semihydromorphic, and erosional soil combinations. This scheme served as a matrix for the organization and analysis of the already available and new materials.

Alaska Broad Scale Orthoimagery and Elevation Mapping - Current Statewide Project Progress and Historic Work in Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heinrichs, T. A.; Broderson, D.; Johnson, A.; Slife, M.

2014-12-01

This presentation describes the overall program goals and current status of broad scale, statewide orthoimagery and digital elevation model (DEM) projects currently underway in Alaska. As context, it will also describe the history and successes of previous statewide Alaska mapping efforts over the preceding 75 years. A new statewide orthomosaic imagery baselayer at 1:24,000 NMAS accuracy (12.2-meters CE90) is nearing completion. The entire state (1.56 million square kilometers) has been imaged with the SPOT 5 satellite, and a 2.5-meter spatial resolution, multi-spectral, nearly cloud-free, pan-sharpened orthoimage will be produced by mid-2015. A second major project is collection of an improved accuracy DEM statewide. Airborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IfSAR) data has been collected for about half of the state of Alaska and completion of the rest of the state is anticipated within a few years. A 5-meter post spacing, 20-foot contour interval accuracy equivalent (3-meter vertical LE90) DEM and radar backscatter intensity image is being delivered. Historic projects to be described include the 1950's USGS Alaska topographic mapping program, one of the largest and most pioneering, challenging, and successful ever undertaken in North America. These historic and current mapping programs have served as both a baselayer framework and as feedstock for science for virtually every geologic, geophysical, and terrestrial natural science project in the state.

Time-series studies of drainage pattern and morphological features along the Leitha river (Eastern Austria)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zámolyi, A.; Draganits, E.; Doneus, M.; Fera, M.; Griebl, M.

2009-04-01

Geomorphologic mapping and drainage network analysis was conducted in the Southern Vienna Basin on the Leitha and Fischa rivers. The study area belongs to an active pull-apart basin between the Eastern Alps and the Carpathians that started to subside in Karpatian times (~ 17 Ma), but with still active faults, proven by fault scarps and earth quakes. The investigated rivers are important tributaries to the Danube river and run through a region that has been subject to settlement since Neoltihic times. Thus, interaction between land use, settlement pattern and river dynamics can be studied. Several datasets are integrated to perform a comprehensive overview of geomorphological, as well as river dynamic changes in the landscape. During an earlier stage of this investigation a map of paleochannel distribution including the location and shape of the paleochannels was extracted from color-infrared and RGB digital orthophotos. Based on this map the location, character and shape of palaeomeanders is studied on different georeferenced historic maps (Timár et al., 2006; Biszak et al., 2007) in order to derive a time-series study. The paleochannels extracted from the digital orthophotos show a good coincidence with the depicted rivers on the historic maps. This partly allows quite well constrained age estimates of the paleochannel sections. The investigated maps are the Walter maps, the First, Second and Third Military Survey of the Habsburg/Austro-Hungarian Empire. Mapping of the Walter maps was conducted 1754-56 (Ulbrich, 1952), the First, Second and Third Military Surveys were mapped in this area in the time-span of 1782-1785, 1819-1869, and 1872-1873, respectively (Kretschmer et al., 2004). This sequence of georeferenced historical maps allows to study only a very short time-span (1755 - 1873) compared to the geological time scale. However, the characteristics of river dynamics special for the study area can be derived and, considering certain assumptions, extrapolated to a wider time range. Within the observable time period the Leitha river preserved its meandering characteristics. Small shifts of the mean channel towards E or W can be detected. A disadvantage of the maps previous to the Third Military Survey is the lack of contour lines. On these maps, variation in terrain elevation was mapped „a la vue" and rather depicted as changes in slope of the terrain by applying hatchures showing a density increase with higher slope. This method provided a very plastic overview of changes in the terrain, but the reading of absolute or relative elevations is not possible. According to this, geomorphologic observations from these maps are constricted to the comparison of the horizontal position of elevated areas and the change of their outline. This study shows that historical maps provide an essential tool to investigate younger river dynamics and sensitively show the impact of anthropological modifications as well as active tectonics. Biszak, S., Timár, G., Molnár, G., Jankó, A. (2007): Digitized maps of the Habsburg Empire - The third military survey, Österreichisch-Ungarische Monarchie, 1869-1887, 1:75000. DVD-issue, Arcanum, Budapest. ISBN 978-963-73-7451-7 Kretschmer, I., Dörflinger, J., Wawrick, F. (2004): Österreichische Kartographie. Wiener Schiften zur Geographie und Kartographie - Band 15. Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung der Universität Wien, Wien. Timár, G., Molnár, G., Székely, B., Biszak, S., Varga, J., Jankó, A. (2006): Digitized maps of the Habsburg Empire - The map sheets of the second military survey and their georeferenced version. Arcanum, Budapest, 59 p. ISBN 963-7374-33-7 Ulbrich K. (1952): Die Grenzkarte Ungarn-Niederösterreich von C. J. Walter (1754 - 56). Burgenländische Heimatblätter, 14, 108-121

Coastal Hazard Vulnerability Assessment: A Case Study of Erosion and Flooding on Herschel Island, Yukon Territory, Canada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radosavljevic, B.; Lantuit, H.; Overduin, P. P.; Fritz, M.

2015-12-01

Coastal infrastructure, cultural, and archeological sites are increasingly vulnerable to erosion and flooding along permafrost coasts. Amplified warming of the Arctic, sea level rise, lengthening of the open water period, and a predicted increase in frequency of major storms compound these threats. Mitigation necessitates decision-making tools at an appropriate scale. We present a study of coastal erosion combining it with a flooding risk assessment for the culturally important historic settlement on Herschel Island, a UNESCO World Heritage candidate site. The resulting map may help local stakeholders devise management strategies to cope with rapidly changing environmental conditions. We analyzed shoreline movement using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) after digitizing shorelines from 1952, 1970, and 2011. Using these data, forecasts of shoreline positions were made for 20 and 50 years into the future. Flooding risk was assessed using a cost-distance map based on a high-resolution Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) dataset and current Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sea level estimates. Widespread erosion characterizes the study area. The rate of shoreline movement for different periods of the study ranges from -5.5 to 2.7 m·a-1 (mean -0.6 m·a-1). Mean coastal retreat decreased from -0.6 m·a-1 to -0.5 m·a-1, for 1952-1970 and 1970-2000, respectively, and increased to -1.3 m·a-1 in the period 2000-2011. Ice-rich coastal sections, and coastal sections most exposed to wave attack exhibited the highest rates of coastal retreat. The geohazard map resulting from shoreline projections and flood risk analysis indicates that most of the area occupied by the historic settlement is at extreme or very high risk of flooding, and some buildings are vulnerable to coastal erosion. The results of this study indicate a greater threat by coastal flooding than erosion. Our assessment may be applied in other locations where limited data are available.

Amniotic fluid MMP-9 and neurotrophins in autism spectrum disorders: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Abdallah, Morsi W; Pearce, Brad D; Larsen, Nanna; Greaves-Lord, Kirstin; Nørgaard-Pedersen, Bent; Hougaard, David M; Mortensen, Erik L; Grove, Jakob

2012-12-01

Evidence suggests that some developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), are caused by errors in brain plasticity. Given the important role of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and neurotrophins (NTs) in neuroplasticity, amniotic fluid samples for 331 ASD cases and 698 frequency-matched controls were analyzed for levels of MMP-9, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, NT-4 and transforming growth factor-β utilizing a Danish historic birth cohort and Danish nationwide health registers. Laboratory measurements were performed using an in-house multiplex sandwich immunoassay Luminex xMAP method, and measurements were analyzed using tobit and logistic regression. Results showed elevated levels of MMP-9 in ASD cases compared with controls (crude and adjusted tobit regression P-values: 0.01 and 0.06). Our results highlight the importance of exploring the biologic impact of MMP-9 and potential therapeutic roles of its inhibitors in ASD and may indicate that neuroplastic impairments in ASD may present during pregnancy. © 2012 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

United States Air Force Statistical Digest, Fiscal Year 1965, Twentieth Edition

DTIC Science & Technology

1965-09-30

prOVided by the USAF under Military Assistance Program . MAP EMPLOYEES - Category of civilian personnel engaged in activities reqUired in carrying out the...92 - USAF CIVIUAN EMPLOYEES IN SALARIED AND WAGE BOARD GROUPS EMPLOYED UNDER MILITARY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (MAP), WORLO-WIDE, AT END OF QUARTER - FY...statistical material for tary Assistance Program (MAP), and re- the digest. AFCHO will furnish a chronology lated studies and historical events. of

Are hotspots of evolutionary potential adequately protected in southern California?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vandergast, A.G.; Bohonak, A.J.; Hathaway, S.A.; Boys, J.; Fisher, R.N.

2008-01-01

Reserves are often designed to protect rare habitats, or "typical" exemplars of ecoregions and geomorphic provinces. This approach focuses on current patterns of organismal and ecosystem-level biodiversity, but typically ignores the evolutionary processes that control the gain and loss of biodiversity at these and other levels (e.g., genetic, ecological). In order to include evolutionary processes in conservation planning efforts, their spatial components must first be identified and mapped. We describe a GIS-based approach for explicitly mapping patterns of genetic divergence and diversity for multiple species (a "multi-species genetic landscape"). Using this approach, we analyzed mitochondrial DNA datasets from 21 vertebrate and invertebrate species in southern California to identify areas with common phylogeographic breaks and high intrapopulation diversity. The result is an evolutionary framework for southern California within which patterns of genetic diversity can be analyzed in the context of historical processes, future evolutionary potential and current reserve design. Our multi-species genetic landscapes pinpoint six hotspots where interpopulation genetic divergence is consistently high, five evolutionary hotspots within which genetic connectivity is high, and three hotspots where intrapopulation genetic diversity is high. These 14 hotspots can be grouped into eight geographic areas, of which five largely are unprotected at this time. The multi-species genetic landscape approach may provide an avenue to readily incorporate measures of evolutionary process into GIS-based systematic conservation assessment and land-use planning.

Geology and land use in the western part of the Gulf Coast coal-bearing region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warwick, Peter D.; Aubourg, C.E.; Hook, R.W.; SanFilipo, John R.

2002-01-01

This map series is a compilation of the outcrop geology in the U.S. Gulf Coast coal region. The maps show the regional geologic setting for primary coal occurrences and detailed geology and historic mining areas.The CD contains ESRI ArcView SHP files of cities, urban areas, historical mines (points and polygons), counties, current mines, 1:100,000 quadrangle outlines of the study area, fossil fuel powerplants, nuclear powerplants, political boundaries, federally managed lands, roads and railroads in the study area, hydrology in the study area (polygons and arcs), geology nomenclature breaks, geological features (faults), and geology. ArcExplorer is included on the CD.

White Space, White Privilege: Mapping Discursive Inquiry into the Self.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Ronald L., II

1999-01-01

Explores the role of communication in the strategic self-definition of "whiteness." Uses transcripts from two focus group interviews (with Whites from two historically Black universities) to map the discourses of "White" participants concerning the nature of "whiteness." Implies that the space Whites occupy is not clearly constructed and defined…

36 CFR 67.9 - Certifications of State or local historic districts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... (see 36 CFR part 60); the relevant criteria should be identified (A, B, C, and D). (3) A definition of... significance. (4) A map showing all district properties with, if possible, identification of contributing and noncontributing properties; the map should clearly show the district's boundaries. (5) Photographs of typical...

Indiana 50 M Wind Resource

Science.gov Websites

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data Other_Citation_Details: The wind power resource estimates were produced by AWS TrueWind using their MesoMap system and historical weather data under contract to Wind Powering America/NREL. This map has been validated with available surface data by NREL and wind energy

Arkansas 50m Wind Power Class

Science.gov Websites

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data Other_Citation_Details: The wind power resource estimates were produced by AWS TrueWind using their MesoMap system and historical weather data under contract to Wind Powering America/NREL. This map has been validated with available surface data by NREL and wind energy

Ohio 50 m Wind Resource

Science.gov Websites

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data Other_Citation_Details: The wind power resource estimates were produced by AWS TrueWind using their MesoMap system and historical weather data under contract to Wind Powering America/NREL. This map has been validated with available surface data by NREL and wind energy

michigan_50mwind

Science.gov Websites

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data Other_Citation_Details: The wind power resource estimates were produced by AWS TrueWind using their MesoMap system and historical weather data under contract to Wind Powering America/NREL. This map has been validated with available surface data by NREL and wind energy

Missouri 50 m Wind Resource

Science.gov Websites

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data Other_Citation_Details: The wind power resource estimates were produced by AWS TrueWind using their MesoMap system and historical weather data under contract to Wind Powering America/NREL. This map has been validated with available surface data by NREL and wind energy

nebraska_50mwind

Science.gov Websites

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data Other_Citation_Details: The wind power resource estimates were produced by TrueWind Solutions using their MesoMap system and historical weather data under contract to Wind Powering America/NREL. This map has been validated with available surface data by NREL and wind energy

Reported Historic Asbestos Mines, Historic Asbestos Prospects, and Other Natural Occurrences of Asbestos in Oregon and Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Gosen, Bradley S.

2010-01-01

This map and its accompanying dataset provide information for 51 natural occurrences of asbestos in Washington and Oregon, using descriptions found in the geologic literature. Data on location, mineralogy, geology, and relevant literature for each asbestos site are provided. Using the map and digital data in this report, the user can examine the distribution of previously reported asbestos occurrences and their geological characteristics in the Pacific Northwest States of Washington and Oregon. This report is part of an ongoing study by the U.S. Geological Survey to identify and map reported natural asbestos occurrences in the United States, which thus far includes similar maps and datasets of natural asbestos occurrences within the Eastern United States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1189/), the Central United States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1211/), the Rocky Mountain States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1182/), and the Southwestern United States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1095/). These reports are intended to provide State and local government agencies and other stakeholders with geologic information on natural occurrences of asbestos in the United States.

Reported Historic Asbestos Mines, Historic Asbestos Prospects, and Natural Asbestos Occurrences in the Southwestern United States (Arizona, Nevada, and Utah)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Gosen, Bradley S.

2008-01-01

This map and its accompanying dataset provide information for 113 natural asbestos occurrences in the Southwestern United States (U.S.), using descriptions found in the geologic literature. Data on location, mineralogy, geology, and relevant literature for each asbestos site are provided. Using the map and digital data in this report, the user can examine the distribution of previously reported asbestos occurrences and their geological characteristics in the Southwestern U.S., which includes sites in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. This report is part of an ongoing study by the U.S. Geological Survey to identify and map reported natural asbestos occurrences in the U.S., which thus far includes similar maps and datasets of natural asbestos occurrences within the Eastern U.S. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1189/), the Central U.S. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1211/), and the Rocky Mountain States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1182/. These reports are intended to provide State and local government agencies and other stakeholders with geologic information on natural occurrences of asbestos in the U.S.

Reported Historic Asbestos Mines, Historic Asbestos Prospects, and Natural Asbestos Occurrences in the Rocky Mountain States of the United States (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Gosen, Bradley S.

2007-01-01

This map and its accompanying dataset provide information for 48 natural asbestos occurrences in the Rocky Mountain States of the United States (U.S.), using descriptions found in the geologic literature. Data on location, mineralogy, geology, and relevant literature for each asbestos site are provided. Using the map and digital data in this report, the user can examine the distribution of previously reported asbestos occurrences and their geological characteristics in the Rocky Mountain States. This report is part of an ongoing study by the U.S. Geological Survey to identify and map reported natural asbestos occurrences in the U.S., which thus far includes similar maps and datasets of natural asbestos occurrences within the Eastern U.S. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1189/) and the Central U.S. (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1211/). These reports are intended to provide State and local government agencies and other stakeholders with geologic information on natural occurrences of asbestos in the U.S.

The Present of Environmental Psychology Researches in China: Base on the Bibliometric Analysis and Knowledge Mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Junhua; Wang, Qi; Zhu, Leiye; Qing, Wu; Jin, Meidong; Zhang, Rui; Wang, Haibin

2018-03-01

Environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the interplay between individuals and their surroundings. Chinese researchers conducted extensive research on the field and produced a wealth of academic achievements, especially on the application of environmental psychology, such as the protection of minority towns and villages and the prevention and solution of air pollution. To reveal the current situation of the researches in China, 388 related papers from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were analyzed by bibliometric and Knowledge Mapping. The results show that: (1) these studies stared since 1982 and demonstrated a year-on-year growth trend since 2001, which reaches a historical peak in 2016. Peiwen Zhan, Hu Zhao and Xiaofeng Lu top the list with a total of eighteen articles and Heilongjiang University is the best performer among the contributing organizations. (2)“Environmental Psychology” is the most frequently cited keywords and “Environmental perception”, “Physical environment” and “living environment” have the longest span of the bursts. the top seven largest clusters, which were environment, surroundings, application, privacy, environmental perception environmental art and physical environment.

Estimated historical distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reese, Gordon C.; Manier, Daniel J.; Carr, Natasha B.; Callan, Ramana; Leinwand, Ian I.F.; Assal, Timothy J.; Burris, Lucy; Ignizio, Drew A.

2016-12-07

The purpose of this project was to map the estimated distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains prior to Euro-American settlement. The Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecoregional Assessment (REA), under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management and the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, includes four ecoregions: the High Plains, Central Great Plains, Southwestern Tablelands, and the Nebraska Sand Hills. The REA advisors and stakeholders determined that the mapping accuracy of available national land-cover maps was insufficient in many areas to adequately address management questions for the REA. Based on the recommendation of the REA stakeholders, we estimated the potential historical distribution of 10 grassland communities within the Southern Great Plains project area using data on soils, climate, and vegetation from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) including the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) and Ecological Site Information System (ESIS). The dominant grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains addressed as conservation elements for the REA area are shortgrass, mixed-grass, and sand prairies. We also mapped tall-grass, mid-grass, northwest mixed-grass, and cool season bunchgrass prairies, saline and foothill grasslands, and semi-desert grassland and steppe. Grassland communities were primarily defined using the annual productivity of dominant species in the ESIS data. The historical grassland community classification was linked to the SSURGO data using vegetation types associated with the predominant component of mapped soil units as defined in the ESIS data. We augmented NRCS data with Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE) Biophysical Settings classifications 1) where NRCS data were unavailable and 2) where fifth-level watersheds intersected the boundary of the High Plains ecoregion in Wyoming. Spatial data representing the estimated historical distribution of grassland communities of the Southern Great Plains are provided as a 30 x 30-meter gridded surface (raster dataset). This information will help to address the priority management questions for grassland communities for the Southern Great Plains REA and can be used to inform other regional-level land management decisions.

Use of linkage mapping and centrality analysis across habitat gradients to conserve connectivity of gray wolf populations in western North America.

PubMed

Carroll, Carlos; McRae, Brad H; Brookes, Allen

2012-02-01

Centrality metrics evaluate paths between all possible pairwise combinations of sites on a landscape to rank the contribution of each site to facilitating ecological flows across the network of sites. Computational advances now allow application of centrality metrics to landscapes represented as continuous gradients of habitat quality. This avoids the binary classification of landscapes into patch and matrix required by patch-based graph analyses of connectivity. It also avoids the focus on delineating paths between individual pairs of core areas characteristic of most corridor- or linkage-mapping methods of connectivity analysis. Conservation of regional habitat connectivity has the potential to facilitate recovery of the gray wolf (Canis lupus), a species currently recolonizing portions of its historic range in the western United States. We applied 3 contrasting linkage-mapping methods (shortest path, current flow, and minimum-cost-maximum-flow) to spatial data representing wolf habitat to analyze connectivity between wolf populations in central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming). We then applied 3 analogous betweenness centrality metrics to analyze connectivity of wolf habitat throughout the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada to determine where it might be possible to facilitate range expansion and interpopulation dispersal. We developed software to facilitate application of centrality metrics. Shortest-path betweenness centrality identified a minimal network of linkages analogous to those identified by least-cost-path corridor mapping. Current flow and minimum-cost-maximum-flow betweenness centrality identified diffuse networks that included alternative linkages, which will allow greater flexibility in planning. Minimum-cost-maximum-flow betweenness centrality, by integrating both land cost and habitat capacity, allows connectivity to be considered within planning processes that seek to maximize species protection at minimum cost. Centrality analysis is relevant to conservation and landscape genetics at a range of spatial extents, but it may be most broadly applicable within single- and multispecies planning efforts to conserve regional habitat connectivity. ©2011 Society for Conservation Biology.

WaterWatch - Maps, graphs, and tables of current, recent, and past streamflow conditions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jian, Xiaodong; Wolock, David; Lins, Harry F.

2008-01-01

WaterWatch (http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/) is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) World Wide Web site that dis­plays maps, graphs, and tables describing real-time, recent, and past streamflow conditions for the United States. The real-time information generally is updated on an hourly basis. WaterWatch provides streamgage-based maps that show the location of more than 3,000 long-term (30 years or more) USGS streamgages; use colors to represent streamflow conditions compared to historical streamflow; feature a point-and-click interface allowing users to retrieve graphs of stream stage (water elevation) and flow; and highlight locations where extreme hydrologic events, such as floods and droughts, are occurring.The streamgage-based maps show streamflow conditions for real-time, average daily, and 7-day average streamflow. The real-time streamflow maps highlight flood and high flow conditions. The 7-day average streamflow maps highlight below-normal and drought conditions.WaterWatch also provides hydrologic unit code (HUC) maps. HUC-based maps are derived from the streamgage-based maps and illustrate streamflow conditions in hydrologic regions. These maps show average streamflow conditions for 1-, 7-, 14-, and 28-day periods, and for monthly average streamflow; highlight regions of low flow or hydrologic drought; and provide historical runoff and streamflow conditions beginning in 1901.WaterWatch summarizes streamflow conditions in a region (state or hydrologic unit) in terms of the long-term typical condition at streamgages in the region. Summary tables are provided along with time-series plots that depict variations through time. WaterWatch also includes tables of current streamflow information and locations of flooding.

Linear Regression Quantile Mapping (RQM) - A new approach to bias correction with consistent quantile trends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Passow, Christian; Donner, Reik

2017-04-01

Quantile mapping (QM) is an established concept that allows to correct systematic biases in multiple quantiles of the distribution of a climatic observable. It shows remarkable results in correcting biases in historical simulations through observational data and outperforms simpler correction methods which relate only to the mean or variance. Since it has been shown that bias correction of future predictions or scenario runs with basic QM can result in misleading trends in the projection, adjusted, trend preserving, versions of QM were introduced in the form of detrended quantile mapping (DQM) and quantile delta mapping (QDM) (Cannon, 2015, 2016). Still, all previous versions and applications of QM based bias correction rely on the assumption of time-independent quantiles over the investigated period, which can be misleading in the context of a changing climate. Here, we propose a novel combination of linear quantile regression (QR) with the classical QM method to introduce a consistent, time-dependent and trend preserving approach of bias correction for historical and future projections. Since QR is a regression method, it is possible to estimate quantiles in the same resolution as the given data and include trends or other dependencies. We demonstrate the performance of the new method of linear regression quantile mapping (RQM) in correcting biases of temperature and precipitation products from historical runs (1959 - 2005) of the COSMO model in climate mode (CCLM) from the Euro-CORDEX ensemble relative to gridded E-OBS data of the same spatial and temporal resolution. A thorough comparison with established bias correction methods highlights the strengths and potential weaknesses of the new RQM approach. References: A.J. Cannon, S.R. Sorbie, T.Q. Murdock: Bias Correction of GCM Precipitation by Quantile Mapping - How Well Do Methods Preserve Changes in Quantiles and Extremes? Journal of Climate, 28, 6038, 2015 A.J. Cannon: Multivariate Bias Correction of Climate Model Outputs - Matching Marginal Distributions and Inter-variable Dependence Structure. Journal of Climate, 29, 7045, 2016

Social Justice in Australian Higher Education Policy: An Historical and Conceptual Account of Student Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gale, Trevor; Tranter, Deborah

2011-01-01

This article provides a synoptic account of historically changing conceptions and practices of social justice in Australian higher education policy. It maps the changes in this policy arena, beginning with the period following the Second World War and concluding with an analysis of the most recent policy proposals of the Bradley Review.…

Martin Van Buren's "Return to the Soil." Teaching with Historic Places.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Register of Historic Places, Washington, DC. Interagency Resources Div.

Using primary documents, maps, and visual data, this lesson packet focuses on Martin Van Buren and his retirement home, Lindenwald, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The lesson materials compliment classroom study of early 19th century politics by tracing the life of Martin Van Buren and his role in the Jacksonian Era. Included…

Use of cartography in historical seismicity analysis: a reliable tool to better apprehend the contextualization of the historical documents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thibault, Fradet; Grégory, Quenet; Kevin, Manchuel

2014-05-01

Historical studies, including historical seismicity analysis, deal with historical documents. Numerous factors, such as culture, social condition, demography, political situations and opinions or religious ones influence the way the events are transcribed in the archives. As a consequence, it is crucial to contextualize and compare the historical documents reporting on a given event in order to reduce the uncertainties affecting their analysis and interpretation. When studying historical seismic events it is often tricky to have a global view of all the information provided by the historical documents. It is also difficult to extract cross-correlated information from the documents and draw a precise historical context. Use of cartographic and geographic tools in GIS software is the best tool for the synthesis, interpretation and contextualization of the historical material. The main goal is to produce the most complete dataset of available information, in order to take into account all the components of the historical context and consequently improve the macroseismic analysis. The Entre-Deux-Mers earthquake (1759, Iepc= VII-VIII) [SISFRANCE 2013 - EDF-IRSN-BRGM] is well documented but has never benefited from a cross-analysis of historical documents and historical context elements. The map of available intensity data from SISFRANCE highlights a gap in macroseismic information within the estimated epicentral area. The aim of this study is to understand the origin of this gap by making a cartographic compilation of both, archive information and historical context elements. The results support the hypothesis that the lack of documents and macroseismic data in the epicentral area is related to a low human activity rather than low seismic effects in this zone. Topographic features, geographical position, flood hazard, roads and pathways locations, vineyards distribution and the forester coverage, mentioned in the archives and reported on the Cassini's map confirm this hypothesis. The location of the recently explored documentary sources evidence that there was no notarial activity in this particular area at that time. The importance of the economic and political dominance of Bordeaux during the XVIIth-XVIIIth centuries has to be taken into account in order to apprehend the way the earthquake was reported by the population at the regional scale. Elements related to chimneys forms or construction techniques could in turn help in identifying regional peculiarities allowing better quantifying the vulnerability aspects of the region.

Modeled historical land use and land cover for the conterminous United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sohl, Terry L.; Reker, Ryan R.; Bouchard, Michelle A.; Sayler, Kristi L.; Dornbierer, Jordan; Wika, Steve; Quenzer, Robert; Friesz, Aaron M.

2016-01-01

The landscape of the conterminous United States has changed dramatically over the last 200 years, with agricultural land use, urban expansion, forestry, and other anthropogenic activities altering land cover across vast swaths of the country. While land use and land cover (LULC) models have been developed to model potential future LULC change, few efforts have focused on recreating historical landscapes. Researchers at the US Geological Survey have used a wide range of historical data sources and a spatially explicit modeling framework to model spatially explicit historical LULC change in the conterminous United States from 1992 back to 1938. Annual LULC maps were produced at 250-m resolution, with 14 LULC classes. Assessment of model results showed good agreement with trends and spatial patterns in historical data sources such as the Census of Agriculture and historical housing density data, although comparison with historical data is complicated by definitional and methodological differences. The completion of this dataset allows researchers to assess historical LULC impacts on a range of ecological processes.

Generalized water-level contours, September-October 2000 and March-April 2001, and long-term water-level changes, at the U.S. Air Force Plant 42 and vicinity, Palmdale, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Christensen, Allen H.

2005-01-01

Historically, the U.S. Air Force Plant 42 has relied on ground water as the primary source of water owing, in large part, to the scarcity of surface water in the region. Groundwater withdrawal for municipal, industrial, and agricultural use has affected ground-water levels at U.S. Air Force Plant 42, and vicinity. A study to document changes in groundwater gradients and to present historical water-level data was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force. This report presents historical water-level data, hydrographs, and generalized seasonal water-level and water-level contours for September?October 2000 and March?April 2001. The collection and interpretation of ground-water data helps local water districts, military bases, and private citizens gain a better understanding of the ground-water flow systems, and consequently water availability. During September?October 2000 and March?April 2001 the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies made a total of 102 water-level measurements, 46 during September?October 2000 and 56 during March?April 2001. These data document recent conditions and, when compared with historical data, document changes in ground-water levels. Two water-level contour maps were drawn: the first depicts water-level conditions for September?October 2000 map and the second depicts water-level conditions for March?April 2001 map. In general, the water-level contour maps show water-level depressions formed as result of ground-water withdrawal. One hundred sixteen long-term hydrographs, using water-level data from 1915 through 2000, were constructed to show water-level trends in the area. The hydrographs indicate that water-level decline occurred throughout the study area, with the greatest declines south of U.S. Air Force Plant 42.

Uncertainty in georeferencing current and historic plant locations

USGS Publications Warehouse

McEachern, K.; Niessen, K.

2009-01-01

With shrinking habitats, weed invasions, and climate change, repeated surveys are becoming increasingly important for rare plant conservation and ecological restoration. We often need to relocate historical sites or provide locations for newly restored sites. Georeferencing is the technique of giving geographic coordinates to the location of a site. Georeferencing has been done historically using verbal descriptions or field maps that accompany voucher collections. New digital technology gives us more exact techniques for mapping and storing location information. Error still exists, however, and even georeferenced locations can be uncertain, especially if error information is not included with the observation. We review the concept of uncertainty in georeferencing and compare several institutional database systems for cataloging error and uncertainty with georeferenced locations. These concepts are widely discussed among geographers, but ecologists and restorationists need to become more aware of issues related to uncertainty to improve our use of spatial information in field studies. ?? 2009 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

Sex work in geographic perspective: a multi-disciplinary approach to mapping and understanding female sex work venues in Southwest China.

PubMed

Lorway, Robert; Khan, Shamshad; Chevrier, Claudyne; Huynh, Anthony; Zhang, Juying; Ma, Xiao; Blanchard, James; Yu, Nancy

2017-05-01

This paper examines the findings from an extensive geographic mapping study of female sex work venues located in the south western Chinese city of Zigong, in Sichuan province. Drawing upon the findings from quantitative research, secondary historical sources and field notes, composed during participant observation, we provide a nuanced portrait of how the operation of sex work can be conceptualised in spatial terms, where 'space' is regarded as something socially constructed and historically contingent. The sex work geographies we analyse hold important implications for prevention work conducted in the region. When the sexual practices between sex workers and their clients are viewed against a wider geographic and historical backdrop, focus shifts from the properties and intentionalities of individuals towards the kinds of spaces where sex work operates, the organisation of which are underpinned by economic forces that have given rise to the rapid proliferation of small urban spaces in contemporary China.

Earthquakes in Ohio and Vicinity 1776-2007

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dart, Richard L.; Hansen, Michael C.

2008-01-01

This map summarizes two and a third centuries of earthquake activity. The seismic history consists of letters, journals, diaries, and newspaper and scholarly articles that supplement seismograph recordings (seismograms) dating from the early twentieth century to the present. All of the pre-instrumental (historical) earthquakes were large enough to be felt by people or to cause shaking damage to buildings and their contents. Later, widespread use of seismographs meant that tremors too small or distant to be felt could be detected and accurately located. Earthquakes are a legitimate concern in Ohio and parts of adjacent States. Ohio has experienced more than 160 felt earthquakes since 1776. Most of these events caused no damage or injuries. However, 15 Ohio earthquakes resulted in property damage and some minor injuries. The largest historic earthquake in the state occurred in 1937. This event had an estimated magnitude of 5.4 and caused considerable damage in the town of Anna and in several other western Ohio communities. The large map shows all historical and instrumentally located earthquakes from 1776 through 2007.

Developing a Global Database of Historic Flood Events to Support Machine Learning Flood Prediction in Google Earth Engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellman, B.; Sullivan, J.; Kettner, A.; Brakenridge, G. R.; Slayback, D. A.; Kuhn, C.; Doyle, C.

2016-12-01

There is an increasing need to understand flood vulnerability as the societal and economic effects of flooding increases. Risk models from insurance companies and flood models from hydrologists must be calibrated based on flood observations in order to make future predictions that can improve planning and help societies reduce future disasters. Specifically, to improve these models both traditional methods of flood prediction from physically based models as well as data-driven techniques, such as machine learning, require spatial flood observation to validate model outputs and quantify uncertainty. A key dataset that is missing for flood model validation is a global historical geo-database of flood event extents. Currently, the most advanced database of historical flood extent is hosted and maintained at the Dartmouth Flood Observatory (DFO) that has catalogued 4320 floods (1985-2015) but has only mapped 5% of these floods. We are addressing this data gap by mapping the inventory of floods in the DFO database to create a first-of- its-kind, comprehensive, global and historical geospatial database of flood events. To do so, we combine water detection algorithms on MODIS and Landsat 5,7 and 8 imagery in Google Earth Engine to map discrete flood events. The created database will be available in the Earth Engine Catalogue for download by country, region, or time period. This dataset can be leveraged for new data-driven hydrologic modeling using machine learning algorithms in Earth Engine's highly parallelized computing environment, and we will show examples for New York and Senegal.

Multi-temporal maps of the Montaguto earth flow in southern Italy from 1954 to 2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guerriero, Luigi; Revellino, Paola; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Focareta, Mariano; Grelle, Gerardo; Albanese, Vincenzo; Corazza, Angelo; Guadagno, Francesco M.

2013-01-01

Historical movement of the Montaguto earth flow in southern Italy has periodically destroyed residences and farmland, and damaged the Italian National Road SS90 and the Benevento-Foggia National Railway. This paper provides maps from an investigation into the evolution of the Montaguto earth flow from 1954 to 2010. We used aerial photos, topographic maps, LiDAR data, satellite images, and field observations to produce multi-temporal maps. The maps show the spatial and temporal distribution of back-tilted surfaces, flank ridges, and normal, thrust, and strike-slip faults. Springs, creeks, and ponds are also shown on the maps. The maps provide a basis for interpreting how basal and lateral boundary geometries influence earth-flow behavior and surface-water hydrology.

Land Area Change in Coastal Louisiana: A Multidecadal Perspective (from 1956 to 2006)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barras, John A.; Bernier, Julie C.; Morton, Robert A.

2008-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) analyzed changes in the configuration of land and water in coastal Louisiana by using a sequential series of 14 data sets summarizing land and water areas from 1956 to 2006. The purpose of this study is to provide a spatially and temporally consistent source of quantitative information on land area across coastal Louisiana, broken into three physiographic provinces (the term 'coastal Louisiana' is used to present data on the collective area). The land-water data sets used in this study are interpreted through spatial analysis and by linear regression analysis. The spatial depictions of land area change reveal a complex and interwoven mosaic of loss and gain patterns caused by natural and human-induced processes operating at varied temporal and spatial scales, resulting in fluctuating contributions to coastal loss. The linear regression analysis provides a robust estimate of recent change trends by comparing land area over time for all data sets from 1985 to 2004 and from 1985 to 2006 by physiographic province across coastal Louisiana. The 1956 to 2006 map showing multidecadal changes, along with the linear regressions of land area change presented in this study, provide a comprehensive and concise presentation of historical trends and rates of land area change in coastal Louisiana. Taking a broad historical view provides an in-depth understanding of land area changes over time. For example, one observation provided by our historical review is that the majority of the widespread, nontransitory land gains depicted on the map over the past 50 years, with the exception of the progradation of the Atchafafalaya River and Wax Lake deltas, are primarily related to sediment placement and landward migration of barrier islands. Another point revealed by our historical approach is that recent land losses caused by hurricanes sometimes commingled with or exacerbated older losses formed during the 1956 to 1978 period. Furthermore, our analyses also show how the immediate impacts of extreme storms can alter the long-term, time-averaged trends of landscape change, thus limiting the range of projections for the future. For this reason, this study does not include trend projections beyond 2015 because of uncertainties related to recovery from the 2005 hurricane season and the potential for other episodic events that could skew future rates of change.

Cost-Effective Mapping of Benthic Habitats in Inland Reservoirs through Split-Beam Sonar, Indicator Kriging, and Historical Geologic Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Venteris, Erik R.; May, Cassandra

2014-04-23

Because bottom substrate composition is an important control on the temporal and spatial location of the aquatic community, accurate maps of benthic habitats of inland lakes and reservoirs provide valuable information to managers, recreational users, and scientists. Therefore, we collected vertical, split-beam sonar data (roughness [E1], hardness [E2], and bathymetry) and sediment samples to make such maps. Statistical calibration between sonar parameters and sediment classes was problematic because the E1:E2 ratios for soft (muck and clay) sediments overlapped a lower and narrower range for hard (gravel) substrates. Thus, we used indicator kriging (IK) to map the probability that unsampled locationsmore » did not contain coarse sediments. To overcome the calibration issue we tested proxies for the natural processes and anthropogenic history of the reservoir as potential predictive variables. Of these, a geologic map proved to be the most useful. The central alluvial valley and mudflats contained mainly muck and organic-rich clays. The surrounding glacial till and shale bedrock uplands contained mainly poorly sorted gravels. Anomalies in the sonar data suggested that the organic-rich sediments also contained trapped gases, presenting additional interpretive issues for the mapping. We extended the capability of inexpensive split-beam sonar units through the incorporation of historic geologic maps and other records as well as validation with dredge samples. Through the integration of information from multiple data sets, were able to objectively identify bottom substrate and provide reservoir users with an accurate map of available benthic habitat.« less

Cost-Effective Mapping of Benthic Habitats in Inland Reservoirs through Split-Beam Sonar, Indicator Kriging, and Historical Geologic Data

PubMed Central

Venteris, Erik R.; May, Cassandra J.

2014-01-01

Because bottom substrate composition is an important control on the temporal and spatial location of the aquatic community, accurate maps of benthic habitats of inland lakes and reservoirs provide valuable information to managers, recreational users, and scientists. Therefore, we collected vertical, split-beam sonar data (roughness [E1], hardness [E2], and bathymetry) and sediment samples to make such maps. Statistical calibration between sonar parameters and sediment classes was problematic because the E1:E2 ratios for soft (muck and clay) sediments overlapped a lower and narrower range for hard (gravel) substrates. Thus, we used indicator kriging (IK) to map the probability that unsampled locations did not contain coarse sediments. To overcome the calibration issue we tested proxies for the natural processes and anthropogenic history of the reservoir as potential predictive variables. Of these, a geologic map proved to be the most useful. The central alluvial valley and mudflats contained mainly muck and organic-rich clays. The surrounding glacial till and shale bedrock uplands contained mainly poorly sorted gravels. Anomalies in the sonar data suggested that the organic-rich sediments also contained trapped gases, presenting additional interpretive issues for the mapping. We extended the capability of inexpensive split-beam sonar units through the incorporation of historic geologic maps and other records as well as validation with dredge samples. Through the integration of information from multiple data sets, were able to objectively identify bottom substrate and provide reservoir users with an accurate map of available benthic habitat. PMID:24759834

Cost-effective mapping of benthic habitats in inland reservoirs through split-beam sonar, indicator kriging, and historical geologic data.

PubMed

Venteris, Erik R; May, Cassandra J

2014-01-01

Because bottom substrate composition is an important control on the temporal and spatial location of the aquatic community, accurate maps of benthic habitats of inland lakes and reservoirs provide valuable information to managers, recreational users, and scientists. Therefore, we collected vertical, split-beam sonar data (roughness [E1], hardness [E2], and bathymetry) and sediment samples to make such maps. Statistical calibration between sonar parameters and sediment classes was problematic because the E1:E2 ratios for soft (muck and clay) sediments overlapped a lower and narrower range for hard (gravel) substrates. Thus, we used indicator kriging (IK) to map the probability that unsampled locations did not contain coarse sediments. To overcome the calibration issue we tested proxies for the natural processes and anthropogenic history of the reservoir as potential predictive variables. Of these, a geologic map proved to be the most useful. The central alluvial valley and mudflats contained mainly muck and organic-rich clays. The surrounding glacial till and shale bedrock uplands contained mainly poorly sorted gravels. Anomalies in the sonar data suggested that the organic-rich sediments also contained trapped gases, presenting additional interpretive issues for the mapping. We extended the capability of inexpensive split-beam sonar units through the incorporation of historic geologic maps and other records as well as validation with dredge samples. Through the integration of information from multiple data sets, were able to objectively identify bottom substrate and provide reservoir users with an accurate map of available benthic habitat.

Walking towards the Past: Loss and Place in Jane Urquhart's "A Map of Glass"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Susan K.

2008-01-01

In this article, the author examines the notions of "loss" and "place" in relation to the mourning of one's personal and historical pasts. In doing so, the author draws upon the psychoanalytical writings of Julia Kristeva in an analysis of Jane Urquhart's 2005 novel "A Map of Glass"--a story about emplacement,…

Aaron's Solution, Instructor's Problem: Teaching Surface Analysis Using GIS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koch, Tom; Denike, Ken

2007-01-01

Teaching GIS is relatively simple, a matter of helping students develop familiarity with the software. Mapping as an aid to thinking is harder to instruct. This article presents a laboratory and lecture package developed to teach the utility of mapping in a course on spatial data analysis. Following a historical review of the use of surface…

"Theory at the Crossroads": Mapping Moments of Mathematics Education Research onto Paradigms of Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stinson, David W.; Walshaw, Margaret

2017-01-01

In this essay, traveling through the past half-century, the authors illustrate how mathematics education research shifted, theoretical, beyond its psychological and mathematical roots. Mapping four historical moments of mathematics education research onto broader paradigms of inquiry, the authors make a case for the field to take up a theoretical…

Genetic mapping of race-specific stem rust resistance in the synthetic hexaploid W7984 x Opata M85 mapping population

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) has historically caused severe yield losses of wheat (Triticum aestivum) worldwide and has been one of the most feared diseases of wheat and barley (Hordeum vulgare). Stem rust has been controlled successfully through the use of resistant varie...

Black Goose's Map of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation in Oklahoma Territory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meadows, William C.

2006-01-01

Plains Indian cultures have left numerous forms of Native drawings in the form of painted and drawn clothing, robes, tipis and tipi liners, shields and shield covers, calendars, ledger books, religious and historical drawings, and maps. Native drawings of geographic features are distinguished from other forms of drawings by their focus on the…

ACHP | News | Four Federal Agencies Honored For Preserve America

Science.gov Websites

project created by Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP). The project and some specifics of the project. What is the mapping project and what are the ultimate goals for it ? The East at Main Street: APIA Mapping Project gathers photographs, videos, memories, and other

Modeling regional-scale wildland fire emissions with the wildland fire emissions information system

Treesearch

Nancy H.F. French; Donald McKenzie; Tyler Erickson; Benjamin Koziol; Michael Billmire; K. Endsley; Naomi K.Y. Scheinerman; Liza Jenkins; Mary E. Miller; Roger Ottmar; Susan Prichard

2014-01-01

As carbon modeling tools become more comprehensive, spatial data are needed to improve quantitative maps of carbon emissions from fire. The Wildland Fire Emissions Information System (WFEIS) provides mapped estimates of carbon emissions from historical forest fires in the United States through a web browser. WFEIS improves access to data and provides a consistent...

Assessing Seismic Hazards - Algorithms, Maps, and Emergency Scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferriz, H.

2007-05-01

Public officials in charge of building codes, land use planning, and emergency response need sound estimates of seismic hazards. Sources may be well defined (e.g., active faults that have a surface trace) or diffuse (e.g., a subduction zone or a blind-thrust belt), but in both cases one can use a deterministic or worst-case scenario approach. For each scenario, a design earthquake is selected based on historic data or the known length of Holocene ruptures (as determined by geologic mapping). Horizontal ground accelerations (HGAs) can then be estimated at different distances from the earthquake epicenter using published attenuation relations (e.g., Seismological Res. Letters, v. 68, 1997) and estimates of the elastic properties of the substrate materials. No good algorithms are available to take into account reflection of elastic waves across other fault planes (e.g., a common effect in California, where there are many strands of the San Andreas fault), or amplification of waves in water-saturated alluvial and lacustrine basins (e.g., the Mexico City basin), but empirical relations can be developed by correlating historic damage patterns with predicted HGAs. The ultimate result is a map of HGAs. With this map, and with additional data on depth to groundwater and geotechnical properties of local soils, a liquefaction susceptibility map can be prepared, using published algorithms (e.g., J. of Geotech. Geoenv. Eng., v. 127, p. 817-833, 2001; Eng. Geology Practice in N. California, p. 579-594, 2001). Finally, the HGA estimates, digital elevation models, geologic structural data, and geotechnical properties of local geologic units can be used to prepare a slope failure susceptibility map (e.g., Eng. Geology Practice in N. California, p. 77-94, 2001). Seismic hazard maps are used by: (1) Building officials to determine areas of the city where special construction codes have to be implemented, and where existing buildings may need to be retrofitted. (2) Planning officials to evaluate plans for new growth (though in most cities land use patterns are historically established). (3) Emergency response officials to plan emergency operations. (4) Insurance commissioners to estimate losses and insurance claims (e.g., with FEMA's software HAZUS).

Using the Stereotype Content Model to examine group depictions in Fascism: An Archival Approach

PubMed Central

Durante, Federica; Volpato, Chiara; Fiske, Susan T.

2013-01-01

The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) suggests potentially universal intergroup depictions. If universal, they should apply across history in archival data. Bridging this gap, we examined social groups descriptions during Italy’s Fascist era. In Study 1, articles published in a Fascist magazine— La Difesa della Razza —were content analyzed, and results submitted to correspondence analysis. Admiration prejudice depicted ingroups; envious and contemptuous prejudices depicted specific outgroups, generally in line with SCM predictions. No paternalistic prejudice appeared; historical reasons might explain this finding. Results also fit the recently developed BIAS Map of behavioral consequences. In Study 2, ninety-six undergraduates rated the content-analysis traits on warmth and competence, without knowing their origin. They corroborated SCM’s interpretations of the archival data. PMID:24403646

The «New Map of Rome» by Giambattista Nolli: a precise representation of the urban space in the 18th century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lelo, Keti; Travaglini, Carlo Maria

2010-05-01

The paper refers to the on going experience of the project "The Historic Atlas of Modern Rome" implemented by CROMA (Centro di ateneo per lo studio di Roma) - University Roma Tre. The project combines research in urban history with geographical information systems, and has as main objective to study the "historic environment" of Rome and its transformations. In 1748, Giovanni Battista Nolli (1692-1756) published his «New Map of Rome» (Nuova Pianta di Roma). This work represents the first geometrically correct representation of Rome within the city walls, and the only map deriving from a topographical survey of which the procedures are known. The map represents a precious source of information and a valid cartographic basis for the study of the successive phases of the city development. The presentation will illustrate the characteristics of this cartographic source, the results obtained from the georeferencing process and the construction of a GIS system for the city of Rome in the 18th century. The described methodology stands at the basis of the first volume of the Atlas, that will be shortly published in printable as well as in digital version, in a CD Rom containing a graphical interface that permits the interactive interrogation of map and databases.

The Application of Typology Method in Historical Building Information Modelling (hbim) Taking the Information Surveying and Mapping of Jiayuguan Fortress Town as AN Example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, D. Y.; Li, K.; Wu, C.

2017-08-01

With the promotion of fine degree of the heritage building surveying and mapping, building information modelling technology(BIM) begins to be used in surveying and mapping, renovation, recording and research of heritage building, called historical building information modelling(HBIM). The hierarchical frameworks of parametric component library of BIM, belonging to the same type with the same parameters, has the same internal logic with archaeological typology which is more and more popular in the age identification of ancient buildings. Compared with the common materials, 2D drawings and photos, typology with HBIM has two advantages — (1) comprehensive building information both in collection and representation and (2) uniform and reasonable classification criteria This paper will take the information surveying and mapping of Jiayuguan Fortress Town as an example to introduce the field work method of information surveying and mapping based on HBIM technology and the construction of Revit family library.And then in order to prove the feasibility and advantage of HBIM technology used in typology method, this paper will identify the age of Guanghua gate tower, Rouyuan gate tower, Wenchang pavilion and the theater building of Jiayuguan Fortress Town with HBIM technology and typology method.

Using a terrestrial ecosystem survey to estimate the historical density of ponderosa pine trees

Treesearch

Scott R. Abella; Charles W. Denton; David G. Brewer; Wayne A. Robbie; Rory W. Steinke; W. Wallace Covington

2011-01-01

Maps of historical tree densities for project areas and landscapes may be useful for a variety of management purposes such as determining site capabilities and planning forest thinning treatments. We used the U.S. Forest Service Region 3 terrestrial ecosystem survey in a novel way to determine if the ecosystem classification is a useful a guide for estimating...

Segregation and Neighborhood Change in Northern Cities: New Historical GIS Data from 1900-1930.

PubMed

Shertzer, Allison; Walsh, Randall P; Logan, John R

2016-01-01

Most quantitative research on segregation and neighborhood change in American cities prior to 1940 has utilized data published by the Census Bureau at the ward level. The transcription of census manuscripts has made it possible to aggregate individual records to a finer level, the enumeration district (ED). Advances in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have facilitated mapping these data, opening new possibilities for historical GIS research. We report here the creation of a mapped public use data set for EDs in ten northern cities for each decade from 1900 to 1930. We illustrate a range of research topics that can now be pursued: recruitment into ethnic neighborhoods, the effects of comprehensive zoning on neighborhood change, and white flight from black neighbors.

Keeping the History in Historical Seismology: The 1872 Owens Valley, California Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hough, Susan E.

2008-07-01

The importance of historical earthquakes is being increasingly recognized. Careful investigations of key pre-instrumental earthquakes can provide critical information and insights for not only seismic hazard assessment but also for earthquake science. In recent years, with the explosive growth in computational sophistication in Earth sciences, researchers have developed increasingly sophisticated methods to analyze macroseismic data quantitatively. These methodological developments can be extremely useful to exploit fully the temporally and spatially rich information source that seismic intensities often represent. For example, the exhaustive and painstaking investigations done by Ambraseys and his colleagues of early Himalayan earthquakes provides information that can be used to map out site response in the Ganges basin. In any investigation of macroseismic data, however, one must stay mindful that intensity values are not data but rather interpretations. The results of any subsequent analysis, regardless of the degree of sophistication of the methodology, will be only as reliable as the interpretations of available accounts—and only as complete as the research done to ferret out, and in many cases translate, these accounts. When intensities are assigned without an appreciation of historical setting and context, seemingly careful subsequent analysis can yield grossly inaccurate results. As a case study, I report here on the results of a recent investigation of the 1872 Owen's Valley, California earthquake. Careful consideration of macroseismic observations reveals that this event was probably larger than the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and possibly the largest historical earthquake in California. The results suggest that some large earthquakes in California will generate significantly larger ground motions than San Andreas fault events of comparable magnitude.

Keeping the History in Historical Seismology: The 1872 Owens Valley, California Earthquake

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hough, Susan E.

2008-07-08

The importance of historical earthquakes is being increasingly recognized. Careful investigations of key pre-instrumental earthquakes can provide critical information and insights for not only seismic hazard assessment but also for earthquake science. In recent years, with the explosive growth in computational sophistication in Earth sciences, researchers have developed increasingly sophisticated methods to analyze macroseismic data quantitatively. These methodological developments can be extremely useful to exploit fully the temporally and spatially rich information source that seismic intensities often represent. For example, the exhaustive and painstaking investigations done by Ambraseys and his colleagues of early Himalayan earthquakes provides information that can bemore » used to map out site response in the Ganges basin. In any investigation of macroseismic data, however, one must stay mindful that intensity values are not data but rather interpretations. The results of any subsequent analysis, regardless of the degree of sophistication of the methodology, will be only as reliable as the interpretations of available accounts - and only as complete as the research done to ferret out, and in many cases translate, these accounts. When intensities are assigned without an appreciation of historical setting and context, seemingly careful subsequent analysis can yield grossly inaccurate results. As a case study, I report here on the results of a recent investigation of the 1872 Owen's Valley, California earthquake. Careful consideration of macroseismic observations reveals that this event was probably larger than the great San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and possibly the largest historical earthquake in California. The results suggest that some large earthquakes in California will generate significantly larger ground motions than San Andreas fault events of comparable magnitude.« less

Quaternary Geology and Liquefaction Susceptibility, Napa, California 1:100,000 Quadrangle: A Digital Database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sowers, Janet M.; Noller, Jay S.; Lettis, William R.

1998-01-01

Earthquake-induced ground failures such as liquefaction have historically brought loss of life and damage to property and infrastructure. Observations of the effects of historical large-magnitude earthquakes show that the distribution of liquefaction phenomena is not random. Liquefaction is restricted to areas underlain by loose, cohesionless sands and silts that are saturated with water. These areas can be delineated on the basis of thorough geologic, geomorphic, and hydrologic mapping and map analysis (Tinsley and Holzer, 1990; Youd and Perkins, 1987). Once potential liquefaction zones are delineated, appropriate public and private agencies can prepare for and mitigate seismic hazard in these zones. In this study, we create a liquefaction susceptibility map of the Napa 1:100,000 quadrangle using Quaternary geologic mapping, analysis of historical liquefaction information, groundwater data, and data from other studies. The study is atterned after state-of-the-art studies by Youd (1973) Dupre and Tinsley (1980) and Dupre (1990) in the Monterey-Santa Cruz area, Tinsley and others (1985) in the Los Angeles area, and Youd and Perkins (1987) in San Mateo County, California. The study area comprises the northern San Francisco Metropolitan Area, including the cities of Santa Rosa, Vallejo, Napa, Novato, Martinez, and Fairfield (Figure 1). Holocene estuarine deposits, Holocene stream deposits, eolian sands, and artificial fill are widely present in the region (Helley and Lajoie, 1979) and are the geologic materials of greatest concern. Six major faults capable of producing large earthquakes cross the study area, including the San Andreas, Rodgers Creek, Hayward, West Napa, Concord, and Green Valley faults (Figure 1).

Utah Flooding Hazard: Raising Public Awareness through the Creation of Multidisciplinary Web-Based Maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castleton, J.; Erickson, B.; Bowman, S. D.; Unger, C. D.

2014-12-01

The Utah Geological Survey's (UGS) Geologic Hazards Program has partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create geologically derived web-based flood hazard maps. Flooding in Utah communities has historically been one of the most damaging geologic hazards. The most serious floods in Utah have generally occurred in the Great Salt Lake basin, particularly in the Weber River drainage on the western slopes of the Wasatch Range, in areas of high population density. With a growing population of 2.9 million, the state of Utah is motivated to raise awareness about the potential for flooding. The process of increasing community resiliency to flooding begins with identification and characterization of flood hazards. Many small communities in areas experiencing rapid growth have not been mapped completely by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). Existing FIRM maps typically only consider drainage areas that are greater than one square mile in determining flood zones and do not incorporate geologic data, such as the presence of young, geologically active alluvial fans that indicate a high potential for debris flows and sheet flooding. Our new flood hazard mapping combines and expands on FEMA data by incorporating mapping derived from 1:24,000-scale UGS geologic maps, LiDAR data, digital elevation models, and historical aerial photography. Our flood hazard maps are intended to supplement the FIRM maps to provide local governments and the public with additional flood hazard information so they may make informed decisions, ultimately reducing the risk to life and property from flooding hazards. Flooding information must be widely available and easily accessed. One of the most effective ways to inform the public is through web-based maps. Web-based flood hazard maps will not only supply the public with the flood information they need, but also provides a platform to add additional geologic hazards to an easily accessible format.

Digitizing Patterns of Power - Cartographic Communication for Digital Humanities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kriz, Karel; Pucher, Alexander; Breier, Markus

2018-05-01

The representation of space in medieval texts, the appropriation of land and the subsequent installation of new structures of power are central research topics of the project "Digitizing Patterns of Power" (DPP). The project focuses on three regional case studies: the Eastern Alps and the Morava-Thaya region, the historical region of Macedonia, and historical Southern Armenia. DPP is a multidisciplinary project, conducted by the Austrian Academy of Sciences the Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO) in cooperation with the University of Vienna, Department of Geography and Regional Research. It is part of an initiative to promote digital humanities research in Austria. DPP brings together expertise from historical and archaeological research as well as cartography and geocommunication to explore medieval geographies. The communication of space, time and spatial interconnectivity is an essential aspect of DPP. By incorporating digital cartographic expertise, relevant facts can be depicted in a more effective visual form. Optimal cartographic visualization of base data as well as the historical and archaeological information in an interactive map-based online platform are important features. However, the multidisciplinary of the project presents the participants with various challenges. The different involved disciplines, among them cartography, archaeology and history each have their own approaches to relevant aspects of geography and geocommunication. This paper treats geocommunication characteristics and approaches to interactive mapping in a historical and archaeological context within a multidisciplinary project environment. The fundamental challenges of cartographic communication within DPP will be presented. Furthermore, recent results on the communication of historical topographic, as well as uncertain thematic content will be demonstrated.

Evaluation of CAESAR-Lisflood as a tool for modelling river channel change and floodplain sediment residence times.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feeney, Christopher; Smith, Hugh; Chiverrell, Richard; Hooke, Janet; Cooper, James

2017-04-01

Sediment residence time represents the duration of particle storage, from initial deposition to remobilisation, within reservoirs such as floodplains. Residence time influences rates of downstream redistribution of sediment and associated contaminants and is a useful indicator of landform stability and hence, preservation potential of alluvial archives of environmental change. River channel change controls residence times, reworking sediments via lateral migration, avulsion and incision through floodplain deposits. As reworking progresses, the floodplain age distribution is 'updated', reflecting the time since 'older' sediments were removed and replaced with 'younger' ones. The relationship between ages and the spatial extents they occupy can be used to estimate the average floodplain sediment residence times. While dating techniques, historic maps and remote sensing can reconstruct age distributions from historic reworking, modelling provides advantages, including: i) capturing detailed river channel changes and resulting floodplain ages over longer timescales and higher resolutions than from historic mapping, and ii) control over inputs to simulate hypothetical scenarios to investigate the effects of different environmental drivers on residence times. CAESAR-Lisflood is a landform evolution model capable of simulating variable channel width, divergent flow, and both braided and meandering planforms. However, the model's ability to accurately simulate channel changes requires evaluation if it is to be useful for quantitative evaluation of floodplain sediment residence times. This study aims to simulate recent historic river channel changes along ten 1 km reaches in northern England. Simulation periods were defined by available overlapping historic map and mean daily flow datasets, ranging 27-39 years. LiDAR-derived 2 m DEMs were modified to smooth out present-day channels and burn in historic channel locations. To reduce run times, DEMs were resampled to coarser resolutions based on the size of the channel and historic rate of lateral channel migration. Separate pre-defined coarse and finer channel bed and floodplain grain size distributions were used, respectively, in combination with constructed reach DEMs for model simulations. Calibration was performed by modifying selected parameters to obtain best fits between observed and modelled channel planforms. Initial simulations suggest the model can broadly reproduce observed planform change and is comparable in terms of channel sinuosities and the mean radius of curvature. As such, CAESAR-Lisflood may provide a useful tool for evaluating floodplain sediment residence times under environmental change scenarios.

Issues in testing the new national seismic hazard model for Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stein, S.; Peresan, A.; Kossobokov, V. G.; Brooks, E. M.; Spencer, B. D.

2016-12-01

It is important to bear in mind that we know little about how earthquake hazard maps actually describe the shaking that will actually occur in the future, and have no agreed way of assessing how well a map performed in the past, and, thus, whether one map performs better than another. Moreover, we should not forget that different maps can be useful for different end users, who may have different cost-and-benefit strategies. Thus, regardless of the specific tests we chose to use, the adopted testing approach should have several key features: We should assess map performance using all the available instrumental, paleo seismology, and historical intensity data. Instrumental data alone span a period much too short to capture the largest earthquakes - and thus strongest shaking - expected from most faults. We should investigate what causes systematic misfit, if any, between the longest record we have - historical intensity data available for the Italian territory from 217 B.C. to 2002 A.D. - and a given hazard map. We should compare how seismic hazard maps developed over time. How do the most recent maps for Italy compare to earlier ones? It is important to understand local divergences that show how the models are developing to the most recent one. The temporal succession of maps is important: we have to learn from previous errors. We should use the many different tests that have been proposed. All are worth trying, because different metrics of performance show different aspects of how a hazard map performs and can be used. We should compare other maps to the ones we are testing. Maps can be made using a wide variety of assumptions, which will lead to different predicted shaking. It is possible that maps derived by other approaches may perform better. Although Italian current codes are based on probabilistic maps, it is important from both a scientific and societal perspective to look at all options including deterministic scenario based ones. Comparing what works better, according to different performance measures, will give valuable insight into key map parameters and assumptions. We may well find that different maps perform better in different applications.

National assessment of shoreline change part 4: historical coastal cliff retreat along the California coast

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hapke, Cheryl J.; Reid, David

2007-01-01

Coastal cliff retreat, the landward migration of the cliff face, is a chronic problem along many rocky coastlines in the United States. As coastal populations continue to grow and community infrastructures are threatened by erosion, there is increased demand for accurate information regarding trends and rates of coastal cliff retreat. There is also a need for a comprehensive analysis of cliff retreat that is consistent from one coastal region to another. To meet these national needs, the U.S. Geological Survey is conducting an analysis of historical coastal cliff retreat along open-ocean rocky coastlines of the conterminous United States and parts of Hawaii, Alaska, and the Great Lakes. One purpose of this work is to develop standard repeatable methods for mapping and analyzing coastal cliff retreat so that periodic updates of coastal erosion can be made nationally that are systematic and internally consistent. This report on the California Coast is an accompaniment to a report on long-term sandy shoreline change for California. This report summarizes the methods of analysis, interprets the results, and provides explanations regarding long-term rates of cliff retreat. Neither detailed background information on the National Assessment of Shoreline Change Project nor detailed descriptions of the geology and geomorphology of the California coastline are presented in this report. The reader is referred to the shoreline change report (Hapke et al., 2006) for this type of background information. Cliff retreat evaluations are based on comparing one historical cliff edge digitized from maps, with a recent cliff edge interpreted from lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) topographic surveys. The historical cliff edges are from a period ranging from 1920-1930, whereas the lidar cliff edges are from either 1998 or 2002. Long-term (~70-year) rates of retreat are calculated using the two cliff edges. The rates of retreat presented in this report represent conditions from the 1930s to 1998, and are not intended for predicting future cliff edge positions or rates of retreat. Due to the geomorphology of much of California's rocky coast (high-relief, steep slopes with no defined cliff edge) as well as to gaps in both the historical maps and lidar data, we were able to derive two cliff edges and therefore calculate cliff retreat rates for a total of 353 km. The average rate of coastal cliff retreat for the State of California was -0.3?0.2 m/yr, based on rates averaged from 17,653 individual transects measured throughout all areas of California's rocky coastline. The average amount of cliff retreat was 17.7 m over the 70-year time period of our analysis. Retreat rates were generally lowest in Southern California where coastal engineering projects have greatly altered the natural coastal system. California permits shoreline stabilization structures where homes, buildings or other community infrastructure are imminently threatened by erosion. While seawalls and/or riprap revetments have been constructed in all three sections of California, a larger proportion of the Southern California coast has been protected by engineering works, due, in part, to the larger population pressures in this area.

10 th of July, 1894 İstanbul Earthquake (Marmara Sea, Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaltırak, Cenk; Şahin, Murat

2017-04-01

The sea of Marmara is a region with the longest historical earthquake record of our planet. The earthquake of 10 July 1894 in Istanbul is the last earthquake of the historical period before the beginning of the instrumental period in the region. The magnitude and location of this earthquake and also its relationship with the North Anatolian Fault should be discussed in literature. Previous studies have not fully analyzed the historical data of 1894 earthquakes. For this reason, conflicting views are put forward regarding an earthquake in Marmara in the future. According to the historical records, the major damage was in the Istanbul Peninsula, Avcılar, Adalar, Karamürsel and Yalova. Due to its formation properties, it was effective in remote areas (İzmit, Gölcük, Adapazarı). It is clear that the most damage was in Old Istanbul and Prince Island. The tension cracks in different directions were observed in Heybeliada, Büyükada and Burgazada. There are observations to be interpreted as a tsunami wave about one and a half meter-height between Avcılar and Kartal. The submarine telegraph line extending from Kartal to Marmara Sea was broken at three points in the east of Büyükada. According to the damage assessment after the earthquake and other observations, it is understood that this earthquake was along the Adalar Fault. When considering seismic and multibeam data, it is apparent that the Adalar Fault was composed of echolon segments. The submarine landslides were mapped in front of the fault scarp. The Adalar Fault is a 45 km-long, 80o SW-dipping right-lateral normal oblique fault. The tsunami scenarios that we modelld along this fault are compatible with historical observations along the coast of İstanbul. Our GIS-based intensity scenario shows that the magnitude of the 1894 Istanbul Earthquake is Mw 7.

Reconstruction of spatially detailed global map of NH4+ and NO3- application in synthetic nitrogen fertilizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishina, Kazuya; Ito, Akihiko; Hanasaki, Naota; Hayashi, Seiji

2017-02-01

Currently, available historical global N fertilizer map as an input data to global biogeochemical model is still limited and existing maps were not considered NH4+ and NO3- in the fertilizer application rates. This paper provides a method for constructing a new historical global nitrogen fertilizer application map (0.5° × 0.5° resolution) for the period 1961-2010 based on country-specific information from Food and Agriculture Organization statistics (FAOSTAT) and various global datasets. This new map incorporates the fraction of NH4+ (and NO3-) in N fertilizer inputs by utilizing fertilizer species information in FAOSTAT, in which species can be categorized as NH4+- and/or NO3--forming N fertilizers. During data processing, we applied a statistical data imputation method for the missing data (19 % of national N fertilizer consumption) in FAOSTAT. The multiple imputation method enabled us to fill gaps in the time-series data using plausible values using covariates information (year, population, GDP, and crop area). After the imputation, we downscaled the national consumption data to a gridded cropland map. Also, we applied the multiple imputation method to the available chemical fertilizer species consumption, allowing for the estimation of the NH4+ / NO3- ratio in national fertilizer consumption. In this study, the synthetic N fertilizer inputs in 2000 showed a general consistency with the existing N fertilizer map (Potter et al., 2010) in relation to the ranges of N fertilizer inputs. Globally, the estimated N fertilizer inputs based on the sum of filled data increased from 15 to 110 Tg-N during 1961-2010. On the other hand, the global NO3- input started to decline after the late 1980s and the fraction of NO3- in global N fertilizer decreased consistently from 35 to 13 % over a 50-year period. NH4+-forming fertilizers are dominant in most countries; however, the NH4+ / NO3- ratio in N fertilizer inputs shows clear differences temporally and geographically. This new map can be utilized as input data to global model studies and bring new insights for the assessment of historical terrestrial N cycling changes. Datasets available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.861203.

Maize centromere structure and evolution: sequence analysis of centromeres 2 and 5 reveals dynamic Loci shaped primarily by retrotransposons.

PubMed

Wolfgruber, Thomas K; Sharma, Anupma; Schneider, Kevin L; Albert, Patrice S; Koo, Dal-Hoe; Shi, Jinghua; Gao, Zhi; Han, Fangpu; Lee, Hyeran; Xu, Ronghui; Allison, Jamie; Birchler, James A; Jiang, Jiming; Dawe, R Kelly; Presting, Gernot G

2009-11-01

We describe a comprehensive and general approach for mapping centromeres and present a detailed characterization of two maize centromeres. Centromeres are difficult to map and analyze because they consist primarily of repetitive DNA sequences, which in maize are the tandem satellite repeat CentC and interspersed centromeric retrotransposons of maize (CRM). Centromeres are defined epigenetically by the centromeric histone H3 variant, CENH3. Using novel markers derived from centromere repeats, we have mapped all ten centromeres onto the physical and genetic maps of maize. We were able to completely traverse centromeres 2 and 5, confirm physical maps by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and delineate their functional regions by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with anti-CENH3 antibody followed by pyrosequencing. These two centromeres differ substantially in size, apparent CENH3 density, and arrangement of centromeric repeats; and they are larger than the rice centromeres characterized to date. Furthermore, centromere 5 consists of two distinct CENH3 domains that are separated by several megabases. Succession of centromere repeat classes is evidenced by the fact that elements belonging to the recently active recombinant subgroups of CRM1 colonize the present day centromeres, while elements of the ancestral subgroups are also found in the flanking regions. Using abundant CRM and non-CRM retrotransposons that inserted in and near these two centromeres to create a historical record of centromere location, we show that maize centromeres are fluid genomic regions whose borders are heavily influenced by the interplay of retrotransposons and epigenetic marks. Furthermore, we propose that CRMs may be involved in removal of centromeric DNA (specifically CentC), invasion of centromeres by non-CRM retrotransposons, and local repositioning of the CENH3.

Maize Centromere Structure and Evolution: Sequence Analysis of Centromeres 2 and 5 Reveals Dynamic Loci Shaped Primarily by Retrotransposons

PubMed Central

Albert, Patrice S.; Koo, Dal-Hoe; Shi, Jinghua; Gao, Zhi; Han, Fangpu; Lee, Hyeran; Xu, Ronghui; Allison, Jamie; Birchler, James A.; Jiang, Jiming; Dawe, R. Kelly; Presting, Gernot G.

2009-01-01

We describe a comprehensive and general approach for mapping centromeres and present a detailed characterization of two maize centromeres. Centromeres are difficult to map and analyze because they consist primarily of repetitive DNA sequences, which in maize are the tandem satellite repeat CentC and interspersed centromeric retrotransposons of maize (CRM). Centromeres are defined epigenetically by the centromeric histone H3 variant, CENH3. Using novel markers derived from centromere repeats, we have mapped all ten centromeres onto the physical and genetic maps of maize. We were able to completely traverse centromeres 2 and 5, confirm physical maps by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and delineate their functional regions by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with anti-CENH3 antibody followed by pyrosequencing. These two centromeres differ substantially in size, apparent CENH3 density, and arrangement of centromeric repeats; and they are larger than the rice centromeres characterized to date. Furthermore, centromere 5 consists of two distinct CENH3 domains that are separated by several megabases. Succession of centromere repeat classes is evidenced by the fact that elements belonging to the recently active recombinant subgroups of CRM1 colonize the present day centromeres, while elements of the ancestral subgroups are also found in the flanking regions. Using abundant CRM and non-CRM retrotransposons that inserted in and near these two centromeres to create a historical record of centromere location, we show that maize centromeres are fluid genomic regions whose borders are heavily influenced by the interplay of retrotransposons and epigenetic marks. Furthermore, we propose that CRMs may be involved in removal of centromeric DNA (specifically CentC), invasion of centromeres by non-CRM retrotransposons, and local repositioning of the CENH3. PMID:19956743

Digital Humanities: Envisioning a Collaborative Tool for Mapping, Evaluating, and Sharing Reconstructed Colonial American Parcel Maps

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruvane, Mary Brent

2012-01-01

The use of GIS technology for the humanities has opened up new avenues for visually exploring and asking questions of our nation's historical record. The potential to harness new knowledge with tools designed to capture and preserve geographic links to the artifacts of our past is within our grasp. This research explores the common information…

A Critical Review of Concept Mapping Research Literature: Informing Teaching and Learning Practices in GED Preparation Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Larry G.; Martin, Fatima A.; Southworth, Erica

2015-01-01

Concept maps (Cmaps) are still underutilized in adult literacy programs and classes. The teaching and learning approaches that have been used historically in adult literacy programs to address the learning needs of these students have not kept pace with the literacy skill demands that have sprung from the increased pace of technological…

Anthropogenic Transformation of the Biomes, 1700 to 2000

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellis, E. C.; Lightman, D.; Klein Goldewijk, K.; Ramankutty, N.

2008-12-01

Current global patterns of terrestrial ecosystem form and process are now predominantly anthropogenic as a result of land use and other direct human interactions with ecosystems. This study investigates anthropogenic transformation of the terrestrial biosphere over the course of the industrial revolution by mapping and characterizing global transitions between wild and anthropogenic biomes between 1700 and 2000. A global map of potential natural vegetation was used to represent wild biomes. Anthropogenic biomes were mapped for 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2000 using rule-based classification of current and historical global data for human population density, urban area and percent land cover by cultivated crops (rainfed, irrigated, and rice) and pastures. By assuming that wild, climate-driven, biome patterns have been relatively constant since 1700, transitions between wild and anthropogenic biomes were characterized between 1700 and 2000 at century intervals. Historical analysis of wild to anthropogenic biome transitions reveal the global transition from a primarily wild to a primarily anthropogenic terrestrial biosphere. Moreover, by mapping and examining global transitions between wild and anthropogenic biome classes, we provide a simple framework for assessing and modeling both past and future global biotic and ecological patterns in the light of the extent, intensity and duration of their modification by humans.

Reported historic asbestos mines, historic asbestos prospects, and other natural occurrences of asbestos in California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Gosen, Bradley S.; Clinkenbeard, John P.

2011-01-01

The map (Plate.pdf), pamphlet (Pamphlet.pdf), and the accompanying datasets in this report provide information for 290 sites in California where asbestos occurs in natural settings, using descriptions found in the geologic literature. Data on location, mineralogy, geology, and relevant literature for each asbestos site are provided. Using the map and digital data in this report, the user can examine the distribution of previously reported asbestos and their geological characteristics in California. This report is part of an ongoing study by the U.S. Geological Survey to identify and map sites where asbestos mineralization occurs in the United States, which includes similar maps and datasets of natural asbestos localities within the Eastern United States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1189/), the Central United States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1211/), the Rocky Mountain States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1182/), the Southwestern United States (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1095/), and the Northwestern United States (Oregon and Washington) (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1041/). These reports are intended to provide State and local government agencies and other stakeholders with geologic information on reported asbestos mineralization in the United States.

U.S. Energy Disruptions

EIA Publications

EIA tracks and reports on selected significant storms that impact or could potentially impact energy infrastructure. See past historical events reported or real-time storm tracking with energy infrastructure maps.

Remote sensing investigations of fugitive soil arsenic and its effects on vegetation reflectance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slonecker, E. Terrence

2007-12-01

Three different remote sensing technologies were evaluated in support of the remediation of fugitive arsenic and other hazardous waste-related risks to human and ecological health at the Spring Valley Formerly Used Defense Site in northwest Washington D.C., an area of widespread soil arsenic contamination as a result of World War I research and development of chemical weapons. The first evaluation involved the value of information derived from the interpretation of historical aerial photographs. Historical aerial photographs dating back as far as 1918 provided a wealth of information about chemical weapons testing, storage, handling and disposal of these hazardous materials. When analyzed by a trained photo-analyst, the 1918 aerial photographs resulted in 42 features of potential interest. When compared with current remedial activities and known areas of contamination, 33 of 42 or 78.5 % of the features were spatially correlated with current areas of contamination or remedial activity. The second investigation involved the phytoremediation of arsenic through the use of Pteris ferns and the evaluation of the spectral properties of these ferns. Three hundred ferns were grown in controlled laboratory conditions in soils amended with five levels (0, 20, 50, 100 and 200 parts per million) of sodium arsenate. After 20 weeks, the Pteris ferns were shown to have an average uptake concentration of over 4,000 parts per million each. Additionally, statistical analysis of the spectral signature from each fern showed that the frond arsenic concentration could be reasonably predicted with a linear model when the concentration was equal or greater than 500 parts per million. Third, hyperspectral imagery of Spring Valley was obtained and analyzed with a suite of spectral analysis software tools. Results showed the grasses growing in areas of known high soil arsenic could be identified and mapped at an approximate 85% level of accuracy when the hyperspectral image was processed with a linear spectral unmixing algorithm and mapped with a maximum likelihood classifier. The information provided by these various remote sensing technologies presents a non-contact and potentially important alternative to the information needs of the hazardous waste remediation process, and is an important area for future environmental research.

Endmembers of Ice Shelf Melt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boghosian, A.; Child, S. F.; Kingslake, J.; Tedesco, M.; Bell, R. E.; Alexandrov, O.; McMichael, S.

2017-12-01

Studies of surface melt on ice shelves have defined a spectrum of meltwater behavior. On one end the storage of meltwater in persistent surface ponds can trigger ice shelf collapse as in the 2002 event leading to the disintegration of the Larsen B Ice Shelf. On the other, meltwater export by rivers can stabilize an ice shelf as was recently shown on the Nansen Ice Shelf. We explore this dichotomy by quantifying the partitioning between stored and transported water on two glaciers adjacent to floating ice shelves, Nimrod (Antarctica) and Peterman (Greenland). We analyze optical satellite imagery (LANDSAT, WorldView), airborne imagery (Operation IceBridge, Trimetrogon Aerial Phototography), satellite radar (Sentinel-1), and digital elevation models (DEMs) to categorize surface meltwater fate and map the evolution of ice shelf hydrology and topographic features through time. On the floating Peterman Glacier tongue a sizable river exports water to the ocean. The surface hydrology of Nimrod Glacier, geometrically similar to Peterman but with ten times shallower surface slope, is dominated by storage in surface lakes. In contrast, the Nansen has the same surface slope as Nimrod but transports water through surface rivers. Slope alone is not the sole control on ice shelf hydrology. It is essential to track the storage and transport volumes for each of these systems. To estimate water storage and transport we analyze high resolution (40 cm - 2 m) modern and historical DEMs. We produce historical (1957 onwards) DEMs with structure-from-motion photogrammetry. The DEMs are used to constrain water storage potential estimates of observed basins and water routing/transport potential. We quantify the total volume of water stored seasonally and interannually. We use the normalize difference water index to map meltwater extent, and estimate lake water depth from optical data. We also consider the role of stored water in subsurface aquifers in recharging surface water after observing a pond and river reemerge after apparently freezing during the 2016-17 melt season. Using the ponds/rivers endmember scheme helps us to constrain the role storage and transport play on stabilizing ice shelves. By extending this analysis to other ice tongues and shelves we can better understand their vulnerability to a warming world.

Risk mapping of West Nile virus circulation in Spain, 2015.

PubMed

Sánchez-Gómez, Amaya; Amela, Carmen; Fernández-Carrión, Eduardo; Martínez-Avilés, Marta; Sánchez-Vizcaíno, José Manuel; Sierra-Moros, María José

2017-05-01

West Nile fever is an emergent disease in Europe. The objective of this study was to conduct a predictive risk mapping of West Nile Virus (WNV) circulation in Spain based on historical data of WNV circulation. Areas of Spain with evidence of WNV circulation were mapped based on data from notifications to the surveillance systems and a literature review. A logistic regression-based spatial model was used to assess the probability of WNV circulation. Data were analyzed at municipality level. Mean temperatures of the period from June to October, presence of wetlands and presence of Special Protection Areas for birds were considered as potential predictors. Two predictors of WNV circulation were identified: higher temperature [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.07, 95% CI 1.82-2.35, p<0.01] and presence of wetlands (3.37, 95% CI 1.89-5.99, p<0.01). Model validations indicated good predictions: area under the ROC curve was 0.895 (95% CI 0.870-0.919) for internal validation and 0.895 (95% CI 0.840-0.951) for external validation. This model could support improvements of WNV risk- based surveillance in Spain. The importance of a comprehensive surveillance for WNF, including human, animal and potential vectors is highlighted, which could additionally result in model refinements. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Spatial Framework for Understanding Population Structure and Admixture.

PubMed

Bradburd, Gideon S; Ralph, Peter L; Coop, Graham M

2016-01-01

Geographic patterns of genetic variation within modern populations, produced by complex histories of migration, can be difficult to infer and visually summarize. A general consequence of geographically limited dispersal is that samples from nearby locations tend to be more closely related than samples from distant locations, and so genetic covariance often recapitulates geographic proximity. We use genome-wide polymorphism data to build "geogenetic maps," which, when applied to stationary populations, produces a map of the geographic positions of the populations, but with distances distorted to reflect historical rates of gene flow. In the underlying model, allele frequency covariance is a decreasing function of geogenetic distance, and nonlocal gene flow such as admixture can be identified as anomalously strong covariance over long distances. This admixture is explicitly co-estimated and depicted as arrows, from the source of admixture to the recipient, on the geogenetic map. We demonstrate the utility of this method on a circum-Tibetan sampling of the greenish warbler (Phylloscopus trochiloides), in which we find evidence for gene flow between the adjacent, terminal populations of the ring species. We also analyze a global sampling of human populations, for which we largely recover the geography of the sampling, with support for significant histories of admixture in many samples. This new tool for understanding and visualizing patterns of population structure is implemented in a Bayesian framework in the program SpaceMix.

A Spatial Framework for Understanding Population Structure and Admixture

PubMed Central

Bradburd, Gideon S.; Ralph, Peter L.; Coop, Graham M.

2016-01-01

Geographic patterns of genetic variation within modern populations, produced by complex histories of migration, can be difficult to infer and visually summarize. A general consequence of geographically limited dispersal is that samples from nearby locations tend to be more closely related than samples from distant locations, and so genetic covariance often recapitulates geographic proximity. We use genome-wide polymorphism data to build “geogenetic maps,” which, when applied to stationary populations, produces a map of the geographic positions of the populations, but with distances distorted to reflect historical rates of gene flow. In the underlying model, allele frequency covariance is a decreasing function of geogenetic distance, and nonlocal gene flow such as admixture can be identified as anomalously strong covariance over long distances. This admixture is explicitly co-estimated and depicted as arrows, from the source of admixture to the recipient, on the geogenetic map. We demonstrate the utility of this method on a circum-Tibetan sampling of the greenish warbler (Phylloscopus trochiloides), in which we find evidence for gene flow between the adjacent, terminal populations of the ring species. We also analyze a global sampling of human populations, for which we largely recover the geography of the sampling, with support for significant histories of admixture in many samples. This new tool for understanding and visualizing patterns of population structure is implemented in a Bayesian framework in the program SpaceMix. PMID:26771578

Improving the Awareness of the Influence of Geography Upon Historical Events in Ancient Mesopotamia and in Ancient Egypt in Ninth Grade World History Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milton, Henry

This practicum was designed to incorporate the study of geography into a ninth grade world history class with the aim of improving student awareness of the influence of geography upon the historical development of ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. By means of a questionnaire and map tests it was determined that ninth grade world history…

Geotechnical Evaluation of the Brownsville Levee Cracking and Partial Slope Failure

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-06-01

Service, Palo Alto Battlefield, Palo Alto, TX, for early historic map data. The discussion that follows presents various forms of historical information...properties for use in the geotechnical analysis. CPT data were used to identify a riverbank and a levee formed of mainly fine-grained, low shear strength...size, mineralogy, consistency, stiffness, presence of mottling, occurrence of concretions, organics, fossils , buried soil horizons, and other

Using simulated historical time series to prioritize fuel treatments on landscapes across the United States: The LANDFIRE prototype project

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keane, Robert E.; Rollins, Matthew; Zhu, Zhi-Liang

2007-01-01

Canopy and surface fuels in many fire-prone forests of the United States have increased over the last 70 years as a result of modern fire exclusion policies, grazing, and other land management activities. The Healthy Forest Restoration Act and National Fire Plan establish a national commitment to reduce fire hazard and restore fire-adapted ecosystems across the USA. The primary index used to prioritize treatment areas across the nation is Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC) computed as departures of current conditions from the historical fire and landscape conditions. This paper describes a process that uses an extensive set of ecological models to map FRCC from a departure statistic computed from simulated time series of historical landscape composition. This mapping process uses a data-driven, biophysical approach where georeferenced field data, biogeochemical simulation models, and spatial data libraries are integrated using spatial statistical modeling to map environmental gradients that are then used to predict vegetation and fuels characteristics over space. These characteristics are then fed into a landscape fire and succession simulation model to simulate a time series of historical landscape compositions that are then compared to the composition of current landscapes to compute departure, and the FRCC values. Intermediate products from this process are then used to create ancillary vegetation, fuels, and fire regime layers that are useful in the eventual planning and implementation of fuel and restoration treatments at local scales. The complex integration of varied ecological models at different scales is described and problems encountered during the implementation of this process in the LANDFIRE prototype project are addressed.

HANZE: a pan-European database of exposure to natural hazards and damaging historical floods since 1870

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paprotny, Dominik; Morales-Nápoles, Oswaldo; Jonkman, Sebastiaan N.

2018-03-01

The influence of social and economic change on the consequences of natural hazards has been a matter of much interest recently. However, there is a lack of comprehensive, high-resolution data on historical changes in land use, population, or assets available to study this topic. Here, we present the Historical Analysis of Natural Hazards in Europe (HANZE) database, which contains two parts: (1) HANZE-Exposure with maps for 37 countries and territories from 1870 to 2020 in 100 m resolution and (2) HANZE-Events, a compilation of past disasters with information on dates, locations, and losses, currently limited to floods only. The database was constructed using high-resolution maps of present land use and population, a large compilation of historical statistics, and relatively simple disaggregation techniques and rule-based land use reallocation schemes. Data encompassed in HANZE allow one to "normalize" information on losses due to natural hazards by taking into account inflation as well as changes in population, production, and wealth. This database of past events currently contains 1564 records (1870-2016) of flash, river, coastal, and compound floods. The HANZE database is freely available at https://data.4tu.nl/repository/collection:HANZE.

Incorporating Land-Use Mapping Uncertainty in Remote Sensing Based Calibration of Land-Use Change Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cockx, K.; Van de Voorde, T.; Canters, F.; Poelmans, L.; Uljee, I.; Engelen, G.; de Jong, K.; Karssenberg, D.; van der Kwast, J.

2013-05-01

Building urban growth models typically involves a process of historic calibration based on historic time series of land-use maps, usually obtained from satellite imagery. Both the remote sensing data analysis to infer land use and the subsequent modelling of land-use change are subject to uncertainties, which may have an impact on the accuracy of future land-use predictions. Our research aims to quantify and reduce these uncertainties by means of a particle filter data assimilation approach that incorporates uncertainty in land-use mapping and land-use model parameter assessment into the calibration process. This paper focuses on part of this work, more in particular the modelling of uncertainties associated with the impervious surface cover estimation and urban land-use classification adopted in the land-use mapping approach. Both stages are submitted to a Monte Carlo simulation to assess their relative contribution to and their combined impact on the uncertainty in the derived land-use maps. The approach was applied on the central part of the Flanders region (Belgium), using a time-series of Landsat/SPOT-HRV data covering the years 1987, 1996, 2005 and 2012. Although the most likely land-use map obtained from the simulation is very similar to the original classification, it is shown that the errors related to the impervious surface sub-pixel fraction estimation have a strong impact on the land-use map's uncertainty. Hence, incorporating uncertainty in the land-use change model calibration through particle filter data assimilation is proposed to address the uncertainty observed in the derived land-use maps and to reduce uncertainty in future land-use predictions.

NOAA Data Rescue of Key Solar Databases and Digitization of Historical Solar Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coffey, H. E.

2006-08-01

Over a number of years, the staff at NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) has worked to rescue key solar databases by converting them to digital format and making them available via the World Wide Web. NOAA has had several data rescue programs where staff compete for funds to rescue important and critical historical data that are languishing in archives and at risk of being lost due to deteriorating condition, loss of any metadata or descriptive text that describe the databases, lack of interest or funding in maintaining databases, etc. The Solar-Terrestrial Physics Division at NGDC was able to obtain funds to key in some critical historical tabular databases. Recently the NOAA Climate Database Modernization Program (CDMP) funded a project to digitize historical solar images, producing a large online database of historical daily full disk solar images. The images include the wavelengths Calcium K, Hydrogen Alpha, and white light photos, as well as sunspot drawings and the comprehensive drawings of a multitude of solar phenomena on one daily map (Fraunhofer maps and Wendelstein drawings). Included in the digitization are high resolution solar H-alpha images taken at the Boulder Solar Observatory 1967-1984. The scanned daily images document many phases of solar activity, from decadal variation to rotational variation to daily changes. Smaller versions are available online. Larger versions are available by request. See http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/SOLAR/ftpsolarimages.html. The tabular listings and solar imagery will be discussed.

Options for monitoring and estimating historical carbon emissions from forest degradation in the context of REDD+

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Measuring forest degradation and related forest carbon stock changes is more challenging than measuring deforestation since degradation implies changes in the structure of the forest and does not entail a change in land use, making it less easily detectable through remote sensing. Although we anticipate the use of the IPCC guidance under the United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), there is no one single method for monitoring forest degradation for the case of REDD+ policy. In this review paper we highlight that the choice depends upon a number of factors including the type of degradation, available historical data, capacities and resources, and the potentials and limitations of various measurement and monitoring approaches. Current degradation rates can be measured through field data (i.e. multi-date national forest inventories and permanent sample plot data, commercial forestry data sets, proxy data from domestic markets) and/or remote sensing data (i.e. direct mapping of canopy and forest structural changes or indirect mapping through modelling approaches), with the combination of techniques providing the best options. Developing countries frequently lack consistent historical field data for assessing past forest degradation, and so must rely more on remote sensing approaches mixed with current field assessments of carbon stock changes. Historical degradation estimates will have larger uncertainties as it will be difficult to determine their accuracy. However improving monitoring capacities for systematic forest degradation estimates today will help reduce uncertainties even for historical estimates. PMID:22115360

Study of settlement distribution pattern in the Kolkheti lowland (Black Sea coast of Georgia) starting from early Bronze Age - natural and human influence and adaptation to landscape evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elashvili, Mikheil; Akhvlediani, Dimitri; Navrozashvili, Levan; Sukhishvili, Lasha; Kirkitadze, Giorgi; Kelterbaum, Daniel; Laermans, Hannes

2015-04-01

During the past decades the question of a changing environment/nature became crucial. Actually we are trying to understand its nature or to predict future changes and their possible effects represent the main goals of many interdisciplinary studies. Therefore, the study of paleoenvironmental changes delivers key information for a better understanding of the whole process and especially the influence of these changes on human society. The selected research topic is dictated by the fact that the Colchis lowland played an important role in the history of old societies (countries and empires). Especially the interaction between developing human societies under the pressure of a changing environment are most interesting in this context. The Kolkheti valley and the Black Sea shore represent a region involved in many global historical events, starting from the Myth of Argonauts and followed by the ancient greek colonization, the Kingdom of Pontus ending at the Roman and Byzantine empires. River Phasis (present Rioni) was an important segment in trade way between the Mediterranean and India and the East in general. In addition it is the area of the "lost or vanished" city of Phasis, an ancient and early medieval city, founded in the 7th or 6th century BC as a colony of the Milesian Greeks at the mouth of the river Phasis, near the modern-day seaport Poti. Considering the local history of Georgia, this is the area of formation of the Kolkhys (Colchis) culture in late bronze-early iron periods, forming Colchis and later on the Lazika kingdoms. It is important to note that the archaeology and geomorphology of the seashore of Georgia is rather scarcely studied (mainly in the 1970s during soviet era). It is quite clear that the history of the region will not be deciphered without the reconstruction of the paleo and historical environment. The study based on an ongoing collaboration between the University of Cologne and the Ilia State University. Actually, geomorphological and archaeological datasets are collected in the joint-venture project and in addition with known historical and old topographic maps of the region they represent a good start for the research. There are typical ancient settlements in the Kolkheti lowland, called locally "Dikhagudzuba", which are still identifiable on aerial imagery. Their structure, physical dimensions and locations were analyzed from aerial and on site studies. Data from existing archaeological studies and recent field works were analyzed to create a reliable database on the distribution of Bronze Age settlements. Changes in paleoclimate, sea level and river deltas represent the main components to form a paleolandscape of the study area. Based on the results of recent fieldwork and the analyses of regional historical maps in addition with the general geological and geomorphological settings paleogeographical scenarios were constructed. Proposed models of past landscape changes and human settlement pattern were merged and analyzed. From one hand the human settlement distribution (taking into account tells relation with the local landscape of the same period) help us to identify the best suitable scenario from the set of paleolandscape patterns. Moreover, paleogeographical scenarios provide a better understanding on the erection of human settlements in the past, and their influence and adaptation to ongoing changes.

Crop Frequency Mapping for Land Use Intensity Estimation During Three Decades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, Michael; Tindall, Dan

2016-08-01

Crop extent and frequency maps are an important input to inform the debate around land value and competitive land uses, food security and sustainability of agricultural practices. Such spatial datasets are likely to support decisions on natural resource management, planning and policy. The complete Landsat Time Series (LTS) archive for 23 Landsat footprints in western Queensland from 1987 to 2015 was used in a multi-temporal mapping approach. Spatial, spectral and temporal information were combined in multiple crop-modelling steps, supported by on ground training data sampled across space and time for the classes Crop and No-Crop. Temporal information within summer and winter growing seasons for each year were summarised, and combined with various vegetation indices and band ratios computed from a mid-season spectral-composite image. All available temporal information was spatially aggregated to the scale of image segments in the mid- season composite for each growing season and used to train a random forest classifier for a Crop and No- Crop classification. Validation revealed that the predictive accuracy varied by growing season and region to be within k = 0.88 to 0.97 and are thus suitable for mapping current and historic cropping activity. Crop frequency maps were produced for all regions at different time intervals. The crop frequency maps were validated separately with a historic crop information time series. Different land use intensities and conversions e.g. from agricultural to pastures are apparent and potential drivers of these conversions are discussed.

Regional and local increases in storm intensity in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA, between 1890 and 2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, Tess A.; Fisher, Andrew T.; Winslow, Dustin M.

2013-04-01

Studies of extreme precipitation have documented changes at the continental scale during the twentieth century, but few studies have quantified changes at small to regional spatial scales during the same time. We analyze historic data from over 600 precipitation stations in the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA), California, to assess whether there have been statistically significant changes in extreme precipitation between 1890 and 2010. An annual exceedance probability analysis of extreme precipitation events in the SFBA, coupled with a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm, reveals an increase in the occurrence of large events. The depth-duration-frequency characteristics of maximum annual precipitation events having durations of 1 h to 60 days indicate on average an increase in storm intensity in the last 120 years, with the intensity of the largest (least frequent) events increasing the most. Mean annual precipitation (MAP) also increased during the study period, but the relative increase in extreme event intensity exceeds that of MAP, indicating that a greater fraction of precipitation fell during large events. Analysis of data from subareas within the SFBA region indicates considerable heterogeneity in the observed nonstationarity; for example, the 5 day, 25 year event exceedance depth changed by +26%, +16%, and -1% in San Francisco, Santa Rosa, and San Jose, respectively. These results emphasize the importance of analyzing local data for accurate risk assessment, emergency planning, resource management, and climate model calibration.

Are catenas relevant to soil maps and pedology in Iowa in the twenty-first century?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, Jennifer; Burras, C. Lee

2014-05-01

The modern intensity of agriculture brings to question whether anthropogenic impacts on soil profiles and catenas in agricultural areas are minor or dominant pedogenic influences. Answering this question is crucial to evaluating the modern relevance of historic soil maps, which use the traditional catena model as their foundation. This study quantifies the magnitude of change within the soil profile and across the landscape that result from decadal scale agriculture. Four benchmark catenas located on the Des Moines Lobe in Iowa, USA, were re-examined to determine the changes that occurred in the soils over the intervening years. The first site was initially studied by Walker and Ruhe in the mid 1960's. Burras and Scholtes initially examined the second catena in the early 1980's, while the remaining two catenas were first studied in the early 1990's by Steinwand and Fenton, and the late 1990's by Konen. Thus, the catenas were re-sampled for this study roughly 50, 30, 20, and 15 years, respectively, after the initial study. In this part of Iowa, continuous row crop agriculture (primarily Zea mays and Glycine max) and extensive subsurface drainage are very common. All study sites are closed-basin catenas located within 40 km of each other with a parent material of Late Wisconsinan glacial till. Soil cores to a depth of approximately two meters were taken with a truck mounted Giddings hydraulic soil sampler at 27 to 30 meter intervals along one transect for each of the four catenas, resulting in a total of forty-eight cores. The soil cores were then brought to the laboratory where soil descriptions and laboratory analyses are being completed. Soil descriptions include information about horizon type and depth, Munsell color, texture, rock fragments, structure, consistence, clay films, roots, pores, presence of carbonates, and redoximorphic features. Laboratory analyses include bulk density, particle size, total carbon and nitrogen content, cation exchange capacity, stable aggregate content, and pH. The resulting data is being analyzed and compared to historic data and models of pedogenesis. Preliminary and anticipated results indicate that soil properties such as bulk density, pH, geometric mean particle size, structure, A-horizon thickness, carbon distribution, depth to carbonates, and redoximorphic features have been altered by agricultural land use over the past 50 years. This indicates that anthropogenic impacts due to agriculture are a significant pedogenic influence, which is decreasing the scientific value of historic soil maps.

Near surface geophysics techniques and geomorphological approach to reconstruct the hazard cave map in historical and urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazzari, M.; Loperte, A.; Perrone, A.

2010-03-01

This work, carried out with an integrated methodological approach, focuses on the use of near surface geophysics techniques, such as ground penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), and geomorphological analysis, in order to reconstruct the cave distribution and geometry in a urban context and, in particular, in historical centres. The interaction during recent centuries between human activity (caves excavation, birth and growth of an urban area) and the characters of the natural environment were the reasons of a progressive increase in hazard and vulnerability levels of several sites. The reconstruction of a detailed cave map distribution is the first step to define the anthropic and geomorphological hazard in urban areas, fundamental basis for planning and assessing the risk.

Use of the self-organizing feature map to diagnose abnormal engineering change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Ruei-Shan; Wu, Zhi-Ting; Peng, Kuo-Wei; Yu, Tai-Yi

2015-07-01

This study established identification manners with self-organizing feature map (SOM) to achieve the goal of monitoring Engineering Change (EC) based on historical data of a company that specializes in computers and peripherals. The product life cycle of this company is 3-6 months. The historical data were divided into three parts, each covering four months. The first part, comprising 2,343 records from January to April (the training period), comprise the Control Group. The second and third parts comprise Experimental Groups (EG) 1 and 2, respectively. For EG 1 and 2, the successful rate of recognizing information on abnormal ECs was approximately 96% and 95%, respectively. This paper shows the importance and screening procedures of abnormal engineering change for a particular company specializing in computers and peripherals.

USGS Releases New Digital Aerial Products

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2005-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) has initiated distribution of digital aerial photographic products produced by scanning or digitizing film from its historical aerial photography film archive. This archive, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, contains thousands of rolls of film that contain more than 8 million frames of historic aerial photographs. The largest portion of this archive consists of original film acquired by Federal agencies from the 1930s through the 1970s to produce 1:24,000-scale USGS topographic quadrangle maps. Most of this photography is reasonably large scale (USGS photography ranges from 1:8,000 to 1:80,000) to support the production of the maps. Two digital products are currently available for ordering: high-resolution scanned products and medium-resolution digitized products.

Predicting the Distribution of Yellowfin Tuna in Philippine Waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez, G. J. P.; Leonardo, E. M.

2015-12-01

The Philippines is considered as a major tuna producer in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, both for domestic consumption and on industrial scale. However, with the ever-increasing demand of growing population, it has always been a challenge to achieve sustainable fishing. The creation of satellite-derived potential fishing zone maps is a technology that has been adopted by advanced countries for almost three decades already and has led to reduction in search times by up to 40%. In this study, a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) is developed to predict the distribution of the Yellowfin tuna species in seas surrounding the Philippines based on the Catch-Per-Unit-Effort (CPUE) index. Level 3 gridded chlorophyll-a and sea surface temperature from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are the main input parameters of the model. Chlorophyll-a is linked with the presence of phytoplankton, which indicates primary productivity and suggests potential regions of fish aggregation. Fish also prefers to stay in regions where the temperature is stable, thus the sea surface temperature fronts serve as a guide to locate concentrations of fish school. Historical monthly tuna catch data from Western and Central Pacific Commissions (WCPFC) is used to train the model. The resulting predictions are converted to potential fishing zone maps and are evaluated within and beyond the historical time range of the training data used. Diagnostic tests involving adjusted R2 value, GAM residual plots and root mean square error value are used to assess the accuracy of the model. The generated maps were able to confirm locations of known tuna fishing grounds in Mindanao and other parts of the country, as well us detect their seasonality and interannual variability. To improve the performance of the model, ancillary data such as surface winds reanalysis from National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) is also incorporated in the model. Results of the model are further analyzed by comparing the fish maps with the night fishing activities in the Philippine waters. This was done through the use of night light monthly images gathered by Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Toward a National Early Warning System for Forest Disturbances Using Remotely Sensed Land-Surface Phenology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hargrove, W. W.; Spruce, J.

2010-12-01

A prototype National Early Warning System (EWS) for Forest Disturbances was established in 2010 by producing national maps showing potential forest disturbance across the conterminous United States at 231m resolution every 8 days. Each map is based on Land-Surface Phenology (LSP), calculated using temporally smoothed MODIS MOD13 imagery obtained over the preceding 24-day analysis window. Potential disturbance maps are generated by comparing a spatially and temporally specific historical expectation of normal NDVI "greenness" with NDVI "greenness" from a series of current satellite views. Three different disturbance products are produced using differing lengths of historical baseline periods to calculate the expected normal greenness. The short-term baseline products show only disturbances newer than one year ago, while the intermediate baseline products show disturbances since the prior three years, and the long-term baseline products show all disturbances over the MODIS historical period. A Forest Change Assessment Viewer website, http://ews.forestthreats.org/NPDE/NPDE.html, showcases the three most recent national disturbance maps in full spatial context. Although 2010 was a wet el Nino year without major forest problems, disturbances in 2010 in MI, NY, CO and LA will be highlighted. Forest disturbances caused by wildfire, hurricanes, tornadoes, hail, ice storms, and defoliating insects, including fall cankerworms, forest tent caterpillars, gypsy moths, baldcypress leafrollers and winter moths were successfully detected during the 2009 and 2010 field seasons. The EWS was used in 2010 to detect and alert Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Aerial Disturbance Survey personnel to an otherwise-unknown outbreak of forest tent caterpillar and baldcypress leafroller in the Atchafalaya and Pearl River regions of southern Louisiana. A local FHM Program Coordinator verified these EWS-detected outbreaks. Many defoliator-induced disturbances were ephemeral, and were followed by recovery in LSP, presumably due to refoliation. 2009 Vegetation Disturbances mapped as percent change in max NDVI from June 10 - July 27 2000-2008

Regional landslide-hazard assessment for Seattle, Washington, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baum, R.L.; Coe, J.A.; Godt, J.W.; Harp, E.L.; Reid, M.E.; Savage, W.Z.; Schulz, W.H.; Brien, D.L.; Chleborad, A.F.; McKenna, J.P.; Michael, J.A.

2005-01-01

Landslides are a widespread, frequent, and costly hazard in Seattle and the Puget Sound area of Washington State, USA. Shallow earth slides triggered by heavy rainfall are the most common type of landslide in the area; many transform into debris flows and cause significant property damage or disrupt transportation. Large rotational and translational slides, though less common, also cause serious property damage. The hundreds of landslides that occurred during the winters of 1995-96 and 1996-97 stimulated renewed interest by Puget Sound communities in identifying landslide-prone areas and taking actions to reduce future landslide losses. Informal partnerships between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the City of Seattle, and private consultants are focusing on the problem of identifying and mapping areas of landslide hazard as well as characterizing temporal aspects of the hazard. We have developed GIS-based methods to map the probability of landslide occurrence as well as empirical rainfall thresholds and physically based methods to forecast times of landslide occurrence. Our methods for mapping landslide hazard zones began with field studies and physically based models to assess relative slope stability, including the effects of material properties, seasonal groundwater levels, and rainfall infiltration. We have analyzed the correlation between historic landslide occurrence and relative slope stability to map the degree of landslide hazard. The City of Seattle is using results of the USGS studies in storm preparedness planning for emergency access and response, planning for development or redevelopment of hillsides, and municipal facility planning and prioritization. Methods we have developed could be applied elsewhere to suit local needs and available data.

An archival examination of environment and disease in eastern Africa in recent history

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larsen, L.

2012-04-01

In order to better understand present interactions between climate and infectious disease incidence it is important to examine the history of disease outbreaks and burdens, and their likely links with the environment. This paper will present research that is currently being undertaken on the identification and mapping of historic incidences of malaria, schistosomiasis and Rift Valley fever (RVF) in eastern Africa in relation to possible environmental, social, economic and political contributing factors. The research covers the past one hundred years or so and primarily draws on a range of archival documentary sources located in the region and the former imperial centres. The paper will discuss the methodologies employed in the building of a comprehensive historical database. The research is part of a larger EU FP7-funded project which aims to map, examine and anticipate the future risks of the three diseases in eastern Africa in response to environmental change. The paper will outline how the construction of such a historic database allows the contextualization of current climate-disease relationships and can thus contribute to discussions on the effects of changing climate on future disease trends.

Probabilistic flood inundation mapping at ungauged streams due to roughness coefficient uncertainty in hydraulic modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papaioannou, George; Vasiliades, Lampros; Loukas, Athanasios; Aronica, Giuseppe T.

2017-04-01

Probabilistic flood inundation mapping is performed and analysed at the ungauged Xerias stream reach, Volos, Greece. The study evaluates the uncertainty introduced by the roughness coefficient values on hydraulic models in flood inundation modelling and mapping. The well-established one-dimensional (1-D) hydraulic model, HEC-RAS is selected and linked to Monte-Carlo simulations of hydraulic roughness. Terrestrial Laser Scanner data have been used to produce a high quality DEM for input data uncertainty minimisation and to improve determination accuracy on stream channel topography required by the hydraulic model. Initial Manning's n roughness coefficient values are based on pebble count field surveys and empirical formulas. Various theoretical probability distributions are fitted and evaluated on their accuracy to represent the estimated roughness values. Finally, Latin Hypercube Sampling has been used for generation of different sets of Manning roughness values and flood inundation probability maps have been created with the use of Monte Carlo simulations. Historical flood extent data, from an extreme historical flash flood event, are used for validation of the method. The calibration process is based on a binary wet-dry reasoning with the use of Median Absolute Percentage Error evaluation metric. The results show that the proposed procedure supports probabilistic flood hazard mapping at ungauged rivers and provides water resources managers with valuable information for planning and implementing flood risk mitigation strategies.

Using Webgis and Cloud Tools to Promote Cultural Heritage Dissemination: the Historic up Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tommasi, A.; Cefalo, R.; Zardini, F.; Nicolaucig, M.

2017-05-01

On the occasion of the First World War centennial, GeoSNav Lab (Geodesy and Satellite Navigation Laboratory), Department of Engineering and Architecture, University of Trieste, Italy, in coooperation with Radici&Futuro Association, Trieste, Italy, carried out an educational Project named "Historic Up" involving a group of students from "F. Petrarca" High School of Trieste, Italy. The main goal of the project is to make available to students of Middle and High Schools a set of historical and cultural contents in a simple and immediate way, through the production of a virtual and interactive tour following the event that caused the burst of the First World War: the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofia in Sarajevo occurred on June 28, 1914. A set of Google Apps was used, including Google Earth, Maps, Tour Builder, Street View, Gmail, Drive, and Docs. The Authors instructed the students about software and team-working and supported them along the research. After being checked, all the historical and geographic data have been uploaded on a Google Tour Builder to create a sequence of historical checkpoints. Each checkpoint has texts, pictures and videos that connect the tour-users to 1914. Moreover, GeoSNaV Lab researchers produced a KML (Keyhole Markup Language) file, formed by several polylines and points, representing the itinerary of the funeral procession that has been superimposed on ad-hoc georeferenced historical maps. This tour, freely available online, starts with the arrival of the royals, on June 28th 1914, and follows the couple along the events, from the assassination to the burial in Arstetten (Austria), including their passages through Trieste (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Graz and Wien (Austria).

Development of a 3D Model for the Assessment of Vulnerability Due to Sea Level Rise on the Historic Strawbery Banke

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jefferson, M.; Curran, B.; Routhier, M.; Mulukutla, G. K.; Hall, C. L.

2011-12-01

The study of climate change is now starting to be widely researched around the world. One prominent exception to this fact is within the discipline of Historic Preservation. With the likelihood of climate change causing sea levels to rise over decades to come, historical preservationists are now looking for data and information which can help them mitigate potential threats to our cultural heritage along our sea coasts. Some such information that can be helpful in understanding these threats includes geographic information such as the locations of artifacts, fossils, and historic structures as well as their vertical elevation above mean sea level. In an effort to build a set of protocols to help preservations study these threats, our work is currently focusing on a historic living history museum site known as Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This poster features a subset of this work that was completed through undergraduate student internships funded by the Joan and James Leitzel Center at the University of New Hampshire. This subset of work focused on the creation a 3D model of the study site. Two aspects of the creation of this model involved the completion of a topographic ground survey and the 3D digital mapping of the site itself. The ground survey was completed with the use of standard surveying techniques and tools and the 3D digital mapping was completed with the use of ArcScene, a software which is part of the ArcGIS suite. This work was completed in conjunction with a larger study funded by the National Geographic Society to better understand how sea level rise and the effects of storm surges are putting the historic structures at Strawbery Banke at risk.

Comparing fuel reduction treatments for reducing wildfire size and intensity in a boreal forest landscape of northeastern China.

PubMed

Wu, Zhiwei; He, Hong S; Liu, Zhihua; Liang, Yu

2013-06-01

Fuel load is often used to prioritize stands for fuel reduction treatments. However, wildfire size and intensity are not only related to fuel loads but also to a wide range of other spatially related factors such as topography, weather and human activity. In prioritizing fuel reduction treatments, we propose using burn probability to account for the effects of spatially related factors that can affect wildfire size and intensity. Our burn probability incorporated fuel load, ignition probability, and spread probability (spatial controls to wildfire) at a particular location across a landscape. Our goal was to assess differences in reducing wildfire size and intensity using fuel-load and burn-probability based treatment prioritization approaches. Our study was conducted in a boreal forest in northeastern China. We derived a fuel load map from a stand map and a burn probability map based on historical fire records and potential wildfire spread pattern. The burn probability map was validated using historical records of burned patches. We then simulated 100 ignitions and six fuel reduction treatments to compare fire size and intensity under two approaches of fuel treatment prioritization. We calibrated and validated simulated wildfires against historical wildfire data. Our results showed that fuel reduction treatments based on burn probability were more effective at reducing simulated wildfire size, mean and maximum rate of spread, and mean fire intensity, but less effective at reducing maximum fire intensity across the burned landscape than treatments based on fuel load. Thus, contributions from both fuels and spatially related factors should be considered for each fuel reduction treatment. Published by Elsevier B.V.

An Early Historical Play: The "Seinte Resurreccion"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perry, Anne Amari

1978-01-01

Analyzes the realistic characterization and plot construction of an anonymously written medieval French play. The play, which relates the story of Christ's resurrection, achieves historical realism by replacing music and chant with dialogue, using a logical plot, and limiting historical anachronism. (AV)

Study of Tools for Network Discovery and Network Mapping

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-11-01

connected to the switch. iv. Accessibility of historical data and event data In general, network discovery tools keep a history of the collected...has the following software dependencies: - Java Virtual machine 76 - Perl modules - RRD Tool - TomCat - PostgreSQL STRENGTHS AND...systems - provide a simple view of the current network status - generate alarms on status change - generate history of status change VISUAL MAP

Exploring pre-channelization bar and planform dynamics of a large regulated Alpine River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zen, Simone; Zolezzi, Guido; Scorpio, Vittoria; Mastronunzio, Marco; Bertoldi, Walter; Comiti, Francesco; Daiprà, Elena

2017-04-01

As a consequence of heavy channelization mostly carried out in the 1800s, the planform and bars morphodynamics of many large European rivers is hardly detectable even from aerial images dating back several decades, because of the marked reduction of the channel width and of the related morphological complexity. However, when available, historical maps can provide quantitative information on the morphology that characterized these rivers before massive human intervention occurred. In this work we focus on a 100 km reach of the Adige - Etsch River, NE, Italy, with the aim of exploring the short-term (some decades) morphological dynamics that might have characterized the pre-channelized river bed and planform in its single-thread reaches before heavy human intervention. To this aim we integrate the application of a morphodynamic analytical model for meandering rivers with irregularly varying curvature and channel width with the multi-temporal analysis of pre-channelization historical maps. The work focuses on the sinuous and meandering reaches once characterized by spatially varying channel width, and presence of alternate, point and mid-channel bars. Challenges in such kind of integrated analysis are posed by the reconstruction of channel - forming streamflow values and of sediment size that may have characterized the river reaches up to nearly three centuries ago prior to heavy regulation. Formative discharge ranges have been obtained as those generating the best geometrical fit between the modeled river bed morphology and the one observed from the maps. Once calibrated by this procedure, the model was fed through the estimated discharge value to compute the longitudinal variability of the outer-bank shear stress, as a proxy for the locations potentially affected by fluvial bank erosion. The historical maps reveal that during the 17th and 18th century, before the massive channelization, the river morphodynamics was already far from being "natural", especially because of distributed, albeit simple engineering structures, like bank protection works, wooden barriers and groynes. Results showed good correspondence between both position of the centroid of the polygons that identified the deposited sediment of the alternate and point bars. Interestingly, the location of near-bank maximum shear stress was often close to the position of the bank structures detected in the historical maps. The satisfactory results obtained from model applications supports the use of analytical morphodynamic models as suitable tools to explore past, otherwise hidden river morphodynamics, especially if integrated with historical sources. The same model could be used, together with more sophisticated numerical tools, to develop possible response scenarios of the present river bed morphology to future restoration actions based on locally giving more room to the river.

Historical Thinking: An Evaluation of Student and Teacher Ability to Analyze Sources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowgill, Daniel Armond, II; Waring, Scott M.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to partially replicate the "Historical Problem Solving: A Study of the Cognitive Process Using Historical Evidence" study conducted by Sam Wineburg in 1991. The Historical Problem Solving study conducted by Wineburg (1991) sought to compare the ability of historians and top level students, as they analyzed…

Near-real-time cheatgrass percent cover in the Northern Great Basin, USA, 2015

USGS Publications Warehouse

Boyte, Stephen; Wylie, Bruce K.

2016-01-01

Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.) dramatically changes shrub steppe ecosystems in the Northern Great Basin, United States.Current-season cheatgrass location and percent cover are difficult to estimate rapidly.We explain the development of a near-real-time cheatgrass percent cover dataset and map in the Northern Great Basin for the current year (2015), display the current year’s map, provide analysis of the map, and provide a website link to download the map (as a PDF) and the associated dataset.The near-real-time cheatgrass percent cover dataset and map were consistent with non-expedited, historical cheatgrass percent cover datasets and maps.Having cheatgrass maps available mid-summer can help land managers, policy makers, and Geographic Information Systems personnel as they work to protect socially relevant areas such as critical wildlife habitats.

Circumpolar Arctic vegetation mapping workshop

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walker, D. A.; Markon, C.J.

1996-01-01

The first Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Mapping Workshop was held in the historic village of Lakta on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, March 21-25, 1994. The primary goals of the workshop were to: (1) review the status of arctic vegetation mapping in the circumpolar countries and (2) develop a strategy for synthesizing and updating the existing information into a new series of maps that portray the current state of knowledge. Such products are important for a number of purposes, such as the international effort to understand the consequences of global change in Arctic regions, to predict the direction of future changes, and for informed planning of resource development in the Arctic.

Monitoring and evaluation of rowing performance using mobile mapping data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mpimis, A.; Gikas, V.

2011-12-01

Traditionally, the term mobile mapping refers to a means of collecting geospatial data using mapping sensors that are mounted on a mobile platform. Historically, this process was mainly driven by the need for highway infrastructure mapping and transportation corridor inventories. However, the recent advances in mapping sensor and telecommunication technologies create the opportunity that, completely new, emergent application areas of mobile mapping to evolve rapidly. This article examines the potential of mobile mapping technology (MMT) in sports science and in particular in competitive rowing. Notably, in this study the concept definition of mobile mapping somehow differs from the traditional one in a way that, the end result is not relevant to the geospatial information acquired as the moving platform travels in space. In contrast, the interest is placed on the moving platform (rowing boat) itself and on the various subsystems which are also in continuous motion.

Alteration Map Showing Major Faults and Veins and Associated Water-Quality Signatures of the Animas River Watershed Headwaters Near Silverton, Southwest Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bove, Dana J.; Yager, Douglas B.; Mast, M. Alisa; Dalton, J. Brad

2007-01-01

This map was produced to provide hard-copy and digital data for alteration assemblages in the historical mining area centered on the Tertiary San Juan and Silverton calderas. The data have direct application to geoenvironmental and mineral exploration objectives. This dataset represents alteration mapping for the upper Animas River watershed near Silverton, Colorado. The map is based on detailed 1:12,000-scale field mapping, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, mineral mapping by remote sensing (AVIRIS) data, and 1:24,000-scale aerial photographic interpretation. Geologic structures were compiled and generalized from multiple published and unpublished sources (Burbank and Luedke, 1964; Steven and others, 1974; Luedke and Burbank 1975a, b; Lipman, 1976; Luedke and Burbank, 1987; Luedke, 1996) (see Index Map). Unpublished mapping of the Ironton quadrangle by D.J. Bove and J.P. Kurtz in 1997-1999 was included.

Comparing Landsat-7 ETM+ and ASTER Imageries to Estimate Daily Evapotranspiration Within a Mediterranean Vineyard Watershed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Montes, Carlo; Jacob, Frederic

2017-01-01

We compared the capabilities of Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imageries for mapping daily evapotranspiration (ET) within a Mediterranean vineyard watershed. We used Landsat and ASTER data simultaneously collected on four dates in 2007 and 2008, along with the simplified surface energy balance index (S-SEBI) model. We used previously ground-validated good quality ASTER estimates as reference, and we analyzed the differences with Landsat retrievals in light of the instrumental factors and methodology. Although Landsat and ASTER retrievals of S-SEBI inputs were different, estimates of daily ET from the two imageries were similar. This is ascribed to the S-SEBI spatial differencing in temperature, and opens the path for using historical Landsat time series over vineyards.

Water resources of the Cook Inlet Basin, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Freethey, Geoffrey W.; Scully, David R.

1980-01-01

Ground-water and surface-water systems of Cook Inlet basin, Alaska, are analyzed. Geologic and topographic features that control the movement and regional availability of ground water are explained and illustrated. Five aquifer systems beneath the most populous areas are described. Estimates of ground-water yield were determined for the region by using ground-water data for the populated areas and by extrapolating known subsurface conditions and interpreting subsurface conditions from surficial features in the other areas. Area maps of generalized geology, Quaternary sediment thickness, and general availability of ground water are shown. Surface-water resources are summarized by describing how basin characteristics affect the discharge in streams. Seasonal trend of streamflow for three types of streams is described. Regression equations for 4 streamflow characteristics (annual, monthly minimum, and maximum discharge) were obtained by using gaging station streamflow characteristics and 10 basin characteristics. In the 24 regression equations presented, drainage area is the most significant basin characteristic, but 5 others are used. Maps of mean annual unit runoff and minimum unit yield for 7 consecutive days with a recurrence interval of 10 years are shown. Historic discharge data at gaging stations is tabulated and representative low-flow and flood-flow frequency curves are shown. (USGS)

Mapping the diversity of maize races in Mexico.

PubMed

Perales, Hugo; Golicher, Duncan

2014-01-01

Traditional landraces of maize are cultivated throughout more than one-half of Mexico's cropland. Efforts to organize in situ conservation of this important genetic resource have been limited by the lack of knowledge of regional diversity patterns. We used recent and historic collections of maize classified for race type to determine biogeographic regions and centers of landrace diversity. We also analyzed how diversity has changed over the last sixty years. Based on racial composition of maize we found that Mexico can be divided into 11 biogeographic regions. Six of these biogeographic regions are in the center and west of the country and contain more than 90% of the reported samples for 38 of the 47 races studied; these six regions are also the most diverse. We found no evidence of rapid overall decline in landrace diversity for this period. However, several races are now less frequently reported and two regions seem to support lower diversity than in previous collection periods. Our results are consistent with a previous hypothesis for diversification centers and for migration routes of original maize populations merging in western central Mexico. We provide maps of regional diversity patterns and landrace based biogeographic regions that may guide efforts to conserve maize genetic resources.

Mapping the Diversity of Maize Races in Mexico

PubMed Central

Perales, Hugo; Golicher, Duncan

2014-01-01

Traditional landraces of maize are cultivated throughout more than one-half of Mexico's cropland. Efforts to organize in situ conservation of this important genetic resource have been limited by the lack of knowledge of regional diversity patterns. We used recent and historic collections of maize classified for race type to determine biogeographic regions and centers of landrace diversity. We also analyzed how diversity has changed over the last sixty years. Based on racial composition of maize we found that Mexico can be divided into 11 biogeographic regions. Six of these biogeographic regions are in the center and west of the country and contain more than 90% of the reported samples for 38 of the 47 races studied; these six regions are also the most diverse. We found no evidence of rapid overall decline in landrace diversity for this period. However, several races are now less frequently reported and two regions seem to support lower diversity than in previous collection periods. Our results are consistent with a previous hypothesis for diversification centers and for migration routes of original maize populations merging in western central Mexico. We provide maps of regional diversity patterns and landrace based biogeographic regions that may guide efforts to conserve maize genetic resources. PMID:25486121

A global tectonic activity map with orbital photographic supplement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lowman, P. D., Jr.

1981-01-01

A three part map showing equatorial and polar regions was compiled showing tectonic and volcanic activity of the past one million years, including the present. Features shown include actively spreading ridges, spreading rates, major active faults, subduction zones, well defined plates, and volcanic areas active within the past one million years. Activity within this period was inferred from seismicity (instrumental and historic), physiography, and published literature. The tectonic activity map was used for planning global geodetic programs of satellite laser ranging and very long base line interferometry and for geologic education.

Dynamics of Shengjini beach (Albania)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gashi, Ferim; Nikolli, Pal

2015-04-01

Dynamics of Shengjini beach (Albania) Pal Nikolli , Ferim GASHI Through archaeological and historical data, presentations of ancient topographic, cartographic materials (topographic maps obtained at different periods from 1870 to 1990), aerial photographs (2007), satellite images (2014) and direct measurements, paper defines and analyzes the position of the coastline of Shengjini beach (Lezha) from century XVI until today. The coastline of the Shengjini city (port) to Drin River estuary is oriented north-south direction and is approximately 10.5 km long. This part of the coast is sandy and sediment comes mainly from the River Drin and distributed by currents along the coast. In this paper are make provision for the position of the coastline in the future and analyzed the possibilities of human intervention in the coastal environment , etc. This work forms the basis for the issuance of necessary data required for various projections at the coastal environment Shëngjini. Results of this study will have a significant impact on state policies for integrated management of the coastal zone in the study and development of tourism. Key words: GIS, Remonte Sennsing, cartography, management of coastal zone, tourism, environment.

Generation of future potential scenarios in an Alpine Catchment by applying bias-correction techniques, delta-change approaches and stochastic Weather Generators at different spatial scale. Analysis of their influence on basic and drought statistics.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collados-Lara, Antonio-Juan; Pulido-Velazquez, David; Pardo-Iguzquiza, Eulogio

2017-04-01

Assessing impacts of potential future climate change scenarios in precipitation and temperature is essential to design adaptive strategies in water resources systems. The objective of this work is to analyze the possibilities of different statistical downscaling methods to generate future potential scenarios in an Alpine Catchment from historical data and the available climate models simulations performed in the frame of the CORDEX EU project. The initial information employed to define these downscaling approaches are the historical climatic data (taken from the Spain02 project for the period 1971-2000 with a spatial resolution of 12.5 Km) and the future series provided by climatic models in the horizon period 2071-2100 . We have used information coming from nine climate model simulations (obtained from five different Regional climate models (RCM) nested to four different Global Climate Models (GCM)) from the European CORDEX project. In our application we have focused on the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 8.5 emissions scenario, which is the most unfavorable scenario considered in the fifth Assessment Report (AR5) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). For each RCM we have generated future climate series for the period 2071-2100 by applying two different approaches, bias correction and delta change, and five different transformation techniques (first moment correction, first and second moment correction, regression functions, quantile mapping using distribution derived transformation and quantile mapping using empirical quantiles) for both of them. Ensembles of the obtained series were proposed to obtain more representative potential future climate scenarios to be employed to study potential impacts. In this work we propose a non-equifeaseble combination of the future series giving more weight to those coming from models (delta change approaches) or combination of models and techniques that provides better approximation to the basic and drought statistic of the historical data. A multi-objective analysis using basic statistics (mean, standard deviation and asymmetry coefficient) and droughts statistics (duration, magnitude and intensity) has been performed to identify which models are better in terms of goodness of fit to reproduce the historical series. The drought statistics have been obtained from the Standard Precipitation index (SPI) series using the Theory of Runs. This analysis allows discriminate the best RCM and the best combination of model and correction technique in the bias-correction method. We have also analyzed the possibilities of using different Stochastic Weather Generators to approximate the basic and droughts statistics of the historical series. These analyses have been performed in our case study in a lumped and in a distributed way in order to assess its sensibility to the spatial scale. The statistic of the future temperature series obtained with different ensemble options are quite homogeneous, but the precipitation shows a higher sensibility to the adopted method and spatial scale. The global increment in the mean temperature values are 31.79 %, 31.79 %, 31.03 % and 31.74 % for the distributed bias-correction, distributed delta-change, lumped bias-correction and lumped delta-change ensembles respectively and in the precipitation they are -25.48 %, -28.49 %, -26.42 % and -27.35% respectively. Acknowledgments: This research work has been partially supported by the GESINHIMPADAPT project (CGL2013-48424-C2-2-R) with Spanish MINECO funds. We would also like to thank Spain02 and CORDEX projects for the data provided for this study and the R package qmap.

Teaching Geography and History through GIS: Application on Greek cultural sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skentos, Athanasios; Pavlopoulos, Kosmas; Galani, Apostolia; Theodorakopoulou, Katerina; Kritikos, Giorgos

2013-04-01

This study deals with the presentation of cultural succession in Greek space-time through a GIS application, associated with core concepts of geographic and historical education. Through the specific application students will be able to develop five distinct skills: sense of time-scale, historical and geographic comprehension, spatial analysis and interpretation, ability to perform geo-historical research, and procedure of geo-historical decision-making. The methodology is based on the calibration of a set of criteria for each cultural site that covers the topics of economy, geomorphology, society, religion, art and science. Further analysis of these data forms a geodatabase. In addition, palaeogeographic and historical maps of the cultural sites derived by the geodatabase provide information about temporal and spatial changes. As result, students will be able to develop a multidimensional and interdisciplinary approach, in order to reconstruct the evolution of the site.

Detailed Mapping of Historical and Preinstrumental Earthquake Ruptures in Central Asia Using Multi-Scale, Multi-Platform Photogrammetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, A. J.; Walker, R. T.; Parsons, B.; Ren, Z.; Ainscoe, E. A.; Abdrakhmatov, K.; Mackenzie, D.; Arrowsmith, R.; Gruetzner, C.

2016-12-01

In regions of the planet with long historical records, known past seismic events can be attributed to specific fault sources through the identification and measurement of single-event scarps in high-resolution imagery and topography. The level of detail captured by modern remote sensing is now sufficient to map and measure complete earthquake ruptures that were originally only sparsely mapped or overlooked entirely. We can thus extend the record of mapped earthquake surface ruptures into the preinstrumental period and capture the wealth of information preserved in the numerous historical earthquake ruptures throughout regions like Central Asia. We investigate two major late 19th and early 20th century earthquakes that are well located macroseismically but whose fault sources had proved enigmatic in the absence of detailed imagery and topography. We use high-resolution topographic models derived from photogrammetry of satellite, low-altitude, and ground-based optical imagery to map and measure the coseismic scarps of the 1889 M8.3 Chilik, Kazakhstan and 1932 M7.6 Changma, China earthquakes. Measurement of the scarps on the combined imagery and topography reveals the extent and slip distribution of coseismic rupture in each of these events, showing both earthquakes involved multiple faults with variable kinematics. We use a 1-m elevation model of the Changma fault derived from Pleiades satellite imagery to map the changing kinematics of the 1932 rupture along strike. For the 1889 Chilik earthquake we use 1.5-m SPOT-6 satellite imagery to produce a regional elevation model of the fault ruptures, from which we identify three distinct, intersecting fault systems that each have >20 km of fresh, single-event scarps. Along sections of each of these faults we construct high resolution (330 points per sq m) elevation models using quadcopter- and helikite-mounted cameras. From the detailed topography we measure single-event oblique offsets of 6-10 m, consistent with the large inferred magnitude of the 1889 Chilik event. High resolution, photogrammetric topography offers a low-cost, effective way to thoroughly map rupture traces and measure coseismic displacements for past fault ruptures, extending our record of coseismic displacements into a past rich with formerly sparsely documented ruptures.

Determining the Extent and Characterizing Coral Reef Habitats of the Northern Latitudes of the Florida Reef Tract (Martin County)

PubMed Central

Walker, Brian K.; Gilliam, David S.

2013-01-01

Climate change has recently been implicated in poleward shifts of many tropical species including corals; thus attention focused on higher-latitude coral communities is warranted to investigate possible range expansions and ecosystem shifts due to global warming. As the northern extension of the Florida Reef Tract (FRT), the third-largest barrier reef ecosystem in the world, southeast Florida (25–27° N latitude) is a prime region to study such effects. Most of the shallow-water FRT benthic habitats have been mapped, however minimal data and limited knowledge exist about the coral reef communities of its northernmost reaches off Martin County. First benthic habitat mapping was conducted using newly acquired high resolution LIDAR bathymetry and aerial photography where possible to map the spatial extent of coral reef habitats. Quantitative data were collected to characterize benthic cover and stony coral demographics and a comprehensive accuracy assessment was performed. The data were then analyzed in a habitat biogeography context to determine if a new coral reef ecosystem region designation was warranted. Of the 374 km2 seafloor mapped, 95.2% was Sand, 4.1% was Coral Reef and Colonized Pavement, and 0.7% was Other Delineations. Map accuracy assessment yielded an overall accuracy of 94.9% once adjusted for known map marginal proportions. Cluster analysis of cross-shelf habitat type and widths indicated that the benthic habitats were different than those further south and warranted designation of a new coral reef ecosystem region. Unlike the FRT further south, coral communities were dominated by cold-water tolerant species and LIDAR morphology indicated no evidence of historic reef growth during warmer climates. Present-day hydrographic conditions may be inhibiting poleward expansion of coral communities along Florida. This study provides new information on the benthic community composition of the northern FRT, serving as a baseline for future community shift and range expansion investigations. PMID:24282542

Determining the extent and characterizing coral reef habitats of the northern latitudes of the Florida Reef Tract (Martin County).

PubMed

Walker, Brian K; Gilliam, David S

2013-01-01

Climate change has recently been implicated in poleward shifts of many tropical species including corals; thus attention focused on higher-latitude coral communities is warranted to investigate possible range expansions and ecosystem shifts due to global warming. As the northern extension of the Florida Reef Tract (FRT), the third-largest barrier reef ecosystem in the world, southeast Florida (25-27° N latitude) is a prime region to study such effects. Most of the shallow-water FRT benthic habitats have been mapped, however minimal data and limited knowledge exist about the coral reef communities of its northernmost reaches off Martin County. First benthic habitat mapping was conducted using newly acquired high resolution LIDAR bathymetry and aerial photography where possible to map the spatial extent of coral reef habitats. Quantitative data were collected to characterize benthic cover and stony coral demographics and a comprehensive accuracy assessment was performed. The data were then analyzed in a habitat biogeography context to determine if a new coral reef ecosystem region designation was warranted. Of the 374 km(2) seafloor mapped, 95.2% was Sand, 4.1% was Coral Reef and Colonized Pavement, and 0.7% was Other Delineations. Map accuracy assessment yielded an overall accuracy of 94.9% once adjusted for known map marginal proportions. Cluster analysis of cross-shelf habitat type and widths indicated that the benthic habitats were different than those further south and warranted designation of a new coral reef ecosystem region. Unlike the FRT further south, coral communities were dominated by cold-water tolerant species and LIDAR morphology indicated no evidence of historic reef growth during warmer climates. Present-day hydrographic conditions may be inhibiting poleward expansion of coral communities along Florida. This study provides new information on the benthic community composition of the northern FRT, serving as a baseline for future community shift and range expansion investigations.

Qualitative landslide susceptibility assessment by multicriteria analysis: A case study from San Antonio del Sur, Guantánamo, Cuba

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castellanos Abella, Enrique A.; Van Westen, Cees J.

Geomorphological information can be combined with decision-support tools to assess landslide hazard and risk. A heuristic model was applied to a rural municipality in eastern Cuba. The study is based on a terrain mapping units (TMU) map, generated at 1:50,000 scale by interpretation of aerial photos, satellite images and field data. Information describing 603 terrain units was collected in a database. Landslide areas were mapped in detail to classify the different failure types and parts. Three major landslide regions are recognized in the study area: coastal hills with rockfalls, shallow debris flows and old rotational rockslides denudational slopes in limestone, with very large deep-seated rockslides related to tectonic activity and the Sierra de Caujerí scarp, with large rockslides. The Caujerí scarp presents the highest hazard, with recent landslides and various signs of active processes. The different landforms and the causative factors for landslides were analyzed and used to develop the heuristic model. The model is based on weights assigned by expert judgment and organized in a number of components such as slope angle, internal relief, slope shape, geological formation, active faults, distance to drainage, distance to springs, geomorphological subunits and existing landslide zones. From these variables a hierarchical heuristic model was applied in which three levels of weights were designed for classes, variables, and criteria. The model combines all weights into a single hazard value for each pixel of the landslide hazard map. The hazard map was then divided by two scales, one with three classes for disaster managers and one with 10 detailed hazard classes for technical staff. The range of weight values and the number of existing landslides is registered for each class. The resulting increasing landslide density with higher hazard classes indicates that the output map is reliable. The landslide hazard map was used in combination with existing information on buildings and infrastructure to prepare a qualitative risk map. The complete lack of historical landslide information and geotechnical data precludes the development of quantitative deterministic or probabilistic models.

"Walking and watching" in queer London: Sarah Waters' Tipping The Velvet and The Night Watch.

PubMed

Wood, Rachel

2013-01-01

This article argues that Sarah Waters' representation of London in her historical fictions Tipping the Velvet and The Night Watch is used to delineate the gendered bodies and sexual identities of her characters. A historical summary demonstrates that female masculinity was slowly mapped onto sexual identity between the 1880s and 1940s in Britain. The article argues that Waters' "inventive" use of this history allows her to question the construction of both historical and contemporary identifications. The way that Waters' characters are constricted and liberated by London's urban landscape demonstrates the spatial and temporal contingency of both gender and sexuality.

Historical Consciousness as a Pedagogical Device in the Production of the Responsible Citizen

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedrich, Daniel

2010-01-01

One of the most relevant strategies that shapes the education of the citizenry can be found in the formation of a historical consciousness. Yet the very idea of "historical consciousness" as a skill to be taught cannot be taken for granted. In order to disrupt the educational common sense, I will analyze the ways in which historical consciousness…

Narrowing historical uncertainty: probabilistic classification of ambiguously identified tree species in historical forest survey data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mladenoff, D.J.; Dahir, S.E.; Nordheim, E.V.; Schulte, L.A.; Guntenspergen, G.R.

2002-01-01

Historical data have increasingly become appreciated for insight into the past conditions of ecosystems. Uses of such data include assessing the extent of ecosystem change; deriving ecological baselines for management, restoration, and modeling; and assessing the importance of past conditions on the composition and function of current systems. One historical data set of this type is the Public Land Survey (PLS) of the United States General Land Office, which contains data on multiple tree species, sizes, and distances recorded at each survey point, located at half-mile (0.8 km) intervals on a 1-mi (1.6 km) grid. This survey method was begun in the 1790s on US federal lands extending westward from Ohio. Thus, the data have the potential of providing a view of much of the US landscape from the mid-1800s, and they have been used extensively for this purpose. However, historical data sources, such as those describing the species composition of forests, can often be limited in the detail recorded and the reliability of the data, since the information was often not originally recorded for ecological purposes. Forest trees are sometimes recorded ambiguously, using generic or obscure common names. For the PLS data of northern Wisconsin, USA, we developed a method to classify ambiguously identified tree species using logistic regression analysis, using data on trees that were clearly identified to species and a set of independent predictor variables to build the models. The models were first created on partial data sets for each species and then tested for fit against the remaining data. Validations were conducted using repeated, random subsets of the data. Model prediction accuracy ranged from 81% to 96% in differentiating congeneric species among oak, pine, ash, maple, birch, and elm. Major predictor variables were tree size, associated species, landscape classes indicative of soil type, and spatial location within the study region. Results help to clarify ambiguities formerly present in maps of historic ecosystems for the region and can be applied to PLS datasets elsewhere, as well as other sources of ambiguous historical data. Mapping the newly classified data with ecological land units provides additional information on the distribution, abundance, and associations of tree species, as well as their relationships to environmental gradients before the industrial period, and clarifies the identities of species formerly mapped only to genus. We offer some caveats on the appropriate use of data derived in this way, as well as describing their potential.

Developing Critical and Historical Thinking Skills in Middle Grades Social Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waring, Scott M.; Robinson, Kirk S.

2010-01-01

The author describes a social studies unit designed to help students develop critical thinking skills. The lessons give students opportunities to analyze multiple perspectives, use multiple sources when conducting research, and construct historical narratives through the creation of a digital historical biography.

Seismic probabilistic tsunami hazard: from regional to local analysis and use of geological and historical observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tonini, R.; Lorito, S.; Orefice, S.; Graziani, L.; Brizuela, B.; Smedile, A.; Volpe, M.; Romano, F.; De Martini, P. M.; Maramai, A.; Selva, J.; Piatanesi, A.; Pantosti, D.

2016-12-01

Site-specific probabilistic tsunami hazard analyses demand very high computational efforts that are often reduced by introducing approximations on tsunami sources and/or tsunami modeling. On one hand, the large variability of source parameters implies the definition of a huge number of potential tsunami scenarios, whose omission could easily lead to important bias in the analysis. On the other hand, detailed inundation maps computed by tsunami numerical simulations require very long running time. When tsunami effects are calculated at regional scale, a common practice is to propagate tsunami waves in deep waters (up to 50-100 m depth) neglecting non-linear effects and using coarse bathymetric meshes. Then, maximum wave heights on the coast are empirically extrapolated, saving a significant amount of computational time. However, moving to local scale, such assumptions drop out and tsunami modeling would require much greater computational resources. In this work, we perform a local Seismic Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Analysis (SPTHA) for the 50 km long coastal segment between Augusta and Siracusa, a touristic and commercial area placed along the South-Eastern Sicily coast, Italy. The procedure consists in using the outcomes of a regional SPTHA as input for a two-step filtering method to select and substantially reduce the number of scenarios contributing to the specific target area. These selected scenarios are modeled using high resolution topo-bathymetry for producing detailed inundation maps. Results are presented as probabilistic hazard curves and maps, with the goal of analyze, compare and highlight the different results provided by regional and local hazard assessments. Moreover, the analysis is enriched by the use of local observed tsunami data, both geological and historical. Indeed, tsunami data-sets available for the selected target areas are particularly rich with respect to the scarce and heterogeneous data-sets usually available elsewhere. Therefore, they can represent valuable benchmarks for testing and strengthening the results of such kind of studies. The work is funded by the Italian Flagship Project RITMARE, the two EC FP7 projects ASTARTE (Grant agreement 603839) and STREST (Grant agreement 603389), and the INGV-DPC Agreement.

EAARL Topography-Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brock, John C.; Wright, C. Wayne; Nayegandhi, Amar; Patterson, Matt; Travers, Laurinda J.

2007-01-01

This Web site contains lidar-derived bare earth (BE) and first return (FR) topography maps and GIS files for the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site. These lidar-derived topography maps were produced as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program, FISC St. Petersburg, Florida, the National Park Service (NPS), Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network, Inventory and Monitoring Program, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Wallops Flight Facility. One objective of this research is to create techniques to survey coral reefs and barrier islands for the purposes of geomorphic change studies, habitat mapping, ecological monitoring, change detection, and event assessment. As part of this project, data from an innovative instrument under development at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, the NASA Experimental Airborne Advanced Research Lidar (EAARL) are being used. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in this realm for measuring subaerial and submarine topography wthin cross-environment surveys. High spectral resolution, water-column correction, and low costs were found to be key factors in providing accurate and affordable imagery to costal resource managers.

EAARL topography: Thomas Stone National Historic Site

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brock, John C.; Wright, C. Wayne; Patterson, Matt; Nayegandhi, Amar; Patterson, Judd

2007-01-01

This Web site contains Lidar-derived topography (first return and bare earth) maps and GIS files for Thomas Stone National Historic Site in Maryland. These Lidar-derived topography maps were produced as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Program, FISC St. Petersburg, the National Park Service (NPS) South Florida/Caribbean Network Inventory and Monitoring Program, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Wallops Flight Facility. One objective of this research is to create techniques to survey coral reefs and barrier islands for the purposes of geomorphic change studies, habitat mapping, ecological monitoring, change detection, and event assessment. As part of this project, data from an innovative instrument under development at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, the NASA Experimental Airborne Advanced Research Lidar (EAARL) are being used. This sensor has the potential to make significant contributions in this realm for measuring subaerial and submarine topography wthin cross-environment surveys. High spectral resolution, water-column correction, and low costs were found to be key factors in providing accurate and affordable imagery to costal resource managers.

The nature of albedo features on Mercury, with maps for the telescopic observer. Part II: The nature of the albedo markings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, D. L.

1995-04-01

Part One of this paper (J. Brit. Astron. Assoc., 105(1), 1995) reviewed the classical telescopic observations of albedo markings on Mercury and reproduced the definitive albedo map to assist visual observers of the planet. In Part Two, an investigation into the relationship between albedo and physiography is conducted, and the significance of the historical observations is discussed.

Rapid and Accurate Idea Transfer: Presenting Ideas with Concept Maps

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-07-30

AndolanerAncholik Itihas (Regional Histor of the State Language Movement), Dhaka: Bangla Academy. Muhith. A.M.A. (1978) Bangladesh. Emergence qf a Nation, Dhaka...The incidental learning paradigm presumes that information processed at deeper (i.e., more conceptually connected) levels will result in superior...consideration dovetails with Kinchen and Cabot’s (2007) results showing that Concept Maps enable deeper levels of information processing over PowerPoint

Meteorological Effects of Land Cover Changes in Hungary during the 20th Century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drüszler, Á.; Vig, P.; Csirmaz, K.

2012-04-01

Geological, paleontological and geomorphologic studies show that the Earth's climate has always been changing since it came into existence. The climate change itself is self-evident. Therefore the far more serious question is how much does mankind strengthen or weaken these changes beyond the natural fluctuation and changes of climate. The aim of the present study was to restore the historical land cover changes and to simulate the meteorological consequences of these changes. Two different land cover maps for Hungary were created in vector data format using GIS technology. The land cover map for 1900 was reconstructed based on statistical data and two different historical maps: the derived map of the 3rd Military Mapping Survey of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Synoptic Forestry Map of the Kingdom of Hungary. The land cover map for 2000 was derived from the CORINE land cover database. Significant land cover changes were found in Hungary during the 20th century according to the examinations of these maps and statistical databases. The MM5 non-hydrostatic dynamic model was used to further evaluate the meteorological effects of these changes. The lower boundary conditions for this mesoscale model were generated for two selected time periods (for 1900 and 2000) based on the reconstructed maps. The dynamic model has been run with the same detailed meteorological conditions of selected days from 2006 and 2007, but with modified lower boundary conditions. The set of the 26 selected initial conditions represents the whole set of the macrosynoptic situations for Hungary. In this way, 2×26 "forecasts" were made with 48 hours of integration. The effects of land cover changes under different weather situations were further weighted by the long-term (1961-1990) mean frequency of the corresponding macrosynoptic types, to assume the climatic effects from these stratified averages. The detailed evaluation of the model results were made for three different meteorological variables (temperature, dew point and precipitation).

Main natural hazards and vulnerability studies for some historical constructions and urban sectors of Valparaiso City (Chile)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romanelli, F.

2009-04-01

The Project "MAR VASTO" ("Risk Management in Valparaíso/Manejo de Riesgos en Valparaíso, Servicios Técnicos", 2007) started in March 2007, with coordination of ENEA (Italian Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Environment), participation of several partners (Italy: University of Ferrara, Faculties of Architecture and Engineering; University of Padua, Faculty of Engineering; Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics of Trieste; Chile: Valparaíso Technical University Federico Santa Maria, Civil Works Department; Santiago University of Chile, Division Structures Constructions Geotechnics), and support of local stakeholders. Being Valparaíso included since 2003 in the UNESCO Word Heritage List of protected sites, the project main goals are the following: to collect, analyze and elaborate the existing information, with a satisfying evaluation of main hazards; to develop a GIS digital archive, well organized, user-friendly and easy to be implemented in the future, providing maps and scenarios of specific and multiple risk; to provide a vulnerability analysis for three historical churches (San Francisco del Baron, Las Hermanitas de la Providencia, La Matríz, made by various materials - masonry, concrete, wood and adobe - and located in different city sites) and for a building stock in the Cerro Cordillera (partially inside the UNESCO area), analyzing more than 200 constructions; to suggest guidelines for future urban planning and strengthening interventions. In the framework of the MAR VASTO Project, the most important hazards have been investigated carried out. With regard to seismic hazard, "state-of-the-art" information has been provided by Chilean partners and stakeholders, using materials of several studies and stored in original earthquake reports, local newspapers and magazines. The activities performed by the Italian team regarded the definition, for the city of Valparaiso, of earthquake scenarios and maps based on the neo-deterministic approach. With regard to tsunami, the information has been provided by SHOA (Servicio Hidrografico y Oceanografico de la Armada de Chile). Tsunami scenarios and inundation maps (for both the 1906 and 1985 earthquakes) have been evaluated by the Italian team, taking into account also worse scenarios (namely the 1730 seismic event). Landslide hazard (identifying main flow areas and pointing out most affected zones, with a deeper investigation in the Cerro Cordillera, pilot area for the MAR VASTO Project) and fire hazard have been also evaluated. Finally, a GIS database has been developed, to store the hazard maps produced in the project. In addition, the GIS database has been verified by using the data obtained by a DGPS survey, performed during the in situ work in Valparaiso. In the framework of the MAR VASTO Project a building stock located in the Cerro Cordillera, partially inside the UNESCO area, has been investigated. The work done in the above said Cerro Cordillera sector by the Italian team can be considered a pilot experience which would be enlarged to all the Valparaiso City area in the framework of the town planning, actually in progress.

Study of Automatic Image Rectification and Registration of Scanned Historical Aerial Photographs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, H. R.; Tseng, Y. H.

2016-06-01

Historical aerial photographs directly provide good evidences of past times. The Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences (RCHSS) of Taiwan Academia Sinica has collected and scanned numerous historical maps and aerial images of Taiwan and China. Some maps or images have been geo-referenced manually, but most of historical aerial images have not been registered since there are no GPS or IMU data for orientation assisting in the past. In our research, we developed an automatic process of matching historical aerial images by SIFT (Scale Invariant Feature Transform) for handling the great quantity of images by computer vision. SIFT is one of the most popular method of image feature extracting and matching. This algorithm extracts extreme values in scale space into invariant image features, which are robust to changing in rotation scale, noise, and illumination. We also use RANSAC (Random sample consensus) to remove outliers, and obtain good conjugated points between photographs. Finally, we manually add control points for registration through least square adjustment based on collinear equation. In the future, we can use image feature points of more photographs to build control image database. Every new image will be treated as query image. If feature points of query image match the features in database, it means that the query image probably is overlapped with control images.With the updating of database, more and more query image can be matched and aligned automatically. Other research about multi-time period environmental changes can be investigated with those geo-referenced temporal spatial data.

The role of rivers in ancient societies, or how man transformed the alluvial landscapes of Khuzestan (SW Iran)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walstra, J.; Heyvaert, V.; Verkinderen, P.

2012-04-01

For many thousands of years the alluvial plains of Khuzestan (SW Iran) have been subject to intensive settlement and agriculture. Ancient societies depended on the position of major rivers for their economic survival and hence, there is ample evidence of human activities trying to control the distribution of water. Throughout the plains ancient irrigation and settlement patterns are visible, although traces are rapidly disappearing due to expanding modern land use. Aim of this study is to unlock and integrate the rich information on landscape and archaeology, which only survives through the available historical imagery and some limited archaeological surveys. A GIS-based geomorphological mapping procedure was developed, using a variety of imagery, including historical aerial photographs, CORONA, Landsat and SPOT images. In addition, supported by the evidence from previous geological field surveys, archaeological elements were identified, mapped and included in a GIS database. The resulting map layers display the positions of successive palaeochannel belts and extensive irrigation networks, together indicating a complex alluvial history characterized by avulsions and significant human impact. As shown in several case-studies, integrating information from multiple disciplines provides valuable insights in the complex landscape evolution of this region, both from geological and historical perspectives. Remote sensing and GIS are essential tools in such a research context. The presented work was undertaken within the framework of the Interuniversity Attraction Pole "Greater Mesopotamia: Reconstruction of its Environment and History" (IAP 6/34), funded by the Belgian Science Policy.

Rockfall hazard and risk assessment in the Yosemite Valley, California, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guzzetti, F.; Reichenbach, P.; Wieczorek, G.F.

2003-01-01

Rock slides and rock falls are the most frequent types of slope movements in Yosemite National Park, California. In historical time (1857-2002) 392 rock falls and rock slides have been documented in the valley, and some of them have been mapped in detail. We present the results of an attempt to assess rock fall hazards in the Yosemite Valley. Spatial and temporal aspects of rock falls hazard are considered. A detailed inventory of slope movements covering the 145-year period from 1857 to 2002 is used to determine the frequency-volume statistics of rock falls and to estimate the annual frequency of rock falls, providing the temporal component of rock fall hazard. The extent of the areas potentially subject to rock fall hazards in the Yosemite Valley were obtained using STONE, a physically-based rock fall simulation computer program. The software computes 3-dimensional rock fall trajectories starting from a digital elevation model (DEM), the location of rock fall release points, and maps of the dynamic rolling friction coefficient and of the coefficients of normal and tangential energy restitution. For each DEM cell the software calculates the number of rock falls passing through the cell, the maximum rock fall velocity and the maximum flying height. For the Yosemite Valley, a DEM with a ground resolution of 10 ?? 10 m was prepared using topographic contour lines from the U.S. Geological Survey 1:24 000-scale maps. Rock fall release points were identified as DEM cells having a slope steeper than 60??, an assumption based on the location of historical rock falls. Maps of the normal and tangential energy restitution coefficients and of the rolling friction coefficient were produced from a surficial geologic map. The availability of historical rock falls mapped in detail allowed us to check the computer program performance and to calibrate the model parameters. Visual and statistical comparison of the model results with the mapped rock falls confirmed the accuracy of the model. The model results are compared with a previous map of rockfall talus and with a geomorphic assessment of rock fall hazard based on potential energy referred to as a shadow angle approach, recently completed for the Yosemite Valley. The model results are then used to identify the roads and trails more subject to rock fall hazard. Of the 166.5 km of roads and trails in the Yosemite Valley 31.2% were found to be potentially subject to rock fall hazard, of which 14% are subject to very high hazard. ?? European Geosciences Union 2003.

From One Pixel to One Earth: Building a Living Atlas in the Cloud to Analyze and Monitor Global Patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moody, D.; Brumby, S. P.; Chartrand, R.; Franco, E.; Keisler, R.; Kelton, T.; Kontgis, C.; Mathis, M.; Raleigh, D.; Rudelis, X.; Skillman, S.; Warren, M. S.; Longbotham, N.

2016-12-01

The recent computing performance revolution has driven improvements in sensor, communication, and storage technology. Historical, multi-decadal remote sensing datasets at the petabyte scale are now available in commercial clouds, with new satellite constellations generating petabytes per year of high-resolution imagery with daily global coverage. Cloud computing and storage, combined with recent advances in machine learning and open software, are enabling understanding of the world at an unprecedented scale and detail. We have assembled all available satellite imagery from the USGS Landsat, NASA MODIS, and ESA Sentinel programs, as well as commercial PlanetScope and RapidEye imagery, and have analyzed over 2.8 quadrillion multispectral pixels. We leveraged the commercial cloud to generate a tiled, spatio-temporal mosaic of the Earth for fast iteration and development of new algorithms combining analysis techniques from remote sensing, machine learning, and scalable compute infrastructure. Our data platform enables processing at petabytes per day rates using multi-source data to produce calibrated, georeferenced imagery stacks at desired points in time and space that can be used for pixel level or global scale analysis. We demonstrate our data platform capability by using the European Space Agency's (ESA) published 2006 and 2009 GlobCover 20+ category label maps to train and test a Land Cover Land Use (LCLU) classifier, and generate current self-consistent LCLU maps in Brazil. We train a standard classifier on 2006 GlobCover categories using temporal imagery stacks, and we validate our results on co-registered 2009 Globcover LCLU maps and 2009 imagery. We then extend the derived LCLU model to current imagery stacks to generate an updated, in-season label map. Changes in LCLU labels can now be seamlessly monitored for a given location across the years in order to track, for example, cropland expansion, forest growth, and urban developments. An example of change monitoring is illustrated in the included figure showing rainfed cropland change in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil between 2006 and 2009.

Precipitation extremes and their relation to climatic indices in the Pacific Northwest USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zarekarizi, Mahkameh; Rana, Arun; Moradkhani, Hamid

2018-06-01

There has been focus on the influence of climate indices on precipitation extremes in the literature. Current study presents the evaluation of the precipitation-based extremes in Columbia River Basin (CRB) in the Pacific Northwest USA. We first analyzed the precipitation-based extremes using statistically (ten GCMs) and dynamically downscaled (three GCMs) past and future climate projections. Seven precipitation-based indices that help inform about the flood duration/intensity are used. These indices help in attaining first-hand information on spatial and temporal scales for different service sectors including energy, agriculture, forestry etc. Evaluation of these indices is first performed in historical period (1971-2000) followed by analysis of their relation to large scale tele-connections. Further we mapped these indices over the area to evaluate the spatial variation of past and future extremes in downscaled and observational data. The analysis shows that high values of extreme indices are clustered in either western or northern parts of the basin for historical period whereas the northern part is experiencing higher degree of change in the indices for future scenario. The focus is also on evaluating the relation of these extreme indices to climate tele-connections in historical period to understand their relationship with extremes over CRB. Various climate indices are evaluated for their relationship using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). Results indicated that, out of 13 climate tele-connections used in the study, CRB is being most affected inversely by East Pacific (EP), Western Pacific (WP), East Atlantic (EA) and North Atlaentic Oscillation (NAO).

Impact of cell size on inventory and mapping errors in a cellular geographic information system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wehde, M. E. (Principal Investigator)

1979-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. The effect of grid position was found insignificant for maps but highly significant for isolated mapping units. A modelable relationship between mapping error and cell size was observed for the map segment analyzed. Map data structure was also analyzed with an interboundary distance distribution approach. Map data structure and the impact of cell size on that structure were observed. The existence of a model allowing prediction of mapping error based on map structure was hypothesized and two generations of models were tested under simplifying assumptions.

Amniotic fluid inflammatory cytokines: potential markers of immunologic dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Abdallah, Morsi W; Larsen, Nanna; Grove, Jakob; Nørgaard-Pedersen, Bent; Thorsen, Poul; Mortensen, Erik L; Hougaard, David M

2013-09-01

The aim of the study was to analyze cytokine profiles in amniotic fluid (AF) samples of children developing autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and controls, adjusting for maternal autoimmune disorders and maternal infections during pregnancy. AF samples of 331 ASD cases and 698 controls were analyzed for inflammatory cytokines using Luminex xMAP technology utilizing a historic birth cohort. Clinical data were retrieved from nationwide registers, and case-control differences in AF cytokine levels were assessed using chi-square tests, logistic and tobit regression models. Overall, individuals with ASD had significantly elevated AF levels of TNF-α and TNF-β compared to controls. Analyzing individuals diagnosed only with ICD-10 codes yielded significantly elevated levels of IL-4, IL-10, TNF-α and TNF-β in ASD patients. Restricting analysis to infantile autism cases showed significantly elevated levels of IL-4, TNF-α and TNF-β compared to controls with no psychiatric comorbidities. Elevated levels of IL-6 and IL-5 were found in individuals with other childhood psychiatric disorders (OCPD) when compared to controls with no psychiatric comorbidities. AF samples of individuals with ASD or OCPD showed differential cytokine profiles compared to frequency-matched controls. Further studies to examine the specificity of the reported cytokine profiles in ASD and OCPD are required.

The nature of albedo features on Mercury, with maps for the telescopic observer. Part I: Mercury, the enigmatic planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, D. L.

1995-02-01

Bright and dark markings have been regularly recorded by visual observers of Mercury since the nineteenth century. Following the Mariner 10 mission, topographic maps of the hemisphere imaged by the spacecraft were produced. Part One of this paper reviews the classical telescopic observations of albedo markings on Mercury and the definitive albedo map is reproduced to assist visual observers of the planet. In Part Two, an investigation into the relationship between albedo and physiography is conducted and the significance of the historical observations is discussed.

SEAFLOOR EXPLORATION AND CHARACTERIZATION: PREREQUISITE TO OCEAN SPACE UTILIZATION.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hill, Gary; Lockwood, Millington

1987-01-01

A historical survey of US bathymetric mapping is presented up through the major mapping project begun in response to the 1983, establishment of an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), 200 nautical miles seaward. The EEZ extends sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing natural resources in the coastal ocean. This new area is approximately 3. 4 million square nautical miles or about 1. 3 times the total US land area. To characterize the resources within it, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Geological Survey (USGS) are undertaking systematic mapping programs of the EEZ. NOAA's effort includes detailed bathymetric mapping of the seabed. The USGS is using a wide-swath side-scan sonar system to map the EEZ seafloor on a reconaissance scale.

River morphodynamics from space: the Landsat frontier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwenk, Jon; Khandelwal, Ankush; Fratkin, Mulu; Kumar, Vipin; Foufoula-Georgiou, Efi

2017-04-01

NASA's Landsat family of satellites have been observing the entire globe since 1984, providing over 30 years of snapshots with an 18 day frequency and 30 meter resolution. These publicly-available Landsat data are particularly exciting to researchers interested in river morphodynamics, who are often limited to use of historical maps, aerial photography, and field surveys with poor and irregular time resolutions and limited spatial extents. Landsat archives show potential for overcoming these limitations, but techniques and tools for accurately and efficiently mining the vault of scenes must first be developed. In this PICO presentation, we detail the problems we encountered while mapping and quantifying planform dynamics of over 1,300 km of the actively-migrating, meandering Ucayali River in Peru from Landsat imagery. We also present methods to overcome these obstacles and introduce the Matlab-based RivMAP (River Morphodynamics from Analysis of Planforms) toolbox that we developed to extract banklines and centerlines, compute widths, curvatures, and angles, identify cutoffs, and quantify planform changes via centerline migration and erosion/accretion over large spatial domains with high temporal resolution. Measurement uncertainties were estimated by analyzing immobile, abandoned oxbow lakes. Our results identify hotspots of planform changes, and combined with limited precipitation, stage, and topography data, we parse three simultaneous controls on river migration: climate, sediment, and meander cutoff. Overall, this study demonstrates the vast potential locked within Landsat archives to identify multi-scale controls on river migration, observe the co-evolution of width, curvature, discharge, and migration, and discover and develop new geomorphic insights.

Overcoming complexities for consistent, continental-scale flood mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Helen; Zaidman, Maxine; Davison, Charlotte

2013-04-01

The EU Floods Directive requires all member states to produce flood hazard maps by 2013. Although flood mapping practices are well developed in Europe, there are huge variations in the scale and resolution of the maps between individual countries. Since extreme flood events are rarely confined to a single country, this is problematic, particularly for the re/insurance industry whose exposures often extend beyond country boundaries. Here, we discuss the challenges of large-scale hydrological and hydraulic modelling, using our experience of developing a 12-country model and set of maps, to illustrate how consistent, high-resolution river flood maps across Europe can be produced. The main challenges addressed include: data acquisition; manipulating the vast quantities of high-resolution data; and computational resources. Our starting point was to develop robust flood-frequency models that are suitable for estimating peak flows for a range of design flood return periods. We used the index flood approach, based on a statistical analysis of historic river flow data pooled on the basis of catchment characteristics. Historical flow data were therefore sourced for each country and collated into a large pan-European database. After a lengthy validation these data were collated into 21 separate analysis zones or regions, grouping smaller river basins according to their physical and climatic characteristics. The very large continental scale basins were each modelled separately on account of their size (e.g. Danube, Elbe, Drava and Rhine). Our methodology allows the design flood hydrograph to be predicted at any point on the river network for a range of return periods. Using JFlow+, JBA's proprietary 2D hydraulic hydrodynamic model, the calculated out-of-bank flows for all watercourses with an upstream drainage area exceeding 50km2 were routed across two different Digital Terrain Models in order to map the extent and depth of floodplain inundation. This generated modelling for a total river length of approximately 250,000km. Such a large-scale, high-resolution modelling exercise is extremely demanding on computational resources and would have been unfeasible without the use of Graphics Processing Units on a network of standard specification gaming computers. Our GPU grid is the world's largest flood-dedicated computer grid. The European river basins were split out into approximately 100 separate hydraulic models and managed individually, although care was taken to ensure flow continuity was maintained between models. The flood hazard maps from the modelling were pieced together using GIS techniques, to provide flood depth and extent information across Europe to a consistent scale and standard. After discussing the methodological challenges, we shall present our flood hazard maps and, from extensive validation work, compare these against historical flow records and observed flood extents.

The Canadian West Discovered: An Exhibition of Printed Maps from the 16th to Early 20th Century (Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, January 26-April 15, 1983).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Javorski, Mary

This document provides historical research from the earliest French experiences on the upper North American peninsula through today. Approximately 50 maps have been provided outlining the evolution of information that has been collected by those who sought to explore the region. Most of these explorers were trading company employees who were hired…

Understanding and Modeling Information Dominance in Battle Management: Applications of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-03-01

The report takes a unique look at information dominance and how it relates to shared situation awareness and the decision making cycles of the OODA...loop. An explanation of information dominance is developed through a historical example of battle management (the Battle of Britain) to demonstrate the...contemporary information dominance . Fuzzy cognitive mapping, a method for eliciting and modeling human interactions in complex situations (such as information

Okinawa, Japan: Geologic Battleground

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waymack, S. W.; Carrington, M. P.; Harpp, K. S.

2005-12-01

One of our main goals as instructors, particularly in introductory courses, is to impart students with an appreciation of how geology has influenced the course of human events. Despite the apparent accessibility of such topics, communicating this in a lively, relevant, and effective way often proves difficult. We use a series of historical events, the Pacific island hopping campaign of WWII, to engage students in an active, guided inquiry exercise to explore how terrain and the underlying geology of an area can shape historical events. Teams of students are assigned the role of planning either the defense or occupation of Okinawa Island, in the Ryukyu arc, in a theoretical version of the 1945 conflict. Students are given a package of information, including geologic and topographic maps, a list of military resources available to them at the time, and some historical background. Students also have access to "reconnaissance" images, 360o digital panoramas of the landscape of Okinawa, keyed to their maps. Each team has a week to plan their strategies and carry out additional research, which they subsequently bring to the table in the form of a written battle plan. With an instructor as arbiter, teams alternate drawing their maneuvers on a map of the island, to which the other team then responds. This continues one move at a time, until the instructor declares a victor. Throughout the exercise, the instructor guides students through analysis of each strategic decision in light of the island's structure and topography, with an emphasis on the appropriate interpretation of the maps. Students soon realize that an understanding of the island's terrain literally meant the difference between life and death for civilians and military participants alike in 1945. The karst landscape of Okinawa posed unique obstacles to both the Japanese and the American forces, including difficult landing sites, networks of natural caves, and sequences of hills aligned perpendicular to the length of the island and to American troop movement. This unique topography forced innovative tactics ranging from reverse slope defense to "blowtorch and corkscrew" offense in response. During this exercise, students apply their map-reading and interpretation skills, as well as their critical analysis abilities; the historical context, in turn, provides motivation to refine those skills. Sun Tzu wrote that all warfare is based on deception. What we hope to communicate to students with this activity is that much of warfare, and, more broadly, the way humans interact with the world, is inherently and undeniably based on geology.

Analysis of optical imagery reveals regionally coherent slowdown in High Mountain Asia in response to glacier thinning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehecq, A.; Gardner, A. S.; Gourmelen, N.

2016-12-01

High Mountain Asia (HMA) glaciers play a key role in the hydrology of the region, impacting water resources. Studies focusing on HMA glaciers reveal contrasting patterns of change with rapid rates of retreat in Himalayas and near balance condition in the Karakorum, Pamir and Kunlun. Glaciers dynamics is a key variable to understand their future evolution and sensitivity to changes in atmospheric forcing. Several studies based on field measurements and remote sensing data have shown consistent slow-down of land terminating glaciers in response to ice thinning. While highly insightful, these studies have relied on the analysis of glacier velocities over small regions and/or a limited number of glaciers. Here we analyze changes in ice velocities for thousands of glaciers in HMA from optical satellite images. Applying feature-tracking algorithms to the entire Landsat 7 (SLC-ON) and 8 archives, we generated surface velocity fields over 90% of the HMA with an uncertainty of the order of 4 m/yr. The change in velocities over the last 15 years will be analyzed with reference to regional glacier elevation changes and topographic characteristics. We show that the first-order temporal evolution of glacier flow mirrors the pattern of glacier elevation changes. We observe a general decrease of ice velocity in regions of known ice mass loss, and a more complex patterns consisting of mixed acceleration and decrease of ice velocity in regions that are experiencing near-equilibrium conditions and exhibit surging behavior. To provide long-term context we analyze Landsat 4/5 to construct sparse historic velocities and Hexagon KH-9 mapping camera imagery to reconstruct historic elevations dating back as early as the 1970'. However, the older imagery is sparse due to limited downlink locations and bandwidth. In addition, sensor geometry and pointing knowledge are crude in comparison to modern imagery, imagery is often saturated (featureless) over bright snow and ice surface, and many images suffer from banding artifacts.

An ecological approach supporting the management of sea-uses and natural capital in marine coastal areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcelli, Marco; Carli, Filippo M.; Bonamano, Simone; Frattarelli, Francesco; Mancini, Emanuele; Paladini de Mendoza, Francesco; Peviani, Maximo; Piermattei, Viviana

2015-04-01

The purpose of our work is to create a multi-layer map of marine areas and adjacent territories (SeaUseMap), which takes into account both the different sea uses and the value of marine ecosystems, calculated on the basis of services and benefits produced by the different biocenosis. Marine coastal areas are characterized by the simultaneous presence of ecological conditions favorable to life and, at the same time, they are home to many human activities of particular economic relevance. Ecological processes occurring in coastal areas are particularly important and when we consider their contribution to the value of the "natural capital" (Costanza et Al. 1997, 2008, 2014), we can observe that this is often higher than the contribution from terrestrial ecosystems. Our work is done in northern Lazio (Civitavecchia), a highly populated area where many uses of the sea are superimposed: tourism, fisheries, industry, shipping and ports, historical and cultural heritage. Our goal is to create a tool to support decision-making, where ecosystem values and uses of the sea can be simultaneously represented. The ecosystem values are calculated based on an analysis of benthic biocoenoses: the basic ecological units that, in the Mediterranean Sea, have been identified, defined, analyzed and used since the 60s (Perez & Picard 1964) to date as a working tool (Boudouresque & Fresi 1976). Land surface, instead, was analyzed from available maps, produced within the Corine Land Cover project. Some application examples to support the decision-making are shown, with particular reference to the localization of suitable areas for wave energy production and the esteem of ecological damages generated in case of maritime accidents (e.g., Costa Concordia). According to Costanza 2008, we have developed our own operational method, which is suitable for this specific case of benefit assessment from benthic communities. In this framework, we base our strategy on the ability of the benthic biocenosis to provide excellent information on ecological processes from which ecosystem benefits arise.

Sandia National Laboratories, Tonopah Test Range Askania Tower (Building 02-00): Photographs and Written Historical and Descriptive Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ullrich, Rebecca A.

The Askania Tower (Building 02-00) was built in 1956 as part of the first wave of construction at the newly established Tonopah Test Range (TTR). Located at Station 2, near the primary target area at the range, the tower was one of the first four built to house Askania phototheodolites used in tracking test units dropped from aircraft. This report includes historical information, architectural information, sources of information, project information, maps, blueprints, and photographs.

Imputing historical statistics, soils information, and other land-use data to crop area

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perry, C. R., Jr.; Willis, R. W.; Lautenschlager, L.

1982-01-01

In foreign crop condition monitoring, satellite acquired imagery is routinely used. To facilitate interpretation of this imagery, it is advantageous to have estimates of the crop types and their extent for small area units, i.e., grid cells on a map represent, at 60 deg latitude, an area nominally 25 by 25 nautical miles in size. The feasibility of imputing historical crop statistics, soils information, and other ancillary data to crop area for a province in Argentina is studied.

Environmental science applications with Rapid Integrated Mapping and analysis System (RIMS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiklomanov, A.; Prusevich, A.; Gordov, E.; Okladnikov, I.; Titov, A.

2016-11-01

The Rapid Integrated Mapping and analysis System (RIMS) has been developed at the University of New Hampshire as an online instrument for multidisciplinary data visualization, analysis and manipulation with a focus on hydrological applications. Recently it was enriched with data and tools to allow more sophisticated analysis of interdisciplinary data. Three different examples of specific scientific applications with RIMS are demonstrated and discussed. Analysis of historical changes in major components of the Eurasian pan-Arctic water budget is based on historical discharge data, gridded observational meteorological fields, and remote sensing data for sea ice area. Express analysis of the extremely hot and dry summer of 2010 across European Russia is performed using a combination of near-real time and historical data to evaluate the intensity and spatial distribution of this event and its socioeconomic impacts. Integrative analysis of hydrological, water management, and population data for Central Asia over the last 30 years provides an assessment of regional water security due to changes in climate, water use and demography. The presented case studies demonstrate the capabilities of RIMS as a powerful instrument for hydrological and coupled human-natural systems research.

Probabilistic assessment of precipitation-triggered landslides using historical records of landslide occurence, Seattle, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Coe, J.A.; Michael, J.A.; Crovelli, R.A.; Savage, W.Z.; Laprade, W.T.; Nashem, W.D.

2004-01-01

Ninety years of historical landslide records were used as input to the Poisson and binomial probability models. Results from these models show that, for precipitation-triggered landslides, approximately 9 percent of the area of Seattle has annual exceedance probabilities of 1 percent or greater. Application of the Poisson model for estimating the future occurrence of individual landslides results in a worst-case scenario map, with a maximum annual exceedance probability of 25 percent on a hillslope near Duwamish Head in West Seattle. Application of the binomial model for estimating the future occurrence of a year with one or more landslides results in a map with a maximum annual exceedance probability of 17 percent (also near Duwamish Head). Slope and geology both play a role in localizing the occurrence of landslides in Seattle. A positive correlation exists between slope and mean exceedance probability, with probability tending to increase as slope increases. Sixty-four percent of all historical landslide locations are within 150 m (500 ft, horizontal distance) of the Esperance Sand/Lawton Clay contact, but within this zone, no positive or negative correlation exists between exceedance probability and distance to the contact.

Urban History in 4 Dimensions - Supporting Research and Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Münster, S.; Friedrichs, K.; Kröber, C.; Bruschke, J.; Henze, F.; Maiwald, F.; Niebling, F.

2017-08-01

The new research group on the four-dimensional research and communication of urban history (Urban History 4D) aims to investigate and develop methods and technologies to access extensive repositories of historical media and their contextual information in a spatial model, with an additional temporal component. This will make content accessible to different target groups, researchers and the public, via a 4D browser. A location-dependent augmented-reality representation can be used as an information base, research tool, and means of communicating historical knowledge. The data resources for this research include extensive holdings of historical photographs of Dresden, which have documented the city over the decades, and digitized map collections from the Deutsche Fotothek (German photographic collection) platform. These will lay the foundation for a prototype model which will give users a virtual experience of historic parts of Dresden.

Monitoring and Mapping the Hurricane Harvey Flooding in Houston, Texas.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balaji Bhaskar, M. S.

2017-12-01

Monitoring and Mapping the Hurricane Harvey Flooding in Houston, Texas.Urban flooding is a hazard that causes major destruction and loss of life. High intense precipitation events have increased significantly in Houston, Texas in recent years resulting in frequent river and bayou flooding. Many of the historical storm events such as Allison, Rita and Ike have caused several billion dollars in losses for the Houston-Galveston Region. A category 4 Hurricane Harvey made landfall on South Texas resulting in heavy precipitation from Aug 25 to 29 of 2017. About 1 trillion gallons of water fell across Harris County over a 4-day period. This amount of water covers Harris County's 1,800 square miles with an average of 33 inches of water. The long rain event resulted in an average 40inch rainfall across the area in several rain gauges and the maximum rainfall of 49.6 inches was recorded near Clear Creek. The objectives of our study are to 1) Process the Geographic Information System (GIS) and satellite data from the pre and post Hurricane Harvey event in Houston, Texas and 2) Analyze the satellite imagery to map the nature and pattern of the flooding in Houston-Galveston Region. The GIS data of the study area was downloaded and processed from the various publicly available resources such as Houston Galveston Area Council (HGAC), Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Texas Natural Resource Information Systems (TNRIS). The satellite data collected soon after the Harvey flooding event were downloaded and processed using the ERDAS image processing software. The flood plain areas surrounding the Brazos River, Buffalo Bayou and the Addicks Barker reservoirs showed severe inundation. The different watershed areas affected by the catastrophic flooding in the wake of Hurricane Harvey were mapped and compared with the pre flooding event.

Mapping the dynamics of juniper forest encroachment into grasslands during 1984-2010 based on PALSAR and Landsat images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Xiao, X.; Qin, Y.; Dong, J.

2016-12-01

Juniper species widely encroaching into native grasslands has negatively affected the production of forage and livestock, wildlife habitats, and altered the water, carbon, nutrient and biogeochemical cycles. However, time series of juniper maps are not available across landscape, watershed and regional scales to facilitate these studies. This study examined the dynamics of juniper forest encroachment into native grasslands in Oklahoma using a pixel and phenology-based algorithm based on PALSAR mosaic data in 2010 and 10,871 Landsat 5/7 images during 1984-2010. The juniper forest maps in 2010 and five historical epochs: the late 1980s (1984-1989), early 1990s (1990-1994), late 1990s (1995-1999), early 2000s (2000-2004), and late 2000s (2005-2010) were generated. We analyzed the area dynamics at various spatial scales of state, county and geographic regions. This study found that (1) the juniper forest expanded to the northwest of Oklahoma at an annual rate of 5% during 1984-2010; (2) the geographic distribution of juniper forest has notable spatial heterogeneity, varies from one county to another; (3) the area of the juniper forest has the most significant increase in the northwestern counties, and (4) stand age analysis suggested that 65% juniper forests in Oklahoma are young with forest stand age less than 15 years. This practice at the state level demonstrated the potential to trace back the juniper encroachment into the grasslands using time series Landsat images and PALSAR data. The resultant maps can be used to support studies on the driving factors and consequences, and future estimates of the juniper forest encroachment.

Verifying mapping, monitoring and modeling of fine sediment pollution sources in West Maui, Hawai'i, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cerovski-Darriau, C.; Stock, J. D.

2017-12-01

Coral reef ecosystems, and the fishing and tourism industries they support, depend on clean waters. Fine sediment pollution from nearshore watersheds threatens these enterprises in West Maui, Hawai'i. To effectively mitigate sediment pollution, we first have to know where the sediment is coming from, and how fast it erodes. In West Maui, we know that nearshore sediment plumes originate from erosion of fine sand- to silt-sized air fall deposits where they are exposed by grazing, agriculture, or other disturbances. We identified and located these sediment sources by mapping watershed geomorphological processes using field traverses, historic air photos, and modern orthophotos. We estimated bank lowering rates using erosion pins, and other surface erosion rates were extrapolated from data collected elsewhere on the Hawaiian Islands. These measurements and mapping led to a reconnaissance sediment budget which showed that annual loads are dominated by bank erosion of legacy terraces. Field observations during small storms confirm that nearshore sediment plumes are sourced from bank erosion of in-stream, legacy agricultural deposits. To further verify this sediment budget, we used geochemical fingerprinting to uniquely identify each potential source (e.g. stream banks, agricultural fields, roads, other human modified soils, and hillslopes) from the Wahikuli watershed (10 km2) and analyzed the fine fraction using ICP-MS for elemental geochemistry. We propose to apply this the fingerprinting results to nearshore suspended sediment samples taken during storms to identify the proportion of sediment coming from each source. By combining traditional geomorphic mapping, monitoring and geochemistry, we hope to provide a powerful tool to verify the primary source of sediment reaching the nearshore.

Thermal mapping of Hawaiian volcanoes with ASTER satellite data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Patrick, Matthew R.; Witzke, Coral-Nadine

2011-01-01

Thermal mapping of volcanoes is important to determine baseline thermal behavior in order to judge future thermal activity that may precede an eruption. We used cloud-free kinetic temperature images from the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) sensor obtained between 2000 and 2010 to produce thermal maps for all five subaerial volcanoes in Hawai‘i that have had eruptions in the Holocene (Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, Mauna Kea, and Haleakalā). We stacked the images to provide time-averaged thermal maps, as well as to analyze temperature trends through time. Thermal areas are conspicuous at the summits and rift zones of Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, and the summit calderas of these volcanoes contain obvious arcuate, concentric linear thermal areas that probably result from channeling of rising gas along buried, historical intracaldera scarps. The only significant change in thermal activity noted in the study period is the opening of the Halema‘uma‘u vent at Kīlauea's summit in 2008. Several small thermal anomalies are coincident with pit craters on Hualālai. We suspect that these simply result from the sheltered nature of the depression, but closer inspection is warranted to determine if genuine thermal activity exists in the craters. Thermal areas were not detected on Haleakalā or Mauna Kea. The main limitation of the study is the large pixel size (90 m) of the ASTER images, which reduces our ability to detect subtle changes or to identify small, low-temperature thermal activity. This study, therefore, is meant to characterize the broad, large-scale thermal features on these volcanoes. Future work should study these thermal areas with thermal cameras and thermocouples, which have a greater ability to detect small, low-temperature thermal features.

Numerical Study of the Generation of Linear Energy Transfer Spectra for Space Radiation Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Badavi, Francis F.; Wilson, John W.; Hunter, Abigail

2005-01-01

In analyzing charged particle spectra in space due to galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar particle events (SPE), the conversion of particle energy spectra into linear energy transfer (LET) distributions is a convenient guide in assessing biologically significant components of these spectra. The mapping of LET to energy is triple valued and can be defined only on open energy subintervals where the derivative of LET with respect to energy is not zero. Presented here is a well-defined numerical procedure which allows for the generation of LET spectra on the open energy subintervals that are integrable in spite of their singular nature. The efficiency and accuracy of the numerical procedures is demonstrated by providing examples of computed differential and integral LET spectra and their equilibrium components for historically large SPEs and 1977 solar minimum GCR environments. Due to the biological significance of tissue, all simulations are done with tissue as the target material.

Multidimensional Scaling Analysis of the Dynamics of a Country Economy

PubMed Central

Mata, Maria Eugénia

2013-01-01

This paper analyzes the Portuguese short-run business cycles over the last 150 years and presents the multidimensional scaling (MDS) for visualizing the results. The analytical and numerical assessment of this long-run perspective reveals periods with close connections between the macroeconomic variables related to government accounts equilibrium, balance of payments equilibrium, and economic growth. The MDS method is adopted for a quantitative statistical analysis. In this way, similarity clusters of several historical periods emerge in the MDS maps, namely, in identifying similarities and dissimilarities that identify periods of prosperity and crises, growth, and stagnation. Such features are major aspects of collective national achievement, to which can be associated the impact of international problems such as the World Wars, the Great Depression, or the current global financial crisis, as well as national events in the context of broad political blueprints for the Portuguese society in the rising globalization process. PMID:24294132

The FORE-SCE model: a practical approach for projecting land cover change using scenario-based modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sohl, Terry L.; Sayler, Kristi L.; Drummond, Mark A.; Loveland, Thomas R.

2007-01-01

A wide variety of ecological applications require spatially explicit, historic, current, and projected land use and land cover data. The U.S. Land Cover Trends project is analyzing contemporary (1973–2000) land-cover change in the conterminous United States. The newly developed FORE-SCE model used Land Cover Trends data and theoretical, statistical, and deterministic modeling techniques to project future land cover change through 2020 for multiple plausible scenarios. Projected proportions of future land use were initially developed, and then sited on the lands with the highest potential for supporting that land use and land cover using a statistically based stochastic allocation procedure. Three scenarios of 2020 land cover were mapped for the western Great Plains in the US. The model provided realistic, high-resolution, scenario-based land-cover products suitable for multiple applications, including studies of climate and weather variability, carbon dynamics, and regional hydrology.

Uncovering temporal structure in hippocampal output patterns

PubMed Central

de Jong, Laurel Watkins; Pfeiffer, Brad E; Foster, David

2018-01-01

Place cell activity of hippocampal pyramidal cells has been described as the cognitive substrate of spatial memory. Replay is observed during hippocampal sharp-wave-ripple-associated population burst events (PBEs) and is critical for consolidation and recall-guided behaviors. PBE activity has historically been analyzed as a phenomenon subordinate to the place code. Here, we use hidden Markov models to study PBEs observed in rats during exploration of both linear mazes and open fields. We demonstrate that estimated models are consistent with a spatial map of the environment, and can even decode animals’ positions during behavior. Moreover, we demonstrate the model can be used to identify hippocampal replay without recourse to the place code, using only PBE model congruence. These results suggest that downstream regions may rely on PBEs to provide a substrate for memory. Additionally, by forming models independent of animal behavior, we lay the groundwork for studies of non-spatial memory. PMID:29869611

Uncovering temporal structure in hippocampal output patterns.

PubMed

Maboudi, Kourosh; Ackermann, Etienne; de Jong, Laurel Watkins; Pfeiffer, Brad E; Foster, David; Diba, Kamran; Kemere, Caleb

2018-06-05

Place cell activity of hippocampal pyramidal cells has been described as the cognitive substrate of spatial memory. Replay is observed during hippocampal sharp-wave-ripple-associated population burst events (PBEs) and is critical for consolidation and recall-guided behaviors. PBE activity has historically been analyzed as a phenomenon subordinate to the place code. Here, we use hidden Markov models to study PBEs observed in rats during exploration of both linear mazes and open fields. We demonstrate that estimated models are consistent with a spatial map of the environment, and can even decode animals' positions during behavior. Moreover, we demonstrate the model can be used to identify hippocampal replay without recourse to the place code, using only PBE model congruence. These results suggest that downstream regions may rely on PBEs to provide a substrate for memory. Additionally, by forming models independent of animal behavior, we lay the groundwork for studies of non-spatial memory. © 2018, Maboudi et al.

[The business game as a form of organization of competent approach in teaching of history of medicine].

PubMed

Konopleva, E L; Ostapenko, V M

2015-01-01

The article considers issue of implementation of competent approach in teaching of course of history of medicine in medical universities. The such methods of active training as imitation role business games are proposed as a mean of developing common cultural and professional competences offuture medical personnel. The business games promote development of motivation basis or education and require activities related to practical implementation of acquired knowledge and skills (analysis of historical event, work with map, reading of historical documents, participation in scientific discussion, etc.). As a result, students acquire sufficiently large notion concerning world of medicine, relationship of historical epochs and occurrences and unity of medical systems.

Application of a CROPWAT Model to Analyze Crop Yields in Nicaragua

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doria, R.; Byrne, J. M.

2013-12-01

ABSTRACT Changes in climate are likely to influence crop yields due to varying evapotranspiration and precipitation over agricultural regions. In Nicaragua, agriculture is extensive, with new areas of land brought into production as the population increases. Nicaraguan staple food items (maize and beans) are produced mostly by small scale farmers with less than 10 hectares, but they are critical for income generation and food security for rural communities. Given that the majority of these farmers are dependent on rain for crop irrigation, and that maize and beans are sensitive to variations in temperature and rainfall patterns, the present study was undertaken to assess the impact of climate change on these crop yields. Climate data were generated per municipio representing the three major climatic zones of the country: the wet Pacific lowland, the cooler Central highland, and the Caribbean lowland. Historical normal climate data from 1970-2000 (baseline period) were used as input to CROPWAT model to analyze the potential and actual evapotranspiration (ETo and ETa, respectively) that affects crop yields. Further, generated local climatic data of future years (2030-2099) under various scenarios were inputted to the CROPWAT to determine changes in ETo and ETa from the baseline period. Spatial variability maps of both ETo and ETa as well as crop yields were created. Results indicated significant variation in seasonal rainfall depth during the baseline period and predicted decreasing trend in the future years that eventually affects yields. These maps enable us to generate appropriate adaptation measures and best management practices for small scale farmers under future climate change scenarios. KEY WORDS: Climate change, evapotranspiration, CROPWAT, yield, Nicaragua

"I CAMMINI DELLA REGINA" - Open Source based tools for preserving and culturally exploring historical traffic routes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cannata, Massimiliano; Colombo, Massimo; Antonovic, Milan; Cardoso, Mirko; Delucchi, Andrea; Gianocca, Giancarlo; Brovelli, Maria Antonia

2015-04-01

"I CAMMINI DELLA REGINA" (The Via Regina Paths) is an Interreg project funded within the transnational cooperation program between Italy and Switzerland 2007-2013. The aim of this project is the preservation and valorization of the cultural heritage linked to the walking historically paths crossing, connecting and serving the local territories. With the approach of leveraging the already existing tools, which generally consist of technical descriptions of the paths, the project uses the open source geospatial technologies to deploy innovative solutions which can fill some of the gaps in historical-cultural tourism offers. The Swiss part, and particularly the IST-SUPSI team, has been focusing its activities in the realization of two innovative solutions: a mobile application for the survey of historical paths and a storytelling system for immersive cultural exploration of the historical paths. The former, based on Android, allows to apply in a revised manner a consolidated and already successfully used methodology of survey focused on the conservation of the historical paths (Inventory of historical traffic routes in Switzerland). Up to now operators could rely only on hand work based on a combination of notes, pictures and GPS devices synthesized in manually drawn maps; this procedure is error prone and shows many problems both in data updating and extracting for elaborations. Thus it has been created an easy to use interface which allows to map, according to a newly developed spatially enabled data model, paths, morphological elements, and multimedia notes. When connected to the internet the application can send the data to a web service which, after applying linear referencing and further elaborating the data, makes them available using open standards. The storytelling system has been designed to provide users with cultural insights embedded in a multimedial and immersive geospatial portal. Whether the tourist is exploring physically or virtually the desired historical path, the system will provide notifications and immersive multimedia information that foster a new sight of the territory: award of the culture and history of the place thanks to attractive description of the geological, land use, historical and ethnographic contexts. The technologies used for these developments are: mongoDB, tornado, Android SDK, geoserver, bootstrap, OpenLayers, HTML5, CSS3, JQuery. The approach, methodologies and technical implementations will be discussed and presented.

Seismic hazard assessment of the cultural heritage sites: A case study in Cappadocia (Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seyrek, Evren; Orhan, Ahmet; Dinçer, İsmail

2014-05-01

Turkey is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Major earthquakes with the potential of threatening life and property occur frequently here. In the last decade, over 50,000 residents lost their lives, commonly as a result of building failures in seismic events. The Cappadocia region is one of the most important touristic sites in Turkey. At the same time, the region has been included to the Word Heritage List by UNESCO at 1985 due to its natural, historical and cultural values. The region is undesirably affected by several environmental conditions, which are subjected in many previous studies. But, there are limited studies about the seismic evaluation of the region. Some of the important historical and cultural heritage sites are: Goreme Open Air Museum, Uchisar Castle, Ortahisar Castle, Derinkuyu Underground City and Ihlara Valley. According to seismic hazard zonation map published by the Ministry of Reconstruction and Settlement these heritage sites fall in Zone III, Zone IV and Zone V. This map show peak ground acceleration or 10 percent probability of exceedance in 50 years for bedrock. In this connection, seismic hazard assessment of these heritage sites has to be evaluated. In this study, seismic hazard calculations are performed both deterministic and probabilistic approaches with local site conditions. A catalog of historical and instrumental earthquakes is prepared and used in this study. The seismic sources have been identified for seismic hazard assessment based on geological, seismological and geophysical information. Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) at bed rock level is calculated for different seismic sources using available attenuation relationship formula applicable to Turkey. The result of the present study reveals that the seismic hazard at these sites is closely matching with the Seismic Zonation map published by the Ministry of Reconstruction and Settlement. Keywords: Seismic Hazard Assessment, Probabilistic Approach, Deterministic Approach, Historical Heritage, Cappadocia.

Georeferenced historical forest maps of Bukovina (Northern Romania) - important tool for paleoenvironmental analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popa, Ionel; Crǎciunescu, Vasile; Candrea, Bogdan; Timár, Gábor

2010-05-01

The historical region of Bukovina is one of the most forested areas of Romania. The name itself, beech land, suggest the high wood resources located here. The systematic wood exploitation started in Bukovina during the Austrian rule (1775 - 1918). To fully asses the region's wood potential and to make the exploitation and replantation processes more efficient, the Austrian engineers developed a dedicated mapping system. The result was a series of maps, surveyed for each forest district. In the first editions, we can find maps crafted at different scales (e.g. 1:50 000, 1: 20 000, 1: 25 000). Later on (after 1900), the map sheets scale was standardized to 1: 25 000. Each sheet was accompanied by a register with information regarding the forest parcels. The system was kept after 1918, when Bukovina become a part of Romania. For another 20 years, the forest districts were periodically surveyed and the maps updated. The basemap content also changed during time. For most of the maps, the background was compiled from the Austrian Third Military Survey maps. After the Second World War, the Romanian military maps ("planurile directoare de tragere") were also used. The forest surveys were positioned using the Austrian triangulation network with the closest baseline at Rădăuţi. Considered lost after WWII, an important part of this maps were recently recovered by a fortunate and accidental finding. Such informations are highly valuable for the today forest planners. By careful studying this kind of documents, a modern forest manager can better understand the way forests were managed in the past and the implications of that management in today's forest reality. In order to do that, the maps should be first georeferenced into a known coordinate system of the Third Survey and integrated with recent geospatial datasets using a GIS environment. The paper presents the challenges of finding and applying the right informations regarding the datum and projection used by the Austrian and Romanian forest surveyors, to correctly georeference the maps. A case study, demonstrating the usefulness of such old cartographic informations in understanding the forest landscape evolution is also included. The georeferenced map sheets provide an excellent basis of the paleo-environmental researches. Assessing the changes of the forest cover ratio is important for the analysis of the recent flash flood events at the eastern slopes of the Carpathian Mts.

An Atlas of ShakeMaps and population exposure catalog for earthquake loss modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Allen, T.I.; Wald, D.J.; Earle, P.S.; Marano, K.D.; Hotovec, A.J.; Lin, K.; Hearne, M.G.

2009-01-01

We present an Atlas of ShakeMaps and a catalog of human population exposures to moderate-to-strong ground shaking (EXPO-CAT) for recent historical earthquakes (1973-2007). The common purpose of the Atlas and exposure catalog is to calibrate earthquake loss models to be used in the US Geological Survey's Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER). The full ShakeMap Atlas currently comprises over 5,600 earthquakes from January 1973 through December 2007, with almost 500 of these maps constrained-to varying degrees-by instrumental ground motions, macroseismic intensity data, community internet intensity observations, and published earthquake rupture models. The catalog of human exposures is derived using current PAGER methodologies. Exposure to discrete levels of shaking intensity is obtained by correlating Atlas ShakeMaps with a global population database. Combining this population exposure dataset with historical earthquake loss data, such as PAGER-CAT, provides a useful resource for calibrating loss methodologies against a systematically-derived set of ShakeMap hazard outputs. We illustrate two example uses for EXPO-CAT; (1) simple objective ranking of country vulnerability to earthquakes, and; (2) the influence of time-of-day on earthquake mortality. In general, we observe that countries in similar geographic regions with similar construction practices tend to cluster spatially in terms of relative vulnerability. We also find little quantitative evidence to suggest that time-of-day is a significant factor in earthquake mortality. Moreover, earthquake mortality appears to be more systematically linked to the population exposed to severe ground shaking (Modified Mercalli Intensity VIII+). Finally, equipped with the full Atlas of ShakeMaps, we merge each of these maps and find the maximum estimated peak ground acceleration at any grid point in the world for the past 35 years. We subsequently compare this "composite ShakeMap" with existing global hazard models, calculating the spatial area of the existing hazard maps exceeded by the combined ShakeMap ground motions. In general, these analyses suggest that existing global, and regional, hazard maps tend to overestimate hazard. Both the Atlas of ShakeMaps and EXPO-CAT have many potential uses for examining earthquake risk and epidemiology. All of the datasets discussed herein are available for download on the PAGER Web page ( http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ eqcenter/pager/prodandref/ ). ?? 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Analyzing Historical Primary Source Open Educational Resources: A Blended Pedagogical Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliver, Kevin M.; Purichia, Heather R.

2018-01-01

This qualitative case study addresses the need for pedagogical approaches to working with open educational resources (OER). Drawing on a mix of historical thinking heuristics and case analysis approaches, a blended pedagogical strategy and primary source database were designed to build student understanding of historical records with transfer of…

Historical Evolution of the Field View and Textbook Accounts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pocovi, M. Cecilia; Finley, Fred N.

2003-01-01

Analyzes how two electromagnetism textbooks approach the concept of electric field. Uses historical evolution of the field representation. Indicates that one textbook mixes up the historical and pedagogical reasons for the introduction of the concept of field while the other one presents a sketch that might lead students to understand the field…

Novel characterization of landscape-level variability in historical vegetation structure

Treesearch

Brandon M. Collins; Jamie M. Lydersen; Richard G. Everett; Danny L. Fry; Scott L. Stephens

2015-01-01

We analyzed historical timber inventory data collected systematically across a large mixed-conifer-dominated landscape to gain insight into the interaction between disturbances and vegetation structure and composition prior to 20th century land management practices. Using records from over 20 000 trees, we quantified historical vegetation structure and composition for...

The Borders of Historical Empathy: Students Encounter the Holocaust through Film

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Metzger, Scott Alan

2012-01-01

This case study explores potential educational tensions in historical empathy for learning about emotionally difficult topics through lessons that use dramatic feature films (movies). It investigates one case of historical empathy in the classroom by analyzing what a high-school teacher and her students do and talk about in class. The observed…

Understanding Comprehensive School Reforms: Insights from Comparative-Historical Sociology and Power Resources Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sass, Katharina

2015-01-01

The historical origins and development of comprehensive schooling have seldom been analyzed systematically and comparatively. However, there is a rich comparative and historically grounded literature on the development of welfare states, which focuses on many relevant policies, but ignores the education system. In particular, the power resources…

Geologic map of the national parks in the National Capital region, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Southworth, Scott; Denenny, Danielle

2006-01-01

More than 51,000 acres within the National Capital Region (NCR) are administered by the National Park Service (NPS). These parks consist of parkways, trails, statues, monuments, memorials, historic sites, scenic areas, theatres, parks for performing arts, and Civil War battlefields. Although largely established for historical and cultural resources, each park is situated on a landscape that is influenced by bedrock and surficial geology of the central Appalachian mid-Atlantic region. Geologic mapping and field studies conducted for over 130 years are summarized here to provide the earliest history of the parklands. The age, type, names, and the interpreted origin of the rocks, as well as the processes active in the formation of surficial deposits and the landscape are discussed. These data are intended for educational and interpretative programs for visitors as well as the management of natural resources.

BOREAS Hardcopy Maps

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Nelson, Elizabeth; Newcomer, Jeffrey A.

2000-01-01

Boreal Ecosystem-Atmospheric Study (BOREAS) hardcopy maps are a collection of approximately 1,000 hardcopy maps representing the physical, climatological, and historical attributes of areas covering primarily the Manitoba and Saskatchewan provinces of Canada. These maps were collected by BOREAS Information System (BORIS) and Canada for Remote Sensing (CCRS) staff to provide basic information about site positions, manmade features, topography, geology, hydrology, land cover types, fire history, climate, and soils of the BOREAS study region. These maps are not available for distribution through the BOREAS project but may be used as an on-site resource. Information is provided within this document for individuals who want to order copies of these maps from the original map source. Note that the maps are not contained on the BOREAS CD-ROM set. An inventory listing file is supplied on the CD-ROM to inform users of the maps that are available. This inventory listing is available from the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). For hardcopies of the individual maps, contact the sources provided.

Creating Geologically Based Radon Potential Maps for Kentucky

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Overfield, B.; Hahn, E.; Wiggins, A.; Andrews, W. M., Jr.

2017-12-01

Radon potential in the United States, Kentucky in particular, has historically been communicated using a single hazard level for each county; however, physical phenomena are not controlled by administrative boundaries, so single-value county maps do not reflect the significant variations in radon potential in each county. A more accurate approach uses bedrock geology as a predictive tool. A team of nurses, health educators, statisticians, and geologists partnered to create 120 county maps showing spatial variations in radon potential by intersecting residential radon test kit results (N = 60,000) with a statewide 1:24,000-scale bedrock geology coverage to determine statistically valid radon-potential estimates for each geologic unit. Maps using geology as a predictive tool for radon potential are inherently more detailed than single-value county maps. This mapping project revealed that areas in central and south-central Kentucky with the highest radon potential are underlain by shales and karstic limestones.

Binational digital soils map of the Ambos Nogales watershed, southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Norman, Laura

2004-01-01

We have prepared a digital map of soil parameters for the international Ambos Nogales watershed to use as input for selected soils-erosion models. The Ambos Nogales watershed in southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico, contains the Nogales wash, a tributary of the Upper Santa Cruz River. The watershed covers an area of 235 km2, just under half of which is in Mexico. Preliminary investigations of potential erosion revealed a discrepancy in soils data and mapping across the United States-Mexican border due to issues including different mapping resolutions, incompatible formatting, and varying nomenclature and classification systems. To prepare a digital soils map appropriate for input to a soils-erosion model, the historical analog soils maps for Nogales, Ariz., were scanned and merged with the larger-scale digital soils data available for Nogales, Sonora, Mexico using a geographic information system.

Land-use impacts on water resources and protected areas: applications of state-and-transition simulation modeling of future scenarios

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Tamara; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sherba, Jason T.; Dick Cameron,

2015-01-01

Human land use will increasingly contribute to habitat loss and water shortages in California, given future population projections and associated land-use demand. Understanding how land-use change may impact future water use and where existing protected areas may be threatened by land-use conversion will be important if effective, sustainable management approaches are to be implemented. We used a state-and-transition simulation modeling (STSM) framework to simulate spatially-explicit (1 km2) historical (1992-2010) and future (2011-2060) land-use change for 52 California counties within Mediterranean California ecoregions. Historical land use and land cover (LULC) change estimates were derived from the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program dataset and attributed with county-level agricultural water-use data from the California Department of Water Resources. Five future alternative land-use scenarios were developed and modeled using the historical land-use change estimates and land-use projections based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Special Report on Emission Scenarios A2 and B1 scenarios. Spatial land-use transition outputs across scenarios were combined to reveal scenario agreement and a land conversion threat index was developed to evaluate vulnerability of existing protected areas to proximal land conversion. By 2060, highest LULC conversion threats were projected to impact nearly 10,500 km2 of land area within 10 km of a protected area boundary and over 18,000 km2 of land area within essential habitat connectivity areas. Agricultural water use declined across all scenarios perpetuating historical drought-related land use from 2008-2010 and trends of annual cropland conversion into perennial woody crops. STSM is useful in analyzing land-use related impacts on water resource use as well as potential threats to existing protected land. Exploring a range of alternative, yet plausible, LULC change impacts will help to better inform resource management and mitigation strategies.

Analysis of potential urban unstable areas and landslide-induced damages on Volterra historical site through a remote sensing approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Soldato, Matteo; Bianchini, Silvia; Nolesini, Teresa; Frodella, William; Casagli, Nicola

2017-04-01

Multisystem remote sensing techniques were exploited to provide a comprehensive overview of Volterra (Italy) site stability with regards to its landscape, urban fabric and cultural heritage. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) techniques allow precise measurements of Earth surface displacement, as well as the detection of building deformations on large urban areas. In the field of cultural heritage conservation Infrared thermography (IRT) provides surface temperature mapping and therefore detects various potential criticalities, such as moisture, seepage areas, cracks and structural anomalies. Between winter 2014 and spring 2015 the historical center and south-western sectors of Volterra (Tuscany region, central Italy) were affected by instability phenomena. The spatial distribution, typology and effect on the urban fabrics of the landslide phenomena were investigated by analyzing the geological and geomorphological settings, traditional geotechnical monitoring and advanced remote sensing data such as Persistent Scatterers Interferometry (PSI). The ground deformation rates and the maximum settlement values derived from SAR acquisitions of historical ENVISAT and recent COSMO-SkyMed sensors, in 2003-2009 and 2010-2015 respectively, were compared with background geological data, constructive features, in situ evidences and detailed field inspections in order to classify landslide-damaged buildings. In this way, the detected movements and their potential correspondences with recognized damages were investigated in order to perform an assessment of the built-up areas deformations and damages on Volterra. The IRT technique was applied in order to survey the surface temperature of the historical Volterra wall-enclosure, and allowed highlighting thermal anomalies on this cultural heritage element of the site. The obtained results permitted to better correlate the landslide effects of the recognized deformations in the urban fabric, in order to provide useful information for future risk mitigation strategies to be planned by the local authorities and the involved technicians and conservators.

Long term volcanic hazard analysis in the Canary Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becerril, L.; Galindo, I.; Laín, L.; Llorente, M.; Mancebo, M. J.

2009-04-01

Historic volcanism in Spain is restricted to the Canary Islands, a volcanic archipelago formed by seven volcanic islands. Several historic eruptions have been registered in the last five hundred years. However, and despite the huge amount of citizens and tourist in the archipelago, only a few volcanic hazard studies have been carried out. These studies are mainly focused in the developing of hazard maps in Lanzarote and Tenerife islands, especially for land use planning. The main handicap for these studies in the Canary Islands is the lack of well reported historical eruptions, but also the lack of data such as geochronological, geochemical or structural. In recent years, the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and the improvement in the volcanic processes modelling has provided an important tool for volcanic hazard assessment. Although this sophisticated programs are really useful they need to be fed by a huge amount of data that sometimes, such in the case of the Canary Islands, are not available. For this reason, the Spanish Geological Survey (IGME) is developing a complete geo-referenced database for long term volcanic analysis in the Canary Islands. The Canarian Volcanic Hazard Database (HADA) is based on a GIS helping to organize and manage volcanic information efficiently. HADA includes the following groups of information: (1) 1:25.000 scale geologic maps, (2) 1:25.000 topographic maps, (3) geochronologic data, (4) geochemical data, (5) structural information, (6) climatic data. Data must pass a quality control before they are included in the database. New data are easily integrated in the database. With the HADA database the IGME has started a systematic organization of the existing data. In the near future, the IGME will generate new information to be included in HADA, such as volcanological maps of the islands, structural information, geochronological data and other information to assess long term volcanic hazard analysis. HADA will permit having enough quality information to map volcanic hazards and to run more reliable models of volcanic hazards, but in addition it aims to become a sharing system, improving communication between researchers, reducing redundant work and to be the reference for geological research in the Canary Islands.

Local Community Verification of Coastal Erosion Risks in the Arctic: Insights from Alaska's North Slope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brady, M.

2016-12-01

During his historic trip to Alaska in 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a collaborative effort to update maps of the Arctic region in anticipation of increased maritime access and resource development and to support climate resilience. Included in this effort is development of an Arctic-wide satellite-based digital elevation model (DEM) to provide a baseline to monitor landscape change such as coastal erosion. Focusing in Alaska's North Slope, an objective of this study is to transform emerging Arctic environment spatial data products including the new DEM into information that can support local level planning and decision-making in the face of extreme coastal erosion and related environmental threats. In pursuit of this, in 2016, 4 workshops were held in three North Slope villages highly exposed to coastal erosion. The first workshop with approximately 10 managers in Barrow solicited feedback on an erosion risk database developed in a previous research stage and installed onto the North Slope's planning Web portal. The database includes a physical risk indicator based on factors such as historical erosion and effects of sea ice loss summarized at asset locations. After a demonstration of the database, participants discussed usability aspects such as data reliability. The focus of the mapping workshops in Barrow and two smaller villages Wainwright and Kaktovik was to verify and expand the risk database by interactively mapping erosion observations and community asset impacts. Using coded stickers and paper maps of the shoreline showing USGS erosion rates, a total of 50 participants provided feedback on erosion data accuracy. Approximately 25 of the total 50 participants were elders and hunters who also provided in-depth community risk information. The workshop with managers confirmed physical risk factors used in the risk database, and revealed that the information may be relied upon to support some development decisions and better engage developers about erosion risks. Results from the three mapping workshops revealed that most participants agree that the USGS data are consistent with their observations. Also, in-depth contributions from elders and hunters confirmed that there is a need to monitor loss of specific assets including hunting grounds and historic places and associated community impacts.

Plenary: Progress in Regional Landslide Hazard Assessment—Examples from the USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baum, Rex L.; Schulz, William; Brien, Dianne L.; Burns, William J.; Reid, Mark E.; Godt, Jonathan W.

2014-01-01

Landslide hazard assessment at local and regional scales contributes to mitigation of landslides in developing and densely populated areas by providing information for (1) land development and redevelopment plans and regulations, (2) emergency preparedness plans, and (3) economic analysis to (a) set priorities for engineered mitigation projects and (b) define areas of similar levels of hazard for insurance purposes. US Geological Survey (USGS) research on landslide hazard assessment has explored a range of methods that can be used to estimate temporal and spatial landslide potential and probability for various scales and purposes. Cases taken primarily from our work in the U.S. Pacific Northwest illustrate and compare a sampling of methods, approaches, and progress. For example, landform mapping using high-resolution topographic data resulted in identification of about four times more landslides in Seattle, Washington, than previous efforts using aerial photography. Susceptibility classes based on the landforms captured 93 % of all historical landslides (all types) throughout the city. A deterministic model for rainfall infiltration and shallow landslide initiation, TRIGRS, was able to identify locations of 92 % of historical shallow landslides in southwest Seattle. The potentially unstable areas identified by TRIGRS occupied only 26 % of the slope areas steeper than 20°. Addition of an unsaturated infiltration model to TRIGRS expands the applicability of the model to areas of highly permeable soils. Replacement of the single cell, 1D factor of safety with a simple 3D method of columns improves accuracy of factor of safety predictions for both saturated and unsaturated infiltration models. A 3D deterministic model for large, deep landslides, SCOOPS, combined with a three-dimensional model for groundwater flow, successfully predicted instability in steep areas of permeable outwash sand and topographic reentrants. These locations are consistent with locations of large, deep, historically active landslides. For an area in Seattle, a composite of the three maps illustrates how maps produced by different approaches might be combined to assess overall landslide potential. Examples from Oregon, USA, illustrate how landform mapping and deterministic analysis for shallow landslide potential have been adapted into standardized methods for efficiently producing detailed landslide inventory and shallow landslide susceptibility maps that have consistent content and format statewide.

Developing a spatial-statistical model and map of historical malaria prevalence in Botswana using a staged variable selection procedure

PubMed Central

Craig, Marlies H; Sharp, Brian L; Mabaso, Musawenkosi LH; Kleinschmidt, Immo

2007-01-01

Background Several malaria risk maps have been developed in recent years, many from the prevalence of infection data collated by the MARA (Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa) project, and using various environmental data sets as predictors. Variable selection is a major obstacle due to analytical problems caused by over-fitting, confounding and non-independence in the data. Testing and comparing every combination of explanatory variables in a Bayesian spatial framework remains unfeasible for most researchers. The aim of this study was to develop a malaria risk map using a systematic and practicable variable selection process for spatial analysis and mapping of historical malaria risk in Botswana. Results Of 50 potential explanatory variables from eight environmental data themes, 42 were significantly associated with malaria prevalence in univariate logistic regression and were ranked by the Akaike Information Criterion. Those correlated with higher-ranking relatives of the same environmental theme, were temporarily excluded. The remaining 14 candidates were ranked by selection frequency after running automated step-wise selection procedures on 1000 bootstrap samples drawn from the data. A non-spatial multiple-variable model was developed through step-wise inclusion in order of selection frequency. Previously excluded variables were then re-evaluated for inclusion, using further step-wise bootstrap procedures, resulting in the exclusion of another variable. Finally a Bayesian geo-statistical model using Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation was fitted to the data, resulting in a final model of three predictor variables, namely summer rainfall, mean annual temperature and altitude. Each was independently and significantly associated with malaria prevalence after allowing for spatial correlation. This model was used to predict malaria prevalence at unobserved locations, producing a smooth risk map for the whole country. Conclusion We have produced a highly plausible and parsimonious model of historical malaria risk for Botswana from point-referenced data from a 1961/2 prevalence survey of malaria infection in 1–14 year old children. After starting with a list of 50 potential variables we ended with three highly plausible predictors, by applying a systematic and repeatable staged variable selection procedure that included a spatial analysis, which has application for other environmentally determined infectious diseases. All this was accomplished using general-purpose statistical software. PMID:17892584

The National Geographic Names Data Base: Phase II instructions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Orth, Donald J.; Payne, Roger L.

1987-01-01

not recorded on topographic maps be added. The systematic collection of names from other sources, including maps, charts, and texts, is termed Phase II. In addition, specific types of features not compiled during Phase I are encoded and added to the data base. Other names of importance to researchers and users, such as historical and variant names, are also included. The rules and procedures for Phase II research, compilation, and encoding are contained in this publication.

Potentiometric surface of the Upper Floridan aquifer, west-central Florida, September 2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ortiz, A.G.

2011-01-01

This report, prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, is part of a semi-annual series of Upper Floridan aquifer potentiometric-surface map reports for west-central Florida. Potentiometric surface maps have been prepared for January 1964, May 1969, May 1971, May 1973, May 1974, and for each May and September since 1975. Water-level data are collected in May and September each year to show the approximate annual low and high water-level conditions, respectively. This map report shows the potentiometric surface of the Upper Floridan aquifer measured in September 2010. The potentiometric surface is an imaginary surface connecting points of equal altitude to which water will rise in tightly-cased wells that tap a confined aquifer system (Lohman, 1979). This map represents water-level conditions near the end of the wet season, when groundwater levels usually are at an annual high and withdrawals for agricultural use typically are low. The cumulative average rainfall of 53.17 inches for west-central Florida (from October 2009 through September 2010) was 0.41 inches above the historical cumulative average of 52.76 inches (Southwest Florida Water Management District, 2010). Historical cumulative averages are calculated from regional rainfall summary reports (1915 to most recent complete calendar year) and are updated monthly by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Earthquakes of the Central United States, 1795-2002

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wheeler, Russell L.

2003-01-01

This report describes construction of a list of Central U.S. earthquakes to be shown on a large-format map that is targeted for a non-technical audience. The map shows the locations and sizes of historical earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or larger over the most seismically active part of the central U.S., including the New Madrid seismic zone. The map shows more than one-half million square kilometers and parts or all of ten States. No existing earthquake catalog had provided current, uniform coverage down to magnitude 3.0, so one had to be made. Consultation with State geological surveys insured compatibility with earthquake lists maintained by them, thereby allowing the surveys and the map to present consistent information to the public.

Identifying populations potentially exposed to agricultural pesticides using remote sensing and a Geographic Information System

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ward, M.H.; Nuckols, J.R.; Weigel, S. J.; Cantor, K.P.; Miller, Roger S.

2000-01-01

Pesticides used in agriculture may cause adverse health effects among the population living near agricultural areas. However, identifying the populations most likely to be exposed is difficult. We conducted a feasibility study to determine whether satellite imagery could be used to reconstruct historical crop patterns. We used historical Farm Service Agency records as a source of ground reference data to classify a late summer 1984 satellite image into crop species in a three-county area in south central Nebraska. Residences from a population-based epidemiologic study of non-Hodgkin lymphoma were located on the crop maps using a geographic information system (GIS). Corn, soybeans, sorghum, and alfalfa were the major crops grown in the study area. Eighty-five percent of residences could be located, and of these 22% had one of the four major crops within 500 m of the residence, an intermediate distance for the range of drift effects from pesticides applied in agriculture. We determined the proximity of residences to specific crop species and calculated crop-specific probabilities of pesticide use based on available data. This feasibility study demonstrated that remote sensing data and historical records on crop location can be used to create historical crop maps. The crop pesticides that were likely to have been applied can be estimated when information about crop-specific pesticide use is available. Using a GIS, zones of potential exposure to agricultural pesticides and proximity measures can be determined for residences in a study.

Antoniadi, Eugenios (1870-1944)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdin, P.

2000-11-01

Turkish-born astronomer. Starting with an interest in historical astronomy, he met CAMILLE FLAMMARION who inspired him to observe the planets. He worked in France at the Juvisy and Meudon observatories and made the best maps of Mars before the Space Age....

Development and genetic mapping of SSR markers in foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.].

PubMed

Jia, Xiaoping; Zhang, Zhongbao; Liu, Yinghui; Zhang, Chengwei; Shi, Yunsu; Song, Yanchun; Wang, Tianyu; Li, Yu

2009-02-01

SSR markers are desirable markers in analysis of genetic diversity, quantitative trait loci mapping and gene locating. In this study, SSR markers were developed from two genomic libraries enriched for (GA)n and (CA)n of foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.], a crop of historical importance in China. A total of 100 SSR markers among the 193 primer pairs detected polymorphism between two mapping parents of an F(2) population, i.e. "B100" of cultivated S. italica and "A10" of wild S. viridis. Excluding 14 markers with unclear amplifications, and five markers unlinked with any linkage group, a foxtail millet SSR linkage map was constructed by integrating 81 new developed SSR markers with 20 RFLP anchored markers. The 81 SSRs covered nine chromosomes of foxtail millet. The length of the map was 1,654 cM, with an average interval distance between markers of 16.4 cM. The 81 SSR markers were not evenly distributed throughout the nine chromosomes, with Ch.8 harbouring the least (3 markers) and Ch.9 harbouring the most (18 markers). To verify the usefulness of the SSR markers developed, 37 SSR markers were randomly chosen to analyze genetic diversity of 40 foxtail millet accessions. Totally 228 alleles were detected, with an average 6.16 alleles per locus. Polymorphism information content (PIC) value for each locus ranged from 0.413 to 0.847, with an average of 0.697. A positive correlation between PIC and number of alleles and between PIC and number of repeat unit were found [0.802 and 0.429, respectively (P < 0.01)]. UPGMA analysis revealed that the 40 foxtail millet cultivars could be grouped into five clusters in which the landraces' grouping was largely consistent with ecotypes while the breeding varieties from different provinces in China tended to be grouped together.

Historical glacier outlines from digitized topographic maps of the Swiss Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freudiger, Daphné; Mennekes, David; Seibert, Jan; Weiler, Markus

2018-04-01

Since the end of the Little Ice Age around 1850, the total glacier area of the central European Alps has considerably decreased. In order to understand the changes in glacier coverage at various scales and to model past and future streamflow accurately, long-term and large-scale datasets of glacier outlines are needed. To fill the gap between the morphologically reconstructed glacier outlines from the moraine extent corresponding to the time period around 1850 and the first complete dataset of glacier areas in the Swiss Alps from aerial photographs in 1973, glacier areas from 80 sheets of a historical topographic map (the Siegfried map) were manually digitized for the publication years 1878-1918 (further called first period, with most sheets being published around 1900) and 1917-1944 (further called second period, with most sheets being published around 1935). The accuracy of the digitized glacier areas was then assessed through a two-step validation process: the data were (1) visually and (2) quantitatively compared to glacier area datasets of the years 1850, 1973, 2003, and 2010, which were derived from different sources, at the large scale, basin scale, and locally. The validation showed that at least 70 % of the digitized glaciers were comparable to the outlines from the other datasets and were therefore plausible. Furthermore, the inaccuracy of the manual digitization was found to be less than 5 %. The presented datasets of glacier outlines for the first and second periods are a valuable source of information for long-term glacier mass balance or hydrological modelling in glacierized basins. The uncertainty of the historical topographic maps should be considered during the interpretation of the results. The datasets can be downloaded from the FreiDok plus data repository (https://freidok.uni-freiburg.de/data/15008, https://doi.org/10.6094/UNIFR/15008).

A mapping and monitoring assessment of the Philippines' mangrove forests from 1990 to 2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Long, Jordan; Napton, Darrell; Giri, Chandra; Graesser, Jordan

2014-01-01

Information on the present condition and spatiotemporal dynamics of mangrove forests is needed for land-change studies and integrated natural resources planning and management. Although several national mangrove estimates for the Philippines exist, information is unavailable at sufficient spatial and thematic detail for change analysis. Historical and contemporary mangrove distribution maps of the Philippines for 1990 and 2010 were prepared at nominal 30-m spatial resolution using Landsat satellite data. Image classification was performed using a supervised decision tree classification approach. Additionally, decadal land-cover change maps from 1990 to 2010 were prepared to depict changes in mangrove area. Total mangrove area decreased 10.5% from 1990 to 2010. Comparison of estimates produced from this study with selected historical mangrove area estimates revealed that total mangrove area decreased by approximately half (51.8%) from 1918 to 2010. This study provides the most current and reliable data regarding the Philippines mangrove area and spatial distribution and delineates where and when mangrove change has occurred in recent decades. The results from this study are useful for developing conservation strategies, biodiversity loss mitigation efforts, and future monitoring and analysis.

Governmentality as a Genealogical Toolbox in Historical Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andersson, Janicke

2014-01-01

The aim of this article is to show how governmentality may be used to analyze historical events and discourses, and how this historical analysis can be used as a perspective to problematize contemporary discourses. The example used in this article is from my research on life-extension handbooks published in Sweden 1700-1930, and by this I stress…

The Impact of Historically Black Colleges and Universities on the Academic Success of African-American Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Mikyong Minsun; Conrad, Clifton F.

2006-01-01

Anchored in national longitudinal data analyzed through hierarchical linear and non-linear modeling, this study found that African-American students have a similar probability of obtaining a BA degree whether they attended a historically Black college or university (HBCU) or a historically White college or university (HWCU). Among…

Mountain cartography: revival of a classic domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Häberling, Christian; Hurni, Lorenz

The abstract representation of landscape objects such as mountain peaks, valleys, river networks, lakes, cultivated land and nonproductive areas (forests, pastures, boulder fields, glaciers), settlement areas, infrastructure and traffic networks has been the main concept behind all kind of maps for a long time. For over 300 years, mountain regions became an appropriate subject to be extensively explored and mapped. Together with the growing importance of mountainous areas, the demand for adequate cartographic representations with respect to its contents, graphic design and the presentation media has given new life to a classic domain of cartography: Mountain cartography. This paper gives an overview of the development and the current state of mountain cartography. After a brief description of the beginnings and the historic achievements, basic concepts of cartography such as map purpose, data management, cartographic design and map production and their application in modern mountain cartography are summarised. The paper then provides an overview of different kinds of cartographic representations in mountain cartography like topographic maps, maps derived from Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data, image maps, animations, perspective views and personalised maps. Finally, selected examples of modern mountain map applications are presented.

Studying the Past for the Future: Managing Modern Biodiversity from Historic and Prehistoric Data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Foster, Professor Thomas; Olsen, Lisa M; Dale, Virginia H

Management of biodiversity and anthropogenic effects on the environment are some of the most difficult challenges facing humans today. In this paper, we describe how archaeological, historical, and ecological data can be combined to identify metrics of ecological change. Archaeological surveys, historic witness tree data, analysis of ancient pollen, and recent satellite imagery are combined to create indicators of change that are useable by modem environmental managers at Fort Benning Military Reservation in Georgia and Alabama in the United States. Archaeological data were collected at 30 meter intervals, historic vegetation data were collected from early nineteenth century survey maps, andmore » ancient pollen and charcoal were collected from soil cores in lakes. We show how data sets collected with disparate goals from anthropology and ecology can be applied to make policy decisions about environmental management.« less

The Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noble, S.; French, R.; Nall, M.; Muery, K.

2010-01-01

The Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project (LMMP) is managing the development of a suite of lunar mapping and modeling tools and data products that support lunar exploration activities, including the planning, design, development, test, and operations associated with crewed and/or robotic operations on the lunar surface. In addition, LMMP should prove to be a convenient and useful tool for scientific analysis and for education and public outreach (E/PO) activities. LMMP will utilize data predominately from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, but also historical and international lunar mission data (e.g. Lunar Prospector, Clementine, Apollo, Lunar Orbiter, Kaguya, and Chandrayaan-1) as available and appropriate. LMMP will provide such products as image mosaics, DEMs, hazard assessment maps, temperature maps, lighting maps and models, gravity models, and resource maps. We are working closely with the LRO team to prevent duplication of efforts and ensure the highest quality data products. A beta version of the LMMP software was released for limited distribution in December 2009, with the public release of version 1 expected in the Fall of 2010.

Old maps in the GIS and Internet environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Křováková, K.; Brůna, V.; Pacina, J.

2009-04-01

Old maps are moreover used as data layers in GIS environment, both in raster or vector form. By comparing data from several time periods we can identify the main trends in landscape development and its spatial structure. The Laboratory of geoinformatics at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University, Czech republic is working on several projects concerned about analysis and visualization of old maps. On the poster are presented results of some of the projects solved at the laboratory. One of the most successful project is the web-application http://oldmaps.geolab.cz - where are online presented old maps from the region of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. On this server are accessible maps of the 1st, 2nd and partially 3rd military mapping, Müller's map of Bohemia and a part of survey operator of Stabile cadastre. On the poster are as well presented results from the Historical atlas of Czech towns and results from project solved for the National Park of Šumava in the area of Chlum.

The San Andreas Fault System, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wallace, Robert E.

1990-01-01

Maps of northern and southern California printed on flyleaf inside front cover and on adjacent pages show faults that have had displacement within the past 2 million years. Those that have had displacement within historical time are shown in red. Bands of red tint emphasize zones of historical displacement; bands of orange tint emphasize major faults that have had Quaternary displacement before historical time. Faults are dashed where uncertain, dotted where covered by sedimentary deposits, and queried when doubtful. Arrows indicate direction of relative movement; sawteeth on upper plate of thrust fault. These maps are reproductions, in major part, of selected plates from the "Fault Map of California," published in 1975 by the California Division of Mines and Geology at a scale of 1:750,000; the State map was compiled and data interpreted by Charles W. Jennings. New data about faults, not shown on the 1975 edition, required modest revisions, primarily additions however, most of the map was left unchanged because the California Division of Mines and Geology is currently engaged in a major revision and update of the 1975 edition. Because of the reduced scale here, names of faults and places were redrafted or omitted. Faults added to the reduced map are not as precise as on the original State map, and the editor of this volume selected certain faults and omitted others. Principal regions for which new information was added are the region north of the San Francisco Bay area and the offshore regions.Many people have contributed to the present map, but the editor is solely responsible for any errors and omissions. Among those contributing informally, but extensively, and the regions to which each contributed were G.A. Carver, onland region north of lat 40°N.; S.H. Clarke, offshore region north of Cape Mendocino; R.J. McLaughlin, onland region between lat 40°00' and 40°30' N. and long 123°30' and 124°30' W.; D.S. McCulloch offshore region between lat 35° and 40° N.; J.G. Vedder, offshore reglor south of lat 35° N.; and D.G. Herd, southern San Francisco Bay region. The Fault Evaluation Program of the California Division of Mines and Geology under the direction of E.W. Hart, provided much data about many faults. Unpublished material about the Bartlett Springs fault zone that was gathered by Geomatrix Consultants for the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was very useful. In addition, selected publications that provided invaluable data include Bortugno (1982), Herd (1977), Herd and Helley (1977), Pampeyan and others (1981), and Yerkes and others (1980). 

A national scale flood hazard mapping methodology: The case of Greece - Protection and adaptation policy approaches.

PubMed

Kourgialas, Nektarios N; Karatzas, George P

2017-12-01

The present work introduces a national scale flood hazard assessment methodology, using multi-criteria analysis and artificial neural networks (ANNs) techniques in a GIS environment. The proposed methodology was applied in Greece, where flash floods are a relatively frequent phenomenon and it has become more intense over the last decades, causing significant damages in rural and urban sectors. In order the most prone flooding areas to be identified, seven factor-maps (that are directly related to flood generation) were combined in a GIS environment. These factor-maps are: a) the Flow accumulation (F), b) the Land use (L), c) the Altitude (A), b) the Slope (S), e) the soil Erodibility (E), f) the Rainfall intensity (R), and g) the available water Capacity (C). The name to the proposed method is "FLASERC". The flood hazard for each one of these factors is classified into five categories: Very low, low, moderate, high, and very high. The above factors are combined and processed using the appropriate ANN algorithm tool. For the ANN training process spatial distribution of historical flooded points in Greece within the five different flood hazard categories of the aforementioned seven factor-maps were combined. In this way, the overall flood hazard map for Greece was determined. The final results are verified using additional historical flood events that have occurred in Greece over the last 100years. In addition, an overview of flood protection measures and adaptation policy approaches were proposed for agricultural and urban areas located at very high flood hazard areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

KSC-2013-3239

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-08-09

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – As seen on Google Maps, the massive F-1 engines of the Saturn V's first stage on display inside the Apollo/Saturn V Center at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Each engine stands 19 feet tall with a diameter of more than 12 feet. The five engines on the first stage produced 7.5 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The Saturn V was used to launch NASA's Apollo missions to the moon which saw 12 astronauts land and work on the lunar surface. Google precisely mapped Kennedy Space Center and some of its historical facilities for the company's map page. Photo credit: Google/Wendy Wang

The 1980 land cover for the Puget Sound region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shinn, R. D.; Westerlund, F. V.; Eby, J. R.

1982-01-01

Both LANDSAT imagery and the video information communications and retrieval software were used to develop a land cover classifiction of the Puget Sound of Washington. Planning agencies within the region were provided with a highly accurate land cover map registered to the 1980 census tracts which could subsequently be incorporated as one data layer in a multi-layer data base. Many historical activities related to previous land cover mapping studies conducted in the Puget Sound region are summarized. Valuable insight into conducting a project with a large community of users and in establishing user confidence in a multi-purpose land cover map derived from LANDSAT is provided.

How Hierarchical Topics Evolve in Large Text Corpora.

PubMed

Cui, Weiwei; Liu, Shixia; Wu, Zhuofeng; Wei, Hao

2014-12-01

Using a sequence of topic trees to organize documents is a popular way to represent hierarchical and evolving topics in text corpora. However, following evolving topics in the context of topic trees remains difficult for users. To address this issue, we present an interactive visual text analysis approach to allow users to progressively explore and analyze the complex evolutionary patterns of hierarchical topics. The key idea behind our approach is to exploit a tree cut to approximate each tree and allow users to interactively modify the tree cuts based on their interests. In particular, we propose an incremental evolutionary tree cut algorithm with the goal of balancing 1) the fitness of each tree cut and the smoothness between adjacent tree cuts; 2) the historical and new information related to user interests. A time-based visualization is designed to illustrate the evolving topics over time. To preserve the mental map, we develop a stable layout algorithm. As a result, our approach can quickly guide users to progressively gain profound insights into evolving hierarchical topics. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method on Amazon's Mechanical Turk and real-world news data. The results show that users are able to successfully analyze evolving topics in text data.

Hydrological Responses of Climate and Land Use/Cover Changes in Tao'er River Basin Based on the SWAT Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, J.; Kou, L.

2015-12-01

Abstract: The changes of both climate and land use/cover have some impact on the water resources. For Tao'er River Basin, these changes have a direct impact on the land use pattern adjustment, wetland protection, connection project between rivers and reservoirs, local social and economic development, etc. Therefore, studying the impact of climate and land use/cover changes is of great practical significance. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is used as the research method. With historical actual measured runoff data and the yearly land use classification caught by satellite remote sensing maps, analyze the impact of climate change on the runoff of Tao'er River. And according to the land use/cover classification of 1990, 2000 and 2010, analyze the land use/cover change in the recent 30 years, the impact of the land use/cover change on the river runoff and the contribution coefficient of farmland, woodland, grassland and other major land-use types to the runoff. These studies can provide some references to the rational allocation of water resource and adjustment of land use structure in this area.

Fluvial ecosystem services in the Rhine delta distributaries between 1995 and 2035

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Straatsma, Menno; Kleinhans, Maarten

2016-04-01

Mapping of ecosystem services (ES) and documenting their change over time provides important information for the societal debate and decision making on river management. Large and Gilvear (2014) showed how to score fluvial ES using imagery and tools available through Google Earth, linking observable features, or landcover to ES through inferred fluvial processes, and natural ecosystem functions. While the use of Google Earth enables application anywhere on the globe, their method is labor intensive, and involves subjective judgement as not all parameters are easily observable in spectral data, e.g. the location of embankments. In addition, the method does not take advantage of readily available spatial databases, and existing hydrodynamic model parameterizations, nor can it be used in scenario studies of future fluvial landscapes. Therefore, we aimed at the development of a generic GIS routine to extract the ecosystem services from existing spatial and hydrodynamic model data, and its application to historic and future fluvial landscapes in the Rhine delta. Here, we consider the Rhine distributaries, sized 400 km2, where river restoration measures were carried out between 1995 and 2015 to reduce flood risk reduction and simultaneously improve the ecological status. We computed ES scores for provisioning ES (fisheries, agriculture, timber, water supply), regulating ES (flood mitigation, carbon sequestration, water quality), and supporting ES (biodiversity). Historic ES were derived for the years 1997, 2005, and 2012, based on ecotope maps for these respective years, combined with a water levels and flow velocities derived from a calibrated 2D hydrodynamic model (WAQUA). Ecotopes are defined as 'spatial landscape units that are homogeneous as to vegetation structure, succession stage, and the main abiotic factors that are relevant to plant growth'. ES for 2035 were based on scenarios of landscaping measures. Suitable locations for the measures were determined automatically using map algebra, scripted in PCRaster-Python, with existing spatial data as input. Each scenario provided an updated ecotope map and bathymetry for the whole study area. Biodiversity indices were computed for all species that are protected by policy and legal documents using the BIOSAFE model, which was adapted for automated mapping. BIOSAFE links 614 protected species in seven taxonomic to 82 ecotope classes. Over the historic period, the ES increased, especially the biodiversity scores of birds and mammals improved by more than 10% due to the restoration measures. One of the main drivers is the creation of new side channels, and allowing natural succession to occur to a limited extent. For the future, the scenarios showed that the overall ES score varied strongly with the type of measure chosen. Floodplain smoothing and lowering negatively impacted ES, whereas embankment relocation, and side channels increased ES scores. We conclude that the automated methods provide fast insights in the historic and future developments of fluvial ES. This is useful for the decision making and natural capital mapping, but we require increased precision in defining fluvial ES, and additional quantification and validation of the methods.

Land-use impacts on water resources and protected areas: applications of state-and-transition simulation modeling of future scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, T. S.; Sleeter, B. M.; Sherba, J.; Cameron, D.

2014-12-01

Human land use will increasingly contribute to habitat losses and water shortages in California, given future population projections and associated demand for agricultural land. Understanding how land-use change may impact future water use and where existing protected areas may be threatened by land-use conversion will be important if effective, sustainable management approaches are to be implemented. We used a state-and-transition simulation modeling (STSM) framework to simulate spatially-explicit (1 km2) historical (1992-2010) and future (2011-2060) land-use change for 52 California counties within the Mediterranean California ecoregion. Historical land use change estimates were derived from the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program (FMMP) dataset and attributed with county-level agricultural water-use data from the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR). Six future alternative land-use scenarios were developed and modeled using the historical land-use change estimates and land-use projections based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) A2 and B1 scenarios. Resulting spatial land-use scenario outputs were combined based on scenario agreement and a land conversion threat index developed to evaluate vulnerability of existing protected areas. Modeled scenario output of county-level agricultural water use data were also summarized, enabling examination of alternative water use futures. We present results of two separate applications of STSM of land-use change, demonstrating the utility of STSM in analyzing land-use related impacts on water resources as well as potential threats to existing protected land. Exploring a range of alternative, yet plausible, land-use change impacts will help to better inform resource management and mitigation strategies.

Neighborhood Jams.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zingher, Gary

1995-01-01

Examines the role of the neighborhood in books for children and young adults. Discusses community characteristics, historical fiction, "special and scary places," neighborhoods in conflict and harmony, and the neighborhood as a memory base. Presents activities including animated maps, games, murals, small group dramas, and storytelling.…

Testing Historical Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baillie, Ray

1980-01-01

Outlines methods for including skill testing in teacher-made history tests. Focuses on distinguishing fact and fiction, evaluating the reliability of a source, distinguishing between primary and secondary sources, recognizing statements which support generalizations, testing with media, mapping geo-politics, and applying knowledge to new…

ENVISIONING ALTERNATIVES: USING CITIZEN GUIDANCE TO MAP FUTURE LAND AND WATER USE

EPA Science Inventory

Spatially explicit landscape analyses are a central activity in research on the relationships between people and changes in natural systems. Using geographical information systems and related tools, the Pacific Northwest Ecosystem Research Consortium depicted historical (pre-Eur...

Methodology to determine the parameters of historical earthquakes in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jian; Lin, Guoliang; Zhang, Zhe

2017-12-01

China is one of the countries with the longest cultural tradition. Meanwhile, China has been suffering very heavy earthquake disasters; so, there are abundant earthquake recordings. In this paper, we try to sketch out historical earthquake sources and research achievements in China. We will introduce some basic information about the collections of historical earthquake sources, establishing intensity scale and the editions of historical earthquake catalogues. Spatial-temporal and magnitude distributions of historical earthquake are analyzed briefly. Besides traditional methods, we also illustrate a new approach to amend the parameters of historical earthquakes or even identify candidate zones for large historical or palaeo-earthquakes. In the new method, a relationship between instrumentally recorded small earthquakes and strong historical earthquakes is built up. Abundant historical earthquake sources and the achievements of historical earthquake research in China are of valuable cultural heritage in the world.

StructMap: Elastic Distance Analysis of Electron Microscopy Maps for Studying Conformational Changes.

PubMed

Sanchez Sorzano, Carlos Oscar; Alvarez-Cabrera, Ana Lucia; Kazemi, Mohsen; Carazo, Jose María; Jonić, Slavica

2016-04-26

Single-particle electron microscopy (EM) has been shown to be very powerful for studying structures and associated conformational changes of macromolecular complexes. In the context of analyzing conformational changes of complexes, distinct EM density maps obtained by image analysis and three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction are usually analyzed in 3D for interpretation of structural differences. However, graphic visualization of these differences based on a quantitative analysis of elastic transformations (deformations) among density maps has not been done yet due to a lack of appropriate methods. Here, we present an approach that allows such visualization. This approach is based on statistical analysis of distances among elastically aligned pairs of EM maps (one map is deformed to fit the other map), and results in visualizing EM maps as points in a lower-dimensional distance space. The distances among points in the new space can be analyzed in terms of clusters or trajectories of points related to potential conformational changes. The results of the method are shown with synthetic and experimental EM maps at different resolutions. Copyright © 2016 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Progress toward a circulation atlas for application to coastal water siting problems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munday, J. C., Jr.; Gordon, H. H.

1978-01-01

Circulation data needed to resolve coastal siting problems are assembled from historical hydrographic and remote sensing studies in the form of a Circulation Atlas. Empirical data are used instead of numerical model simulations to achieve fine resolution and include fronts and convergence zones. Eulerian and Langrangian data are collected, transformed, and combined into trajectory maps and current vector maps as a function of tidal phase and wind vector. Initial Atlas development is centered on the Elizabeth River, Hampton Roads, Virgina.

Ethnoarchaeological Investigations of the Mountain Creek Area, North Central Texas. Volume 2. Historic Farming on the Hogwallow Prairies

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-05-01

Engineers, Publishing Co., Dallas. Fort Worth District. Durkheim , Emile 1982 Part II: Historical Archaeology. In 1933 On the Division of Labor in...Holveck Dee Ella Ho/Yard 3-4-1905 John Emil 6.11-1895/6-29-1972 232 Architectural Trends Table 18-2 MORTUARY ARCHITECTURE: STONE SHAPES Tablet Pulpit...CEMETERY LISTINGS Map Name Birth/Death Commemoration Stone Type Pleasant Valley 2 John Emil Holveck 6-11-1895/6-29-1972 Texas Pvt. US Army WWI Flat Granite

Fort Scott Lake Cultural Resource Study. Part 2. Historical and Architectural Field Survey of a Portion of Fort Scott Lake Project, Bourbon County, Kansas

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-01-01

Susan Donahue. Maps and graphs were completed by Ms. Morgan and Ms. Donahue, and David Higginbotham. LeAnne Baird , Kathy Morgan, Allyn Mateu, Marian ...Consultants, Inc. ELECTE JAN 08 1990 By:* S LeAnne Baird , Principal Investigator 1989 Approved forPubic rM16=61 HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL FIELD...SURVEY OF A PORTION OF FORT SCOTT LAKE PROJECT, BOURBON COUNTY, KANSAS LeAnne Baird , Principal Investigator S. Alan Skinner, Project Director with

Investigating historical changes in morphodynamic processes associated with channelization of a large Alpine river: the Etsch/Adige River, NE Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zen, Simone; Scorpio, Vittoria; Mastronunzio, Marco; Proto, Matteo; Zolezzi, Guido; Bertoldi, Walter; Comiti, Francesco; Surian, Nicola; Prà, Elena Dai

2016-04-01

River channel management within the last centuries has largely modified fluvial processes and morphodynamic evolution of most large European rivers. Several river systems experienced extensive channelization early in the 19th century, thus strongly challenging our present ability to detect their morphodynamic functioning with contemporary photogrammetry or cartographical sources. This consequently leaves open questions about their potential future response, especially to management strategies that "give more room" to the river, aiming at partially rehabilitating their natural functioning. The Adige River (Etsch in German), the second longest Italian river, is an exemplary case where channelization occurred more than 150 years ago, and is the focus of the present work. This work aims (i) to explore changes in fundamental morphodynamic processes associated with massive channelization of the Adige River and (ii) to quantify the alteration in river bars characteristics, by using morphodynamic models of bars and meandering. To fulfil our aims we combine the analysis of historical data with morphodynamic mathematical modelling. Historical sources (recovered in a number of European archives), such as hydrotopographical maps, airborne photogrammetry and hydrological datasets were collected to investigate channel morphology before and after the channelization. Information extracted from this analysis was combined with morphodynamic linear models of free migrating and forced steady bars, to investigate river bars and bend stability properties under different hydromorphological scenarios. Moreover, a morphodynamic model for meandering channel was applied to investigate the influence of river channel planform on the evolution of the fluvial bars. Results from the application of morphodynamic models allowed to predict the type, position and geometry of bars characterizing the channelized configuration of the river, and to explain the presently observed relative paucity of bars if compared to the previous, less confined, river planform. The application of a meander model allows insight into the properties of bars that were observed in the old historical maps. A threshold range of the imposed channel width can be predicted above which the river may partially restore conditions for bar instability to occur and for their further development, with direct management implications. Overall the conducted analysis confirms the potential of integrating morphodynamic models with geomorphological and time-series analysis of historical large-scale maps and airborne photogrammetry to increase our understanding and predictive ability of the evolution of rivers with a long-lasting record of morphological regulation.

Mapping historical information for better understanding the causality factors of past disasters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boudou, Martin; Lang, Michel; Vinet, Freddy; Coeur, Denis

2015-04-01

The Flood Directive of 2007 promotes the use of historical information in order to mitigate the impact of future extreme events. According to this text, the study of past events offers new insights for better understanding the causality factors of a disaster, from hydrometeorological keys to socio-political repercussions of the flood. In this presentation we decided to focus on the study of factors leading to the exceptionality of a hydrological flood event. This aspect is regularly pointed out by the feedbacks carried out after a catastrophic event and remains a subject of debate for risk managers. The role of antecedent meteorological conditions is especially underestimated by local authorities. These factors can however be considered as a key issue to appreciate the exceptional character of a hydrological disaster. For example the 2013 June floods in France that affected the region of Pyrenees revealed the significant contribution of snow melting to the discharges recorded. In an article of 2014, Schröter et al. showed that the soil moisture can be considered as a key driver of the generalised flood hazard intensity that affected Germany over the same month of June 2013. With regard to these assessments, some considerations emerge. Does a diachronic appraisal of past disasters point out the main issues responsible for an exceptional flood hazard level? Is there common causality issues involved into these extreme hydrological events? In order to answer these questions this presentation proposes a comparative analysis of nine major floods that impacted the French territory during the XXth century (from 1910 to 2010). The set is composed by different flood typologies (from torrential events to floods resulting from groundwater level rising) so as to get a complete view of flood risk in France. The methodology proposed relies on a cartographic approach to highlight the causality factors of these past hydrological disasters. For instance, mapping the rainfall data over the representation of the maximum discharges recorded can help to understand the significance of the rainfall event. In some cases, the use of textual historical information allows to emphasize the significance of other factors such as snow melting or the influence of anthropogenic infrastructures. Indeed, mapping historical information seems to be an original approach to represent the various spatial and temporal scales of historical disasters and an interesting tool to explore the exceptionality of the hazard level.

A multi-technique approach for characterizing the geomorphological evolution of a Villerville-Cricqueboeuf coastal landslide (Normandy, France).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lissak Borges, Candide; Maquaire, Olivier; Malet, Jean-Philippe; Gomez, Christopher; Lavigne, Franck

2010-05-01

The Villerville and Cricqueboeuf coastal landslides (Calvados, Normandy, North-West France) have occurred in marly, sandy and chalky formations. The slope instability probably started during the last Quaternary period and is still active over the recent historic period. Since 1982, the slope is affected by a permanent activity (following the Varnes classification) with an annual average displacement of 5-10 cm.y-1 depending on the season. Three major events occurred in 1988, 1995 and 2001 and are controlled by the hydro-climatic conditions. These events induced pluri-decimetres to pluri-meters displacements (e.g. 5m horizontal displacements have been observed in 2001 at Cricqueboeuf) and generated economical and physical damage to buildings and roads. The landslide morphology is characterized by multi-metres scarps, reverse slopes caused by the tilting of landslide blocks and evolving cracks. The objective of this paper is to present the methodology used to characterize the recent historical (since 1808) geomorphological evolution of the landslides, and to discuss the spatio-temporal pattern of observed displacements. A multi-technique research approach has been applied and consisted in historical research, geomorphological mapping, geodetic monitoring and engineering geotechnical investigation. Information gained from different documents and techniques has been combined to propose a conceptual model of landslide evolution: - a retrospective study on landslide events inventoried in the historic period (archive investigation, newspapers); - a multi-temporal (1955-2006) analysis of aerial photographs (image processing, traditional stereoscopic techniques and image orthorectification), ancient maps and cadastres; - the creation of a detailed geomorphological map in 2009; - an analysis of recent displacements monitored since 1985 with traditional geodetic techniques (tacheometry, dGPS, micro-levelling) - geophysical investigation by ground-penetrating radar along the main road in order to assess the subsidence of the road according to the thickness of the filling material. Integration of the knowledge allows to characterize the landscape changes over the historical time. Displacement values obtained over nearly 200 years reflect annual slow movement and crisis acceleration. Values are dispersed in space and time. An average of displacements of 12.30 m year-1 (σ = 8.50) between 1829 and 2006 is observed for the Villerville landslide. This average allows calculating an annual displacement of 0.07 m which can be compared to data recorded since 1985 and by annual DGPS measurement data between 2008 and 2009.

Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Model Volcanic Hazard Risk Levels in Areas Surrounding the Copahue Volcano in the Andes Mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keith, A. M.; Weigel, A. M.; Rivas, J.

2014-12-01

Copahue is a stratovolcano located along the rim of the Caviahue Caldera near the Chile-Argentina border in the Andes Mountain Range. There are several small towns located in proximity of the volcano with the two largest being Banos Copahue and Caviahue. During its eruptive history, it has produced numerous lava flows, pyroclastic flows, ash deposits, and lahars. This isolated region has steep topography and little vegetation, rendering it poorly monitored. The need to model volcanic hazard risk has been reinforced by recent volcanic activity that intermittently released several ash plumes from December 2012 through May 2013. Exposure to volcanic ash is currently the main threat for the surrounding populations as the volcano becomes more active. The goal of this project was to study Copahue and determine areas that have the highest potential of being affected in the event of an eruption. Remote sensing techniques were used to examine and identify volcanic activity and areas vulnerable to experiencing volcanic hazards including volcanic ash, SO2 gas, lava flow, pyroclastic density currents and lahars. Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), EO-1 Advanced Land Imager (ALI), Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), ISS ISERV Pathfinder, and Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) products were used to analyze volcanic hazards. These datasets were used to create a historic lava flow map of the Copahue volcano by identifying historic lava flows, tephra, and lahars both visually and spectrally. Additionally, a volcanic risk and hazard map for the surrounding area was created by modeling the possible extent of ash fallout, lahars, lava flow, and pyroclastic density currents (PDC) for future eruptions. These model results were then used to identify areas that should be prioritized for disaster relief and evacuation orders.

Spatial changes in the distribution of malaria vectors during the past 5 decades in Iran.

PubMed

Salahi-Moghaddam, A; Khoshdel, A; Dalaei, H; Pakdad, K; Nutifafa, G G; Sedaghat, M M

2017-02-01

Global warming and climate change affect various aspects of mankind, including public health. Anopheles mosquitoes are of Public Health importance and can be affected by global warming and other environmental variables. Here, we studied the distribution of Anopheles vectors of malaria in relation to environmental variables in Iran. Long-term meteorological and entomological data of about 50 years in retrospect were collected and arranged in a geo-database and analyzed using ArcGIS ver. 9.3 and exported to SPSS ver. 20 for statistical analysis. Distribution maps have been updated for seven species of Anopheles vectors of malaria which involved Anopheles culicifacies s.l., An. fluviatilis s.l., An. stephensi, An. dthali, An. sacharovi, An. maculipennis.l. and An. superpictus in Iran. Distribution maps of vectors were made based on district areas using Kriging model. Historical and recent records were demonstrated for each Anopheles based on climatic factors in the distribution areas of each Anopheles vectors. Iran, like other parts of the world is faced with warming and this probably affected the distribution of Anopheles vectors. Despite the warming phenomenon, the country's climate had changed during the cold season as temperatures became colder or cooler. This study shows that some vectors had migrated from the central part of Iran with dry and sunny landscape, moved towards the mountainous areas of the north or the warm and humid areas of the south. Historical records show that these anophelines have previously been distributed in lowland areas. If this process continues in the future, Anopheles mosquitoes may be seen in low lands with cold areas in central and northern parts of the country or will occupy humid and warm climates in the southern parts of the country where water is more available. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Human-induced landscape changes and geo-hydrological risk: the Rupinaro catchment, Liguria, Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giostrella, Paola; Faccini, Francesco; Maggi, Roberto; Cesare Mondini, Alessandro; Tarolli, Paolo; Guzzetti, Fausto

2015-04-01

Small and steep watersheds are typical of Liguria, northern Italy. In these small watersheds, geo-hydrological hazards, including flash floods and shallow landslides, caused by high intensity rainfall are frequent and abundant. In the coastal valleys of Liguria, narrow flood plains have hosted human settlements and communication lines since the protohistoric period. Since then, a variety of human activities have modified the natural landscape significantly, and chiefly through land-use changes first in the flood-plains, and next along the slopes. We have studied the 11-square km Rupinaro catchment, west of Chiavari, which has been inhabited since the 8th century BC. Progressive human actions have modified the main river and its tributaries, which have become narrower and canalized, and locally they were covered completely. Human actions have also contributed to the increase in the runoff coefficients, and to the progradation of the main river into the Ligurian Sea. Demographic growth, socio-economic development and urbanization are the main drivers for the land use changes occurred in the Rupinaro catchment. Through a combined analysis of archaeological and palynologycal data, and the multi-temporal analysis of historical maps, aerial photographs and satellite imagery of different vintages, we have reconstructed phases of modifications of the river and the tributaries. We determined the land use changes calculating the loss of soil, analyzing statistics of buildings and demography for the last 150 years, and interpreting historical maps and aerial and satellite imagery. We found that land reclamations, the construction of embankments, and the rectification of rivers are the main human actions performed to obtain building areas along the main river course. Expansion of urban settlements in flood prone areas, and even in the main riverbed, have reached a critical limit has shown by the destructive flood event that has affected the Rupinaro catchment, and chiefly the town of Chiavari, in November 2014.

Seagrass status and trends in the northern Gulf of Mexico: 1940-2002

USGS Publications Warehouse

Handley, L.; Altsman, D.; DeMay, R.

2007-01-01

Over the past century, seagrass habitats from the bays of Texas to the gulf shores of Florida have decreased. Seagrass beds, which are highly dependent on water quality and clarity for survival, are home to a multitude of aquatic plants and animals and a source of economic activity through commercial and recreational fishing and ecotourism. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Gulf of Mexico Program (GMP) and its partners have made a commitment to restore, enhance, and protect this important ecosystem. As seagrass habitats decrease, the need for information on the causes and effects of seagrass loss, current mapping information, and education on the importance of seagrassess becomes greater. This report is the initial effort of the GMP’s research and restoration plan for seagrasses. The purpose of this report is to provide scientists, managers, and citizens with valuable baseline information on the status and trends of seagrasses in coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Within the northern Gulf of Mexico region, 14 individual estuarine systems where seagrasses occur, as well as statewide summaries for Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, are examined in this study. Each estuarine system is detailed in vignettes that address current and historical extent and quality of seagrasses, seagrass mapping and monitoring, causes of status change, restoration and enhancement activities, background information for the entire study area as well as the subareas for study, and the methodology employed to analyze and document the historical trends and current status of seagrasses. The systems, moving from west to east, include the Laguna Madre, Texas Coastal Bend region, and Galveston Bay in Texas; the Chandeleur Islands in Louisiana; the Mississippi Sound; and Perdido Bay, Pensacola/Escambia Bay, Choctawhatchee Bay, St. Andrew Bay, Florida’s Big Bend region, Tampa Bay/St. Joseph Sound, Sarasota Bay, Greater Charlotte Harbor, and Florida Bay in Florida. (Mobile Bay is dealt with only in the statewide summary for Alabama.)

Evaluation of bus management options for Independence National Historical Site

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-07-06

This project analyzes options and identifies preferred designs for a new transportation center in Independence National Historical Park. The Independence Transportation Center will be part of a planned National Constitution Center at Independence Mal...

Application of historical, topographic maps and remote sensing data for reconstruction of gully network development as source of information for gully erosion modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belyaev, Vladimir; Kuznetsova, Yulia

2017-04-01

Central parts of European Russia are characterized by relatively shorter history of intensive agriculture in comparison to the Western Europe. As a result of that, significant part of the time period of large-scale cultivation is covered by different types of historical documents. For the last about 150 years reasonably good-quality maps are available. Gully erosion history for the European Russia is more or less well-established, with known peaks of activity associated with initial cultivation (400-200 years ago for the territory of Central Russian Upland) and change of land ownership in 1861 that caused splitting large landlords-owned fields into numerous small parcels owned by individual peasant families. The latter was the most important trigger for dramatic growth of gully erosion intensity as most of such parcels were oriented downslope. It is believed that by detailed reconstructions of gully network development using all the available information sources it can be possible to obtain information suitable for gully erosion models testing. Such models can later be applied for predicting further development of the existing gully networks for several different land use and climate change scenarios. Reconstructions for the two case study areas located in different geographic and historical settings will be presented.

Class 1 overview of cultural resources for the Western Area Power Administration Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects electric power marketing environmental impact statement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moeller, K.L.; Malinowski, L.M.; Hoffecker, J.F.

1993-11-01

Argonne National Laboratory conducted an inventory of known archaeological and historic sites in areas that could be affected by the hydropower operation alternatives under analysis in the power marketing environmental impact statement for the Western Area Power Administration`s Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects. The study areas included portions of the Green River (Flaming Gorge Dam to Cub Creek) in Utah and Colorado and the Gunnison River (Blue Mesa Reservoir to Crystal Dam) in Colorado. All previous archaeological surveys and previously recorded prehistoric and historic sites, structures, and features were inventoried and plotted on maps (only survey area maps aremore » included in this report). The surveys were classified by their level of intensity, and the sites were classified according to their age, type, and contents. These data (presented here in tabular form) permit a general assessment of the character and distribution of archaeological remains in the study areas, as well as an indication of the sampling basis for such an assessment. To provide an adequate context for the descriptions of the archaeological and historic sites, this report also presents overviews of the environmental setting and the regional prehistory, history, and ethnography for each study area.« less

Observed and Projected Droughts Conditioned on Temperature Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiang, F.; AghaKouchak, A.; Mazdiyasni, O.

2016-12-01

Droughts have had severe urban, agricultural and wildlife impacts in historical and recent years. In addition, during times of water scarcity, heat stress has been shown to produce compounding climatic and environmental effects. Understanding the overall conditions associated with drought intensities is important for mapping the anatomy of the climate in the changing world. For the study, we evaluated the relationship drought severity has exhibited with temperature shifts between observed periods and also between an ensemble of BCSD downscaled CMIP5 projected and historically modeled datasets. We compared temperatures during different categories of drought severity on a monthly scale, and mapped areas displaying an escalation of temperature with stricter definitions of drought. A historical shift of warmer temperatures in more severe droughts was observed most consistently in Southwestern and Eastern states between the later half of the 20th century and a reference period of the early half of the 20th century. Future projections from an ensemble of CMIP5 models also showed a shift to warmer temperatures during more intense drought events in similar states. Preliminary statistics show that in many areas future droughts will be warmer that the average projected climate. These observed and forecasted shifts in the heating intensity of severe drought events underscore the need to further research these patterns and relationships both spatially and temporally.

Constraining rates and trends of historical wetland loss, Mississippi River Delta Plain, south-central Louisiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bernier, Julie C.; Morton, Robert A.; Barras, John A.

2006-01-01

The timing, magnitude, and rate of wetland loss were described for five wetland-loss hotspots in the Terrebonne Basin of the Mississippi River delta plain. Land and water areas were mapped for 34 dates between 1956 and 2004 from historical National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) datasets, aerial photographs, and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite images. Since 1956, the emergent land area at the five study areas in south-central Louisiana has decreased by about 50%. Comparison of the water-area curve derived from the 29 TM images with water-level records from the nearby Grand Isle, Louisiana tide gauge (NOS #8761724) clearly shows that changes in land and water areas fluctuate in response to variations in regional water levels. The magnitude of water-area fluctuations decreased from the 1980s to the 1990s as former areas of wet marsh within and immediately adjacent to the wetland-loss hotspots became permanently submerged. The most rapid wetland loss occurred during the late 1960s and 1970s. Peak wetland-loss rates during this period were two to four times greater than both the pre-1970s background rates and the most recent wetland-loss rates. These results provide constraints on predicting future delta-plain wetland losses and identify Landsat TM imagery as an important source for analyzing land- and water-area changes across the entire delta plain.

An assessment of streamflow vulnerability to climate using ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Identifying regions with similar hydrology is useful for assessing water quality and quantity across the U.S., especially areas that are difficult or costly to monitor. For example, hydrologic landscapes (HLs) have been used to map streamflow variability and assess the spatial distribution of climatic response in Oregon, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest. HLs have also been applied to assess historic and projected climatic impacts across the Western U.S. In this project, we summarized (1) the HL classification methodology and (2) the utility of using HLs as a tool to classify the vulnerability of streams to climatic changes in the Western U.S. During the HL classification process, we analyzed climate, seasonality, aquifer permeability, terrain, and soil permeability as the primary hydrologic drivers (and precipitation intensity as a secondary driver) associated with large scale hydrologic processes (storage, conveyance, and flow of water into or out of the watershed) in the West. We derived the dominant hydrologic pathways (surface runoff or deep or shallow groundwater) from the HL classification of different catchments to test our hypotheses: 1) Changes in climate will have greater impacts on streamflow in catchments dominated by surface runoff. 2) Catchments historically fed by surface runoff from winter snowmelt in the spring will experience greater impact if precipitation falls as rain instead of snow. We calculated S* (precipitation surplus, which includes

Study on Mobile Object Positioning and Alarming System Based on the “Map World” in the Core Area of the Silk Road Economic Belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mu, Kai

2017-02-01

The established “Map World” on the National Geographic Information Public Service Platform offers free access to many geographic information in the Core Area of the Silk Road Economic Belt. Considering the special security situation and severe splittism and anti-splittism struggles in the Core Area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, a set of moving target positioning and alarming platform based on J2EE platform and B/S structure was designed and realized by combining the “Map World” data and global navigation satellite system. This platform solves various problems, such as effective combination of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and “Map World” resources, moving target alarming setting, inquiry of historical routes, system management, etc.

Rapid Crop Cover Mapping for the Conterminous United States.

PubMed

Dahal, Devendra; Wylie, Bruce; Howard, Danny

2018-06-05

Timely crop cover maps with sufficient resolution are important components to various environmental planning and research applications. Through the modification and use of a previously developed crop classification model (CCM), which was originally developed to generate historical annual crop cover maps, we hypothesized that such crop cover maps could be generated rapidly during the growing season. Through a process of incrementally removing weekly and monthly independent variables from the CCM and implementing a 'two model mapping' approach, we found it viable to generate conterminous United States-wide rapid crop cover maps at a resolution of 250 m for the current year by the month of September. In this approach, we divided the CCM model into one 'crop type model' to handle the classification of nine specific crops and a second, binary model to classify the presence or absence of 'other' crops. Under the two model mapping approach, the training errors were 0.8% and 1.5% for the crop type and binary model, respectively, while test errors were 5.5% and 6.4%, respectively. With spatial mapping accuracies for annual maps reaching upwards of 70%, this approach demonstrated a strong potential for generating rapid crop cover maps by the 1 st of September.

Genome-wide distribution of genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium in a mass-selected population of maritime pine

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The accessibility of high-throughput genotyping technologies has contributed greatly to the development of genomic resources in non-model organisms. High-density genotyping arrays have only recently been developed for some economically important species such as conifers. The potential for using genomic technologies in association mapping and breeding depends largely on the genome wide patterns of diversity and linkage disequilibrium in current breeding populations. This study aims to deepen our knowledge regarding these issues in maritime pine, the first species used for reforestation in south western Europe. Results Using a new map merging algorithm, we first established a 1,712 cM composite linkage map (comprising 1,838 SNP markers in 12 linkage groups) by bringing together three already available genetic maps. Using rigorous statistical testing based on kernel density estimation and resampling we identified cold and hot spots of recombination. In parallel, 186 unrelated trees of a mass-selected population were genotyped using a 12k-SNP array. A total of 2,600 informative SNPs allowed to describe historical recombination, genetic diversity and genetic structure of this recently domesticated breeding pool that forms the basis of much of the current and future breeding of this species. We observe very low levels of population genetic structure and find no evidence that artificial selection has caused a reduction in genetic diversity. By combining these two pieces of information, we provided the map position of 1,671 SNPs corresponding to 1,192 different loci. This made it possible to analyze the spatial pattern of genetic diversity (H e ) and long distance linkage disequilibrium (LD) along the chromosomes. We found no particular pattern in the empirical variogram of H e across the 12 linkage groups and, as expected for an outcrossing species with large effective population size, we observed an almost complete lack of long distance LD. Conclusions These results are a stepping stone for the development of strategies for studies in population genomics, association mapping and genomic prediction in this economical and ecologically important forest tree species. PMID:24581176

Developing a National Stream Morphology Data Exchange: Needs, Challenges, and Opportunities.

EPA Science Inventory

Stream morphology data, primarily consisting of channel and foodplain geometry and bed material size measurements, historically have had a wide range of applications and uses including culvert/ bridge design, rainfall- runoff modeling, food inundation mapping (e.g., U.S. Federal ...

36 CFR 1001.4 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., vessels, mechanical modes of conveyance, or food/beverage containers allowed to enter, be brought into... purpose of safeguarding persons or property, implementing management plans and policies developed in... development and historic zones depicted on the land management and use map for the area administered by the...

Evaluation of historical scour at selected stream crossings in Indian

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mueller, David S.; Miller, Robert L.; ,

1993-01-01

Geophysical data were collected by means of ground-penetrating radar and tuned transducer systems to estimate the historical scour at ten bridges in Indiana. These geophysical data were used to compare and evaluate the results of 13 published pier-scour equations. In order to make this comparison, it was assumed that the measured historical scour was associated with the peak historical discharge. Because the geophysical data were not sufficient to map the lateral extent of the refilled scour hole, local scour could not be isolated from concentration scour. For the evaluation, computed contraction scour and pier scour were used in combination with the existing channel geometry to determine a computed bed elevation. This computed bed elevation was compared to be minimum historic bed elevation estimated from the geophysical data. None of the selected pier-scour equations, when combined with the contraction-scour equation, accurately represented the historical scour at all of the study sites. On the basis of the limited data presented, the equations currently recommended by the Federal Highway Administration provided a combination of accuracy and safety, required by design equations, equal to or better than the other equations evaluated.

A Multi-Sensor Approach to Enhance the Prediction of Mangrove Biophysical Characteristics in Chilika Lagoon and Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, A.; Bledsoe, R.; Mishra, D. R.; Cameron, C.; Dahal, S.; Remillard, C.; Stone, A.; Stupp, P.

2017-12-01

Mangroves, one of the most productive ecosystems on Earth, play a major role in coastal ecosystem processes from mitigating erosion to acting as a barrier against tidal and storm surges associated with tropical cyclones. India has about 5 % of the world's mangrove vegetation, and over half of which is found along the east coast of the country. Chilika Lagoon and Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary are Ramsar sites of international wetland importance, situated in the state of Odisha along the east coast of India. Chilika Lagoon holds three small, but distinct mangrove patches, while Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary has several large, dense patches of mangroves. There is growing concern for the effective management and conservation of these mangrove forests. This study demonstrated the use of a suite of satellite data (Terra, Landsat, and Sentinel-1) for meeting the following objectives: 1. Derive a long-term spatio-temporal phenological maps of the biophysical parameters (chlorophyll, leaf area index, gross primary productivity, and evapotranspiration); 2. Analyze long-term spatio-temporal variability of physical and meteorological parameters; 3. Document decadal changes in mangroves area estimates starting from 1995 to 2017 using Landsat and radar data. The time series developed in this study revealed a phenological pattern for mangrove biophysical characteristics. Historical analysis of land cover maps indicated decrease in dense mangrove area and increase in open mangrove area and fragmentation. The results of this study will be used as an efficient biophysical mapping and monitoring protocol for mangrove forests in restoration decision-making.

Assessing Risks from Cyclones for Human Lives and Livelihoods in the Coastal Region of Bangladesh

PubMed Central

Khan, Amanat Ullah; Kervyn, Matthieu

2017-01-01

As a disaster prone country, Bangladesh is regularly hit by natural hazards, including devastating cyclones, such as in 1970, 1991 and 2007. Although the number of cyclones’ fatalities reduced from 0.3 million in 1970 to a few thousand or fewer in recent events, loss of lives and impact on livelihoods remains a concern. It depends on the meteorological characteristics of cyclone and the general vulnerability and capacity of the exposed population. In that perspective, a spatially explicit risk assessment is an essential step towards targeted disaster risk reduction. This study aims at analyzing the spatial variation of the different factors contributing to the risk for coastal communities at regional scale, including the distribution of the hazards, exposure, vulnerability and capacity. An exploratory factor analysis method is used to map vulnerability contrasts between local administrative units. Indexing and ranking using geospatial techniques are used to produce maps of exposure, hazard, vulnerability, capacities and risk. Results show that vulnerable populations and exposed areas are distributed along the land sea boundary, islands and major inland rivers. The hazard, assessed from the density of historical cyclone paths, is highest in the southwestern part of the coast. Whereas cyclones shelters are shown to properly serve the most vulnerable populations as priority evacuation centers, the overall pattern of capacity accounting for building quality and road network shows a more complex pattern. Resultant risk maps also provide a reasonable basis from which to take further structural measures to minimize loss of lives in the upcoming cyclones. PMID:28757550

A New Seismic Hazard Model for Mainland China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rong, Y.; Xu, X.; Chen, G.; Cheng, J.; Magistrale, H.; Shen, Z. K.

2017-12-01

We are developing a new seismic hazard model for Mainland China by integrating historical earthquake catalogs, geological faults, geodetic GPS data, and geology maps. To build the model, we construct an Mw-based homogeneous historical earthquake catalog spanning from 780 B.C. to present, create fault models from active fault data, and derive a strain rate model based on the most complete GPS measurements and a new strain derivation algorithm. We divide China and the surrounding regions into about 20 large seismic source zones. For each zone, a tapered Gutenberg-Richter (TGR) magnitude-frequency distribution is used to model the seismic activity rates. The a- and b-values of the TGR distribution are calculated using observed earthquake data, while the corner magnitude is constrained independently using the seismic moment rate inferred from the geodetically-based strain rate model. Small and medium sized earthquakes are distributed within the source zones following the location and magnitude patterns of historical earthquakes. Some of the larger earthquakes are distributed onto active faults, based on their geological characteristics such as slip rate, fault length, down-dip width, and various paleoseismic data. The remaining larger earthquakes are then placed into the background. A new set of magnitude-rupture scaling relationships is developed based on earthquake data from China and vicinity. We evaluate and select appropriate ground motion prediction equations by comparing them with observed ground motion data and performing residual analysis. To implement the modeling workflow, we develop a tool that builds upon the functionalities of GEM's Hazard Modeler's Toolkit. The GEM OpenQuake software is used to calculate seismic hazard at various ground motion periods and various return periods. To account for site amplification, we construct a site condition map based on geology. The resulting new seismic hazard maps can be used for seismic risk analysis and management.

Data Lakes and Data Visualization: An Innovative Approach to Address the Challenges of Access to Health Care in Mississippi.

PubMed

Krause, Denise D

2015-01-01

There are a variety of challenges to developing strategies to improve access to health care, but access to data is critical for effective evidence-based decision-making. Many agencies and organizations throughout Mississippi have been collecting quality health data for many years. However, those data have historically resided in data silos and have not been readily shared. A strategy was developed to build and coordinate infrastructure, capacity, tools, and resources to facilitate health workforce and population health planning throughout the state. Realizing data as the foundation upon which to build, the primary objective was to develop the capacity to collect, store, maintain, visualize, and analyze data from a variety of disparate sources -- with the ultimate goal of improving access to health care. Specific aims were to: 1) build a centralized data repository and scalable informatics platform, 2) develop a data management solution for this platform and then, 3) derive value from this platform by facilitating data visualization and analysis. A managed data lake was designed and constructed for health data from disparate sources throughout the state of Mississippi. A data management application was developed to log and track all data sources, maps and geographies, and data marts. With this informatics platform as a foundation, a variety of tools are used to visualize and analyze data. To illustrate, a web mapping application was developed to examine the health workforce geographically and attractive data visualizations and dynamic dashboards were created to facilitate health planning and research. Samples of data visualizations that aim to inform health planners and policymakers are presented. Many agencies and organizations throughout the state benefit from this platform. The overarching goal is that by providing timely, reliable information to stakeholders, Mississippians in general will experience improved access to quality care.

Implementing a Web-Based Decision Support System to Spatially and Statistically Analyze Ecological Conditions of the Sierra Nevada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, A.; Mueller, C.; Brooks, A. N.; Kislik, E. A.; Baney, O. N.; Ramirez, C.; Schmidt, C.; Torres-Perez, J. L.

2014-12-01

The Sierra Nevada is experiencing changes in hydrologic regimes, such as decreases in snowmelt and peak runoff, which affect forest health and the availability of water resources. Currently, the USDA Forest Service Region 5 is undergoing Forest Plan revisions to include climate change impacts into mitigation and adaptation strategies. However, there are few processes in place to conduct quantitative assessments of forest conditions in relation to mountain hydrology, while easily and effectively delivering that information to forest managers. To assist the USDA Forest Service, this study is the final phase of a three-term project to create a Decision Support System (DSS) to allow ease of access to historical and forecasted hydrologic, climatic, and terrestrial conditions for the entire Sierra Nevada. This data is featured within three components of the DSS: the Mapping Viewer, Statistical Analysis Portal, and Geospatial Data Gateway. Utilizing ArcGIS Online, the Sierra DSS Mapping Viewer enables users to visually analyze and locate areas of interest. Once the areas of interest are targeted, the Statistical Analysis Portal provides subbasin level statistics for each variable over time by utilizing a recently developed web-based data analysis and visualization tool called Plotly. This tool allows users to generate graphs and conduct statistical analyses for the Sierra Nevada without the need to download the dataset of interest. For more comprehensive analysis, users are also able to download datasets via the Geospatial Data Gateway. The third phase of this project focused on Python-based data processing, the adaptation of the multiple capabilities of ArcGIS Online and Plotly, and the integration of the three Sierra DSS components within a website designed specifically for the USDA Forest Service.

Assessing Values in Historical Fiction Written for Children: A Content Analysis of the Winners of the Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edgington, William D.; Brabham, Edna Greene; Frost, Jami Bice

1999-01-01

Considers how teachers engage children in character education and analyzes core values in books winning the Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award. Finds that these books are rich sources for examples of core values that are common features of character-education programs. Observes many teachers using short stories and picture books to insert…

A probabilistic estimate of maximum acceleration in rock in the contiguous United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Algermissen, Sylvester Theodore; Perkins, David M.

1976-01-01

This paper presents a probabilistic estimate of the maximum ground acceleration to be expected from earthquakes occurring in the contiguous United States. It is based primarily upon the historic seismic record which ranges from very incomplete before 1930 to moderately complete after 1960. Geologic data, primarily distribution of faults, have been employed only to a minor extent, because most such data have not been interpreted yet with earthquake hazard evaluation in mind.The map provides a preliminary estimate of the relative hazard in various parts of the country. The report provides a method for evaluating the relative importance of the many parameters and assumptions in hazard analysis. The map and methods of evaluation described reflect the current state of understanding and are intended to be useful for engineering purposes in reducing the effects of earthquakes on buildings and other structures.Studies are underway on improved methods for evaluating the relativ( earthquake hazard of different regions. Comments on this paper are invited to help guide future research and revisions of the accompanying map.The earthquake hazard in the United States has been estimated in a variety of ways since the initial effort by Ulrich (see Roberts and Ulrich, 1950). In general, the earlier maps provided an estimate of the severity of ground shaking or damage but the frequency of occurrence of the shaking or damage was not given. Ulrich's map showed the distribution of expected damage in terms of no damage (zone 0), minor damage (zone 1), moderate damage (zone 2), and major damage (zone 3). The zones were not defined further and the frequency of occurrence of damage was not suggested. Richter (1959) and Algermissen (1969) estimated the ground motion in terms of maximum Modified Mercalli intensity. Richter used the terms "occasional" and "frequent" to characterize intensity IX shaking and Algermissen included recurrence curves for various parts of the country in the paper accompanying his map.The first probabilistic hazard maps covering portions of the United States were by Milne and Davenport (1969a). Recently, Wiggins, Hirshberg and Bronowicki (1974) prepared a probabilistic map of maximum particle velocity and Modified Mercalli intensity for the entire United States. The maps are based on an analysis of the historical seismicity. In general, geological data were not incorporated into the development of the maps.

Lake Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohrn, Deborah Gore, Ed.

1993-01-01

This quarterly publication of the State Historical Society of Iowa features articles and activities for elementary school students. This summer issue focuses on the topic of lake life. The issue includes the following features: (1) "Where the Lakes Are Map"; (2) "Letter from the Lake"; (3) "Lake People"; (4)…

Fish and chips? Implanted transmitters help map the endangered pallid sturgeon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Chojnacki, Kimberly; DeLonay, Aaron

2011-01-01

With a flattened snout, long slender tail and rows of bony plates lining its body, the pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) has a unique, almost pre-historic, appearance. This endangered fish is native to the muddy, free-flowing waters of the Missouri River.

Fire episodes in the Inland Northwest (1540-1940) based on fire history data

Treesearch

Stephen W. Barrett; Stephen F. Arno; James P. Menakis

1997-01-01

Presents maps of major fire episodes in the inland northwestern United States between 1540 and 1940 based on a compilation of fire history studies. Estimates annual acreage historically burned in this region and compares that with recent fire years.

Teaching about Haiti.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sunshine, Catherine A.; Menkart, Deborah

Developed for secondary students to place political situations in context, this document uses essays, interviews, songs, literature, and prose to present the culture of Haiti and the history of colonialism, neo-colonialism, and struggles for independence. After a historical overview, a chronology provides key dates in Haitian history. Maps of…

pnw_50mwindnouma

Science.gov Websites

Publication_Date: April, 2002 Title: pnw_50mwindnouma Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data and historical weather data under contract to Wind Powering America/NREL. This map has been validated with available surface data by NREL and wind energy meteorological consultants. Abstract: Annual

midatl_50mwind

Science.gov Websites

Publication_Date: January, 2003 Title: midatl_50mwind Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data historical weather data under contract to Wind Powering America/NREL. This map has been validated with available surface data by NREL and wind energy meteorological consultants. Description: Abstract: Annual

ca_50mwind

Science.gov Websites

Publication_Date: January, 2003 Title: ca_50mwind Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data and historical weather data under contract to Wind Powering America/NREL. This map has been validated with available surface data by NREL and wind energy meteorological consultants. Description: Abstract

Documentary evidence for changing climatic and anthropogenic influences on the Bermejo Wetland in Mendoza, Argentina, during the 16th-20th century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prieto, M. R.; Rojas, F.

2012-05-01

This paper examines the processes underlying changes to the once-extensive Bermejo Wetland, east of the city of Mendoza, Argentina (32°55' S, 68°51' W). Historical documents and maps from the 16th to 20th century are used to reconstruct environmental shifts. Historical documents indicate periods of increased snowfall in the adjacent Andes mountains, as well as high flow volumes in the Mendoza River. Data from georeferenced maps, the first from 1802 and the last from 1903, reflect the changes in the surface area of the wetland. The combined data sets show pulses of growth and retraction, in which major expansions coincided with more intense snowstorms and increased flow in the Mendoza River, which in turn influenced socio-economic activities. The wetland became progressively drier during the 19th century, before drying up completely around 1930, due in part to the construction of drainages and channels.

Map showing recent and historic landslide activity on coastal bluffs of Puget Sound between Shilshole Bay and Everett, Washington

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baum, R.L.; Harp, E.L.; Hultman, W.A.

2000-01-01

Many landslides occurred on the coastal bluffs between Seattle and Everett, Washington during the winters of 1996 and 1997. Shallow earth slides and debris flows were the most common, but a few deep-seated rotational earth slides also occurred. The landslides caused significant property damage and interfered with rail traffic; future landslides in the area pose significant hazards to property and public safety. Field observations indicate that ground-water seepage, runoff concentration, and dumping at the tops of the bluffs all contributed to instability of the bluffs. Most landslides in the study area occurred in colluvium, residuum, and landslide deposits derived from the Vashon Drift, particularly the advance outwash. In the northern part of the area, colluvium derived from the Pleistocene Whidbey Formation was also involved in shallow landslides. Comparison of recent activity with historic records in the southern part of the map area indicates that landslides tend to occur in many of the same areas as previous landslides.

MAPPING SPATIAL THEMATIC ACCURACY WITH FUZZY SETS

EPA Science Inventory

Thematic map accuracy is not spatially homogenous but variable across a landscape. Properly analyzing and representing spatial pattern and degree of thematic map accuracy would provide valuable information for using thematic maps. However, current thematic map accuracy measures (...

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Composites

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2005-01-01

The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) is a broad-band scanner with four to six bands, depending on the model. The AVHRR senses in the visible, near-, middle-, and thermal- infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. This sensor is carried on a series of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES), beginning with the Television InfraRed Observation Satellite (TIROS-N) in 1978. Since 1989, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) has been mapping the vegetation condition of the United States and Alaska using satellite information from the AVHRR sensor. The vegetation condition composites, more commonly called greenness maps, are produced every week using the latest information on the growth and condition of the vegetation. One of the most important aspects of USGS greenness mapping is the historical archive of information dating back to 1989. This historical stretch of information has allowed the USGS to determine a 'normal' vegetation condition. As a result, it is possible to compare the current week's vegetation condition with normal vegetation conditions. An above normal condition could indicate wetter or warmer than normal conditions, while a below normal condition could indicate colder or dryer than normal conditions. The interpretation of departure from normal will depend on the season and geography of a region.

Multi-step-ahead Method for Wind Speed Prediction Correction Based on Numerical Weather Prediction and Historical Measurement Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Han; Yan, Jie; Liu, Yongqian; Han, Shuang; Li, Li; Zhao, Jing

2017-11-01

Increasing the accuracy of wind speed prediction lays solid foundation to the reliability of wind power forecasting. Most traditional correction methods for wind speed prediction establish the mapping relationship between wind speed of the numerical weather prediction (NWP) and the historical measurement data (HMD) at the corresponding time slot, which is free of time-dependent impacts of wind speed time series. In this paper, a multi-step-ahead wind speed prediction correction method is proposed with consideration of the passing effects from wind speed at the previous time slot. To this end, the proposed method employs both NWP and HMD as model inputs and the training labels. First, the probabilistic analysis of the NWP deviation for different wind speed bins is calculated to illustrate the inadequacy of the traditional time-independent mapping strategy. Then, support vector machine (SVM) is utilized as example to implement the proposed mapping strategy and to establish the correction model for all the wind speed bins. One Chinese wind farm in northern part of China is taken as example to validate the proposed method. Three benchmark methods of wind speed prediction are used to compare the performance. The results show that the proposed model has the best performance under different time horizons.

Landslide susceptibility mapping in the coastal region in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvala, R. C.; Camarinha, P. I.; Canavesi, V.

2013-05-01

The exposure of populations in risk areas is a matter of global concern, because it is a determining factor for the natural disasters occurrences. Furthermore, it has also been observed an intensification of extreme hydrometeorological events that has triggered disasters in various parts of the globe, further increasing the need for monitoring and alerting for natural disasters, aiming the safeguarding of life and minimize economic losses. Accordingly, different methodologies for risk assessment have been proposed, focusing on the specific natural hazards. Particularly for Brazil, which has economic axis of development in the regions near the coast, it is common to observe the process of urbanization advancing on steep slopes of the mountain regions. This characteristic causes the population exposure to the natural hazards related to the mass movements, which the landslides stood out as the cause of many deaths and economic losses every year. Thus, prior to risk analysis (when human occupation intersect with natural hazard), it is essential to analyze the susceptibility, which reflects the physical and environmental conditions that trigger for such phenomena. However, this task becomes a major challenge due to the difficulty of finding databases with good quality. In this context, this paper presents a methodology based only on spatial information in the public domain, integrated into a Geographic Information System free, in order to analyze the landslides susceptibility. In a first effort, we evaluated four counties of Southeastern Brazil - Santos, Cubatão, Caraguatatuba and Ubatuba - located in a region that includes the rugged reliefs of Serra do Mar and the transition to the coastal region, that have historic of disasters related. It is noteworthy that the methodology takes into account many variables that was weighted and crossed by Fuzzy Gamma technique, such as: topography (horizontal and vertical curvature of the slopes), geology, geomorphology, slope, land use and pedology. As a result, we obtain 5 susceptibility classes: very low, low, medium, high and very high. To validate the methodology, there was overlapped the Landslides Susceptibility Map with real risk areas previously mapped, provided by the National Centre for Monitoring and Alert of Natural Disasters. This step is important especially to assess the methodology adherence to evaluate the classes that was mapped with high and very high susceptibility. The preliminary results indicate that over 70% of the the mapped risks areas are located into the classes more susceptible. We observed small inconsistencies that are related with spatial displacement of the various databases considered, which has different resolutions and scales. Therefore, the results indicated that the methodology is robust and showed the high vulnerability of the counties analyzed, which further highlights that the landslides susceptibility should be monitored carefully by the decision makers in order to prevent and minimize the natural disasters impact, so that provide better territorial planning.

Links between geodiversity and cultural elements on three scale levels, a neglected part of geoconservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van den Ancker, Hanneke; Jungerius, Pieter Dirk

2015-04-01

The best-known landscape map of The Netherlands is a simplified version of the first geological map of The Netherlands and was made between 1856 and 1867 by Winand Staring. It still is the basis of our vegetation districts. The main landscape units of this map are the sand landscape, the peat landscape, the river landscape, the marine landscape, the coastal dunes and the hills. On this scale level there is general awareness of the relationships between the geo aspects (geomorphology, geology, geohydrology and soil science) of the landscape and historical land use, e.g. in field patterns and other cultural elements (archaeology and historical geography). From three of these units, examples of interactions between geo-aspects and cultural elements are given for two different scale levels: first on a more regional scale level, then on site level. Especially the last level requires field study. The relationships between the geo and cultural aspects appear to be most intact and are most variable at the site level. Earth scientists as yet hardly involve themselves in geoconservation studies re these relationships, for which reason the geo-aspects of the cultural elements, especially those at the site level, often are not noticed and disappear during land development projects or gardening efforts. It also is a missed opportunity as these sites offer a chance to raise interest of a broader public for geomorphology and soils, which are in general more difficult to communicate. The development and management of cultural landscapes and sites, by Dutch law is the domain of land owners and landscape architects, who in the course of a project consult other experts. Our plea for future planning projects is to work with a team of experts including archaeologists, historical geographers, flora and fauna experts, geologists, geomorphologists and soil specialists. Although the costs of preparing a plan will be slightly higher, our experience is that it will improve the quality of land planning and the quality of our historical and future landscapes.

Resurrecting the Past, Constructing the Future: A Historical Investigation on the Formation of a Greek National Identity in Schools, 1834-1913

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zervas, Theodore George

2010-01-01

This dissertation research combines archival data and historical methods and analyzes how schooling and education in Greece between 1834 and 1913 sought to shape a Greek national identity. The goal of this project is to present a historical analysis, that has thus far been absent from scholarship on the subject, and to convey how the adoption of a…

A Philosophical Review of Science and Society within Agricultural Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKim, Aaron J.; Velez, Jonathan J.; Lambert, Misty D.; Balschweid, Mark A.

2017-01-01

We utilized philosophical and historical perspectives to analyze the interconnectedness between agricultural education, science, and society. Using historical evidence, the adaptive role of agricultural education was discussed and recommendations for future adaptability were described. Additionally, connections between agricultural education,…

Flashback: Comparing Two Approaches to Teaching World History.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khazzaka, Joseph

1997-01-01

Discusses the "flashback" method of history instruction that begins with analyzing specific, current conditions and then traces their historical evolution. This method allows students to feel connected to the subject while participating in its historical investigation. Compares the "flashback" and the traditional chronological…

Topological data analysis of contagion maps for examining spreading processes on networks.

PubMed

Taylor, Dane; Klimm, Florian; Harrington, Heather A; Kramár, Miroslav; Mischaikow, Konstantin; Porter, Mason A; Mucha, Peter J

2015-07-21

Social and biological contagions are influenced by the spatial embeddedness of networks. Historically, many epidemics spread as a wave across part of the Earth's surface; however, in modern contagions long-range edges-for example, due to airline transportation or communication media-allow clusters of a contagion to appear in distant locations. Here we study the spread of contagions on networks through a methodology grounded in topological data analysis and nonlinear dimension reduction. We construct 'contagion maps' that use multiple contagions on a network to map the nodes as a point cloud. By analysing the topology, geometry and dimensionality of manifold structure in such point clouds, we reveal insights to aid in the modelling, forecast and control of spreading processes. Our approach highlights contagion maps also as a viable tool for inferring low-dimensional structure in networks.

Topological data analysis of contagion maps for examining spreading processes on networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Dane; Klimm, Florian; Harrington, Heather A.; Kramár, Miroslav; Mischaikow, Konstantin; Porter, Mason A.; Mucha, Peter J.

2015-07-01

Social and biological contagions are influenced by the spatial embeddedness of networks. Historically, many epidemics spread as a wave across part of the Earth's surface; however, in modern contagions long-range edges--for example, due to airline transportation or communication media--allow clusters of a contagion to appear in distant locations. Here we study the spread of contagions on networks through a methodology grounded in topological data analysis and nonlinear dimension reduction. We construct `contagion maps' that use multiple contagions on a network to map the nodes as a point cloud. By analysing the topology, geometry and dimensionality of manifold structure in such point clouds, we reveal insights to aid in the modelling, forecast and control of spreading processes. Our approach highlights contagion maps also as a viable tool for inferring low-dimensional structure in networks.

Real-Time Occupancy Change Analyzer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

2005-03-30

The Real-Time Occupancy Change Analyzer (ROCA) produces an occupancy grid map of an environment around the robot, scans the environment to generate a current obstacle map relative to a current robot position, and converts the current obstacle map to a current occupancy grid map. Changes in the occupancy grid can be reported in real time to support a number of tracking capabilities. The benefit of ROCA is that rather than only providing a vector to the detected change, it provides the actual x,y position of the change.

Analyzing Interactions by an IIS-Map-Based Method in Face-to-Face Collaborative Learning: An Empirical Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Lanqin; Yang, Kaicheng; Huang, Ronghuai

2012-01-01

This study proposes a new method named the IIS-map-based method for analyzing interactions in face-to-face collaborative learning settings. This analysis method is conducted in three steps: firstly, drawing an initial IIS-map according to collaborative tasks; secondly, coding and segmenting information flows into information items of IIS; thirdly,…

Geologic Resource Evaluation of Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Hawai'i: Geology and Coastal Landforms

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richmond, Bruce M.; Gibbs, Ann E.; Cochran, Susan A.

2008-01-01

Geologic resource inventories of lands managed by the National Park Service (NPS) are important products for the parks and are designed to provide scientific information to better manage park resources. Park-specific geologic reports are used to identify geologic features and processes that are relevant to park ecosystems, evaluate the impact of human activities on geologic features and processes, identify geologic research and monitoring needs, and enhance opportunities for education and interpretation. These geologic reports are planned to provide a brief geologic history of the park and address specific geologic issues that link the park geology and the resource manager. The Kona coast National Parks of the Island of Hawai'i are intended to preserve the natural beauty of the Kona coast and protect significant ancient structures and artifacts of the native Hawaiians. Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site (PUHE), Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park (KAHO), and Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park (PUHO) are three Kona parks studied by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Coastal and Marine Geology Team in cooperation with the National Park Service. This report is one of six related reports designed to provide geologic and benthic-habitat information for the three Kona parks. Each geology and coastal-landform report describes the regional geologic setting of the Hawaiian Islands, gives a general description of the geology of the Kona coast, and presents the geologic setting and issues for one of the parks. The related benthic-habitat mapping reports discuss the marine data and habitat classification scheme, and present results of the mapping program. Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park (KAHO) was established in 1978 in order to preserve and protect traditional native Hawaiian culture and cultural sites. The park is the site of an ancient Hawaiian settlement, occupies 469 ha and is considered a locale of considerable cultural and historical significance. Cultural resources include fishponds, petroglyphs and a heiau (religious site). The fishponds are also recognized as exceptional birding areas and are important wetlands for migratory birds. The ocean and reef have been designated as a Marine Area Reserve, where green sea turtles commonly come ashore to rest. The park is also a valuable recreational resource, with approximately 4 km of coastline and a protective cove ideal for snorkeling and swimming. KAHO park boundaries extend beyond the mean high tide line and include the adjacent marine environment. An accompanying report for KAHO presents the results of benthic habitat mapping of the offshore waters, from the shoreline to approximately 40 m water depth. Ground-water quality and potential downslope impacts created by development around the park are of concern to Park management.

The Post-9/11 Risk Agenda.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Franke, Ann H.

2002-01-01

Seeks to place the post-9/11 risk agenda for colleges and universities in historical perspective by offering a refresher on some of the most serious perennial risks for U.S. higher education. Offers an eight-point road map of how to enhance boards' risk management efforts. (EV)

Pioneers of Aviation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uslabar, Ken

1992-01-01

Presents an activity in which students explore the geography, science and technology, and societal issues related to the historic flight of James Banning and Thomas Allen; the first African-American men to fly across the United States in 1932. Provides a lesson plan and a geographic map that traces the flight. (MDH)

Making Use of a Decade of Widely Varying Historical Data: SARP Project - "Full Life-Cycle Defect Management"

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shull, Forrest; Godfrey, Sally; Bechtel, Andre; Feldmann, Raimund L.; Regardie, Myrna; Seaman, Carolyn

2008-01-01

A viewgraph presentation describing the NASA Software Assurance Research Program (SARP) project, with a focus on full life-cycle defect management, is provided. The topics include: defect classification, data set and algorithm mapping, inspection guidelines, and tool support.

Environmental Trends.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Council on Environmental Quality, Washington, DC.

This document consists of data which highlight trends in all sectors relevant to environmental policy. These data are presented in the form of charts and maps contained in 13 sections under the following headings: people and the land; critical areas (wetlands, wild areas, parks, historic places, and risk zones); human settlements; transportation;…

The Effect of Thinking Maps on Fifth Grade Science Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudson, Darlene

2013-01-01

Informational texts, such as those found in science education, have historically been reserved for secondary students. With the increased emphasis on elementary students' academic accountability, these high impact instructional strategies must also be utilized to support subject matter comprehension for younger students. This causal-comparative…

Native Peoples. A Guide to Reference Sources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGill Univ., Montreal (Quebec). Libraries.

This guide from McGill University (Quebec, Canada) emphasizes sources for ethnological research and includes materials reflecting concerns of social anthropology and historical approaches to the study of native peoples. Some government documents and map collections are included. Sources are arranged in the following categories: (1) handbooks and…

Genetic diversity, linkage disequilibrium, and association mapping analyses of gossypium barbadense l. germplasm and cultivars

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Limited polymorphism and narrow genetic base, due to genetic bottleneck through historic domestication, highlight a need for comprehensive characterization and utilization of existing genetic diversity in cotton germplasm collections. In this study, 288 worldwide Gossypium barbadense L. cotton germ...

William Smith's Mapping Milestone

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clary, Renee

2015-01-01

Interactive Historical Vignettes (IHVs) can serve as introductions to scientific content, pique students' interest, and reveal the nature of science to students (Clary and Wandersee 2006). Additionally, pivotal episodes in the life of a scientist can reveal the humanness of science, and the cultural and societal constraints in which the scientist…

Directional climate change and potential reversal of desertification in arid and semiarid ecosystems

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Our objective was to determine if long-term increases in precipitation can maintain grasslands susceptible to desertification, and initiate a reversal of historic regime shifts on desertified shrublands. Long-term trends in desertification were documented using vegetation maps beginning in 1858. The...

Use of Historical Radar Rainfall Estimates to Develop Design Storms in Los Angeles.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curtis, D. C.; Humphrey, J.; Moffitt, J.

2007-12-01

A database of 15-minute historical gage adjusted radar-rainfall estimates was used to evaluate the geometric properties of storms in the City of Los Angeles, CA. The database includes selected months containing significant rainfall during the period 1996-2007. For each time step, areas of contiguous rainfall were identified as individual storm cells. An idealized ellipse was fit to each storm cell and the properties of the ellipse (e.g., size, shape, orientation, velocity and other parameters) were recorded. To accurately account for the range of storm cell sizes, capture a large number of storm cells in a climatologically similar area, assess the variability of storm movement, and minimize the impact of edge effects (i.e., incomplete coverage of cells entering and leaving), a study area substantially larger than the City of Los Angeles was used. The study area extends from city center to 30 miles north to the crest of San Gabriel Mountains, 45 miles east to Ontario, 60 miles south to Santa Catalina Island, and 70 miles west to Oxnard, an area of about10,000 square miles. Radar data for this area over 30 months in the study yields many thousands of storm cells for analysis. Storms were separated into classes by origin, direction and speed of movement. Preliminary investigations considers three types: Arctic origin (west-northwest), Pacific origin (southwest) and Tropical origin (south or stationary). Radar data (for 1996-2007) and upper air maps (1948-2006) are used to identify the direction and speed of significant precipitation events. Typical duration and temporal patterns of Los Angeles historical storms were described by season and storm type. Time of maximum intensity loading variation were determined for a selection of historic storms Depth-Areal Reduction Factors (DARF) for cloudbursts were developedfrom the radar data. These data curves are fit to equations showing the relationships between DARF, area and central intensity. Separate DARF curves are developed for 6X (6 events per year), 4X, 3X, 2X, 1, 2, 5 and 10 year recurrence, and durations from 5 minutes to 7-days. A comparison is made between DARF derived in these analyses with NOAA Atlas 12 DARF, the USACE Sierra Madre Storm and other DARF developed for the interior Southwest. Orographic increases in DDF are related to the Los Angeles County Flood Control District Hydrology Manual 24-hr 50-yr Precipitation maps, elevation from USGS topographic maps and Mean Annual Precipitation maps.

Use of documentary sources on past flood events for flood risk management and land planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cœur, Denis; Lang, Michel

2008-09-01

The knowledge of past catastrophic events can improve flood risk mitigation policy, with a better awareness against risk. As such historical information is usually available in Europe for the past five centuries, historians are able to understand how past society dealt with flood risk, and hydrologists can include information on past floods into an adapted probabilistic framework. In France, Flood Risk Mitigation Maps are based either on the largest historical known flood event or on the 100-year flood event if it is greater. Two actions can be suggested in terms of promoting the use of historical information for flood risk management: (1) the development of a regional flood data base, with both historical and current data, in order to get a good feedback on recent events and to improve the flood risk education and awareness; (2) the commitment to keep a persistent/perennial management of a reference network of hydrometeorological observations for climate change studies.

Openings: On the Journal of Homosexuality, Volume 1, Issue 1.

PubMed

Gotkin, Kevin

2016-01-01

This article serves as one of the supplementary pieces of this special issue on "Mapping Queer Bioethics," in which we take a solipsistic turn to "map" the Journal of Homosexuality itself. Here, the author examines Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Journal of Homosexuality and asks whether the journal's first contributors might reveal a historically problematic relationship whereby the categories of front-line LGBT health advocates in the 1970s might be incommensurate with the post-AIDS, queer politics that would follow in decades to come.

Urban ergonomics: an ongoing study of city signs and maps.

PubMed

Alves, Patricia; Arezes, Pedro

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study is to assess whether the existing signals in three European cities were developed according usability principles and ergonomic aspects for the citizen. City maps and signals will be tested using efficiency, effectiveness and user's satisfaction criteria. Among the urban areas are the center of Paris-FR, assumed to be well signalized, the historical center of Guimarães-PT and Chorweiler, Cologne-DE, a residential neighborhood of modern urbanism characterized by the extensive use of vegetation, the landscape homogeneity, and, consequently, by the difficult navigation.

Rice Agriculture in the River Parishes: The Historical Archeology of the Vacherie Site (16 SJ 40), St. James Parish, Louisiana

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-09-01

1893 and 1921 Mississippi River Commission Chart 72; ca. 1930s Caving Bank Survey Map; Mississippi River Hydrographic Survey Chart 41; and the U.S.G.S...of 1876-1893 and 1921 Mississippi River Commission Charts 72, the Caving Bank survey (ca. 1940s-1970s) map, the Mississippi River Hydrographic Survey... Chart (41), and the U.S.G.S. 7.5’ Lutcher, LA quadrangle, were used to examine patterns of erosion, stability, and bankline aggradation. The batture

Environmental Impact Research Program: Reservoir Bank Erosion and Cultural Resources: Experiments in Mapping and Predicting the Erosion of Archeological Sediments at Reservoirs Along the Middle Missouri River with Sequential Historical Aerial Photographs

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-01

points on both the photos and base map. Transects placed at 100-m intervals along the waterline, oriented perpendicular to the gradient or slope just...the identifica- tion of major factors influencing bank erosion, independent variables measured included gradient of the land at the intersection of...have a very steep gradient , approaching vertical in some cases, broken only by intermittent minor drainages which have dissected terrace margins. b

Global Climate Model Simulated Hydrologic Droughts and Floods in the Nelson-Churchill Watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieira, M. J. F.; Stadnyk, T. A.; Koenig, K. A.

2014-12-01

There is uncertainty surrounding the duration, magnitude and frequency of historical hydroclimatic extremes such as hydrologic droughts and floods prior to the observed record. In regions where paleoclimatic studies are less reliable, Global Climate Models (GCMs) can provide useful information about past hydroclimatic conditions. This study evaluates the use of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) GCMs to enhance the understanding of historical droughts and floods across the Canadian Prairie region in the Nelson-Churchill Watershed (NCW). The NCW is approximately 1.4 million km2 in size and drains into Hudson Bay in Northern Manitoba, Canada. One hundred years of observed hydrologic records show extended dry and wet periods in this region; however paleoclimatic studies suggest that longer, more severe droughts have occurred in the past. In Manitoba, where hydropower is the primary source of electricity, droughts are of particular interest as they are important for future resource planning. Twenty-three GCMs with daily runoff are evaluated using 16 metrics for skill in reproducing historic annual runoff patterns. A common 56-year historic period of 1950-2005 is used for this evaluation to capture wet and dry periods. GCM runoff is then routed at a grid resolution of 0.25° using the WATFLOOD hydrological model storage-routing algorithm to develop streamflow scenarios. Reservoir operation is naturalized and a consistent temperature scenario is used to determine ice-on and ice-off conditions. These streamflow simulations are compared with the historic record to remove bias using quantile mapping of empirical distribution functions. GCM runoff data from pre-industrial and future projection experiments are also bias corrected to obtain extended streamflow simulations. GCM streamflow simulations of more than 650 years include a stationary (pre-industrial) period and future periods forced by radiative forcing scenarios. Quantile mapping adjusts for magnitude only while maintaining the GCM's sequencing of events, allowing for the examination of differences in historic and future hydroclimatic extremes. These bias corrected streamflow scenarios provide an alternative to stochastic simulations for hydrologic data analysis and can aid future resource planning and environmental studies.

NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research'sOkeanos Explorer Program 2014 Discoveries - U.S. Atlantic Continental Margin and Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lobecker, E.; McKenna, L.; Sowers, D.; Elliott, K.; Kennedy, B.

2014-12-01

NOAA ShipOkeanos Explorer, the only U.S. federal vessel dedicated to global ocean exploration, made several important discoveries in U.S. waters of the North Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico during the 2014 field season. Based on input received from a broad group ofmarine scientists and resource managers, over 100,000 square kilometers of seafloor and associated water column were systematically explored using advanced mapping sonars. 39 ROV diveswere conducted, leading to new discoveries that will further ourunderstanding of biologic, geologic, and underwater-cultural heritage secrets hidden withinthe oceans. In the Atlantic, season highlights include completion of a multi-year submarine canyons mapping effort of the continental shelf break from North Carolina to the U.S.-Canada maritime border;new information on the ephemerality of recently discovered and geographically extensive cold water seeps; and continued exploration of the New England Seamount chain; and mapping of two potential historically significant World War II wreck sites. In the Gulf of Mexico, season highlights includecompletion of a multi-year mapping effort of the West Florida Escarpment providing new insight into submarine landslides and detachment zones;the discovery of at least two asphalt volcanoes, or 'tar lilies'; range extensions of deep-sea corals; discovery of two potential new species of crinoids; identification of at least 300 potential cold water seeps; and ROV exploration of three historically significant19th century shipwrecks. In both regions, high-resolution mapping led to new insight into the geological context in which deep sea corals develop,while ROV dives provided valuable observations of deep sea coral habitats and their associated organisms, and chemosynthetic habitats. All mapping and ROV data is freely available to the public in usable data formats and maintained in national geophysical and oceanographic data archives.

Modern Data Center Services Supporting Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varner, J. D.; Cartwright, J.; McLean, S. J.; Boucher, J.; Neufeld, D.; LaRocque, J.; Fischman, D.; McQuinn, E.; Fugett, C.

2011-12-01

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) World Data Center for Geophysics and Marine Geology provides scientific stewardship, products and services for geophysical data, including bathymetry, gravity, magnetics, seismic reflection, data derived from sediment and rock samples, as well as historical natural hazards data (tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanoes). Although NGDC has long made many of its datasets available through map and other web services, it has now developed a second generation of services to improve the discovery and access to data. These new services use off-the-shelf commercial and open source software, and take advantage of modern JavaScript and web application frameworks. Services are accessible using both RESTful and SOAP queries as well as Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard protocols such as WMS, WFS, WCS, and KML. These new map services (implemented using ESRI ArcGIS Server) are finer-grained than their predecessors, feature improved cartography, and offer dramatic speed improvements through the use of map caches. Using standards-based interfaces allows customers to incorporate the services without having to coordinate with the provider. Providing fine-grained services increases flexibility for customers building custom applications. The Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping program and Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning program are two examples of national initiatives that require common data inventories from multiple sources and benefit from these modern data services. NGDC is also consuming its own services, providing a set of new browser-based mapping applications which allow the user to quickly visualize and search for data. One example is a new interactive mapping application to search and display information about historical natural hazards. NGDC continues to increase the amount of its data holdings that are accessible and is augmenting the capabilities with modern web application frameworks such as Groovy and Grails. Data discovery is being improved and simplified by leveraging ISO metadata standards along with ESRI Geoportal Server.

A regional land use survey based on remote sensing and other data: A report on a LANDSAT and computer mapping project, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nez, G. (Principal Investigator); Mutter, D.

1977-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. The project mapped land use/cover classifications from LANDSAT computer compatible tape data and combined those results with other multisource data via computer mapping/compositing techniques to analyze various land use planning/natural resource management problems. Data were analyzed on 1:24,000 scale maps at 1.1 acre resolution. LANDSAT analysis software and linkages with other computer mapping software were developed. Significant results were also achieved in training, communication, and identification of needs for developing the LANDSAT/computer mapping technologies into operational tools for use by decision makers.

Non-polynomial closed string field theory: loops and conformal maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hua, Long; Kaku, Michio

1990-11-01

Recently, we proposed the complete classical action for the non-polynomial closed string field theory, which succesfully reproduced all closed string tree amplitudes. (The action was simultaneously proposed by the Kyoto group). In this paper, we analyze the structure of the theory. We (a) compute the explicit conformal map for all g-loop, p-puncture diagrams, (b) compute all one-loop, two-puncture maps in terms of hyper-elliptic functions, and (c) analyze their modular structure. We analyze, but do not resolve, the question of modular invariance.

Historical records of the geomagnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arneitz, Patrick; Heilig, Balázs; Vadasz, Gergely; Valach, Fridrich; Dolinský, Peter; Hejda, Pavel; Fabian, Karl; Hammerl, Christa; Leonhardt, Roman

2014-05-01

Records of historical direct measurements of the geomagnetic field are invaluable sources to reconstruct temporal variations of the Earth's magnetic field. They provide information about the field evolution back to the late Middle Age. We have investigated such records with focus on Austria and some neighbouring countries. A variety of new sources and source types are examined. These include 19th century land survey and observatory records of the Imperial and Royal "Centralanstalt f. Meteorologie und Erdmagnetismus", which are not included in the existing compilations. Daily measurements at the Imperial and Royal Observatory in Prague have been digitized. The Imperial and Royal Navy carried out observations in the Adriatic Sea during several surveys. Declination values have been collected from famous mining areas in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. In this connection, a time series for Banska Stiavnica has been compiled. In the meteorological yearbooks of the monastery Kremsmünster regular declination measurements for the first half of the 19th century were registered. Marsigli's observations during military mapping works in 1696 are also included in our collection. Moreover, compass roses on historical maps or declination values marked on compasses, sundials or globes also provide information about ancient field declination. An evaluation of church orientations in Lower Austria and Northern Germany did not support the hypothesis that church naves had been aligned along the East-West direction by means of magnetic compasses. Therefore, this potential source of information must be excluded from our collection. The gathered records are integrated into a database together with corresponding metadata, such as the used measurement instruments and methods. This information allows an assessment of quality and reliability of the historical observations. The combination of compilations of historical measurements with high quality archeo- and paleomagnetic data in a single database enables a reliable joint evaluation of all types of magnetic field records from different origins. This collection forms the basis for a combined inverse modelling of the geomagnetic field evolution.

Insights Into Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Genetic Recombination Based on 3 High-Density Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism and a Consensus Map Developed Independently With Common Parents.

PubMed

Ulloa, Mauricio; Hulse-Kemp, Amanda M; De Santiago, Luis M; Stelly, David M; Burke, John J

2017-01-01

High-density linkage maps are vital to supporting the correct placement of scaffolds and gene sequences on chromosomes and fundamental to contemporary organismal research and scientific approaches to genetic improvement, especially in paleopolyploids with exceptionally complex genomes, eg, upland cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L., "2n = 52"). Three independently developed intraspecific upland mapping populations were analyzed to generate 3 high-density genetic linkage single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) maps and a consensus map using the CottonSNP63K array. The populations consisted of a previously reported F 2 , a recombinant inbred line (RIL), and reciprocal RIL population, from "Phytogen 72" and "Stoneville 474" cultivars. The cluster file provided 7417 genotyped SNP markers, resulting in 26 linkage groups corresponding to the 26 chromosomes (c) of the allotetraploid upland cotton (AD) 1 arisen from the merging of 2 genomes ("A" Old World and "D" New World). Patterns of chromosome-specific recombination were largely consistent across mapping populations. The high-density genetic consensus map included 7244 SNP markers that spanned 3538 cM and comprised 3824 SNP bins, of which 1783 and 2041 were in the A t and D t subgenomes with 1825 and 1713 cM map lengths, respectively. Subgenome average distances were nearly identical, indicating that subgenomic differences in bin number arose due to the high numbers of SNPs on the D t subgenome. Examination of expected recombination frequency or crossovers (COs) on the chromosomes within each population of the 2 subgenomes revealed that COs were also not affected by the SNPs or SNP bin number in these subgenomes. Comparative alignment analyses identified historical ancestral A t -subgenomic translocations of c02 and c03, as well as of c04 and c05. The consensus map SNP sequences aligned with high congruency to the NBI assembly of Gossypium hirsutum . However, the genomic comparisons revealed evidence of additional unconfirmed possible duplications, inversions and translocations, and unbalance SNP sequence homology or SNP sequence/loci genomic dominance, or homeolog loci bias of the upland tetraploid A t and D t subgenomes. The alignments indicated that 364 SNP-associated previously unintegrated scaffolds can be placed in pseudochromosomes of the NBI G hirsutum assembly. This is the first intraspecific SNP genetic linkage consensus map assembled in G hirsutum with a core of reproducible mendelian SNP markers assayed on different populations and it provides further knowledge of chromosome arrangement of genic and nongenic SNPs. Together, the consensus map and RIL populations provide a synergistically useful platform for localizing and identifying agronomically important loci for improvement of the cotton crop.

The Historical Approach to Science Teaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brouwer, Wytze; Singh, Amar

1983-01-01

Advantages of using an historical approach in teaching physics are discussed, focusing on the questioning techniques that a teacher can adopt in analyzing a particular episode or concept in the history of physics. Questions related to a theory's reception among the scientific community are also discussed. (JN)

Teaching Brinton's Model for Analyzing Revolution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benoit, Bob; Braun, Joseph A., Jr.

1988-01-01

Describes a model for studying and identifying revolution condensed from Crane Brinton's "Anatomy of Revolution." Explains how the characteristics of the model can be applied to hypothetical, historical, and contemporary situations. Outlines the teaching sequence, illustrating how students are taught a historical model and how to apply…

Seismic performance evaluation of an historical concrete deck arch bridge using survey and drawing of the damages, in situ tests, dynamic identification and pushover analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergamo, Otello; Russo, Eleonora; Lodolo, Fabio

2017-07-01

The paper describes the performance evaluation of a retrofit historical multi-span (RC) deck arch bridge analyzed with in situ tests, dynamic identification and FEM analysis. The peculiarity of this case study lies in the structural typology of "San Felice" bridge, an historical concrete arch bridge built in the early 20th century, a quite uncommon feature in Italy. The preservation and retrofit of historic cultural heritage and infrastructures has been carefully analyzed in the international codes governing seismic response. A complete survey of the bridge was carried out prior to sketching a drawing of the existing bridge. Subsequently, the study consists in four steps: material investigation and dynamic vibration tests, FEM analysis and calibration, retrofit assessment, pushover analysis. The aim is to define an innovative approach to calibrate the FEM analysis through modern experimental investigations capable of taking structural deterioration into account, and to offer an appropriate and cost-effective retrofitting strategy.

Towards Verifying National CO2 Emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fung, I. Y.; Wuerth, S. M.; Anderson, J. L.

2017-12-01

With the Paris Agreement, nations around the world have pledged their voluntary reductions in future CO2 emissions. Satellite observations of atmospheric CO2 have the potential to verify self-reported emission statistics around the globe. We present a carbon-weather data assimilation system, wherein raw weather observations together with satellite observations of the mixing ratio of column CO2 from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 are assimilated every 6 hours into the NCAR carbon-climate model CAM5 coupled to the Ensemble Kalman Filter of DART. In an OSSE, we reduced the fossil fuel emissions from a country, and estimated the emissions innovations demanded by the atmospheric CO2 observations. The uncertainties in the innovation are analyzed with respect to the uncertainties in the meteorology to determine the significance of the result. The work follows from "On the use of incomplete historical data to infer the present state of the atmosphere" (Charney et al. 1969), which maps the path for continuous data assimilation for weather forecasting and the five decades of progress since.

Computer-assisted map projection research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Snyder, John Parr

1985-01-01

Computers have opened up areas of map projection research which were previously too complicated to utilize, for example, using a least-squares fit to a very large number of points. One application has been in the efficient transfer of data between maps on different projections. While the transfer of moderate amounts of data is satisfactorily accomplished using the analytical map projection formulas, polynomials are more efficient for massive transfers. Suitable coefficients for the polynomials may be determined more easily for general cases using least squares instead of Taylor series. A second area of research is in the determination of a map projection fitting an unlabeled map, so that accurate data transfer can take place. The computer can test one projection after another, and include iteration where required. A third area is in the use of least squares to fit a map projection with optimum parameters to the region being mapped, so that distortion is minimized. This can be accomplished for standard conformal, equalarea, or other types of projections. Even less distortion can result if complex transformations of conformal projections are utilized. This bulletin describes several recent applications of these principles, as well as historical usage and background.

Historical mapping reveals causes and temporal patterns of woodland contraction in Austur-Skaftafellssýsla from the 12th century AD to present

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sigurmundsson, Friðþór S.; Gísladóttir, Guðrún; Erlendsson, Egill; Þorbjarnarson, Höskuldur

2016-04-01

Land-cover changes in Iceland over the last millennium encompass birch (Betula pubescens) woodland depletion and extensive soil erosion. Yet few studies have focused on spatial change of birch woodland coverage in Iceland over centuries and why and how the woodland depletion took place. The main objectives of this study are: (1) to map the woodland distribution today in Austur-Skaftafellssýsla (3041 km2) in southern Iceland; (2) to map woodland holdings over a period of 900 years from eleventh. AD 1100 to the early 20th century; (3) explain the relative impacts of socio-economic and natural forces on woodland cover over this period. We use a combined approach of historical reconstruction from diverse written archives, GIS techniques and field work. The woodland in Austur-Skaftafellssýsla now covers 73.2 km2 (2.5% of the study area). The woodland holdings, 44 in total, are regularly listed in the church inventories from 1179 to 1570 and are owned by the church. In the first complete register for the district in 1641 the woodland holdings were 73, owned and used by 58 estates, and distributed across Austur-Skaftafellssýsla. All the main patches of woodland remain today, with the exception of four minor woodlands which were exhausted near the end of the 19th century. The woodland was used for firewood and charcoal making as well as grazing during the study period but, crucially, in most cases only one estate had authority over each holding, none were commons. The main driving force behind the development of woodlands was socio-economic, rather than natural, where the form of ownership was fundamental for the fate of the woodland. Harsh climate and volcanism were not directly responsible for woodland depletion. The latter half of the 19th century was the period of greatest woodland loss. This period coincides with considerable expansion in livestock numbers, especially sheep and associated all year around grazing, at a time when the Little Ice Age culminated in Iceland. Keywords: Deforestation. Soil erosion. Land ownership. GIS. Historical mapping.