Implementation of a near-real time cross-border web-mapping platform on airborne particulate matter (PM) concentration with open-source software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knörchen, Achim; Ketzler, Gunnar; Schneider, Christoph

2015-01-01

Although Europe has been growing together for the past decades, cross-border information platforms on environmental issues are still scarce. With regard to the establishment of a web-mapping tool on airborne particulate matter (PM) concentration for the Euregio Meuse-Rhine located in the border region of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, this article describes the research on methodical and technical backgrounds implementing such a platform. An open-source solution was selected for presenting the data in a Web GIS (OpenLayers/GeoExt; both JavaScript-based), applying other free tools for data handling (Python), data management (PostgreSQL), geo-statistical modelling (Octave), geoprocessing (GRASS GIS/GDAL) and web mapping (MapServer). The multilingual, made-to-order online platform provides access to near-real time data on PM concentration as well as additional background information. In an open data section, commented configuration files for the Web GIS client are being made available for download. Furthermore, all geodata generated by the project is being published under public domain and can be retrieved in various formats or integrated into Desktop GIS as Web Map Services (WMS).

Global GIS database; digital atlas of South Pacific

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hearn, P.P.; Hare, T.M.; Schruben, P.; Sherrill, D.; LaMar, C.; Tsushima, P.

2001-01-01

This CD-ROM contains a digital atlas of the countries of the South Pacific. This atlas is part of a global database compiled from USGS and other data sources at a nominal scale of 1:1 million and is intended to be used as a regional-scale reference and analytical tool by government officials, researchers, the private sector, and the general public. The atlas includes free GIS software or may be used with ESRI's ArcView software. Customized ArcView tools, specifically designed to make the atlas easier to use, are also included.

Global GIS database; digital atlas of Africa

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hearn, P.P.; Hare, T.M.; Schruben, P.; Sherrill, D.; LaMar, C.; Tsushima, P.

2001-01-01

This CD-ROM contains a digital atlas of the countries of Africa. This atlas is part of a global database compiled from USGS and other data sources at a nominal scale of 1:1 million and is intended to be used as a regional-scale reference and analytical tool by government officials, researchers, the private sector, and the general public. The atlas includes free GIS software or may be used with ESRI's ArcView software. Customized ArcView tools, specifically designed to make this atlas easier to use, are also included.

Global GIS database; digital atlas of South Asia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hearn, P.P.; Hare, T.M.; Schruben, P.; Sherrill, D.; LaMar, C.; Tsushima, P.

2001-01-01

This CD-ROM contains a digital atlas of the countries of South Asia. This atlas is part of a global database compiled from USGS and other data sources at a nominal scale 1:1 million and is intended to be used as a regional-scale reference and analytical tool by government officials, researchers, the private sector, and the general public. The atlas includes free GIS software or may be used with ESRI's ArcView software. Customized ArcView tools, specifically designed to make the atlas easier to use, are also included.

EPA Region 1 - Map Layers for Valley ID Tool (Hosted Feature Service)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Valley Service Feature Layer hosts spatial data for EPA Region 1's Valley Identification Tool. These layers contain attribute information added by EPA R1 GIS Center to help identify populated valleys:- Fac_2011NEI: Pollution sources selected from the National Emissions Inventory (EPA, 2011).- NE_Towns_PopValleys: New England Town polygons (courtesy USGS), with Population in Valleys and Population Density in Valleys calculated by EPA R1 GIS, from 2010 US Census blocks. - VT_E911: Vermont residences (courtesy VT Center for Geographic Information E-911).

Open source GIS based tools to improve hydrochemical water resources management in EU H2020 FREEWAT platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Criollo, Rotman; Velasco, Violeta; Vázquez-Suñé, Enric; Nardi, Albert; Marazuela, Miguel A.; Rossetto, Rudy; Borsi, Iacopo; Foglia, Laura; Cannata, Massimiliano; De Filippis, Giovanna

2017-04-01

Due to the general increase of water scarcity (Steduto et al., 2012), water quantity and quality must be well known to ensure a proper access to water resources in compliance with local and regional directives. This circumstance can be supported by tools which facilitate process of data management and its analysis. Such analyses have to provide research/professionals, policy makers and users with the ability to improve the management of the water resources with standard regulatory guidelines. Compliance with the established standard regulatory guidelines (with a special focus on requirement deriving from the GWD) should have an effective monitoring, evaluation, and interpretation of a large number of physical and chemical parameters. These amounts of datasets have to be assessed and interpreted: (i) integrating data from different sources and gathered with different data access techniques and formats; (ii) managing data with varying temporal and spatial extent; (iii) integrating groundwater quality information with other relevant information such as further hydrogeological data (Velasco et al., 2014) and pre-processing these data generally for the realization of groundwater models. In this context, the Hydrochemical Analysis Tools, akvaGIS Tools, has been implemented within the H2020 FREEWAT project; which aims to manage water resources by modelling water resource management in an open source GIS platform (QGIS desktop). The main goal of AkvaGIS Tools is to improve water quality analysis through different capabilities to improve the case study conceptual model managing all data related into its geospatial database (implemented in Spatialite) and a set of tools for improving the harmonization, integration, standardization, visualization and interpretation of the hydrochemical data. To achieve that, different commands cover a wide range of methodologies for querying, interpreting, and comparing groundwater quality data and facilitate the pre-processing analysis for being used in the realization of groundwater modelling. They include, ionic balance calculations, chemical time-series analysis, correlation of chemical parameters, and calculation of various common hydrochemical diagrams (Salinity, Schöeller-Berkaloff, Piper, and Stiff), among others. Furthermore, it allows the generation of maps of the spatial distributions of parameters and diagrams and thematic maps for the parameters measured and classified in the queried area. References: Rossetto R., Borsi I., Schifani C., Bonari E., Mogorovich P., Primicerio M. (2013). SID&GRID: Integrating hydrological modeling in GIS environment. Rendiconti Online Societa Geologica Italiana, Vol. 24, 282-283 Steduto, P., Faurès, J.M., Hoogeveen, J., Winpenny, J.T., Burke, J.J. (2012). Coping with water scarcity: an action framework for agriculture and food security. ISSN 1020-1203 ; 38 Velasco, V., Tubau, I., Vázquez-Suñé, E., Gogu, R., Gaitanaru, D., Alcaraz, M., Sanchez-Vila, X. (2014). GIS-based hydrogeochemical analysis tools (QUIMET). Computers & Geosciences, 70, 164-180.

Integration of bus stop counts data with census data for improving bus service.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-04-01

This research project produced an open source transit market data visualization and analysis tool suite, : The Bus Transit Market Analyst (BTMA), which contains user-friendly GIS mapping and data : analytics tools, and state-of-the-art transit demand...

Open Source GIS based integrated watershed management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrne, J. M.; Lindsay, J.; Berg, A. A.

2013-12-01

Optimal land and water management to address future and current resource stresses and allocation challenges requires the development of state-of-the-art geomatics and hydrological modelling tools. Future hydrological modelling tools should be of high resolution, process based with real-time capability to assess changing resource issues critical to short, medium and long-term enviromental management. The objective here is to merge two renowned, well published resource modeling programs to create an source toolbox for integrated land and water management applications. This work will facilitate a much increased efficiency in land and water resource security, management and planning. Following an 'open-source' philosophy, the tools will be computer platform independent with source code freely available, maximizing knowledge transfer and the global value of the proposed research. The envisioned set of water resource management tools will be housed within 'Whitebox Geospatial Analysis Tools'. Whitebox, is an open-source geographical information system (GIS) developed by Dr. John Lindsay at the University of Guelph. The emphasis of the Whitebox project has been to develop a user-friendly interface for advanced spatial analysis in environmental applications. The plugin architecture of the software is ideal for the tight-integration of spatially distributed models and spatial analysis algorithms such as those contained within the GENESYS suite. Open-source development extends knowledge and technology transfer to a broad range of end-users and builds Canadian capability to address complex resource management problems with better tools and expertise for managers in Canada and around the world. GENESYS (Generate Earth Systems Science input) is an innovative, efficient, high-resolution hydro- and agro-meteorological model for complex terrain watersheds developed under the direction of Dr. James Byrne. GENESYS is an outstanding research and applications tool to address challenging resource management issues in industry, government and nongovernmental agencies. Current research and analysis tools were developed to manage meteorological, climatological, and land and water resource data efficiently at high resolution in space and time. The deliverable for this work is a Whitebox-GENESYS open-source resource management capacity with routines for GIS based watershed management including water in agriculture and food production. We are adding urban water management routines through GENESYS in 2013-15 with an engineering PhD candidate. Both Whitebox-GAT and GENESYS are already well-established tools. The proposed research will combine these products to create an open-source geomatics based water resource management tool that is revolutionary in both capacity and availability to a wide array of Canadian and global users

Free and Open Source GIS Tools: Role and Relevance in the Environmental Assessment Community

EPA Science Inventory

The presence of an explicit geographical context in most environmental decisions can complicate assessment and selection of management options. These decisions typically involve numerous data sources, complex environmental and ecological processes and their associated models, ris...

Interactive, open source, travel time scenario modelling: tools to facilitate participation in health service access analysis.

PubMed

Fisher, Rohan; Lassa, Jonatan

2017-04-18

Modelling travel time to services has become a common public health tool for planning service provision but the usefulness of these analyses is constrained by the availability of accurate input data and limitations inherent in the assumptions and parameterisation. This is particularly an issue in the developing world where access to basic data is limited and travel is often complex and multi-modal. Improving the accuracy and relevance in this context requires greater accessibility to, and flexibility in, travel time modelling tools to facilitate the incorporation of local knowledge and the rapid exploration of multiple travel scenarios. The aim of this work was to develop simple open source, adaptable, interactive travel time modelling tools to allow greater access to and participation in service access analysis. Described are three interconnected applications designed to reduce some of the barriers to the more wide-spread use of GIS analysis of service access and allow for complex spatial and temporal variations in service availability. These applications are an open source GIS tool-kit and two geo-simulation models. The development of these tools was guided by health service issues from a developing world context but they present a general approach to enabling greater access to and flexibility in health access modelling. The tools demonstrate a method that substantially simplifies the process for conducting travel time assessments and demonstrate a dynamic, interactive approach in an open source GIS format. In addition this paper provides examples from empirical experience where these tools have informed better policy and planning. Travel and health service access is complex and cannot be reduced to a few static modeled outputs. The approaches described in this paper use a unique set of tools to explore this complexity, promote discussion and build understanding with the goal of producing better planning outcomes. The accessible, flexible, interactive and responsive nature of the applications described has the potential to allow complex environmental social and political considerations to be incorporated and visualised. Through supporting evidence-based planning the innovative modelling practices described have the potential to help local health and emergency response planning in the developing world.

Flood area and damage estimation in Zhejiang, China.

PubMed

Liu, Renyi; Liu, Nan

2002-09-01

A GIS-based method to estimate flood area and damage is presented in this paper, which is oriented to developing countries like China, where labor is readily available for GIS data collecting, and tools such as, HEC-GeoRAS might not be readily available. At present local authorities in developing countries are often not predisposed to pay for commercial GIS platforms. To calculate flood area, two cases, non-source flood and source flood, are distinguished and a seed-spread algorithm suitable for source-flooding is described. The flood damage estimation is calculated in raster format by overlaying the flood area range with thematic maps and relating this to other socioeconomic data. Several measures used to improve the geometric accuracy and computing efficiency are presented. The management issues related to the application of this method, including the cost-effectiveness of approximate method in practice and supplementing two technical lines (self-programming and adopting commercial GIS software) to each other, are also discussed. The applications show that this approach has practical significance to flood fighting and control in developing countries like China.

Modular GIS Framework for National Scale Hydrologic and Hydraulic Modeling Support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Djokic, D.; Noman, N.; Kopp, S.

2015-12-01

Geographic information systems (GIS) have been extensively used for pre- and post-processing of hydrologic and hydraulic models at multiple scales. An extensible GIS-based framework was developed for characterization of drainage systems (stream networks, catchments, floodplain characteristics) and model integration. The framework is implemented as a set of free, open source, Python tools and builds on core ArcGIS functionality and uses geoprocessing capabilities to ensure extensibility. Utilization of COTS GIS core capabilities allows immediate use of model results in a variety of existing online applications and integration with other data sources and applications.The poster presents the use of this framework to downscale global hydrologic models to local hydraulic scale and post process the hydraulic modeling results and generate floodplains at any local resolution. Flow forecasts from ECMWF or WRF-Hydro are downscaled and combined with other ancillary data for input into the RAPID flood routing model. RAPID model results (stream flow along each reach) are ingested into a GIS-based scale dependent stream network database for efficient flow utilization and visualization over space and time. Once the flows are known at localized reaches, the tools can be used to derive the floodplain depth and extent for each time step in the forecast at any available local resolution. If existing rating curves are available they can be used to relate the flow to the depth of flooding, or synthetic rating curves can be derived using the tools in the toolkit and some ancillary data/assumptions. The results can be published as time-enabled spatial services to be consumed by web applications that use floodplain information as an input. Some of the existing online presentation templates can be easily combined with available online demographic and infrastructure data to present the impact of the potential floods on the local community through simple, end user products. This framework has been successfully used in both the data rich environments as well as in locales with minimum available spatial and hydrographic data.

GDAL Enhancements for Interoperability with EOS Data (GEE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tisdale, B.

2015-12-01

Historically, Earth Observing Satellite (EOS) data products have been difficult to consume by GIS tools, weather commercial or open-source. This has resulted in a reduced acceptance of these data products by GIS and general user communities. Common problems and challenges experienced by these data users include difficulty when: Consuming data products from NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) that pre-date modern application software with commercial and open-source geospatial tools; Identifying[MI1] an initial approach for developing a framework and plug-ins that interpret non-compliant data; Defining a methodology that is extensible across NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), scientific communities, and GIS communities by enabling other data centers to construct their own plug-ins and adjust specific data products; and Promoting greater use of NASA Data and new analysis utilizing GIS tools. To address these challenges and make EOS data products more accessible and interpretable by GIS applications, a collaborative approach has been taken that includes the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC), Esri, George Mason University (GMU), and the Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) Group to create a framework and plugins to be applied to Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL). This framework and its plugins offer advantages of extensibility within NASA EOSDIS, permitting other data centers to construct their own plugins necessary to adjust their data products. In this session findings related to the framework and the development of GDAL plugins will be reviewed. Specifically, this session will offer a workshop to review documentation and training materials that have been generated for the purpose of guiding other NASA DAACs through the process of constructing plug-ins consistent with the framework as well as a review of the certification process by which the plugins can be independently verified as properly converting the data to the format and content required for use in GIS software.

GDAL Enhancements for Interoperability with EOS Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tisdale, M.; Mathews, T. J.; Tisdale, B.; Sun, M.; Yang, C. P.; Lee, H.; Habermann, T.

2015-12-01

Historically, Earth Observing Satellite (EOS) data products have been difficult to consume by GIS tools, weather commercial or open-source. This has resulted in a reduced acceptance of these data products by GIS and general user communities. Common problems and challenges experienced by these data users include difficulty when: Consuming data products from NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) that pre-date modern application software with commercial and open-source geospatial tools; Identifying an initial approach for developing a framework and plug-ins that interpret non-compliant data; Defining a methodology that is extensible across NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), scientific communities, and GIS communities by enabling other data centers to construct their own plug-ins and adjust specific data products; and Promoting greater use of NASA Data and new analysis utilizing GIS tools. To address these challenges and to make EOS data products more accessible and interpretable by GIS applications, a collaborative approach has been taken that includes the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC), Esri, George Mason University (GMU), and the Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) Group to create a framework and plugins to be applied to Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL). This framework and its plugins offer advantages of extensibility within NASA EOSDIS, permitting other data centers to construct their own plugins necessary to adjust their data products. In this session findings related to the framework and the development of GDAL plugins will be reviewed. Specifically, this session will offer a workshop to review documentation and training materials that have been generated for the purpose of guiding other NASA DAACs through the process of constructing plug-ins consistent with the framework as well as a review of the certification process by which the plugins can be independently verified as properly converting the data to the format and content required for use in GIS software.

From Particles and Point Clouds to Voxel Models: High Resolution Modeling of Dynamic Landscapes in Open Source GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitasova, H.; Hardin, E. J.; Kratochvilova, A.; Landa, M.

2012-12-01

Multitemporal data acquired by modern mapping technologies provide unique insights into processes driving land surface dynamics. These high resolution data also offer an opportunity to improve the theoretical foundations and accuracy of process-based simulations of evolving landforms. We discuss development of new generation of visualization and analytics tools for GRASS GIS designed for 3D multitemporal data from repeated lidar surveys and from landscape process simulations. We focus on data and simulation methods that are based on point sampling of continuous fields and lead to representation of evolving surfaces as series of raster map layers or voxel models. For multitemporal lidar data we present workflows that combine open source point cloud processing tools with GRASS GIS and custom python scripts to model and analyze dynamics of coastal topography (Figure 1) and we outline development of coastal analysis toolbox. The simulations focus on particle sampling method for solving continuity equations and its application for geospatial modeling of landscape processes. In addition to water and sediment transport models, already implemented in GIS, the new capabilities under development combine OpenFOAM for wind shear stress simulation with a new module for aeolian sand transport and dune evolution simulations. Comparison of observed dynamics with the results of simulations is supported by a new, integrated 2D and 3D visualization interface that provides highly interactive and intuitive access to the redesigned and enhanced visualization tools. Several case studies will be used to illustrate the presented methods and tools and demonstrate the power of workflows built with FOSS and highlight their interoperability.Figure 1. Isosurfaces representing evolution of shoreline and a z=4.5m contour between the years 1997-2011at Cape Hatteras, NC extracted from a voxel model derived from series of lidar-based DEMs.

COSMO-SkyMed and GIS applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milillo, Pietro; Sole, Aurelia; Serio, Carmine

2013-04-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing have become key technology tools for the collection, storage and analysis of spatially referenced data. Industries that utilise these spatial technologies include agriculture, forestry, mining, market research as well as the environmental analysis . Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is a coherent active sensor operating in the microwave band which exploits relative motion between antenna and target in order to obtain a finer spatial resolution in the flight direction exploiting the Doppler effect. SAR have wide applications in Remote Sensing such as cartography, surface deformation detection, forest cover mapping, urban planning, disasters monitoring , surveillance etc… The utilization of satellite remote sensing and GIS technology for this applications has proven to be a powerful and effective tool for environmental monitoring. Remote sensing techniques are often less costly and time-consuming for large geographic areas compared to conventional methods, moreover GIS technology provides a flexible environment for, analyzing and displaying digital data from various sources necessary for classification, change detection and database development. The aim of this work si to illustrate the potential of COSMO-SkyMed data and SAR applications in a GIS environment, in particular a demostration of the operational use of COSMO-SkyMed SAR data and GIS in real cases will be provided for what concern DEM validation, river basin estimation, flood mapping and landslide monitoring.

What's Upstream? GIS's critical role in developing nutrient ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Eutrophication due to excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus can seriously impair ecological function in estuaries. Protective criteria for nutrients are difficult to establish because the source can vary spatially and seasonally, originate either from the watershed or the ocean, and be natural or anthropogenic. GIS tools and processes can help in developing nutrient criteria by establishing reference conditions representative of natural background nutrient levels. Along the Oregon Coast in the Pacific Northwest, the primary source of nutrients in the wet season (November-April) is generally riverine. We delineated and extracted explicit spatial data from watersheds upstream of riverine water quality monitoring stations for parametric comparison to recorded nutrient levels. The SPARROW model (Wise and Johnson, 2011) was used to estimate relative contributions of nutrient sources at each station. Both raster and vector spatial data were used and include land use / land cover, demography, geology, terrain, precipitation and forest type. The relationships of nutrients to spatial data were then explored as an approach to establishing the reference expectation. The abstract introduces Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools and processes employed for research conducted under the Safe and Sustainable Water Resources (SSWR) Task 2.3A, entitled “Nutrient Management for Sustainability of Aquatic Ecosystems.” One of the goals of the EPA Office of Water is to

GIS Mapping and Monitoring of Health Problems Among the Elderly.

PubMed

Dermatis, Zacharias; Tsaloukidis, Nikolaos; Zacharopoulou, Georgia; Lazakidou, Athina

2017-01-01

The electronic survey in conjunction with GIS in the current study aims at presenting the needs and health problems of the elderly in individual Open Elderly Care Centres in Greece. The online GIS survey enables the continuous monitoring and developing of the health problems of the elderly and helps them in their early care by the healthcare units. GIS survey123 is a customizable tool, which can be used to conduct research that is then published on an Android, iOS, and web platform. The ArcGIS software was used for the geographic mapping of data collected from a wide range of sources, so that health care professionals can investigate the factors associated with the onset of the diseases. Also, direct geographic mapping aims at identifying health problems of the elderly in Greece and transferring information to health care professionals in order to impose proper control measures in a very small period of time.

Supporting Timely Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) Decisions Through Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Tools

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-22

attempted to respond to the advances in technology and the growing power of geographical information system (GIS) tools. However, the doctrine...Geospatial intelligence (GEOINT), Geographical information systems (GIS) tools, Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR), 2010 Haiti Earthquake...Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR) Decisions Through Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Tools

GeoNetGIS: a Geodetic Network Geographical Information System to manage GPS networks in seismic and volcanic areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cristofoletti, P.; Esposito, A.; Anzidei, M.

2003-04-01

This paper presents the methodologies and issues involved in the use of GIS techniques to manage geodetic information derived from networks in seismic and volcanic areas. Organization and manipulation of different geodetical, geological and seismic database, give us a new challenge in interpretation of information that has several dimensions, including spatial and temporal variations, also the flexibility and brand range of tools available in GeoNetGIS, make it an attractive platform for earthquake risk assessment. During the last decade the use of geodetic networks based on the Global Positioning System, devoted to geophysical applications, especially for crustal deformation monitoring in seismic and volcanic areas, increased dramatically. The large amount of data provided by these networks, combined with different and independent observations, such as epicentre distribution of recent and historical earthquakes, geological and structural data, photo interpretation of aerial and satellite images, can aid for the detection and parameterization of seismogenic sources. In particular we applied our geodetic oriented GIS to a new GPS network recently set up and surveyed in the Central Apennine region: the CA-GeoNet. GeoNetGIS is designed to analyze in three and four dimensions GPS sources and to improve crustal deformation analysis and interpretation related with tectonic structures and seismicity. It manages many database (DBMS) consisting of different classes, such as Geodesy, Topography, Seismicity, Geology, Geography and Raster Images, administrated according to Thematic Layers. GeoNetGIS represents a powerful research tool allowing to join the analysis of all data layers to integrate the different data base which aid for the identification of the activity of known faults or structures and suggesting the new evidences of active tectonics. A new approach to data integration given by GeoNetGIS capabilities, allow us to create and deliver a wide range of maps, digital and 3-dimensional environment data analysis applications for geophysical users and civil defense companies, also distributing them on the World Wide Web or in wireless connection realized by PDA computer. It runs on powerful PC platform under Win2000 Prof OS © and based on ArcGIS 8.2 ESRI © software.

GIS-Based Noise Simulation Open Source Software: N-GNOIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vijay, Ritesh; Sharma, A.; Kumar, M.; Shende, V.; Chakrabarti, T.; Gupta, Rajesh

2015-12-01

Geographical information system (GIS)-based noise simulation software (N-GNOIS) has been developed to simulate the noise scenario due to point and mobile sources considering the impact of geographical features and meteorological parameters. These have been addressed in the software through attenuation modules of atmosphere, vegetation and barrier. N-GNOIS is a user friendly, platform-independent and open geospatial consortia (OGC) compliant software. It has been developed using open source technology (QGIS) and open source language (Python). N-GNOIS has unique features like cumulative impact of point and mobile sources, building structure and honking due to traffic. Honking is the most common phenomenon in developing countries and is frequently observed on any type of roads. N-GNOIS also helps in designing physical barrier and vegetation cover to check the propagation of noise and acts as a decision making tool for planning and management of noise component in environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies.

GRASS GIS: The first Open Source Temporal GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gebbert, Sören; Leppelt, Thomas

2015-04-01

GRASS GIS is a full featured, general purpose Open Source geographic information system (GIS) with raster, 3D raster and vector processing support[1]. Recently, time was introduced as a new dimension that transformed GRASS GIS into the first Open Source temporal GIS with comprehensive spatio-temporal analysis, processing and visualization capabilities[2]. New spatio-temporal data types were introduced in GRASS GIS version 7, to manage raster, 3D raster and vector time series. These new data types are called space time datasets. They are designed to efficiently handle hundreds of thousands of time stamped raster, 3D raster and vector map layers of any size. Time stamps can be defined as time intervals or time instances in Gregorian calendar time or relative time. Space time datasets are simplifying the processing and analysis of large time series in GRASS GIS, since these new data types are used as input and output parameter in temporal modules. The handling of space time datasets is therefore equal to the handling of raster, 3D raster and vector map layers in GRASS GIS. A new dedicated Python library, the GRASS GIS Temporal Framework, was designed to implement the spatio-temporal data types and their management. The framework provides the functionality to efficiently handle hundreds of thousands of time stamped map layers and their spatio-temporal topological relations. The framework supports reasoning based on the temporal granularity of space time datasets as well as their temporal topology. It was designed in conjunction with the PyGRASS [3] library to support parallel processing of large datasets, that has a long tradition in GRASS GIS [4,5]. We will present a subset of more than 40 temporal modules that were implemented based on the GRASS GIS Temporal Framework, PyGRASS and the GRASS GIS Python scripting library. These modules provide a comprehensive temporal GIS tool set. The functionality range from space time dataset and time stamped map layer management over temporal aggregation, temporal accumulation, spatio-temporal statistics, spatio-temporal sampling, temporal algebra, temporal topology analysis, time series animation and temporal topology visualization to time series import and export capabilities with support for NetCDF and VTK data formats. We will present several temporal modules that support parallel processing of raster and 3D raster time series. [1] GRASS GIS Open Source Approaches in Spatial Data Handling In Open Source Approaches in Spatial Data Handling, Vol. 2 (2008), pp. 171-199, doi:10.1007/978-3-540-74831-19 by M. Neteler, D. Beaudette, P. Cavallini, L. Lami, J. Cepicky edited by G. Brent Hall, Michael G. Leahy [2] Gebbert, S., Pebesma, E., 2014. A temporal GIS for field based environmental modeling. Environ. Model. Softw. 53, 1-12. [3] Zambelli, P., Gebbert, S., Ciolli, M., 2013. Pygrass: An Object Oriented Python Application Programming Interface (API) for Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS) Geographic Information System (GIS). ISPRS Intl Journal of Geo-Information 2, 201-219. [4] Löwe, P., Klump, J., Thaler, J. (2012): The FOSS GIS Workbench on the GFZ Load Sharing Facility compute cluster, (Geophysical Research Abstracts Vol. 14, EGU2012-4491, 2012), General Assembly European Geosciences Union (Vienna, Austria 2012). [5] Akhter, S., Aida, K., Chemin, Y., 2010. "GRASS GIS on High Performance Computing with MPI, OpenMP and Ninf-G Programming Framework". ISPRS Conference, Kyoto, 9-12 August 2010

Geographic information systems (GIS): an emerging method to assess demand and provision for rehabilitation services.

PubMed

Passalent, Laura; Borsy, Emily; Landry, Michel D; Cott, Cheryl

2013-09-01

To illustrate the application of geographic information systems (GIS) as a tool to assess rehabilitation service delivery by presenting results from research recently conducted to assess demand and provision for community rehabilitation service delivery in Ontario, Canada. Secondary analysis of data obtained from existing sources was used to establish demand and provision profiles for community rehabilitation services. These data were integrated using GIS software. A number of descriptive maps were produced that show the geographical distribution of service provision variables (location of individual rehabilitation health care providers and location of private and publicly funded community rehabilitation clinics) in relation to the distribution of demand variables (location of the general population; location of specific populations (i.e., residents age 65 and older) and distribution of household income). GIS provides a set of tools for describing and understanding the spatial organization of the health of populations and the distribution of health services that can aid the development of health policy and answer key research questions with respect to rehabilitation health services delivery. Implications for Rehabilitation It is important to seek out alternative and innovative methods to examine rehabilitation service delivery. GIS is a computer-based program that takes any data linked to a geographically referenced location and processes it through a software system that manages, analyses and displays the data in the form of a map, allowing for an alternative level of analysis. GIS provides a set of tools for describing and understanding the spatial organization of population health and health services that can aid the development of health policy and answer key research questions with respect to rehabilitation health services delivery.

Web-GIS oriented systems viability for municipal solid waste selective collection optimization in developed and transient economies

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

Rada, E.C., E-mail: Elena.Rada@ing.unitn.it; Ragazzi, M.; Fedrizzi, P.

Highlights: ► As an appropriate solution for MSW management in developed and transient countries. ► As an option to increase the efficiency of MSW selective collection. ► As an opportunity to integrate MSW management needs and services inventories. ► As a tool to develop Urban Mining actions. - Abstract: Municipal solid waste management is a multidisciplinary activity that includes generation, source separation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and recovery, and, last but not least, disposal. The optimization of waste collection, through source separation, is compulsory where a landfill based management must be overcome. In this paper, a few aspectsmore » related to the implementation of a Web-GIS based system are analyzed. This approach is critically analyzed referring to the experience of two Italian case studies and two additional extra-European case studies. The first case is one of the best examples of selective collection optimization in Italy. The obtained efficiency is very high: 80% of waste is source separated for recycling purposes. In the second reference case, the local administration is going to be faced with the optimization of waste collection through Web-GIS oriented technologies for the first time. The starting scenario is far from an optimized management of municipal solid waste. The last two case studies concern pilot experiences in China and Malaysia. Each step of the Web-GIS oriented strategy is comparatively discussed referring to typical scenarios of developed and transient economies. The main result is that transient economies are ready to move toward Web oriented tools for MSW management, but this opportunity is not yet well exploited in the sector.« less

GIS - based decision and outreach tools for aggregate source management.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-09-01

This research project combined various datasets, existing and created for this project, into an Interactive : Mapping Service (IMS) for use by Iowa DOT personnel, county planning and zoning departments and the : public in order to make more informed ...

Applications and issues of GIS as tool for civil engineering modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miles, S.B.; Ho, C.L.

1999-01-01

A tool that has proliferated within civil engineering in recent years is geographic information systems (GIS). The goal of a tool is to supplement ability and knowledge that already exists, not to serve as a replacement for that which is lacking. To secure the benefits and avoid misuse of a burgeoning tool, engineers must understand the limitations, alternatives, and context of the tool. The common benefits of using GIS as a supplement to engineering modeling are summarized. Several brief case studies of GIS modeling applications are taken from popular civil engineering literature to demonstrate the wide use and varied implementation of GIS across the discipline. Drawing from the case studies, limitations regarding traditional GIS data models find the implementation of civil engineering models within current GIS are identified and countered by discussing the direction of the next generation of GIS. The paper concludes by highlighting the potential for the misuse of GIS in the context of engineering modeling and suggests that this potential can be reduced through education and awareness. The goal of this paper is to promote awareness of the issues related to GIS-based modeling and to assist in the formulation of questions regarding the application of current GIS. The technology has experienced much publicity of late, with many engineers being perhaps too excited about the usefulness of current GIS. An undoubtedly beneficial side effect of this, however, is that engineers are becoming more aware of GIS and, hopefully, the associated subtleties. Civil engineers must stay informed of GIS issues and progress, but more importantly, civil engineers must inform the GIS community to direct the technology development optimally.

Sharing knowledge of Planetary Datasets through the Web-Based PRoGIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giordano, M. G.; Morley, J. M.; Muller, J. P. M.; Barnes, R. B.; Tao, Y. T.

2015-10-01

The large amount of raw and derived data available from various planetary surface missions (e.g. Mars and Moon in our case) has been integrated withco-registered and geocoded orbital image data to provide rover traverses and camera site locations in universal global co-ordinates [1]. This then allows an integrated GIS to use these geocoded products for scientific applications: we aim to create a web interface, PRoGIS, with minimal controls focusing on the usability and visualisation of the data, to allow planetary geologists to share annotated surface observations. These observations in a common context are shared between different tools and software (PRoGIS, Pro3D, 3D point cloud viewer). Our aim is to use only Open Source components that integrate Open Web Services for planetary data to make available an universal platform with a WebGIS interface, as well as a 3D point cloud and a Panorama viewer to explore derived data. On top of these tools we are building capabilities to make and share annotations amongst users. We use Python and Django for the server-side framework and Open Layers 3 for the WebGIS client. For good performance previewing 3D data (point clouds, pictures on the surface and panoramas) we employ ThreeJS, a WebGL Javascript library. Additionally, user and group controls allow scientists to store and share their observations. PRoGIS not only displays data but also launches sophisticated 3D vision reprocessing (PRoVIP) and an immersive 3D analysis environment (PRo3D).

Mapping toxicology: Using ARC info to protect the public health

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

Morrison, M.

1998-07-01

There are many issues in dealing with the problems of the release of toxic chemicals into the environment. Those issues include determining the extent of the contamination, identifying possible receptor populations, and estimating the amount of exposure to those populations. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are useful tools to address those issues. With a GIS, a professional can plot the location of areas of contamination, populations can be estimated by linking census data with the graphical data in the GIS or addresses of individuals can be plotted, sampling results can be used to create contours of exposure levels, and overlays ofmore » other relevant information (cancer rates) can all be done using a GIS. The spatial features in a GIS can be used with diffusion and other models to estimate spread of contamination from a source. This paper will use a case study method to demonstrate various aspects of using GIS to answer questions of public health relevance from the potential exposures to toxic substances in the environment. The case study will include a discussion of data identification and gathering, spatial analysis, and a full discussion of the possible conclusions that could be reached using the data in the GIS.« less

Environmental asbestos exposure sources in Korea

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background Because of the long asbestos-related disease latencies (10–50 years), detection, diagnosis, and epidemiologic studies require asbestos exposure history. However, environmental asbestos exposure source (EAES) data are lacking. Objectives To survey the available data for past EAES and supplement these data with interviews. Methods We constructed an EAES database using a literature review and interviews of experts, former traders, and workers. Exposure sources by time period and type were visualized using a geographic information system (ArcGIS), web-based mapping (Google Maps), and OpenWeatherMap. The data were mounted in the GIS to show the exposure source location and trend. Results The majority of asbestos mines, factories, and consumption was located in Chungnam; Gyeonggi, Busan, and Gyeongnam; and Gyeonggi, Daejeon, and Busan, respectively. Shipbuilding and repair companies were mostly located in Busan and Gyeongnam. Conclusions These tools might help evaluate past exposure from EAES and estimate the future asbestos burden in Korea. PMID:27726756

Environmental asbestos exposure sources in Korea.

PubMed

Kang, Dong-Mug; Kim, Jong-Eun; Kim, Ju-Young; Lee, Hyun-Hee; Hwang, Young-Sik; Kim, Young-Ki; Lee, Yong-Jin

2016-10-01

Because of the long asbestos-related disease latencies (10-50 years), detection, diagnosis, and epidemiologic studies require asbestos exposure history. However, environmental asbestos exposure source (EAES) data are lacking. To survey the available data for past EAES and supplement these data with interviews. We constructed an EAES database using a literature review and interviews of experts, former traders, and workers. Exposure sources by time period and type were visualized using a geographic information system (ArcGIS), web-based mapping (Google Maps), and OpenWeatherMap. The data were mounted in the GIS to show the exposure source location and trend. The majority of asbestos mines, factories, and consumption was located in Chungnam; Gyeonggi, Busan, and Gyeongnam; and Gyeonggi, Daejeon, and Busan, respectively. Shipbuilding and repair companies were mostly located in Busan and Gyeongnam. These tools might help evaluate past exposure from EAES and estimate the future asbestos burden in Korea.

A GIS-based tool for an integrated assessment of spatial planning trade-offs with aquaculture.

PubMed

Gimpel, Antje; Stelzenmüller, Vanessa; Töpsch, Sandra; Galparsoro, Ibon; Gubbins, Matthew; Miller, David; Murillas, Arantza; Murray, Alexander G; Pınarbaşı, Kemal; Roca, Guillem; Watret, Robert

2018-06-15

The increasing demand for protein from aquaculture will trigger a global expansion of the sector in coastal and offshore waters. While contributing to food security, potential conflicts with other traditional activities such as fisheries or tourism are inevitable, thus calling for decision-support tools to assess aquaculture planning scenarios in a multi-use context. Here we introduce the AquaSpace tool, one of the first Geographic Information System (GIS)-based planning tools empowering an integrated assessment and mapping of 30 indicators reflecting economic, environmental, inter-sectorial and socio-cultural risks and opportunities for proposed aquaculture systems in a marine environment. A bottom-up process consulting more than 350 stakeholders from 10 countries across southern and northern Europe enabled the direct consideration of stakeholder needs when developing the GIS AddIn. The AquaSpace tool is an open source product and builds in the prospective use of open source datasets at a European scale, hence aiming to improve reproducibility and collaboration in aquaculture science and research. Tool outputs comprise detailed reports and graphics allowing key stakeholders such as planners or licensing authorities to evaluate and communicate alternative planning scenarios and to take more informed decisions. With the help of the German North Sea case study we demonstrate here the tool application at multiple spatial scales with different aquaculture systems and under a range of space-related development constraints. The computation of these aquaculture planning scenarios and the assessment of their trade-offs showed that it is entirely possible to identify aquaculture sites, that correspondent to multifarious potential challenges, for instance by a low conflict potential, a low risk of disease spread, a comparable high economic profit and a low impact on touristic attractions. We believe that a transparent visualisation of risks and opportunities of aquaculture planning scenarios helps an effective Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) process, supports the licensing process and simplifies investments. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Benefits and Complexities of Operating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a High Performance Computing (HPC) Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shute, J.; Carriere, L.; Duffy, D.; Hoy, E.; Peters, J.; Shen, Y.; Kirschbaum, D.

2017-12-01

The NASA Center for Climate Simulation (NCCS) at the Goddard Space Flight Center is building and maintaining an Enterprise GIS capability for its stakeholders, to include NASA scientists, industry partners, and the public. This platform is powered by three GIS subsystems operating in a highly-available, virtualized environment: 1) the Spatial Analytics Platform is the primary NCCS GIS and provides users discoverability of the vast DigitalGlobe/NGA raster assets within the NCCS environment; 2) the Disaster Mapping Platform provides mapping and analytics services to NASA's Disaster Response Group; and 3) the internal (Advanced Data Analytics Platform/ADAPT) enterprise GIS provides users with the full suite of Esri and open source GIS software applications and services. All systems benefit from NCCS's cutting edge infrastructure, to include an InfiniBand network for high speed data transfers; a mixed/heterogeneous environment featuring seamless sharing of information between Linux and Windows subsystems; and in-depth system monitoring and warning systems. Due to its co-location with the NCCS Discover High Performance Computing (HPC) environment and the Advanced Data Analytics Platform (ADAPT), the GIS platform has direct access to several large NCCS datasets including DigitalGlobe/NGA, Landsat, MERRA, and MERRA2. Additionally, the NCCS ArcGIS Desktop Windows virtual machines utilize existing NetCDF and OPeNDAP assets for visualization, modelling, and analysis - thus eliminating the need for data duplication. With the advent of this platform, Earth scientists have full access to vast data repositories and the industry-leading tools required for successful management and analysis of these multi-petabyte, global datasets. The full system architecture and integration with scientific datasets will be presented. Additionally, key applications and scientific analyses will be explained, to include the NASA Global Landslide Catalog (GLC) Reporter crowdsourcing application, the NASA GLC Viewer discovery and analysis tool, the DigitalGlobe/NGA Data Discovery Tool, the NASA Disaster Response Group Mapping Platform (https://maps.disasters.nasa.gov), and support for NASA's Arctic - Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE).

A web GIS based integrated flood assessment modeling tool for coastal urban watersheds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kulkarni, A. T.; Mohanty, J.; Eldho, T. I.; Rao, E. P.; Mohan, B. K.

2014-03-01

Urban flooding has become an increasingly important issue in many parts of the world. In this study, an integrated flood assessment model (IFAM) is presented for the coastal urban flood simulation. A web based GIS framework has been adopted to organize the spatial datasets for the study area considered and to run the model within this framework. The integrated flood model consists of a mass balance based 1-D overland flow model, 1-D finite element based channel flow model based on diffusion wave approximation and a quasi 2-D raster flood inundation model based on the continuity equation. The model code is written in MATLAB and the application is integrated within a web GIS server product viz: Web Gram Server™ (WGS), developed at IIT Bombay, using Java, JSP and JQuery technologies. Its user interface is developed using open layers and the attribute data are stored in MySQL open source DBMS. The model is integrated within WGS and is called via Java script. The application has been demonstrated for two coastal urban watersheds of Navi Mumbai, India. Simulated flood extents for extreme rainfall event of 26 July, 2005 in the two urban watersheds of Navi Mumbai city are presented and discussed. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of the flood simulation tool in a web GIS environment to facilitate data access and visualization of GIS datasets and simulation results.

FREEWAT: an HORIZON 2020 project to build open source tools for water management.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foglia, L.; Rossetto, R.; Borsi, I.; Mehl, S.; Velasco Mansilla, V.

2015-12-01

FREEWAT is an HORIZON 2020 EU project. FREEWAT main result will be an open source and public domain GIS integrated modelling environment for the simulation of water quantity and quality in surface water and groundwater with an integrated water management and planning module. FREEWAT aims at promoting water resource management by simplifying the application of the Water Framework Directive and related Directives. Specific objectives of the project are: to coordinate previous EU and national funded research to integrate existing software modules for water management in a single environment into the GIS based FREEWAT and to support the FREEWAT application in an innovative participatory approach gathering technical staff and relevant stakeholders (policy and decision makers) in designing scenarios for application of water policies. The open source characteristics of the platform allow to consider this an initiative "ad includendum", as further institutions or developers may contribute to the development. Core of the platform is the SID&GRID framework (GIS integrated physically-based distributed numerical hydrological model based on a modified version of MODFLOW 2005; Rossetto et al. 2013) in its version ported to QGIS desktop. Activities are carried out on two lines: (i) integration of modules to fulfill the end-users requirements, including tools for producing feasibility and management plans; (ii) a set of activities to fix bugs and to provide a well-integrated interface for the different tools implemented. Further capabilities to be integrated are: - module for water management and planning; - calibration, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis; - module for solute transport in unsaturated zone; - module for crop growth and water requirements in agriculture; - tools for groundwater quality issues and for the analysis, interpretation and visualization of hydrogeological data. Through creating a common environment among water research/professionals, policy makers and implementers, FREEWAT main impact will be on enhancing science- and participatory approach and evidence-based decision making in water resource management, hence producing relevant and appropriate outcomes for policy implementation. Large stakeholders involvement is thought to guarantee results dissemination and exploitation.

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

Minelli, Annalisa, E-mail: Annalisa.Minelli@univ-brest.fr; Marchesini, Ivan, E-mail: Ivan.Marchesini@irpi.cnr.it; Taylor, Faith E., E-mail: Faith.Taylor@kcl.ac.uk

Although there are clear economic and environmental incentives for producing energy from solar and wind power, there can be local opposition to their installation due to their impact upon the landscape. To date, no international guidelines exist to guide quantitative visual impact assessment of these facilities, making the planning process somewhat subjective. In this paper we demonstrate the development of a method and an Open Source GIS tool to quantitatively assess the visual impact of these facilities using line-of-site techniques. The methods here build upon previous studies by (i) more accurately representing the shape of energy producing facilities, (ii) takingmore » into account the distortion of the perceived shape and size of facilities caused by the location of the observer, (iii) calculating the possible obscuring of facilities caused by terrain morphology and (iv) allowing the combination of various facilities to more accurately represent the landscape. The tool has been applied to real and synthetic case studies and compared to recently published results from other models, and demonstrates an improvement in accuracy of the calculated visual impact of facilities. The tool is named r.wind.sun and is freely available from GRASS GIS AddOns. - Highlights: • We develop a tool to quantify wind turbine and photovoltaic panel visual impact. • The tool is freely available to download and edit as a module of GRASS GIS. • The tool takes into account visual distortion of the shape and size of objects. • The accuracy of calculation of visual impact is improved over previous methods.« less

Moving NASA Remote Sensing Data to the GIS Environment for Health Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vicente, Gilberto A.; Maynard, Nancy G.

2003-01-01

There has been an increasing demand by the health community for improved data on many different environmental factors relevant to the links between the environment and disease occurrence and transmission. These data are important for GIS-based monitoring, risk mapping, and surveillance of epidemiological parameters on a large number of different spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions. Accordingly, NASA is developing new approaches to data collection and distribution in order to improve access to multiple sources of data streams to increase spatial and temporal coverage. Methods are being developed to incorporate different, scalable capabilities to handle multiple data sources by adding, deleting and replacing components as required as well as associated tools for their management. An approach has been to search for innovative solutions focused on the creation, use and manipulation of data stored in many different archives. These include data transformation and combination as well as data and information tools that can assist the public health and science community to use existing and anticipated products in new and flexible ways. This presentation will provide an inventory of geophysical parameters derived from satellite remote sensing sensors that are useful for GIS-based public health studies. The presentation will also discuss the physical and scientific limitations of access to and use of these data for health applications such as resolution and format differences, lack of software interoperability, data access problems. Finally, there will be a summary of the recent steps the NASA program has taken to bring NASA-generated satellite products to a wider range of users in the GIS community.

Web GIS in practice VI: a demo playlist of geo-mashups for public health neogeographers

PubMed Central

Boulos, Maged N Kamel; Scotch, Matthew; Cheung, Kei-Hoi; Burden, David

2008-01-01

'Mashup' was originally used to describe the mixing together of musical tracks to create a new piece of music. The term now refers to Web sites or services that weave data from different sources into a new data source or service. Using a musical metaphor that builds on the origin of the word 'mashup', this paper presents a demonstration "playlist" of four geo-mashup vignettes that make use of a range of Web 2.0, Semantic Web, and 3-D Internet methods, with outputs/end-user interfaces spanning the flat Web (two-dimensional – 2-D maps), a three-dimensional – 3-D mirror world (Google Earth) and a 3-D virtual world (Second Life ®). The four geo-mashup "songs" in this "playlist" are: 'Web 2.0 and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for infectious disease surveillance', 'Web 2.0 and GIS for molecular epidemiology', 'Semantic Web for GIS mashup', and 'From Yahoo! Pipes to 3-D, avatar-inhabited geo-mashups'. It is hoped that this showcase of examples and ideas, and the pointers we are providing to the many online tools that are freely available today for creating, sharing and reusing geo-mashups with minimal or no coding, will ultimately spark the imagination of many public health practitioners and stimulate them to start exploring the use of these methods and tools in their day-to-day practice. The paper also discusses how today's Web is rapidly evolving into a much more intensely immersive, mixed-reality and ubiquitous socio-experiential Metaverse that is heavily interconnected through various kinds of user-created mashups. PMID:18638385

Open source GIS for HIV/AIDS management

PubMed Central

Vanmeulebrouk, Bas; Rivett, Ulrike; Ricketts, Adam; Loudon, Melissa

2008-01-01

Background Reliable access to basic services can improve a community's resilience to HIV/AIDS. Accordingly, work is being done to upgrade the physical infrastructure in affected areas, often employing a strategy of decentralised service provision. Spatial characteristics are one of the major determinants in implementing services, even in the smaller municipal areas, and good quality spatial information is needed to inform decision making processes. However, limited funds, technical infrastructure and human resource capacity result in little or no access to spatial information for crucial infrastructure development decisions at local level. This research investigated whether it would be possible to develop a GIS for basic infrastructure planning and management at local level. Given the resource constraints of the local government context, particularly in small municipalities, it was decided that open source software should be used for the prototype system. Results The design and development of a prototype system illustrated that it is possible to develop an open source GIS system that can be used within the context of local information management. Usability tests show a high degree of usability for the system, which is important considering the heavy workload and high staff turnover that characterises local government in South Africa. Local infrastructure management stakeholders interviewed in a case study of a South African municipality see the potential for the use of GIS as a communication tool and are generally positive about the use of GIS for these purposes. They note security issues that may arise through the sharing of information, lack of skills and resource constraints as the major barriers to adoption. Conclusion The case study shows that spatial information is an identified need at local level. Open source GIS software can be used to develop a system to provide local-level stakeholders with spatial information. However, the suitability of the technology is only a part of the system – there are wider information and management issues which need to be addressed before the implementation of a local-level GIS for infrastructure management can be successful. PMID:18945338

Web-GIS oriented systems viability for municipal solid waste selective collection optimization in developed and transient economies.

PubMed

Rada, E C; Ragazzi, M; Fedrizzi, P

2013-04-01

Municipal solid waste management is a multidisciplinary activity that includes generation, source separation, storage, collection, transfer and transport, processing and recovery, and, last but not least, disposal. The optimization of waste collection, through source separation, is compulsory where a landfill based management must be overcome. In this paper, a few aspects related to the implementation of a Web-GIS based system are analyzed. This approach is critically analyzed referring to the experience of two Italian case studies and two additional extra-European case studies. The first case is one of the best examples of selective collection optimization in Italy. The obtained efficiency is very high: 80% of waste is source separated for recycling purposes. In the second reference case, the local administration is going to be faced with the optimization of waste collection through Web-GIS oriented technologies for the first time. The starting scenario is far from an optimized management of municipal solid waste. The last two case studies concern pilot experiences in China and Malaysia. Each step of the Web-GIS oriented strategy is comparatively discussed referring to typical scenarios of developed and transient economies. The main result is that transient economies are ready to move toward Web oriented tools for MSW management, but this opportunity is not yet well exploited in the sector. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) area-characterization toolbox

USGS Publications Warehouse

Price, Curtis V.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Hitt, Kerie J.

2010-01-01

This is release 1.0 of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Area-Characterization Toolbox. These tools are designed to be accessed using ArcGIS Desktop software (versions 9.3 and 9.3.1). The toolbox is composed of a collection of custom tools that implement geographic information system (GIS) techniques used by the NAWQA Program to characterize aquifer areas, drainage basins, and sampled wells. These tools are built on top of standard functionality included in ArcGIS Desktop running at the ArcInfo license level. Most of the tools require a license for the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension. ArcGIS is a commercial GIS software system produced by ESRI, Inc. (http://www.esri.com). The NAWQA Area-Characterization Toolbox is not supported by ESRI, Inc. or its technical support staff. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Designing and Implementing an Online GIS Tool for Schools: The Finnish Case of the PaikkaOppi Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riihelä, Juha; Mäki, Sanna

2015-01-01

This article describes initiatives implemented in Finland to create an online learning environment for studying geographic information systems (GIS). A development project produced an online GIS tool called PaikkaOppi, aimed at promoting GIS studies and spatial thinking skills in upper secondary schools. The project is reviewed through analysis of…

"So "That's" What the Whiskey Rebellion Was!": Teaching Early U.S. History with GIS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snyder, Jeffrey W.; Hammond, Thomas C.

2012-01-01

The Geographic Information System (GIS) is a tool for effective teacher-centered instruction, powerful student-centered instruction, and engagement in historiography. GIS tools have existed since the 1960s, but only since the 1990s have educators explored their application to social studies. Proponents expect GIS to have a dramatic impact upon…

Web GIS in practice IV: publishing your health maps and connecting to remote WMS sources using the Open Source UMN MapServer and DM Solutions MapLab

PubMed Central

Boulos, Maged N Kamel; Honda, Kiyoshi

2006-01-01

Open Source Web GIS software systems have reached a stage of maturity, sophistication, robustness and stability, and usability and user friendliness rivalling that of commercial, proprietary GIS and Web GIS server products. The Open Source Web GIS community is also actively embracing OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) standards, including WMS (Web Map Service). WMS enables the creation of Web maps that have layers coming from multiple different remote servers/sources. In this article we present one easy to implement Web GIS server solution that is based on the Open Source University of Minnesota (UMN) MapServer. By following the accompanying step-by-step tutorial instructions, interested readers running mainstream Microsoft® Windows machines and with no prior technical experience in Web GIS or Internet map servers will be able to publish their own health maps on the Web and add to those maps additional layers retrieved from remote WMS servers. The 'digital Asia' and 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami experiences in using free Open Source Web GIS software are also briefly described. PMID:16420699

Assessment and application of national environmental databases and mapping tools at the local level to two community case studies.

PubMed

Hammond, Davyda; Conlon, Kathryn; Barzyk, Timothy; Chahine, Teresa; Zartarian, Valerie; Schultz, Brad

2011-03-01

Communities are concerned over pollution levels and seek methods to systematically identify and prioritize the environmental stressors in their communities. Geographic information system (GIS) maps of environmental information can be useful tools for communities in their assessment of environmental-pollution-related risks. Databases and mapping tools that supply community-level estimates of ambient concentrations of hazardous pollutants, risk, and potential health impacts can provide relevant information for communities to understand, identify, and prioritize potential exposures and risk from multiple sources. An assessment of existing databases and mapping tools was conducted as part of this study to explore the utility of publicly available databases, and three of these databases were selected for use in a community-level GIS mapping application. Queried data from the U.S. EPA's National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment, Air Quality System, and National Emissions Inventory were mapped at the appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions for identifying risks of exposure to air pollutants in two communities. The maps combine monitored and model-simulated pollutant and health risk estimates, along with local survey results, to assist communities with the identification of potential exposure sources and pollution hot spots. Findings from this case study analysis will provide information to advance the development of new tools to assist communities with environmental risk assessments and hazard prioritization. © 2010 Society for Risk Analysis.

GIS Technologies For The New Planetary Science Archive (PSA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Docasal, R.; Barbarisi, I.; Rios, C.; Macfarlane, A. J.; Gonzalez, J.; Arviset, C.; De Marchi, G.; Martinez, S.; Grotheer, E.; Lim, T.; Besse, S.; Heather, D.; Fraga, D.; Barthelemy, M.

2015-12-01

Geographical information system (GIS) is becoming increasingly used for planetary science. GIS are computerised systems for the storage, retrieval, manipulation, analysis, and display of geographically referenced data. Some data stored in the Planetary Science Archive (PSA), for instance, a set of Mars Express/Venus Express data, have spatial metadata associated to them. To facilitate users in handling and visualising spatial data in GIS applications, the new PSA should support interoperability with interfaces implementing the standards approved by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). These standards are followed in order to develop open interfaces and encodings that allow data to be exchanged with GIS Client Applications, well-known examples of which are Google Earth and NASA World Wind as well as open source tools such as Openlayers. The technology already exists within PostgreSQL databases to store searchable geometrical data in the form of the PostGIS extension. An existing open source maps server is GeoServer, an instance of which has been deployed for the new PSA, uses the OGC standards to allow, among others, the sharing, processing and editing of data and spatial data through the Web Feature Service (WFS) standard as well as serving georeferenced map images through the Web Map Service (WMS). The final goal of the new PSA, being developed by the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) Science Data Centre (ESDC), is to create an archive which enables science exploitation of ESA's planetary missions datasets. This can be facilitated through the GIS framework, offering interfaces (both web GUI and scriptable APIs) that can be used more easily and scientifically by the community, and that will also enable the community to build added value services on top of the PSA.

Open Source GIS Connectors to the NASA GES DISC Satellite Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, L.; Kempler, S. J.; Yang, W.

2014-12-01

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) houses a suite of satellite-derived GIS data including high spatiotemporal resolution precipitation, air quality, and modeled land surface parameter data. The data are extremely useful to various GIS research and applications at regional, continental, and global scales, as evidenced by the growing GIS user requests to the data. On the other hand, we also found that some GIS users, especially those from the ArcGIS community, having difficulties in obtaining, importing, and using our data, primarily due to the unfamiliarity of the users with our products and GIS software's lack of capabilities in dealing with the predominately raster form data in various sometimes very complicated formats. In this presentation, we introduce a set of open source ArcGIS data connectors that significantly simplify the access and use of our data in ArcGIS. With the connectors, users do not need to know the data access URLs, the access protocols or syntaxes, and data formats. Nor do they need to browse through a long list of variables that are often embedded into one single science data file and whose names may sometimes be confusing to those not familiar with the file (such as variable CH4_VMR_D for "CH4 Volume mixing ratio from the descending orbit" and variable EVPsfc for "Total Evapotranspiration"). The connectors will expose most GIS-related variables to the users with easy to understand names. User can simply define the spatiotemporal range of their study, select interested parameter(s), and have the needed data be downloaded, imported, and displayed in ArcGIS. The connectors are python text files and there is no installation process. They can be placed at any user directory and be started by simply clicking on it. In the presentation, we'll also demonstrate how to use the tools to load GES DISC time series air quality data with a few clicks and how such data depict the spatial and temporal patterns of air quality in different parts of the world during the past decade.

Using simple agent-based modeling to inform and enhance neighborhood walkability.

PubMed

Badland, Hannah; White, Marcus; Macaulay, Gus; Eagleson, Serryn; Mavoa, Suzanne; Pettit, Christopher; Giles-Corti, Billie

2013-12-11

Pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with proximal destinations and services encourage walking and decrease car dependence, thereby contributing to more active and healthier communities. Proximity to key destinations and services is an important aspect of the urban design decision making process, particularly in areas adopting a transit-oriented development (TOD) approach to urban planning, whereby densification occurs within walking distance of transit nodes. Modeling destination access within neighborhoods has been limited to circular catchment buffers or more sophisticated network-buffers generated using geoprocessing routines within geographical information systems (GIS). Both circular and network-buffer catchment methods are problematic. Circular catchment models do not account for street networks, thus do not allow exploratory 'what-if' scenario modeling; and network-buffering functionality typically exists within proprietary GIS software, which can be costly and requires a high level of expertise to operate. This study sought to overcome these limitations by developing an open-source simple agent-based walkable catchment tool that can be used by researchers, urban designers, planners, and policy makers to test scenarios for improving neighborhood walkable catchments. A simplified version of an agent-based model was ported to a vector-based open source GIS web tool using data derived from the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN). The tool was developed and tested with end-user stakeholder working group input. The resulting model has proven to be effective and flexible, allowing stakeholders to assess and optimize the walkability of neighborhood catchments around actual or potential nodes of interest (e.g., schools, public transport stops). Users can derive a range of metrics to compare different scenarios modeled. These include: catchment area versus circular buffer ratios; mean number of streets crossed; and modeling of different walking speeds and wait time at intersections. The tool has the capacity to influence planning and public health advocacy and practice, and by using open-access source software, it is available for use locally and internationally. There is also scope to extend this version of the tool from a simple to a complex model, which includes agents (i.e., simulated pedestrians) 'learning' and incorporating other environmental attributes that enhance walkability (e.g., residential density, mixed land use, traffic volume).

Web Based GIS System For Monitoring the Implementation of County Integrated Development Plan a Case Study of Nandi County, Kenya.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurui, P. K.; Mutua, F.

2016-12-01

The paper seek to propose a conceptual framework of a way of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the projects listed in the county integrated development plan by applying the use of the geospatial technologies with the focus being developing a web based GIS system in which the public can be able to track and monitor the progress of implementation of the projects in various parts of the county , although the guidelines developed by the ministry of devolution provides for the inclusion of the implementation monitoring and evaluation framework specifying projects to be implemented during the plan period and specification of veriable indicators it does not provide mechanisms for public participation during implementation and monitoring stage. This calls for a system that the public can interact with. The web based GIS system has been developed using the free open source softwares. Development projects have been categorized into; ongoing, completed and planned It can also be shown that a web based GIS system can be used as an important tool for monitoring the implementation of the CIDP due to its easy to use nature and supported by the fact that internet is easily accessed by the majority of the public making it a powerful tool for public participation.

MicMac GIS application: free open source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duarte, L.; Moutinho, O.; Teodoro, A.

2016-10-01

The use of Remotely Piloted Aerial System (RPAS) for remote sensing applications is becoming more frequent as the technologies on on-board cameras and the platform itself are becoming a serious contender to satellite and airplane imagery. MicMac is a photogrammetric tool for image matching that can be used in different contexts. It is an open source software and it can be used as a command line or with a graphic interface (for each command). The main objective of this work was the integration of MicMac with QGIS, which is also an open source software, in order to create a new open source tool applied to photogrammetry/remote sensing. Python language was used to develop the application. This tool would be very useful in the manipulation and 3D modelling of a set of images. The main objective was to create a toolbar in QGIS with the basic functionalities with intuitive graphic interfaces. The toolbar is composed by three buttons: produce the points cloud, create the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and produce the orthophoto of the study area. The application was tested considering 35 photos, a subset of images acquired by a RPAS in the Aguda beach area, Porto, Portugal. They were used in order to create a 3D terrain model and from this model obtain an orthophoto and the corresponding DEM. The code is open and can be modified according to the user requirements. This integration would be very useful in photogrammetry and remote sensing community combined with GIS capabilities.

Irrigation network extraction methodology from LiDAR DTM using Whitebox and ArcGIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahor, M. A. P.; De La Cruz, R. M.; Olfindo, N. T.; Perez, A. M. C.

2016-10-01

Irrigation networks are important in distributing water resources to areas where rainfall is not enough to sustain agriculture. They are also crucial when it comes to being able to redirect vast amounts of water to decrease the risks of flooding in flat areas, especially near sources of water. With the lack of studies about irrigation feature extraction, which range from wide canals to small ditches, this study aims to present a method of extracting these features from LiDAR-derived digital terrain models (DTMs) using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools such as ArcGIS and Whitebox Geospatial Analysis Tools (Whitebox GAT). High-resolution LiDAR DTMs with 1-meter horizontal and 0.25-meter vertical accuracies were processed to generate the gully depth map. This map was then reclassified, converted to vector, and filtered according to segment length, and sinuosity to be able to isolate these irrigation features. Initial results in the test area show that the extraction completeness is greater than 80% when compared with data obtained from the National Irrigation Administration (NIA).

Determining Historical Pesticide Deposition on Cape Cod through Sediment Core Analysis:A Validation of GIS as An Exposure Assessment Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feingold, B. J.; Benoit, G.; Rudel, R.

2006-12-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has emerged as a powerful tool to assess current and historical exposure to environmental pollutants. GIS aids in the visualization and understanding of associations between exposure to contaminants and disease. This study is an example of the bridge between environmental science and public health and of how new technology such as GIS can be incorporated into these fields to strengthen both the research and the communication of scientific results. It attempts to validate a GIS-based aerial drift model which predicts the residential exposure to and boundaries of historical organochlorine pesticide (OCP) drift from applications on cranberry bogs, tree pest sprayings and others by analytically quantifying the historical pesticide deposition in a transect of lakes radiating from a distinct spray source. This model was previously used to assess historical residential exposure to OCPs in an environmental epidemiological case-control study of breast cancer incidence on Cape Cod, MA, where the incidence rate of the disease is significantly higher than in the rest of the state. The model's validation in this current study is essential to establishing its predictive ability and thus, its further use. Ground truthing of the model was done through the collection and analysis of sediment cores along a transect of five hydrologically independent kettle ponds radiating from a distinct OCP tree-pest spray area. Measurements of OCP concentrations, total carbon and total organic carbon were determined, and dating of the sediments was completed using 210Pb and verified using 137Cs. Each 50-cm core was sliced into 25 2- cm sections for the analyses, creating a fine-scale depositional history in each pond. Information gathered from each core allows for the determination of the extent and degree of dissipation of individual spray events of a known source area and determine how well the model fits the actual data.

Detection of the Nitrate Pollution Sources in Shallow Aquifer, Using Integration of RS&GIS with Stable Isotopes Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shakak, N. B. I.

2018-04-01

Geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing technique is a tool which is used for acquiring data from space, storing, analyzing and displaying spatial data, also can use for investigating source of environmental pollution which is affect health. Sudan landsat mosaic image which acquired in 2013 was used in this study to develop land use and land cover maps for tow selected study area, Khartoum urban area, and Bara locality in North kordofan state western Sudan. The main objective to assess the source of Nitrate pollution in shallow aquifer. ERDAS software was used to create land cover-land use maps for the study areas. For Khartoum town we used land sat mosaic image which acquire in 2013, and used supervised classification which more closely controlled than unsupervised. In this process, we select pixel that represent patterns you recognized or can identify with help from knowledge of the data, the classes desired, and the algorithm to be used is required. In this paper we integrated the (GIS&RS), and stable isotopes methods for fingerprinting Nitrate sources in shallow boreholes. The global positioning system (GPS), used in the field to identify the shallow boreholes location in a three dimensional coordinate (Latitude, longitude, and altitude), Water samples were collected from 19 shallow boreholes in the study areas according to the standard sampling method send to laboratory to measure stable nitrogen (δ15Nnitrate), and Nitrate-oxygen (δ18Onitrate) isotopes. Analysis were conducted by using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). We can conclude that, special distribution and integration of GIs & RS help to identify the source of nitrate pollution.

The use of GIS tools for road infrastructure safety management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budzyński, Marcin; Kustra, Wojciech; Okraszewska, Romanika; Jamroz, Kazimierz; Pyrchla, Jerzy

2018-01-01

There are many factors that influence accidents and their severity. They can be grouped within the system of man, vehicle and environment. The article focuses on how GIS tools can be used to manage road infrastructure safety. To ensure a better understanding and identification of road factors, GIS tools help with the acquisition of road parameter data. Their other role is helping with a clear and effective presentation of risk ranking. GIS is key to identifying high-risk sections and supports the effective communication of safety levels. This makes it a vital element of safety management. The article describes the use of GIS for the collection and visualisation of road parameter data which are not available in any of the existing databases, i.e. horizontal curve parameters. As we know from research and statistics, they are important factors that determine the safety of road infrastructure. Finally, new research is proposed as well as the possibilities for applying GIS tools for the purposes of road safety inspection.

A survey of geographical information systems applications for the Earth Science and Applications Division, Space Sciences Laboratory, Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rickman, D.; Butler, K. A.; Laymon, C. A.

1994-01-01

The purpose of this document is to introduce Geographical Information System (GIS) terminology and summarize interviews conducted with scientists in the Earth Science and Applications Division (ESAD). There is a growing need in ESAD for GIS technology. With many different data sources available to the scientists comes the need to be able to process and view these data in an efficient manner. Since most of these data are stored in vastly different formats, specialized software and hardware are needed. Several ESAD scientists have been using a GIS, specifically the Man-computer Interactive Data Access System (MCIDAS). MCIDAS can solve many of the research problems that arise, but there are areas of research that need more powerful tools; one such example is the multispectral image analysis which is described in this document. Given the strong need for GIS in ESAD, we recommend that a requirements analysis and implementation plan be developed using this document as a basis for further investigation.

An offline-online Web-GIS Android application for fast data acquisition of landslide hazard and risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olyazadeh, Roya; Sudmeier-Rieux, Karen; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Derron, Marc-Henri; Devkota, Sanjaya

2017-04-01

Regional landslide assessments and mapping have been effectively pursued by research institutions, national and local governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and different stakeholders for some time, and a wide range of methodologies and technologies have consequently been proposed. Land-use mapping and hazard event inventories are mostly created by remote-sensing data, subject to difficulties, such as accessibility and terrain, which need to be overcome. Likewise, landslide data acquisition for the field navigation can magnify the accuracy of databases and analysis. Open-source Web and mobile GIS tools can be used for improved ground-truthing of critical areas to improve the analysis of hazard patterns and triggering factors. This paper reviews the implementation and selected results of a secure mobile-map application called ROOMA (Rapid Offline-Online Mapping Application) for the rapid data collection of landslide hazard and risk. This prototype assists the quick creation of landslide inventory maps (LIMs) by collecting information on the type, feature, volume, date, and patterns of landslides using open-source Web-GIS technologies such as Leaflet maps, Cordova, GeoServer, PostgreSQL as the real DBMS (database management system), and PostGIS as its plug-in for spatial database management. This application comprises Leaflet maps coupled with satellite images as a base layer, drawing tools, geolocation (using GPS and the Internet), photo mapping, and event clustering. All the features and information are recorded into a GeoJSON text file in an offline version (Android) and subsequently uploaded to the online mode (using all browsers) with the availability of Internet. Finally, the events can be accessed and edited after approval by an administrator and then be visualized by the general public.

Fusion Geographic Information System Data with State-of-the-art Atmospheric Systems: Application to Methane Source Mapping over the Marcellus Shale formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Y.; Barkley, Z.; Cervone, G.; Lauvaux, T.; Deng, A.; Sarmiento, D. P.

2015-12-01

Natural gas production from multiple shale formations has increased significantly in the last decade. More particularly, a growing number of unconventional wells is the result of intense drilling in the Marcellus shale area. The Marcellus shale production represents a third of the production of natural gas in the entire US. This unprecedented increase could lead to additional fugitive methane (CH4) emissions at a level that remains highly uncertain. If natural gas is to replace less energy-efficient fossil fuels, the emissions during the production phase ought to be relatively small. However, the magnitude and the spatial distribution of CH4 emissions from unconventional wells in the Marcellus shale remains poorly documented. The novelty of this research consists in coupling various sources of information to map accurately the methane emissions, combining Geographical Information System (GIS) data, atmospheric measurements of greenhouse gases, and atmospheric modeling tools. We first collected various GIS data to estimate CH4 emissions caused by the shale gas industry, such as wells, facilities, and pipelines, with the other major contributors such as wetlands, farming activities, and soils. We present our projection methods to generate model input in gridded format while preserving the distribution and magnitude of the emissions and assembling a diverse database. The projection tools for GIS data are generalized to the use of GIS data in atmospheric modeling systems. We then present the atmospheric concentrations simulated by the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model, used to represent the transport and the dispersion of CH4 emissions. We compare the WRF model results to aircraft measurements collected during a 3-week campaign to identify missing sources in our initial inventory. We finally propose a new approach to identify the area at the surface that could potentially influence the aircraft measurements using spatial analysis of particle footprints. This technique aims at identifying undocumented sources and unreported large emitters to quantify more rigorously the emissions of CH4 over the Marcellus shale.

Visualizing petroleum systems with a combination of GIS and multimedia technologies: An example from the West Siberia Basin

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

Walsh, D.B.; Grace, J.D.

1996-12-31

Petroleum system studies provide an ideal application for the combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) and multimedia technologies. GIS technology is used to build and maintain the spatial and tabular data within the study region. Spatial data may comprise the zones of active source rocks and potential reservoir facies. Similarly, tabular data include the attendant source rock parameters (e.g. pyroloysis results, organic carbon content) and field-level exploration and production histories for the basin. Once the spatial and tabular data base has been constructed, GIS technology is useful in finding favorable exploration trends, such as zones of high organic content, maturemore » source rocks in positions adjacent to sealed, high porosity reservoir facies. Multimedia technology provides powerful visualization tools for petroleum system studies. The components of petroleum system development, most importantly generation, migration and trap development typically span periods of tens to hundreds of millions of years. The ability to animate spatial data over time provides an insightful alternative for studying the development of processes which are only captured in {open_quotes}snapshots{close_quotes} by static maps. New multimedia-authoring software provides this temporal dimension. The ability to record this data on CD-ROMs and allow user- interactivity further leverages the combination of spatial data bases, tabular data bases and time-based animations. The example used for this study was the Bazhenov-Neocomian petroleum system of West Siberia.« less

Visualizing petroleum systems with a combination of GIS and multimedia technologies: An example from the West Siberia Basin

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

Walsh, D.B.; Grace, J.D.

1996-01-01

Petroleum system studies provide an ideal application for the combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) and multimedia technologies. GIS technology is used to build and maintain the spatial and tabular data within the study region. Spatial data may comprise the zones of active source rocks and potential reservoir facies. Similarly, tabular data include the attendant source rock parameters (e.g. pyroloysis results, organic carbon content) and field-level exploration and production histories for the basin. Once the spatial and tabular data base has been constructed, GIS technology is useful in finding favorable exploration trends, such as zones of high organic content, maturemore » source rocks in positions adjacent to sealed, high porosity reservoir facies. Multimedia technology provides powerful visualization tools for petroleum system studies. The components of petroleum system development, most importantly generation, migration and trap development typically span periods of tens to hundreds of millions of years. The ability to animate spatial data over time provides an insightful alternative for studying the development of processes which are only captured in [open quotes]snapshots[close quotes] by static maps. New multimedia-authoring software provides this temporal dimension. The ability to record this data on CD-ROMs and allow user- interactivity further leverages the combination of spatial data bases, tabular data bases and time-based animations. The example used for this study was the Bazhenov-Neocomian petroleum system of West Siberia.« less

WebGIS Platform Adressed to Forest Fire Management Methodologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

André Ramos-Simões, Nuno; Neto Paixão, Helena Maria; Granja Martins, Fernando Miguel; Pedras, Celestina; Lança, Rui; Silva, Elisa; Jordán, António; Zavala, Lorena; Soares, Cristina

2015-04-01

Forest fires are one of the natural disasters that causes more damages in nature, as well as high material costs, and sometimes, a significant losses in human lives. In summer season, when high temperatures are attained, fire may rapidly progress and destroy vast areas of forest and also rural and urban areas. The forest fires have effect on forest species, forest composition and structure, soil properties and soil capacity for nutrient retention. In order to minimize the negative impact of the forest fires in the environment, many studies have been developed, e.g. Jordán et al (2009), Cerdà & Jordán (2010), and Gonçalves & Vieira (2013). Nowadays, Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies are used as support tools in fire management decisions, namely during the fire, but also before and after. This study presents the development of a user-friendly WebGIS dedicated to share data, maps and provide updated information on forest fire management for stakeholders in Iberia Peninsula. The WebGIS platform was developed with ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS for Desktop; HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Javascript. This platform has a database that includes spatial and alphanumeric information, such as: origin, burned areas, vegetation change over time, terrain natural slope, land use, soil erosion and fire related hazards. The same database contains also the following relevant information: water sources, forest tracks and traffic ways, lookout posts and urban areas. The aim of this study is to provide the authorities with a tool to assess risk areas and manage more efficiently forest fire hazards, giving more support to their decisions and helping the populations when facing this kind of phenomena.

GIS-based intersection inventory system (GIS-IIS) : integrating GIS, traffic signal data and intersection images

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-02-25

This study developed a GIS-based Intersection Inventory System (GIS-IIS) for the signalized : intersections on the state-maintained highway system of IDOT District 6. GIS-IIS is a tool to have an : easy access to intersection inventory data, photogra...

Analysis of Giga-size Earth Observation Data in Open Source GRASS GIS 7 - from Desktop to On-line Solutions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stepinski, T. F.; Mitasova, H.; Jasiewicz, J.; Neteler, M.; Gebbert, S.

2014-12-01

GRASS GIS is a leading open source GIS for geospatial analysis and modeling. In addition to being utilized as a desktop GIS it also serves as a processing engine for high performance geospatial computing for applications in diverse disciplines. The newly released GRASS GIS 7 supports big data analysis including temporal framework, image segmentation, watershed analysis, synchronized 2D/3D animations and many others. This presentation will focus on new GRASS GIS 7-powered tools for geoprocessing giga-size earth observation (EO) data using spatial pattern analysis. Pattern-based analysis connects to human visual perception of space as well as makes geoprocessing of giga-size EO data possible in an efficient and robust manner. GeoPAT is a collection of GRASS GIS 7 modules that fully integrates procedures for pattern representation of EO data and patterns similarity calculations with standard GIS tasks of mapping, maps overlay, segmentation, classification(Fig 1a), change detections etc. GeoPAT works very well on a desktop but it also underpins several GeoWeb applications (http://sil.uc.edu/ ) which allow users to do analysis on selected EO datasets without the need to download them. The GRASS GIS 7 temporal framework and high resolution visualizations will be illustrated using time series of giga-size, lidar-based digital elevation models representing the dynamics of North Carolina barrier islands over the past 15 years. The temporal framework supports efficient raster and vector data series analysis and simplifies data input for visual analysis of dynamic landscapes (Fig. 1b) allowing users to rapidly identify vulnerable locations, changes in built environment and eroding coastlines. Numerous improvements in GRASS GIS 7 were implemented to support terabyte size data processing for reconstruction of MODIS land surface temperature (LST) at 250m resolution using multiple regressions and PCA (Fig. 1c) . The new MODIS LST series (http://gis.cri.fmach.it/eurolst/) includes 4 maps per day since year 2000, provide improved data for the epidemiological predictions, viticulture, assessment of urban heat islands and numerous other applications. The presentation will conclude with outline of future development for big data interfaces to further enhance the web-based GRASS GIS data analysis.

Digital Geology from field to 3D modelling and Google Earth virtual environment: methods and goals from the Furlo Gorge (Northern Apennines - Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Donatis, Mauro; Susini, Sara

2014-05-01

A new map of the Furlo Gorge was surveyed and elaborated in a digital way. In every step of work we used digital tools as mobile GIS and 3D modelling software. Phase 1st Starting in the lab, planning the field project development, base cartography, forms and data base were designed in the way we thought was the best for collecting and store data in order of producing a digital n­-dimensional map. Bedding attitudes, outcrops sketches and description, stratigraphic logs, structural features and other informations were collected and organised in a structured database using rugged tablet PC, GPS receiver, digital cameras and later also an Android smartphone with some survey apps in-­house developed. A new mobile GIS (BeeGIS) was developed starting from an open source GIS (uDig): a number of tools like GPS connection, pen drawing annotations, geonotes, fieldbook, photo synchronization and geotagging were originally designed. Phase 2nd After some month of digital field work, all the informations were elaborated for drawing a geologic map in GIS environment. For that we use both commercial (ArcGIS) and open source (gvSig, QGIS, uDig) without big technical problems. Phase 3rd When we get to the step of building a 3D model (using 3DMove), passing trough the assisted drawing of cross-­sections (2DMove), we discovered a number of problems in the interpretation of geological structures (thrusts, normal faults) and more in the interpretation of stratigraphic thickness and boundaries and their relationships with topography. Phase 4th Before an "on­-armchair" redrawing of map, we decide to go back to the field and check directly what was wrong. Two main vantages came from this: (1) the mistakes we found could be reinterpreted and corrected directly in the field having all digital tools we need; (2) previous interpretations could be stored in GIS layers keeping memory of the previous work (also mistakes). Phase 5th A 3D model built with 3D Move is already almost self­-consistent in showing the structural features of the study area. The work was not so straightforward, but the result is more then satisfying, even if some limitations were not solved (i.e. visualisation of bedding attitudes). Geological maps are fundamental for knowledge transfer among experts but, if combined with the innovative digital methods from survey to 3D model, this knowledges could reach a much larger number of people, allowing a cultural growth and the establishment of a larger awareness of the Earth and Environment.

Collaborative GIS for flood susceptibility mapping: An example from Mekong river basin of Viet Nam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thanh, B.

2016-12-01

Flooding is one of the most dangerous natural disasters in Vietnam. Floods have caused serious damages to people and made adverse impact on social economic development across the country, especially in lower river basin where there is high risk of flooding as consequences of the climate change and social activities. This paper presents a collaborative platform of a combination of an interactive web-GIS framework and a multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) tool. MCE is carried out in server side through web interface, in which parameters used for evaluation are groups into three major categories, including (1) climatic factor: precipitation, typhoon frequency, temperature, humidity (2) physiographic data: DEM, topographic wetness index, NDVI, stream power index, soil texture, distance to river (3) social factor: NDBI, land use pattern. Web-based GIS is based on open-source technology that includes an information page, a page for MCE tool that users can interactively alter parameters in flood susceptible mapping, and a discussion page. The system is designed for local participation in prediction of the flood risk magnitude under impacts of natural processes and human intervention. The proposed flood susceptibility assessment prototype was implemented in the Mekong river basin, Viet Nam. Index images were calculated using Landsat data, and other were collected from authorized agencies. This study shows the potential to combine web-GIS and spatial analysis tool to flood hazard risk assessment. The combination can be a supportive solution that potentially assists the interaction between stakeholders in information exchange and in disaster management, thus provides for better analysis, control and decision-making.

Itzï (version 17.1): an open-source, distributed GIS model for dynamic flood simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guillaume Courty, Laurent; Pedrozo-Acuña, Adrián; Bates, Paul David

2017-05-01

Worldwide, floods are acknowledged as one of the most destructive hazards. In human-dominated environments, their negative impacts are ascribed not only to the increase in frequency and intensity of floods but also to a strong feedback between the hydrological cycle and anthropogenic development. In order to advance a more comprehensive understanding of this complex interaction, this paper presents the development of a new open-source tool named Itzï that enables the 2-D numerical modelling of rainfall-runoff processes and surface flows integrated with the open-source geographic information system (GIS) software known as GRASS. Therefore, it takes advantage of the ability given by GIS environments to handle datasets with variations in both temporal and spatial resolutions. Furthermore, the presented numerical tool can handle datasets from different sources with varied spatial resolutions, facilitating the preparation and management of input and forcing data. This ability reduces the preprocessing time usually required by other models. Itzï uses a simplified form of the shallow water equations, the damped partial inertia equation, for the resolution of surface flows, and the Green-Ampt model for the infiltration. The source code is now publicly available online, along with complete documentation. The numerical model is verified against three different tests cases: firstly, a comparison with an analytic solution of the shallow water equations is introduced; secondly, a hypothetical flooding event in an urban area is implemented, where results are compared to those from an established model using a similar approach; and lastly, the reproduction of a real inundation event that occurred in the city of Kingston upon Hull, UK, in June 2007, is presented. The numerical approach proved its ability at reproducing the analytic and synthetic test cases. Moreover, simulation results of the real flood event showed its suitability at identifying areas affected by flooding, which were verified against those recorded after the event by local authorities.

New dimensions from statistical graphics for GIS (geographic information system) analysis and interpretation

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

McCord, R.A.; Olson, R.J.

1988-01-01

Environmental research and assessment activities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) include the analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of ecosystem response at a landscape scale. Analysis through use of geographic information system (GIS) involves an interaction between the user and thematic data sets frequently expressed as maps. A portion of GIS analysis has a mathematical or statistical aspect, especially for the analysis of temporal patterns. ARC/INFO is an excellent tool for manipulating GIS data and producing the appropriate map graphics. INFO also has some limited ability to produce statistical tabulation. At ORNL we have extended our capabilities by graphicallymore » interfacing ARC/INFO and SAS/GRAPH to provide a combined mapping and statistical graphics environment. With the data management, statistical, and graphics capabilities of SAS added to ARC/INFO, we have expanded the analytical and graphical dimensions of the GIS environment. Pie or bar charts, frequency curves, hydrographs, or scatter plots as produced by SAS can be added to maps from attribute data associated with ARC/INFO coverages. Numerous, small, simplified graphs can also become a source of complex map ''symbols.'' These additions extend the dimensions of GIS graphics to include time, details of the thematic composition, distribution, and interrelationships. 7 refs., 3 figs.« less

Web-based GIS for spatial pattern detection: application to malaria incidence in Vietnam.

PubMed

Bui, Thanh Quang; Pham, Hai Minh

2016-01-01

There is a great concern on how to build up an interoperable health information system of public health and health information technology within the development of public information and health surveillance programme. Technically, some major issues remain regarding to health data visualization, spatial processing of health data, health information dissemination, data sharing and the access of local communities to health information. In combination with GIS, we propose a technical framework for web-based health data visualization and spatial analysis. Data was collected from open map-servers and geocoded by open data kit package and data geocoding tools. The Web-based system is designed based on Open-source frameworks and libraries. The system provides Web-based analyst tool for pattern detection through three spatial tests: Nearest neighbour, K function, and Spatial Autocorrelation. The result is a web-based GIS, through which end users can detect disease patterns via selecting area, spatial test parameters and contribute to managers and decision makers. The end users can be health practitioners, educators, local communities, health sector authorities and decision makers. This web-based system allows for the improvement of health related services to public sector users as well as citizens in a secure manner. The combination of spatial statistics and web-based GIS can be a solution that helps empower health practitioners in direct and specific intersectional actions, thus provide for better analysis, control and decision-making.

Tools for beach health data management, data processing, and predictive model implementation

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2013-01-01

This fact sheet describes utilities created for management of recreational waters to provide efficient data management, data aggregation, and predictive modeling as well as a prototype geographic information system (GIS)-based tool for data visualization and summary. All of these utilities were developed to assist beach managers in making decisions to protect public health. The Environmental Data Discovery and Transformation (EnDDaT) Web service identifies, compiles, and sorts environmental data from a variety of sources that help to define climatic, hydrologic, and hydrodynamic characteristics including multiple data sources within the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Great Lakes Beach Health Database (GLBH-DB) and Web application was designed to provide a flexible input, export, and storage platform for beach water quality and sanitary survey monitoring data to compliment beach monitoring programs within the Great Lakes. A real-time predictive modeling strategy was implemented by combining the capabilities of EnDDaT and the GLBH-DB for timely, automated prediction of beach water quality. The GIS-based tool was developed to map beaches based on their physical and biological characteristics, which was shared with multiple partners to provide concepts and information for future Web-accessible beach data outlets.

GIS Methodology for Planning Planetary-Rover Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Powell, Mark; Norris, Jeffrey; Fox, Jason; Rabe, Kenneth; Shu, I-Hsiang

2007-01-01

A document describes a methodology for utilizing image data downlinked from cameras aboard a robotic ground vehicle (rover) on a remote planet for analyzing and planning operations of the vehicle and of any associated spacecraft. Traditionally, the cataloging and presentation of large numbers of downlinked planetary-exploration images have been done by use of two organizational methods: temporal organization and correlation between activity plans and images. In contrast, the present methodology involves spatial indexing of image data by use of the computational discipline of geographic information systems (GIS), which has been maturing in terrestrial applications for decades, but, until now, has not been widely used in support of exploration of remote planets. The use of GIS to catalog data products for analysis is intended to increase efficiency and effectiveness in planning rover operations, just as GIS has proven to be a source of powerful computational tools in such terrestrial endeavors as law enforcement, military strategic planning, surveying, political science, and epidemiology. The use of GIS also satisfies the need for a map-based user interface that is intuitive to rover-activity planners, many of whom are deeply familiar with maps and know how to use them effectively in field geology.

A GIS Tool for evaluating and improving NEXRAD and its application in distributed hydrologic modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X.; Srinivasan, R.

2008-12-01

In this study, a user friendly GIS tool was developed for evaluating and improving NEXRAD using raingauge data. This GIS tool can automatically read in raingauge and NEXRAD data, evaluate the accuracy of NEXRAD for each time unit, implement several geostatistical methods to improve the accuracy of NEXRAD through raingauge data, and output spatial precipitation map for distributed hydrologic model. The geostatistical methods incorporated in this tool include Simple Kriging with varying local means, Kriging with External Drift, Regression Kriging, Co-Kriging, and a new geostatistical method that was newly developed by Li et al. (2008). This tool was applied in two test watersheds at hourly and daily temporal scale. The preliminary cross-validation results show that incorporating raingauge data to calibrate NEXRAD can pronouncedly change the spatial pattern of NEXRAD and improve its accuracy. Using different geostatistical methods, the GIS tool was applied to produce long term precipitation input for a distributed hydrologic model - Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Animated video was generated to vividly illustrate the effect of using different precipitation input data on distributed hydrologic modeling. Currently, this GIS tool is developed as an extension of SWAT, which is used as water quantity and quality modeling tool by USDA and EPA. The flexible module based design of this tool also makes it easy to be adapted for other hydrologic models for hydrological modeling and water resources management.

Global GIS database; digital atlas of Central and South America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hearn,, Paul P.; Hare, T.; Schruben, P.; Sherrill, D.; LaMar, C.; Tsushima, P.

2000-01-01

This CD-ROM contains a digital atlas of the countries of Central and South America. This atlas is part of a global database compiled from USGS and other data sources at the nominal scale of 1:1 million and is intended to be used as a regional-scale reference and analytical tool by government officials, researchers, the private sector, and the general public. The atlas includes free GIS software or may also be used with ESRI's ArcView software. Customized ArcView tools, specifically designed to make the atlas easier to use, are also included. The atlas contains the following datasets: country political boundaries, digital shaded relief map, elevation, slope, hydrology, locations of cities and towns, airfields, roads, railroads, utility lines, population density, geology, ecological regions, historical seismicity, volcanoes, ore deposits, oil and gas fields, climate data, landcover, vegetation index, and lights at night.

Enriching and improving the quality of linked data with GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwaniak, Adam; Kaczmarek, Iwona; Strzelecki, Marek; Lukowicz, Jaromar; Jankowski, Piotr

2016-06-01

Standardization of methods for data exchange in GIS has along history predating the creation of World Wide Web. The advent of World Wide Web brought the emergence of new solutions for data exchange and sharing including; more recently, standards proposed by the W3C for data exchange involving Semantic Web technologies and linked data. Despite the growing interest in integration, GIS and linked data are still two separate paradigms for describing and publishing spatial data on the Web. At the same time, both paradigms offer complementary ways of representing real world phenomena and means of analysis using different processing functions. The complementarity of linked data and GIS can be leveraged to synergize both paradigms resulting in richer data content and more powerful inferencing. The article presents an approach aimed at integrating linked data with GIS. The approach relies on the use of GIS tools for integration, verification and enrichment of linked data. The GIS tools are employed to enrich linked data by furnishing access to collection of data resources, defining relationship between data resources, and subsequently facilitating GIS data integration with linked data. The proposed approach is demonstrated with examples using data from DBpedia, OSM, and tools developed by the authors for standard GIS software.

[Ecosystem services evaluation based on geographic information system and remote sensing technology: a review].

PubMed

Li, Wen-Jie; Zhang, Shi-Huang; Wang, Hui-Min

2011-12-01

Ecosystem services evaluation is a hot topic in current ecosystem management, and has a close link with human beings welfare. This paper summarized the research progress on the evaluation of ecosystem services based on geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technology, which could be reduced to the following three characters, i. e., ecological economics theory is widely applied as a key method in quantifying ecosystem services, GIS and RS technology play a key role in multi-source data acquisition, spatiotemporal analysis, and integrated platform, and ecosystem mechanism model becomes a powerful tool for understanding the relationships between natural phenomena and human activities. Aiming at the present research status and its inadequacies, this paper put forward an "Assembly Line" framework, which was a distributed one with scalable characteristics, and discussed the future development trend of the integration research on ecosystem services evaluation based on GIS and RS technologies.

Semantically enabled image similarity search

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casterline, May V.; Emerick, Timothy; Sadeghi, Kolia; Gosse, C. A.; Bartlett, Brent; Casey, Jason

2015-05-01

Georeferenced data of various modalities are increasingly available for intelligence and commercial use, however effectively exploiting these sources demands a unified data space capable of capturing the unique contribution of each input. This work presents a suite of software tools for representing geospatial vector data and overhead imagery in a shared high-dimension vector or embedding" space that supports fused learning and similarity search across dissimilar modalities. While the approach is suitable for fusing arbitrary input types, including free text, the present work exploits the obvious but computationally difficult relationship between GIS and overhead imagery. GIS is comprised of temporally-smoothed but information-limited content of a GIS, while overhead imagery provides an information-rich but temporally-limited perspective. This processing framework includes some important extensions of concepts in literature but, more critically, presents a means to accomplish them as a unified framework at scale on commodity cloud architectures.

High performance geospatial and climate data visualization using GeoJS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaudhary, A.; Beezley, J. D.

2015-12-01

GeoJS (https://github.com/OpenGeoscience/geojs) is an open-source library developed to support interactive scientific and geospatial visualization of climate and earth science datasets in a web environment. GeoJS has a convenient application programming interface (API) that enables users to harness the fast performance of WebGL and Canvas 2D APIs with sophisticated Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) features in a consistent and convenient manner. We started the project in response to the need for an open-source JavaScript library that can combine traditional geographic information systems (GIS) and scientific visualization on the web. Many libraries, some of which are open source, support mapping or other GIS capabilities, but lack the features required to visualize scientific and other geospatial datasets. For instance, such libraries are not be capable of rendering climate plots from NetCDF files, and some libraries are limited in regards to geoinformatics (infovis in a geospatial environment). While libraries such as d3.js are extremely powerful for these kinds of plots, in order to integrate them into other GIS libraries, the construction of geoinformatics visualizations must be completed manually and separately, or the code must somehow be mixed in an unintuitive way.We developed GeoJS with the following motivations:• To create an open-source geovisualization and GIS library that combines scientific visualization with GIS and informatics• To develop an extensible library that can combine data from multiple sources and render them using multiple backends• To build a library that works well with existing scientific visualizations tools such as VTKWe have successfully deployed GeoJS-based applications for multiple domains across various projects. The ClimatePipes project funded by the Department of Energy, for example, used GeoJS to visualize NetCDF datasets from climate data archives. Other projects built visualizations using GeoJS for interactively exploring data and analysis regarding 1) the human trafficking domain, 2) New York City taxi drop-offs and pick-ups, and 3) the Ebola outbreak. GeoJS supports advanced visualization features such as picking and selecting, as well as clustering. It also supports 2D contour plots, vector plots, heat maps, and geospatial graphs.

Analyzing legacy U.S. Geological Survey geochemical databases using GIS: applications for a national mineral resource assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yager, Douglas B.; Hofstra, Albert H.; Granitto, Matthew

2012-01-01

This report emphasizes geographic information system analysis and the display of data stored in the legacy U.S. Geological Survey National Geochemical Database for use in mineral resource investigations. Geochemical analyses of soils, stream sediments, and rocks that are archived in the National Geochemical Database provide an extensive data source for investigating geochemical anomalies. A study area in the Egan Range of east-central Nevada was used to develop a geographic information system analysis methodology for two different geochemical datasets involving detailed (Bureau of Land Management Wilderness) and reconnaissance-scale (National Uranium Resource Evaluation) investigations. ArcGIS was used to analyze and thematically map geochemical information at point locations. Watershed-boundary datasets served as a geographic reference to relate potentially anomalous sample sites with hydrologic unit codes at varying scales. The National Hydrography Dataset was analyzed with Hydrography Event Management and ArcGIS Utility Network Analyst tools to delineate potential sediment-sample provenance along a stream network. These tools can be used to track potential upstream-sediment-contributing areas to a sample site. This methodology identifies geochemically anomalous sample sites, watersheds, and streams that could help focus mineral resource investigations in the field.

Using simple agent-based modeling to inform and enhance neighborhood walkability

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods with proximal destinations and services encourage walking and decrease car dependence, thereby contributing to more active and healthier communities. Proximity to key destinations and services is an important aspect of the urban design decision making process, particularly in areas adopting a transit-oriented development (TOD) approach to urban planning, whereby densification occurs within walking distance of transit nodes. Modeling destination access within neighborhoods has been limited to circular catchment buffers or more sophisticated network-buffers generated using geoprocessing routines within geographical information systems (GIS). Both circular and network-buffer catchment methods are problematic. Circular catchment models do not account for street networks, thus do not allow exploratory ‘what-if’ scenario modeling; and network-buffering functionality typically exists within proprietary GIS software, which can be costly and requires a high level of expertise to operate. Methods This study sought to overcome these limitations by developing an open-source simple agent-based walkable catchment tool that can be used by researchers, urban designers, planners, and policy makers to test scenarios for improving neighborhood walkable catchments. A simplified version of an agent-based model was ported to a vector-based open source GIS web tool using data derived from the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network (AURIN). The tool was developed and tested with end-user stakeholder working group input. Results The resulting model has proven to be effective and flexible, allowing stakeholders to assess and optimize the walkability of neighborhood catchments around actual or potential nodes of interest (e.g., schools, public transport stops). Users can derive a range of metrics to compare different scenarios modeled. These include: catchment area versus circular buffer ratios; mean number of streets crossed; and modeling of different walking speeds and wait time at intersections. Conclusions The tool has the capacity to influence planning and public health advocacy and practice, and by using open-access source software, it is available for use locally and internationally. There is also scope to extend this version of the tool from a simple to a complex model, which includes agents (i.e., simulated pedestrians) ‘learning’ and incorporating other environmental attributes that enhance walkability (e.g., residential density, mixed land use, traffic volume). PMID:24330721

A Management Tool for Assessing Aquaculture Environmental Impacts in Chilean Patagonian Fjords: Integrating Hydrodynamic and Pellets Dispersion Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tironi, Antonio; Marin, Víctor H.; Campuzano, Francisco J.

2010-05-01

This article introduces a management tool for salmon farming, with a scope in the local sustainability of salmon aquaculture of the Aysen Fjord, Chilean Patagonia. Based on Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) principles, the tool combines a large 3-level nested hydrodynamic model, a particle tracking module and a GIS application into an assessment tool for particulate waste dispersal of salmon farming activities. The model offers an open source alternative to particulate waste modeling and evaluation, contributing with valuable information for local decision makers in the process of locating new facilities and monitoring stations.

Analyzing rasters, vectors and time series using new Python interfaces in GRASS GIS 7

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petras, Vaclav; Petrasova, Anna; Chemin, Yann; Zambelli, Pietro; Landa, Martin; Gebbert, Sören; Neteler, Markus; Löwe, Peter

2015-04-01

GRASS GIS 7 is a free and open source GIS software developed and used by many scientists (Neteler et al., 2012). While some users of GRASS GIS prefer its graphical user interface, significant part of the scientific community takes advantage of various scripting and programing interfaces offered by GRASS GIS to develop new models and algorithms. Here we will present different interfaces added to GRASS GIS 7 and available in Python, a popular programming language and environment in geosciences. These Python interfaces are designed to satisfy the needs of scientists and programmers under various circumstances. PyGRASS (Zambelli et al., 2013) is a new object-oriented interface to GRASS GIS modules and libraries. The GRASS GIS libraries are implemented in C to ensure maximum performance and the PyGRASS interface provides an intuitive, pythonic access to their functionality. GRASS GIS Python scripting library is another way of accessing GRASS GIS modules. It combines the simplicity of Bash and the efficiency of the Python syntax. When full access to all low-level and advanced functions and structures from GRASS GIS library is required, Python programmers can use an interface based on the Python ctypes package. Ctypes interface provides complete, direct access to all functionality as it would be available to C programmers. GRASS GIS provides specialized Python library for managing and analyzing spatio-temporal data (Gebbert and Pebesma, 2014). The temporal library introduces space time datasets representing time series of raster, 3D raster or vector maps and allows users to combine various spatio-temporal operations including queries, aggregation, sampling or the analysis of spatio-temporal topology. We will also discuss the advantages of implementing scientific algorithm as a GRASS GIS module and we will show how to write such module in Python. To facilitate the development of the module, GRASS GIS provides a Python library for testing (Petras and Gebbert, 2014) which helps researchers to ensure the robustness of the algorithm, correctness of the results in edge cases as well as the detection of changes in results due to new development. For all modules GRASS GIS automatically creates standardized command line and graphical user interfaces and documentation. Finally, we will show how GRASS GIS can be used together with powerful Python tools such as the NumPy package and the IPython Notebook. References: Gebbert, S., Pebesma, E., 2014. A temporal GIS for field based environmental modeling. Environmental Modelling & Software 53, 1-12. Neteler, M., Bowman, M.H., Landa, M. and Metz, M., 2012. GRASS GIS: a multi-purpose Open Source GIS. Environmental Modelling & Software 31: 124-130. Petras, V., Gebbert, S., 2014. Testing framework for GRASS GIS: ensuring reproducibility of scientific geospatial computing. Poster presented at: AGU Fall Meeting, December 15-19, 2014, San Francisco, USA. Zambelli, P., Gebbert, S., Ciolli, M., 2013. Pygrass: An Object Oriented Python Application Programming Interface (API) for Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS) Geographic Information System (GIS). ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 2, 201-219.

Estimation of runoff and sediment yield in the Redrock Creek watershed using AnnAGNPS and GIS

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tsou, Ming‐shu; Zhan, X.-Y.

2004-01-01

Sediment has been identified as a significant threat to water quality and channel clogging that in turn may lead to river flooding. With the increasing awareness of the impairment from sediment to water bodies in a watershed, identifying the locations of the major sediment sources and reducing the sediment through management practices will be important for an effective watershed management. The annualized agricultural non-point source pollution (AnnAGNPS) model and newly developed GIS interface for it were applied in a small agricultural watershed, Redrock Creek watershed, Kansas, in this pilot study for exploring the effectiveness of using this model as a management tool. The calibrated model appropriately simulated monthly runoff and sediment yield through the practices in this study and potentially suggested the ways of sediment reduction through evaluating the changes of land use and field operation in the model for the purpose of watershed management.

Creation of a Web-Based GIS Server and Custom Geoprocessing Tools for Enhanced Hydrologic Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welton, B.; Chouinard, K.; Sultan, M.; Becker, D.; Milewski, A.; Becker, R.

2010-12-01

Rising populations in the arid and semi arid parts of the World are increasing the demand for fresh water supplies worldwide. Many data sets needed for assessment of hydrologic applications across vast regions of the world are expensive, unpublished, difficult to obtain, or at varying scales which complicates their use. Fortunately, this situation is changing with the development of global remote sensing datasets and web-based platforms such as GIS Server. GIS provides a cost effective vehicle for comparing, analyzing, and querying a variety of spatial datasets as geographically referenced layers. We have recently constructed a web-based GIS, that incorporates all relevant geological, geochemical, geophysical, and remote sensing data sets that were readily used to identify reservoir types and potential well locations on local and regional scales in various tectonic settings including: (1) extensional environment (Red Sea rift), (2) transcurrent fault system (Najd Fault in the Arabian-Nubian Shield), and (3) compressional environments (Himalayas). The web-based GIS could also be used to detect spatial and temporal trends in precipitation, recharge, and runoff in large watersheds on local, regional, and continental scales. These applications were enabled through the construction of a web-based ArcGIS Server with Google Map’s interface and the development of customized geoprocessing tools. ArcGIS Server provides out-of-the-box setups that are generic in nature. This platform includes all of the standard web based GIS tools (e.g. pan, zoom, identify, search, data querying, and measurement). In addition to the standard suite of tools provided by ArcGIS Server an additional set of advanced data manipulation and display tools was also developed to allow for a more complete and customizable view of the area of interest. The most notable addition to the standard GIS Server tools is the custom on-demand geoprocessing tools (e.g., graph, statistical functions, custom raster creation, profile, TRMM). The generation of a wide range of derivative maps (e.g., buffer zone, contour map, graphs, temporal rainfall distribution maps) from various map layers (e.g., geologic maps, geophysics, satellite images) allows for more user flexibility. The use of these tools along with Google Map’s API which enables the website user to utilize high quality GeoEye 2 images provide by Google in conjunction with our data, creates a more complete image of the area being observed and allows for custom derivative maps to be created in the field and viewed immediately on the web, processes that were restricted to offline databases.

Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial in the field of planetary science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frigeri, A.

2012-12-01

Information technology applied to geospatial analyses has spread quickly in the last ten years. The availability of OpenData and data from collaborative mapping projects increased the interest on tools, procedures and methods to handle spatially-related information. Free Open Source Software projects devoted to geospatial data handling are gaining a good success as the use of interoperable formats and protocols allow the user to choose what pipeline of tools and libraries is needed to solve a particular task, adapting the software scene to his specific problem. In particular, the Free Open Source model of development mimics the scientific method very well, and researchers should be naturally encouraged to take part to the development process of these software projects, as this represent a very agile way to interact among several institutions. When it comes to planetary sciences, geospatial Free Open Source Software is gaining a key role in projects that commonly involve different subjects in an international scenario. Very popular software suites for processing scientific mission data (for example, ISIS) and for navigation/planning (SPICE) are being distributed along with the source code and the interaction between user and developer is often very strict, creating a continuum between these two figures. A very widely spread library for handling geospatial data (GDAL) has started to support planetary data from the Planetary Data System, and recent contributions enabled the support to other popular data formats used in planetary science, as the Vicar one. The use of Geographic Information System in planetary science is now diffused, and Free Open Source GIS, open GIS formats and network protocols allow to extend existing tools and methods developed to solve Earth based problems, also to the case of the study of solar system bodies. A day in the working life of a researcher using Free Open Source Software for geospatial will be presented, as well as benefits and solutions to possible detriments coming from the effort required by using, supporting and contributing.

From Excavations to Web: a GIS for Archaeology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

D'Urso, M. G.; Corsi, E.; Nemeti, S.; Germani, M.

2017-05-01

The study and the protection of Cultural Heritage in recent years have undergone a revolution about the search tools and the reference disciplines. The technological approach to the problem of the collection, organization and publication of archaeological data using GIS software has completely changed the essence of the traditional methods of investigation, paving the way to the development of several application areas, up to the Cultural Resource Management. A relatively recent specific sector of development for archaeological GIS development sector is dedicated to the intra - site analyses aimed to recording, processing and display information obtained during the excavations. The case - study of the archaeological site located in the south - east of San Pietro Vetere plateau in Aquino, in the Southern Lazio, is concerned with the illustration of a procedure describing the complete digital workflow relative to an intra-site analysis of an archaeological dig. The GIS project implementation and its publication on the web, thanks to several softwares, particularly the FOSS (Free Open Source Software) Quantum - GIS, are an opportunity to reflect on the strengths and the critical nature of this particular application of the GIS technology. For future developments in research it is of fundamental importance the identification of a digital protocol for processing of excavations (from the acquisition, cataloguing, up data insertion), also on account of a possible future Open Project on medieval Aquino.

A geographical information system (GIS) as a tool for microbial risk assessment in catchment areas of drinking water reservoirs.

PubMed

Kistemann, T; Dangendorf, F; Exner, M

2001-03-01

The main tributaries of three drinking water reservoirs of Northrhine-Westfalia (Germany) were monitored within a 14-month period mainly for bacterial and parasitic contamination. In this context a detailed geo-ecological characterisation within the differing catchment areas was carried out to reveal a reliable informational basis for tracing back the origin of microbial loads present in the watercourses. To realise a microbial risk assessing geo-ecological information system (MRA-GIS), a Geographical Information System (GIS) has been implemented for the study areas. The results of the microbiological investigations of the watercourses showed an input of pathogens into all three of the tributaries. It could be demonstrated that the use of MRA-GIS database and some GIS-techniques substantially support the spatial analysis of the microbial contamination patterns. From the hygienic point of view, it is of the utmost importance to protect catchment areas of surface water reservoirs from microbial contamination stemming from human activities and animal sources. This constitutes essential part of the multi-barrier concept which stresses the importance of reducing diffuse and point pollution in catchment areas of water resources intended for human consumption. MRA-GIS proves to be helpful to manage multi-barrier water protection in catchment areas and ideally assists the application of the HACCP concept on drinking water production.

An Offline-Online Android Application for Hazard Event Mapping Using WebGIS Open Source Technologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olyazadeh, Roya; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Sudmeier-Rieux, Karen; Derron, Marc-Henri; Devkota, Sanjaya

2016-04-01

Nowadays, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) plays an important role in better understanding and managing disaster risk reduction around the world. National and local government, NGOs and other stakeholders are increasingly seeking and producing data on hazards. Most of the hazard event inventories and land use mapping are based on remote sensing data, with little ground truthing, creating difficulties depending on the terrain and accessibility. Open Source WebGIS tools offer an opportunity for quicker and easier ground truthing of critical areas in order to analyse hazard patterns and triggering factors. This study presents a secure mobile-map application for hazard event mapping using Open Source WebGIS technologies such as Postgres database, Postgis, Leaflet, Cordova and Phonegap. The objectives of this prototype are: 1. An Offline-Online android mobile application with advanced Geospatial visualisation; 2. Easy Collection and storage of events information applied services; 3. Centralized data storage with accessibility by all the service (smartphone, standard web browser); 4. Improving data management by using active participation in hazard event mapping and storage. This application has been implemented as a low-cost, rapid and participatory method for recording impacts from hazard events and includes geolocation (GPS data and Internet), visualizing maps with overlay of satellite images, viewing uploaded images and events as cluster points, drawing and adding event information. The data can be recorded in offline (Android device) or online version (all browsers) and consequently uploaded through the server whenever internet is available. All the events and records can be visualized by an administrator and made public after approval. Different user levels can be defined to access the data for communicating the information. This application was tested for landslides in post-earthquake Nepal but can be used for any other type of hazards such as flood, avalanche, etc. Keywords: Offline, Online, WebGIS Open source, Android, Hazard Event Mapping

Evaluating geographic information systems technology

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guptill, Stephen C.

1989-01-01

Computerized geographic information systems (GISs) are emerging as the spatial data handling tools of choice for solving complex geographical problems. However, few guidelines exist for assisting potential users in identifying suitable hardware and software. A process to be followed in evaluating the merits of GIS technology is presented. Related standards and guidelines, software functions, hardware components, and benchmarking are discussed. By making users aware of all aspects of adopting GIS technology, they can decide if GIS is an appropriate tool for their application and, if so, which GIS should be used.

A Climate Statistics Tool and Data Repository

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Kotamarthi, V. R.; Kuiper, J. A.; Orr, A.

2017-12-01

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory and collaborating organizations have generated regional scale, dynamically downscaled climate model output using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) version 3.3.1 at a 12km horizontal spatial resolution over much of North America. The WRF model is driven by boundary conditions obtained from three independent global scale climate models and two different future greenhouse gas emission scenarios, named representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The repository of results has a temporal resolution of three hours for all the simulations, includes more than 50 variables, is stored in Network Common Data Form (NetCDF) files, and the data volume is nearly 600Tb. A condensed 800Gb set of NetCDF files were made for selected variables most useful for climate-related planning, including daily precipitation, relative humidity, solar radiation, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and wind. The WRF model simulations are conducted for three 10-year time periods (1995-2004, 2045-2054, and 2085-2094), and two future scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). An open-source tool was coded using Python 2.7.8 and ESRI ArcGIS 10.3.1 programming libraries to parse the NetCDF files, compute summary statistics, and output results as GIS layers. Eight sets of summary statistics were generated as examples for the contiguous U.S. states and much of Alaska, including number of days over 90°F, number of days with a heat index over 90°F, heat waves, monthly and annual precipitation, drought, extreme precipitation, multi-model averages, and model bias. This paper will provide an overview of the project to generate the main and condensed data repositories, describe the Python tool and how to use it, present the GIS results of the computed examples, and discuss some of the ways they can be used for planning. The condensed climate data, Python tool, computed GIS results, and documentation of the work are shared on the Internet.

Mapping of Sample Collection Data: GIS Tools for the Natural Product Researcher

PubMed Central

Oberlies, Nicholas H.; Rineer, James I.; Alali, Feras Q.; Tawaha, Khaled; Falkinham, Joseph O.; Wheaton, William D.

2009-01-01

Scientists engaged in the research of natural products often either conduct field collections themselves or collaborate with partners who do, such as botanists, mycologists, or SCUBA divers. The information gleaned from such collecting trips (e.g. longitude/latitude coordinates, geography, elevation, and a multitude of other field observations) have provided valuable data to the scientific community (e.g., biodiversity), even if it is tangential to the direct aims of the natural products research, which are often focused on drug discovery and/or chemical ecology. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been used to display, manage, and analyze geographic data, including collection sites for natural products. However, to the uninitiated, these tools are often beyond the financial and/or computational means of the natural product scientist. With new, free, and easy-to-use geospatial visualization tools, such as Google Earth, mapping and geographic imaging of sampling data are now within the reach of natural products scientists. The goals of the present study were to develop simple tools that are tailored for the natural products setting, thereby presenting a means to map such information, particularly via open source software like Google Earth. PMID:20161345

GIS embedded hydrological modeling: the SID&GRID project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borsi, I.; Rossetto, R.; Schifani, C.

2012-04-01

The SID&GRID research project, started April 2010 and funded by Regione Toscana (Italy) under the POR FSE 2007-2013, aims to develop a Decision Support System (DSS) for water resource management and planning based on open source and public domain solutions. In order to quantitatively assess water availability in space and time and to support the planning decision processes, the SID&GRID solution consists of hydrological models (coupling 3D existing and newly developed surface- and ground-water and unsaturated zone modeling codes) embedded in a GIS interface, applications and library, where all the input and output data are managed by means of DataBase Management System (DBMS). A graphical user interface (GUI) to manage, analyze and run the SID&GRID hydrological models based on open source gvSIG GIS framework (Asociación gvSIG, 2011) and a Spatial Data Infrastructure to share and interoperate with distributed geographical data is being developed. Such a GUI is thought as a "master control panel" able to guide the user from pre-processing spatial and temporal data, running the hydrological models, and analyzing the outputs. To achieve the above-mentioned goals, the following codes have been selected and are being integrated: 1. Postgresql/PostGIS (PostGIS, 2011) for the Geo Data base Management System; 2. gvSIG with Sextante (Olaya, 2011) geo-algorithm library capabilities and Grass tools (GRASS Development Team, 2011) for the desktop GIS; 3. Geoserver and Geonetwork to share and discover spatial data on the web according to Open Geospatial Consortium; 4. new tools based on the Sextante GeoAlgorithm framework; 5. MODFLOW-2005 (Harbaugh, 2005) groundwater modeling code; 6. MODFLOW-LGR (Mehl and Hill 2005) for local grid refinement; 7. VSF (Thoms et al., 2006) for the variable saturated flow component; 8. new developed routines for overland flow; 9. new algorithms in Jython integrated in gvSIG to compute the net rainfall rate reaching the soil surface, as input for the unsaturated/saturated flow model. At this stage of the research (which will end April 2013), two primary components of the master control panel are being developed: i. a SID&GRID toolbar integrated into gvSIG map context; ii. a new Sextante set of geo-algorithm to pre- and post-process the spatial data to run the hydrological models. The groundwater part of the code has been fully integrated and tested and 3D visualization tools are being developed. The LGR capability has been extended to the 3D solution of the Richards' equation in order to solve in detail the unsaturated zone where required. To be updated about the project, please follow us at the website: http://ut11.isti.cnr.it/SIDGRID/

The use of a geographic information system to identify a dairy goat farm as the most likely source of an urban Q-fever outbreak.

PubMed

Schimmer, Barbara; Ter Schegget, Ronald; Wegdam, Marjolijn; Züchner, Lothar; de Bruin, Arnout; Schneeberger, Peter M; Veenstra, Thijs; Vellema, Piet; van der Hoek, Wim

2010-03-16

A Q-fever outbreak occurred in an urban area in the south of the Netherlands in May 2008. The distribution and timing of cases suggested a common source. We studied the spatial relationship between the residence locations of human cases and nearby small ruminant farms, of which one dairy goat farm had experienced abortions due to Q-fever since mid April 2008. A generic geographic information system (GIS) was used to develop a method for source detection in the still evolving major epidemic of Q-fever in the Netherlands. All notified Q-fever cases in the area were interviewed. Postal codes of cases and of small ruminant farms (size >40 animals) located within 5 kilometres of the cluster area were geo-referenced as point locations in a GIS-model. For each farm, attack rates and relative risks were calculated for 5 concentric zones adding 1 kilometre at a time, using the 5-10 kilometres zone as reference. These data were linked to the results of veterinary investigations. Persons living within 2 kilometres of an affected dairy goat farm (>400 animals) had a much higher risk for Q-fever than those living more than 5 kilometres away (Relative risk 31.1 [95% CI 16.4-59.1]). The study supported the hypothesis that a single dairy goat farm was the source of the human outbreak. GIS-based attack rate analysis is a promising tool for source detection in outbreaks of human Q-fever.

Use Cases for Combining Web Services with ArcPython Tools for Enabling Quality Control of Land Remote Sensing Data Products.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krehbiel, C.; Maiersperger, T.; Friesz, A.; Harriman, L.; Quenzer, R.; Impecoven, K.

2016-12-01

Three major obstacles facing big Earth data users include data storage, management, and analysis. As the amount of satellite remote sensing data increases, so does the need for better data storage and management strategies to exploit the plethora of data now available. Standard GIS tools can help big Earth data users whom interact with and analyze increasingly large and diverse datasets. In this presentation we highlight how NASA's Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) is tackling these big Earth data challenges. We provide a real life use case example to describe three tools and services provided by the LP DAAC to more efficiently exploit big Earth data in a GIS environment. First, we describe the Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP), which calls to specific data, minimizing the amount of data that a user downloads and improves the efficiency of data downloading and processing. Next, we cover the LP DAAC's Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS), a web application interface for extracting and analyzing land remote sensing data. From there, we review an ArcPython toolbox that was developed to provide quality control services to land remote sensing data products. Locating and extracting specific subsets of larger big Earth datasets improves data storage and management efficiency for the end user, and quality control services provides a straightforward interpretation of big Earth data. These tools and services are beneficial to the GIS user community in terms of standardizing workflows and improving data storage, management, and analysis tactics.

Geoinformatic subsystem for real estate market analysis). (Polish Title: Podsystem geoinformatyczny do analizy rynku nieruchomosci)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basista, A.

2013-12-01

There are many tools to manage spatial data. They called Geographic Information System (GIS), which apart from data visualization in space, let users make various spatial analysis. Thanks to them, it is possible to obtain more, essential information for real estate market analysis. Many scientific research present GIS exploitation to future mass valuation, because it is necessary to use advanced tools to manage such a huge real estates' data sets gathered for mass valuation needs. In practice, appraisers use rarely these tools for single valuation, because there are not many available GIS tools to support real estate valuation. The paper presents the functionality of geoinformatic subsystem, that is used to support real estate market analysis and real estate valuation. There are showed a detailed description of the process relied to attributes' inputting into the database and the attributes' values calculation based on the proposed definition of attributes' scales. This work presents also the algorithm of similar properties selection that was implemented within the described subsystem. The main stage of this algorithm is the calculation of the price creative indicator for each real estate, using their attributes' values. The set of properties, chosen in this way, are visualized on the map. The geoinformatic subsystem is used for the un-built real estates and living premises. Geographic Information System software was used to worked out this project. The basic functionality of gvSIG software (open source software) was extended and some extra functions were added to support real estate market analysis.

Teaching Tectonics to Undergraduates with Web GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anastasio, D. J.; Bodzin, A.; Sahagian, D. L.; Rutzmoser, S.

2013-12-01

Geospatial reasoning skills provide a means for manipulating, interpreting, and explaining structured information and are involved in higher-order cognitive processes that include problem solving and decision-making. Appropriately designed tools, technologies, and curriculum can support spatial learning. We present Web-based visualization and analysis tools developed with Javascript APIs to enhance tectonic curricula while promoting geospatial thinking and scientific inquiry. The Web GIS interface integrates graphics, multimedia, and animations that allow users to explore and discover geospatial patterns that are not easily recognized. Features include a swipe tool that enables users to see underneath layers, query tools useful in exploration of earthquake and volcano data sets, a subduction and elevation profile tool which facilitates visualization between map and cross-sectional views, drafting tools, a location function, and interactive image dragging functionality on the Web GIS. The Web GIS platform is independent and can be implemented on tablets or computers. The GIS tool set enables learners to view, manipulate, and analyze rich data sets from local to global scales, including such data as geology, population, heat flow, land cover, seismic hazards, fault zones, continental boundaries, and elevation using two- and three- dimensional visualization and analytical software. Coverages which allow users to explore plate boundaries and global heat flow processes aided learning in a Lehigh University Earth and environmental science Structural Geology and Tectonics class and are freely available on the Web.

A GIS-based hillslope erosion and sediment delivery model and its application in the Cerro Grande burn area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Cathy J.; Carey, J. William; Beeson, Peter C.; Gard, Marvin O.; Lane, Leonard J.

2001-10-01

An Erratum has been published for this article in Hydrological Processes 16(5) 2002, 1130-1130.A profile-based, analytical hillslope erosion model (HEM) is integrated into a geographical information system (GIS) framework to provide a tool to assess the impact of the Cerro Grande fire on erosion and sediment delivery to the many streams draining the burn area. The model, HEM-GIS, calculates rill and interrill erosion, transport and deposition along digital flow-pathways generated with GIS software. This new erosion and sediment yield technology accounts for complex terrain attributes and their impact on the connectivity of sediment transport pathways from source areas to streams. GIS digital spatial data, including elevation, vegetation cover, burn severity and soil type, are used as input to the model. Output includes spatially distributed predictions of total event-based sediment yield (tonnes or kilograms per square metre). Here the model is applied across an 800 km2 region of the Pajarito Plateau watershed to assess the sedimentation risks associated with a 100 year design rain event. Although unvalidated for the design storm, the model predicts that the fire may cause runoff to increase by three to six times, and sediment yield to increase by more than an order of magnitude. Published in 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Genetic landscapes GIS Toolbox: tools to map patterns of genetic divergence and diversity.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vandergast, Amy G.; Perry, William M.; Lugo, Roberto V.; Hathaway, Stacie A.

2011-01-01

The Landscape Genetics GIS Toolbox contains tools that run in the Geographic Information System software, ArcGIS, to map genetic landscapes and to summarize multiple genetic landscapes as average and variance surfaces. These tools can be used to visualize the distribution of genetic diversity across geographic space and to study associations between patterns of genetic diversity and geographic features or other geo-referenced environmental data sets. Together, these tools create genetic landscape surfaces directly from tables containing genetic distance or diversity data and sample location coordinates, greatly reducing the complexity of building and analyzing these raster surfaces in a Geographic Information System.

Watershed Dynamics: Using Web-based GIS to Access Data and Study the Hydrosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buzby, C. K.; Jona, K.

2010-12-01

The Watershed Dynamics project has developed online GIS tools and curriculum to provide high school earth science students with access to data and analysis tools to perform investigations on their local watershed. Using FieldScope web-based GIS tools from National Geographic, students investigate precipitation, stream discharge, and land cover data for the US. Students use the data to study water availability across the US and the world, human impacts on the watershed, and more. Curriculum developers at the Office of STEM Education Partnerships (OSEP) at Northwestern University and the GLOBE Program have created two complete units which scaffold students on their way to independent research using GIS. In the Water Availability unit, students work with precipitation, evaporation, and surface runoff to investigate the water cycle and how it varies regionally and seasonally. In the Human Impact unit, students analyze land cover change over time and investigate stream discharge to figure out how humans are impacting their watershed. These units can be used together or individually, but provide students progressively more research independence, leading them to ask their own questions about the watershed using GIS data. Both units have been pilot tested in high school classrooms and found to be successful at increasing student content knowledge about the water cycle. They are being modified for use at the undergraduate level. The web-based GIS interface has the functionality of desktop GIS, but allows for a simpler user-experience and direct links to relevant data. Students can use these tools to learn scientific content and as a stepping-stone for further GIS investigations.

GeoMEx: Geographic Information System (GIS) Prototype for Mars Express Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manaud, N.; Frigeri, A.; Ivanov, A. B.

2013-09-01

As of today almost a decade of observational data have been returned by the multidisciplinary instruments on-board the ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. All data are archived into the ESA's Planetary Science Archive (PSA), which is the central repository for all ESA's Solar System missions [1]. Data users can perform advanced queries and retrieve data from the PSA using graphical and map-based search interfaces, or via direct FTP download [2]. However the PSA still offers limited geometrical search and visualisation capabilities that are essential for scientists to identify their data of interest. A former study has shown [3] that this limitation is mostly due to the fact that (1) only a subset of the instruments observations geometry information has been modeled and ingested into the PSA, and (2) that the access to that information from GIS software is impossible without going through a cumbersome and undocumented process. With the increasing number of Mars GIS data sets available to the community [4], GIS software have become invaluable tools for researchers to capture, manage, visualise, and analyse data from various sources. Although Mars Express surface imaging data are natural candidates for use in a GIS environment, other non-imaging instruments data (subsurface, atmosphere, plasma) integration is being investigated [5]. The objective of this work is to develop a GIS prototype that will integrate all the Mars Express instruments observations geometry information into a spatial database that can be accessed from external GIS software using standard WMS and WFS protocols. We will firstly focus on the integration of surface and subsurface instruments data (HRSC, OMEGA, MARSIS). In addition to the geometry information, base and context maps of Mars derived from surface mapping instruments data will also be ingested into the system. The system back-end architecture will be implemented using open-source GIS frameworks: PostgreSQL/PostGIS for the database, and MapServer for the web publishing module. Interfaces with existing GIS front-end software (such as QGIS, GRASS, ArcView, or OpenLayers) will be investigated and tested in a second phase. This prototype is primarily intended to be used by the Mars Express instruments teams in support to their scientific investigations. It will also be used by the mission Archive Scientist in support to the data validation and PSA interface requirements definition tasks. Depending on its success, this prototype might be used in the future to demonstrate the benefit of a GIS component integration to ESA's planetary science operations planning systems.

Integrating and Managing Bim in GIS, Software Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

El Meouche, R.; Rezoug, M.; Hijazi, I.

2013-08-01

Since the advent of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Geographical Information System (GIS) tools, project participants have been increasingly leveraging these tools throughout the different phases of a civil infrastructure project. In recent years the number of GIS software that provides tools to enable the integration of Building information in geo context has risen sharply. More and more GIS software are added tools for this purposes and other software projects are regularly extending these tools. However, each software has its different strength and weakness and its purpose of use. This paper provides a thorough review to investigate the software capabilities and clarify its purpose. For this study, Autodesk Revit 2012 i.e. BIM editor software was used to create BIMs. In the first step, three building models were created, the resulted models were converted to BIM format and then the software was used to integrate it. For the evaluation of the software, general characteristics was studied such as the user interface, what formats are supported (import/export), and the way building information are imported.

Facilitating Spatial Thinking in World Geography Using Web-Based GIS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jo, Injeong; Hong, Jung Eun; Verma, Kanika

2016-01-01

Advocates for geographic information system (GIS) education contend that learning about GIS promotes students' spatial thinking. Empirical studies are still needed to elucidate the potential of GIS as an instructional tool to support spatial thinking in other geography courses. Using a non-equivalent control group research design, this study…

Geospatial Analysis Tool Kit for Regional Climate Datasets (GATOR) : An Open-source Tool to Compute Climate Statistic GIS Layers from Argonne Climate Modeling Results

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-08-01

This large repository of climate model results for North America (Wang and Kotamarthi 2013, 2014, 2015) is stored in Network Common Data Form (NetCDF...Network Common Data Form (NetCDF). UCAR/Unidata Program Center, Boulder, CO. Available at: http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf. Accessed on 6/20...emissions diverge from each other regarding fossil fuel use, technology, and other socioeconomic factors. As a result, the estimated emissions for each of

Developing a GIS for CO2 analysis using lightweight, open source components

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, R.; Goodale, C. E.; Hart, A. F.; Kulawik, S. S.; Law, E.; Osterman, G. B.; Braverman, A.; Nguyen, H. M.; Mattmann, C. A.; Crichton, D. J.; Eldering, A.; Castano, R.; Gunson, M. R.

2012-12-01

There are advantages to approaching the realm of geographic information systems (GIS) using lightweight, open source components in place of a more traditional web map service (WMS) solution. Rapid prototyping, schema-less data storage, the flexible interchange of components, and open source community support are just some of the benefits. In our effort to develop an application supporting the geospatial and temporal rendering of remote sensing carbon-dioxide (CO2) data for the CO2 Virtual Science Data Environment project, we have connected heterogeneous open source components together to form a GIS. Utilizing widely popular open source components including the schema-less database MongoDB, Leaflet interactive maps, the HighCharts JavaScript graphing library, and Python Bottle web-services, we have constructed a system for rapidly visualizing CO2 data with reduced up-front development costs. These components can be aggregated together, resulting in a configurable stack capable of replicating features provided by more standard GIS technologies. The approach we have taken is not meant to replace the more established GIS solutions, but to instead offer a rapid way to provide GIS features early in the development of an application and to offer a path towards utilizing more capable GIS technology in the future.

A spatial DB model to simulate the road network efficiency in hydrogeological emergency

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

Michele, Mangiameli, E-mail: michele.mangiameli@dica.unict.it; Giuseppe, Mussumeci

We deal with the theme of the simulation of risk analysis using a technological approach based on the integration of exclusively free and open source tools: PostgreSQL as Database Management System (DBMS) and Quantum GIS-GRASS as Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. The case study is represented by a seismic land in Sicily characterized by steep slopes and frequent instability phenomena. This area includes a city of about 30.000 inhabitants (Enna) that lies on the top of a mountain at about 990 m a.s.l.. The access to the city is assured by few and very winding roads that are also highly vulnerablemore » to seismic and hydrogeological hazards. When exceptional rainfall events occur, the loss of efficiency of these roads should compromise timeliness and effectiveness of rescue operations. The data of the sample area have been structured into the adopted DBMS, and the connection to the GIS functionalities allows simulating the exceptional events. We analyzed the hazard, vulnerability and exposure related to these events and calculated the final risk defining three classes for each scenario: low (L), medium (M) and high (H). This study can be a valuable tool to prioritize risk levels and set priorities for intervention to the main road networks.« less

A spatial DB model to simulate the road network efficiency in hydrogeological emergency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michele, Mangiameli; Giuseppe, Mussumeci

2015-12-01

We deal with the theme of the simulation of risk analysis using a technological approach based on the integration of exclusively free and open source tools: PostgreSQL as Database Management System (DBMS) and Quantum GIS-GRASS as Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. The case study is represented by a seismic land in Sicily characterized by steep slopes and frequent instability phenomena. This area includes a city of about 30.000 inhabitants (Enna) that lies on the top of a mountain at about 990 m a.s.l.. The access to the city is assured by few and very winding roads that are also highly vulnerable to seismic and hydrogeological hazards. When exceptional rainfall events occur, the loss of efficiency of these roads should compromise timeliness and effectiveness of rescue operations. The data of the sample area have been structured into the adopted DBMS, and the connection to the GIS functionalities allows simulating the exceptional events. We analyzed the hazard, vulnerability and exposure related to these events and calculated the final risk defining three classes for each scenario: low (L), medium (M) and high (H). This study can be a valuable tool to prioritize risk levels and set priorities for intervention to the main road networks..

GIS Tools For Improving Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-07-01

Geographic Information System (GIS) software turns statistical data, such as accidents, and geographic data, such as roads and crash locations, into meaningful information for spatial analysis and mapping. In this project, GIS-based analytical techni...

Open Source GIS Connectors to NASA GES DISC Satellite Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kempler, Steve; Pham, Long; Yang, Wenli

2014-01-01

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) houses a suite of high spatiotemporal resolution GIS data including satellite-derived and modeled precipitation, air quality, and land surface parameter data. The data are valuable to various GIS research and applications at regional, continental, and global scales. On the other hand, many GIS users, especially those from the ArcGIS community, have difficulties in obtaining, importing, and using our data due to factors such as the variety of data products, the complexity of satellite remote sensing data, and the data encoding formats. We introduce a simple open source ArcGIS data connector that significantly simplifies the access and use of GES DISC data in ArcGIS.

Development of an interactive GIS based work zone traffic control tool.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-08-01

The purpose of this study was to include consideration for intersections into the previously created GIS traffic control planning tool. Available data for making intersection control calculations were collected and integrated into the design of the t...

Integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Applications into Business Courses Using Online Business Geographics Modules

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Fred; Mangold, W. Glynn; Holmes, Terry

2006-01-01

Although the value of geographic information systems (GIS) technologies is recognized by practitioners and educators alike, GIS instruction has yet to make significant inroads into business curricula. In this article, the authors discuss the constraints of integrating GIS tools into business education. They develop a prototype module for…

Integrating 3D Visualization and GIS in Planning Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yin, Li

2010-01-01

Most GIS-related planning practices and education are currently limited to two-dimensional mapping and analysis although 3D GIS is a powerful tool to study the complex urban environment in its full spatial extent. This paper reviews current GIS and 3D visualization uses and development in planning practice and education. Current literature…

Integrating Online GIS into the K-12 Curricula: Lessons from the Development of a Collaborative GIS in Michigan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henry, Paul; Semple, Hugh

2012-01-01

GIS has shown promise in Project Based Learning (PBL) environments, but many obstacles exist in its integration into school curriculums. This article discusses the development and utilization of an online GIS tool that was created to illustrate that the perceptual gap between relevance and ease of use of GIS software can be bridged at the K-12…

CampusGIS of the University of Cologne: a tool for orientation, navigation, and management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baaser, U.; Gnyp, M. L.; Hennig, S.; Hoffmeister, D.; Köhn, N.; Laudien, R.; Bareth, G.

2006-10-01

The working group for GIS and Remote Sensing at the Department of Geography at the University of Cologne has established a WebGIS called CampusGIS of the University of Cologne. The overall task of the CampusGIS is the connection of several existing databases at the University of Cologne with spatial data. These existing databases comprise data about staff, buildings, rooms, lectures, and general infrastructure like bus stops etc. These information were yet not linked to their spatial relation. Therefore, a GIS-based method is developed to link all the different databases to spatial entities. Due to the philosophy of the CampusGIS, an online-GUI is programmed which enables users to search for staff, buildings, or institutions. The query results are linked to the GIS database which allows the visualization of the spatial location of the searched entity. This system was established in 2005 and is operational since early 2006. In this contribution, the focus is on further developments. First results of (i) including routing services in, (ii) programming GUIs for mobile devices for, and (iii) including infrastructure management tools in the CampusGIS are presented. Consequently, the CampusGIS is not only available for spatial information retrieval and orientation. It also serves for on-campus navigation and administrative management.

GABBs: Cyberinfrastructure for Self-Service Geospatial Data Exploration, Computation, and Sharing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, C. X.; Zhao, L.; Biehl, L. L.; Merwade, V.; Villoria, N.

2016-12-01

Geospatial data are present everywhere today with the proliferation of location-aware computing devices. This is especially true in the scientific community where large amounts of data are driving research and education activities in many domains. Collaboration over geospatial data, for example, in modeling, data analysis and visualization, must still overcome the barriers of specialized software and expertise among other challenges. In addressing these needs, the Geospatial data Analysis Building Blocks (GABBs) project aims at building geospatial modeling, data analysis and visualization capabilities in an open source web platform, HUBzero. Funded by NSF's Data Infrastructure Building Blocks initiative, GABBs is creating a geospatial data architecture that integrates spatial data management, mapping and visualization, and interfaces in the HUBzero platform for scientific collaborations. The geo-rendering enabled Rappture toolkit, a generic Python mapping library, geospatial data exploration and publication tools, and an integrated online geospatial data management solution are among the software building blocks from the project. The GABBS software will be available through Amazon's AWS Marketplace VM images and open source. Hosting services are also available to the user community. The outcome of the project will enable researchers and educators to self-manage their scientific data, rapidly create GIS-enable tools, share geospatial data and tools on the web, and build dynamic workflows connecting data and tools, all without requiring significant software development skills, GIS expertise or IT administrative privileges. This presentation will describe the GABBs architecture, toolkits and libraries, and showcase the scientific use cases that utilize GABBs capabilities, as well as the challenges and solutions for GABBs to interoperate with other cyberinfrastructure platforms.

Using multivariate analyses and GIS to identify pollutants and their spatial patterns in urban soils in Galway, Ireland.

PubMed

Zhang, Chaosheng

2006-08-01

Galway is a small but rapidly growing tourism city in western Ireland. To evaluate its environmental quality, a total of 166 surface soil samples (0-10 cm depth) were collected from parks and grasslands at the density of 1 sample per 0.25 km2 at the end of 2004. All samples were analysed using ICP-AES for the near-total concentrations of 26 chemical elements. Multivariate statistics and GIS techniques were applied to classify the elements and to identify elements influenced by human activities. Cluster analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) classified the elements into two groups: the first group predominantly derived from natural sources, the second being influenced by human activities. GIS mapping is a powerful tool in identifying the possible sources of pollutants. Relatively high concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn were found in the city centre, old residential areas, and along major traffic routes, showing significant effects of traffic pollution. The element As is enriched in soils of the old built-up areas, which can be attributed to coal and peat combustion for home heating. Such significant spatial patterns of pollutants displayed by urban soils may imply potential health threat to residents of the contaminated areas of the city.

Geographic information systems: introduction.

PubMed

Calistri, Paolo; Conte, Annamaria; Freier, Jerome E; Ward, Michael P

2007-01-01

The recent exponential growth of the science and technology of geographic information systems (GIS) has made a tremendous contribution to epidemiological analysis and has led to the development of new powerful tools for the surveillance of animal diseases. GIS, spatial analysis and remote sensing provide valuable methods to collect and manage information for epidemiological surveys. Spatial patterns and trends of disease can be correlated with climatic and environmental information, thus contributing to a better understanding of the links between disease processes and explanatory spatial variables. Until recently, these tools were underexploited in the field of veterinary public health, due to the prohibitive cost of hardware and the complexity of GIS software that required a high level of expertise. The revolutionary developments in computer performance of the last decade have not only reduced the costs of equipment but have made available easy-to-use Web-based software which in turn have meant that GIS are more widely accessible by veterinary services at all levels. At the same time, the increased awareness of the possibilities offered by these tools has created new opportunities for decision-makers to enhance their planning, analysis and monitoring capabilities. These technologies offer a new way of sharing and accessing spatial and non-spatial data across groups and institutions. The series of papers included in this compilation aim to: - define the state of the art in the use of GIS in veterinary activities - identify priority needs in the development of new GIS tools at the international level for the surveillance of animal diseases and zoonoses - define practical proposals for their implementation. The topics addressed are presented in the following order in this book: - importance of GIS for the monitoring of animal diseases and zoonoses - GIS application in surveillance activities - spatial analysis in veterinary epidemiology - data collection and remote sensing applications - Web - GIS as a tool for data and knowledge sharing. All 43 manuscripts selected for this book have been peer-reviewed. These contributions were originally commissioned for the First international conference on the use of GIS in veterinary activities organised by the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise 'G. Caporale', Teramo, Italy, and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE: Office International des Epizooties) that was held in Silvi Marina, Italy, from 8 to 11 October 2006. The editors would like to thank all authors for their valuable contributions.

A GIS-based atmospheric dispersion model for pollutants emitted by complex source areas.

PubMed

Teggi, Sergio; Costanzini, Sofia; Ghermandi, Grazia; Malagoli, Carlotta; Vinceti, Marco

2018-01-01

Gaussian dispersion models are widely used to simulate the concentrations and deposition fluxes of pollutants emitted by source areas. Very often, the calculation time limits the number of sources and receptors and the geometry of the sources must be simple and without holes. This paper presents CAREA, a new GIS-based Gaussian model for complex source areas. CAREA was coded in the Python language, and is largely based on a simplified formulation of the very popular and recognized AERMOD model. The model allows users to define in a GIS environment thousands of gridded or scattered receptors and thousands of complex sources with hundreds of vertices and holes. CAREA computes ground level, or near ground level, concentrations and dry deposition fluxes of pollutants. The input/output and the runs of the model can be completely managed in GIS environment (e.g. inside a GIS project). The paper presents the CAREA formulation and its applications to very complex test cases. The tests shows that the processing time are satisfactory and that the definition of sources and receptors and the output retrieval are quite easy in a GIS environment. CAREA and AERMOD are compared using simple and reproducible test cases. The comparison shows that CAREA satisfactorily reproduces AERMOD simulations and is considerably faster than AERMOD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Implementation of GIS-based highway safety analyses : bridging the gap

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-01-01

In recent years, efforts have been made to expand the analytical features of the Highway Safety Information System (HSIS) by integrating Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilities. The original version of the GIS Safety Analysis Tools was relea...

Cooperation and Patience: The Key To A High Quality, Sustainable GIS

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-09-16

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provides a powerful tool to transportation : planners and engineers for a variety of analytical tasks. However, even with : the advent of PC-based GIS systems and strong state and federal support, : transportation...

Designing a Structured and Interactive Learning Environment Based on GIS for Secondary Geography Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Suxia; Zhu, Xuan

2008-01-01

Geographic information systems (GIS) are computer-based tools for geographic data analysis and spatial visualization. They have become one of the information and communications technologies for education at all levels. This article reviews the current status of GIS in schools, analyzes the requirements of a GIS-based learning environment from…

INTRODUCTION TO THE LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS TOOLS ARCVIEW EXTENSION

EPA Science Inventory

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become a powerful tool in the field of landscape ecology. A common application of GIS is the generation of landscape indicators, which are quantitative measurements of the status or potential health of an area (e.g. watershed or county). ...

ANALYTICAL TOOLS INTERFACE FOR LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENTS (ATTILA) ARCVIEW EXTENTION

EPA Science Inventory

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become a powerful tool in the field of landscape ecology. A common application of GIS is the generation of landscape metrics, which are quantitative measurements of the status or potential health of an area (e.g. ecological region, waters...

First GIS Analysis of Modern Stone Tools Used by Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Bossou, Guinea, West Africa

PubMed Central

Arroyo, Adrian; Matsuzawa, Tetsuro; de la Torre, Ignacio

2015-01-01

Stone tool use by wild chimpanzees of West Africa offers a unique opportunity to explore the evolutionary roots of technology during human evolution. However, detailed analyses of chimpanzee stone artifacts are still lacking, thus precluding a comparison with the earliest archaeological record. This paper presents the first systematic study of stone tools used by wild chimpanzees to crack open nuts in Bossou (Guinea-Conakry), and applies pioneering analytical techniques to such artifacts. Automatic morphometric GIS classification enabled to create maps of use wear over the stone tools (anvils, hammers, and hammers/ anvils), which were blind tested with GIS spatial analysis of damage patterns identified visually. Our analysis shows that chimpanzee stone tool use wear can be systematized and specific damage patterns discerned, allowing to discriminate between active and passive pounders in lithic assemblages. In summary, our results demonstrate the heuristic potential of combined suites of GIS techniques for the analysis of battered artifacts, and have enabled creating a referential framework of analysis in which wild chimpanzee battered tools can for the first time be directly compared to the early archaeological record. PMID:25793642

A geographic information system screening tool to tackle diffuse pollution through the use of sustainable drainage systems.

PubMed

Todorovic, Zorica; Breton, Neil P

2014-01-01

Sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) offer many benefits that traditional solutions do not. Traditional approaches are unable to offer a solution to problems of flood management and water quality. Holistic consideration of the wide range of benefits from SUDS can result in advantages such as improved flood resilience and water quality enhancement through consideration of diffuse pollution sources. Using a geographical information system (GIS) approach, diffuse pollutant sources and opportunities for SUDS are easily identified. Consideration of potential SUDS locations results in source, site and regional controls, leading to improved water quality (to meet Water Framework Directive targets). The paper will discuss two different applications of the tool, the first of which is where the pollutant of interest is known. In this case the outputs of the tool highlight and isolate the areas contributing the pollutants and suggest the adequate SUDS measures to meet the required criteria. The second application is where the tool identifies likely pollutants at a receiving location, and SUDS measures are proposed to reduce pollution with assessed efficiencies.

Digital surveying and mapping of forest road network for development of a GIS tool for the effective protection and management of natural ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drosos, Vasileios C.; Liampas, Sarantis-Aggelos G.; Doukas, Aristotelis-Kosmas G.

2014-08-01

In our time, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become important tools, not only in the geosciences and environmental sciences, as well as virtually for all researches that require monitoring, planning or land management. The purpose of this paper was to develop a planning tool and decision making tool using AutoCAD Map software, ArcGIS and Google Earth with emphasis on the investigation of the suitability of forest roads' mapping and the range of its implementation in Greece in prefecture level. Integrating spatial information into a database makes data available throughout the organization; improving quality, productivity, and data management. Also working in such an environment, you can: Access and edit information, integrate and analyze data and communicate effectively. To select desirable information such as forest road network in a very early stage in the planning of silviculture operations, for example before the planning of the harvest is carried out. The software programs that were used were AutoCAD Map for the export in shape files for the GPS data, and ArcGIS in shape files (ArcGlobe), while Google Earth with KML files (Keyhole Markup Language) in order to better visualize and evaluate existing conditions, design in a real-world context and exchange information with government agencies, utilities, and contractors in both CAD and GIS data formats. The automation of the updating procedure and transfer of any files between agencies-departments is one of the main tasks of the integrated GIS-tool among the others should be addressed.

ArcCN-Runoff: An ArcGIS tool for generating curve number and runoff maps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zhan, X.; Huang, M.-L.

2004-01-01

The development and the application of ArcCN-Runoff tool, an extension of ESRI@ ArcGIS software, are reported. This tool can be applied to determine curve numbers and to calculate runoff or infiltration for a rainfall event in a watershed. Implementation of GIS techniques such as dissolving, intersecting, and a curve-number reference table improve efficiency. Technical processing time may be reduced from days, if not weeks, to hours for producing spatially varied curve number and runoff maps. An application example for a watershed in Lyon County and Osage County, Kansas, USA, is presented. ?? 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Making geospatial data in ASF archive readily accessible

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gens, R.; Hogenson, K.; Wolf, V. G.; Drew, L.; Stern, T.; Stoner, M.; Shapran, M.

2015-12-01

The way geospatial data is searched, managed, processed and used has changed significantly in recent years. A data archive such as the one at the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF), one of NASA's twelve interlinked Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs), used to be searched solely via user interfaces that were specifically developed for its particular archive and data sets. ASF then moved to using an application programming interface (API) that defined a set of routines, protocols, and tools for distributing the geospatial information stored in the database in real time. This provided a more flexible access to the geospatial data. Yet, it was up to user to develop the tools to get a more tailored access to the data they needed. We present two new approaches for serving data to users. In response to the recent Nepal earthquake we developed a data feed for distributing ESA's Sentinel data. Users can subscribe to the data feed and are provided with the relevant metadata the moment a new data set is available for download. The second approach was an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) web feature service (WFS). The WFS hosts the metadata along with a direct link from which the data can be downloaded. It uses the open-source GeoServer software (Youngblood and Iacovella, 2013) and provides an interface to include the geospatial information in the archive directly into the user's geographic information system (GIS) as an additional data layer. Both services are run on top of a geospatial PostGIS database, an open-source geographic extension for the PostgreSQL object-relational database (Marquez, 2015). Marquez, A., 2015. PostGIS essentials. Packt Publishing, 198 p. Youngblood, B. and Iacovella, S., 2013. GeoServer Beginner's Guide, Packt Publishing, 350 p.

AUTOMATED GEOSPATIAL WATERSHED ASSESSMENT (AGWA): A GIS-BASED TOOL FOR WATERSHED ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING

EPA Science Inventory

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment tool (AGWA) is a GIS interface jointly developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Arizona, and the University of Wyoming to automate the parameterization and execu...

Secondary GIS built environment data for health research: guidance for data development

PubMed Central

Stewart, Orion T.; Carlos, Heather A.; Lee, Chanam; Berke, Ethan M.; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Li, Li; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Doescher, Mark P.

2016-01-01

Built environment (BE) data in geographic information system (GIS) format are increasingly available from public agencies and private providers. These data can provide objective, low-cost BE data over large regions and are often used in public health research and surveillance. Yet challenges exist in repurposing GIS data for health research. The GIS data do not always capture desired constructs; the data can be of varying quality and completeness; and the data definitions, structures, and spatial representations are often inconsistent across sources. Using the Small Town Walkability study as an illustration, we describe (a) the range of BE characteristics measurable in a GIS that may be associated with active living, (b) the availability of these data across nine U.S. small towns, (c) inconsistencies in the GIS BE data that were available, and (d) strategies for developing accurate, complete, and consistent GIS BE data appropriate for research. Based on a conceptual framework and existing literature, objectively measurable characteristics of the BE potentially related to active living were classified under nine domains: generalized land uses, morphology, density, destinations, transportation system, traffic conditions, neighborhood behavioral conditions, economic environment, and regional location. At least some secondary GIS data were available across all nine towns for seven of the nine BE domains. Data representing high-resolution or behavioral aspects of the BE were often not available. Available GIS BE data - especially tax parcel data - often contained varying attributes and levels of detail across sources. When GIS BE data were available from multiple sources, the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of the data could be reasonable ensured for use in research. But this required careful attention to the definition and spatial representation of the BE characteristic of interest. Manipulation of the secondary source data was often required, which was facilitated through protocols. PMID:28459001

Secondary GIS built environment data for health research: guidance for data development.

PubMed

Stewart, Orion T; Carlos, Heather A; Lee, Chanam; Berke, Ethan M; Hurvitz, Philip M; Li, Li; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Doescher, Mark P

2016-12-01

Built environment (BE) data in geographic information system (GIS) format are increasingly available from public agencies and private providers. These data can provide objective, low-cost BE data over large regions and are often used in public health research and surveillance. Yet challenges exist in repurposing GIS data for health research. The GIS data do not always capture desired constructs; the data can be of varying quality and completeness; and the data definitions, structures, and spatial representations are often inconsistent across sources. Using the Small Town Walkability study as an illustration, we describe (a) the range of BE characteristics measurable in a GIS that may be associated with active living, (b) the availability of these data across nine U.S. small towns, (c) inconsistencies in the GIS BE data that were available, and (d) strategies for developing accurate, complete, and consistent GIS BE data appropriate for research. Based on a conceptual framework and existing literature, objectively measurable characteristics of the BE potentially related to active living were classified under nine domains: generalized land uses, morphology, density, destinations, transportation system, traffic conditions, neighborhood behavioral conditions, economic environment, and regional location. At least some secondary GIS data were available across all nine towns for seven of the nine BE domains. Data representing high-resolution or behavioral aspects of the BE were often not available. Available GIS BE data - especially tax parcel data - often contained varying attributes and levels of detail across sources. When GIS BE data were available from multiple sources, the accuracy, completeness, and consistency of the data could be reasonable ensured for use in research. But this required careful attention to the definition and spatial representation of the BE characteristic of interest. Manipulation of the secondary source data was often required, which was facilitated through protocols.

[Applications of GIS in biomass energy source research].

PubMed

Su, Xian-Ming; Wang, Wu-Kui; Li, Yi-Wei; Sun, Wen-Xiang; Shi, Hai; Zhang, Da-Hong

2010-03-01

Biomass resources have the characteristics of widespread and dispersed distribution, which have close relations to the environment, climate, soil, and land use, etc. Geographic information system (GIS) has the functions of spatial analysis and the flexibility of integrating with other application models and algorithms, being of predominance to the biomass energy source research. This paper summarized the researches on the GIS applications in biomass energy source research, with the focus in the feasibility study of bioenergy development, assessment of biomass resources amount and distribution, layout of biomass exploitation and utilization, evaluation of gaseous emission from biomass burning, and biomass energy information system. Three perspectives of GIS applications in biomass energy source research were proposed, i. e., to enrich the data source, to improve the capacity on data processing and decision-support, and to generate the online proposal.

Megasite Management Tool (mmt): a Decision Support System Built Using Mapwindow Activex Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulsani, B. R.

2017-11-01

Megasite Management Tool (MMT) is planning and evaluation software for contaminated sites. Using different statistical modules, MMT produces maps which help decision makers in rehabilitating contaminated sites. The input data used by MMT is of geographic nature and exists as shapefile and raster format. As MMT is built using simple windows forms application, the objective of the study was to find a way to visualize geographic data and to allow the user to edit its attribute information. Therefore, the application requirement was to find GIS libraries which offer capabilities such as (1) map viewer with navigation tools (2) library to read/write geographic data and (3) software which allows free distribution of the developed components. A research on these requirements led to the discovery of MapWindow ActiveX components which not only offered these capabilities but also provided free and open source licensing options for redistribution. Although considerable amount of reports and publications exist on MMT, the major contribution provided by MapWindow libraries have been under played. The current study emphasises upon the contribution and advantages MapWindow ActiveX provides for incorporating GIS functionality to an already existing application. Similar components for other languages have also been reviewed.

Situational Awareness Geospatial Application (iSAGA)

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

Sher, Benjamin

Situational Awareness Geospatial Application (iSAGA) is a geospatial situational awareness software tool that uses an algorithm to extract location data from nearly any internet-based, or custom data source and display it geospatially; allows user-friendly conduct of spatial analysis using custom-developed tools; searches complex Geographic Information System (GIS) databases and accesses high resolution imagery. iSAGA has application at the federal, state and local levels of emergency response, consequence management, law enforcement, emergency operations and other decision makers as a tool to provide complete, visual, situational awareness using data feeds and tools selected by the individual agency or organization. Feeds may bemore » layered and custom tools developed to uniquely suit each subscribing agency or organization. iSAGA may similarly be applied to international agencies and organizations.« less

OVERVIEW OF GIS APPLICATIONS IN ESTUARINE MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT RESEARCH

EPA Science Inventory

Geographic information systems (GIS) tools are now considered integral in estuarine monitoring and assessment research. A synopsis is presented of our estuarine applications of GIS in the Northeast region of the U.S. The applications discussed cover sample site selection, support...

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as an Evaluation Tool.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Renger, Ralph; Cimetta, Adriana; Pettygrove, Sydney; Rogan, Seumas

2002-01-01

Describes how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to help evaluators convey complex information simply through a spatial representation. Demonstrates how GIS can be used to plot change over time, including impact and outcome data gathered by primary data collection. (SLD)

Visualizing Economic Development with ArcGIS Explorer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webster, Megan L.; Milson, Andrew J.

2011-01-01

Numerous educators have noted that Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a powerful tool for social studies teaching and learning. Yet the use of GIS has been hampered by issues such as the cost of the software and the management of large spatial data files. One trend that shows great promise for GIS in education is the move to cloud computing.…

Initiating the Use of GIS Technology in Wyoming Public Schools through In-Service Workshops.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buss, Alan R.; McClurg, Patricia A.

This paper reports the results of a 2-year study investigating the types of experiences and support necessary for in-service teachers to effectively integrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in their teaching/learning environments. The complex nature of GIS software prompted the authors to ask whether GIS can be a useful tool in the…

Enhancing the Delivery of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education through Geographic Information Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, Matthew

2011-01-01

The Network for a Healthy California (Network) employs a Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify the target audience and plan program activities because GIS is a powerful tool for assisting in data integration and planning. This paper describes common uses of GIS by Network contractors as well as demonstrating the possibilities of GIS as a…

Telearch - Integrated visual simulation environment for collaborative virtual archaeology.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurillo, Gregorij; Forte, Maurizio

Archaeologists collect vast amounts of digital data around the world; however, they lack tools for integration and collaborative interaction to support reconstruction and interpretation process. TeleArch software is aimed to integrate different data sources and provide real-time interaction tools for remote collaboration of geographically distributed scholars inside a shared virtual environment. The framework also includes audio, 2D and 3D video streaming technology to facilitate remote presence of users. In this paper, we present several experimental case studies to demonstrate the integration and interaction with 3D models and geographical information system (GIS) data in this collaborative environment.

Improving data discoverability, accessibility, and interoperability with the Esri ArcGIS Platform at the NASA Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC).

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tisdale, M.

2017-12-01

NASA's Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) is operationally using the Esri ArcGIS Platform to improve data discoverability, accessibility and interoperability to meet the diversifying user requirements from government, private, public and academic communities. The ASDC is actively working to provide their mission essential datasets as ArcGIS Image Services, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Mapping Services (WMS), and OGC Web Coverage Services (WCS) while leveraging the ArcGIS multidimensional mosaic dataset structure. Science teams at ASDC are utilizing these services through the development of applications using the Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS and the ArcGIS API for Javascript. These services provide greater exposure of ASDC data holdings to the GIS community and allow for broader sharing and distribution to various end users. These capabilities provide interactive visualization tools and improved geospatial analytical tools for a mission critical understanding in the areas of the earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric chemistry. The presentation will cover how the ASDC is developing geospatial web services and applications to improve data discoverability, accessibility, and interoperability.

Application of GIS Rapid Mapping Technology in Disaster Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Z.; Tu, J.; Liu, G.; Zhao, Q.

2018-04-01

With the rapid development of GIS and RS technology, especially in recent years, GIS technology and its software functions have been increasingly mature and enhanced. And with the rapid development of mathematical statistical tools for spatial modeling and simulation, has promoted the widespread application and popularization of quantization in the field of geology. Based on the investigation of field disaster and the construction of spatial database, this paper uses remote sensing image, DEM and GIS technology to obtain the data information of disaster vulnerability analysis, and makes use of the information model to carry out disaster risk assessment mapping.Using ArcGIS software and its spatial data modeling method, the basic data information of the disaster risk mapping process was acquired and processed, and the spatial data simulation tool was used to map the disaster rapidly.

GIS tools, courses, and learning pathways offered by The National Interagency Fuels, Fire, and Vegetation Technology Transfer (NIFTT)

Treesearch

Heather Heward; Kathy H. Schon

2009-01-01

As technology continues to evolve in the area of fuel and wildland fire management so does the need to have effective tools and training on these technologies. The National Interagency Fuels Coordination Group has chartered a team of professionals to coordinate, develop, and transfer consistent, efficient, science-based fuel and fire ecology assessment GIS tools and...

The GIS weasel - An interface for the development of spatial information in modeling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Viger, R.J.; Markstrom, S.M.; Leavesley, G.H.; ,

2005-01-01

The GIS Weasel is a map and Graphical User Interface (GUI) driven tool that has been developed as an aid to modelers in the delineation, characterization of geographic features, and their parameterization for use in distributed or lumped parameter physical process models. The interface does not require user expertise in geographic information systems (GIS). The user does need knowledge of how the model will use the output from the GIS Weasel. The GIS Weasel uses Workstation ArcInfo and its the Grid extension. The GIS Weasel will run on all platforms that Workstation ArcInfo runs (i.e. numerous flavors of Unix and Microsoft Windows).The GIS Weasel requires an input ArcInfo grid of some topographical description of the Area of Interest (AOI). This is normally a digital elevation model, but can be the surface of a ground water table or any other data that flow direction can be resolved from. The user may define the AOI as a custom drainage area based on an interactively specified watershed outlet point, or use a previously created map. The user is then able to use any combination of the GIS Weasel's tool set to create one or more maps for depicting different kinds of geographic features. Once the spatial feature maps have been prepared, then the GIS Weasel s many parameterization routines can be used to create descriptions of each element in each of the user s created maps. Over 200 parameterization routines currently exist, generating information about shape, area, and topological association with other features of the same or different maps, as well many types of information based on ancillary data layers such as soil and vegetation properties. These tools easily integrate other similarly formatted data sets.

INTRODUCTION TO ATTILA (ANALYTICAL TOOLS INTERFACE FOR LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENTS): AN ARCVIEW EXTENSION

EPA Science Inventory

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become a powerful tool in the field of landscape ecology. A common application of GIS is the generation of landscape indicators, which are quantitative measurements of the status or potential health of an area (e.g. ecological region, wat...

REMOTE SENSING TOOLS ASSIST IN ENVIRONMENTAL FORENSICS PART II - DIGITAL TOOLS

EPA Science Inventory

This is part two of a two-part discussion, in which we will provide an overview of the use of GIS and GPS in environmental analysis and enforcement.

GIS describes a system that manages, analyzes and displays geographic information. Environmental applications include anal...

AUTOMATED GEOSPATIAL WATERSHED ASSESSMENT (AGWA): A GIS-BASED HYDROLOGIC MODELING TOOL FOR WATERSHED ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS

EPA Science Inventory

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment tool (AGWA) is a GIS interface jointly developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Arizona, and the University of Wyoming to automate the parameterization and execu...

AUTOMATED GEOSPATICAL WATERSHED ASSESSMENT (AGWA): A GIS-BASED HYDROLOICAL MODELING TOOL FOR WATERSHED ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS

EPA Science Inventory

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment tool (AGWA) is a GIS interface jointly developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Arizona, and the University of Wyoming to automate the parameterization and execut...

Integrating Transportation Modeling and Desktop GIS: A Practical and Affordable Analysis Tool for Small and Medium Sized Communities

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-09-16

This paper and presentation discuss some of the benefits of integrating travel : demand models and desktop GIS (ArchInfo and ArcView for PCs) as a : cost-effective and staff saving tool, as well as specific improvements to : transportation planning m...

GIS as a tool for efficient management of transport streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zatserkovnyi, V. I.; Kobrin, O. V.

2015-10-01

The transport network, which is an ideal object for the automation and the increase of efficiency using geographic information systems (GIS), is considered. The transport problems, which have a lot of mathematical models of the traffic flow for their solution, are enumerated. GIS analysis tools that allow one to build optimal routes in the real road network with its capabilities and limitations are presented. They can solve the extremely important problem of modern Ukraine - the rapid increase of the number of cars and the glut of road network vehicles. The intelligent transport systems, which are created and developed on the basis of GPS, GIS, modern communications and telecommunications facilities, are considered.

Tank Information System (tis): a Case Study in Migrating Web Mapping Application from Flex to Dojo for Arcgis Server and then to Open Source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulsani, B. R.

2017-11-01

Tank Information System is a web application which provides comprehensive information about minor irrigation tanks of Telangana State. As part of the program, a web mapping application using Flex and ArcGIS server was developed to make the data available to the public. In course of time as Flex be-came outdated, a migration of the client interface to the latest JavaScript based technologies was carried out. Initially, the Flex based application was migrated to ArcGIS JavaScript API using Dojo Toolkit. Both the client applications used published services from ArcGIS server. To check the migration pattern from proprietary to open source, the JavaScript based ArcGIS application was later migrated to OpenLayers and Dojo Toolkit which used published service from GeoServer. The migration pattern noticed in the study especially emphasizes upon the use of Dojo Toolkit and PostgreSQL database for ArcGIS server so that migration to open source could be performed effortlessly. The current ap-plication provides a case in study which could assist organizations in migrating their proprietary based ArcGIS web applications to open source. Furthermore, the study reveals cost benefits of adopting open source against commercial software's.

Part 3 Specialized aspects of GIS and spatial analysis . Garage band science and dynamic spatial models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Box, Paul W.

GIS and spatial analysis is suited mainly for static pictures of the landscape, but many of the processes that need exploring are dynamic in nature. Dynamic processes can be complex when put in a spatial context; our ability to study such processes will probably come with advances in understanding complex systems in general. Cellular automata and agent-based models are two prime candidates for exploring complex spatial systems, but are difficult to implement. Innovative tools that help build complex simulations will create larger user communities, who will probably find novel solutions for understanding complexity. A significant source for such innovations is likely to be from the collective efforts of hobbyists and part-time programmers, who have been dubbed ``garage-band scientists'' in the popular press.

A GIS planning model for urban oil spill management.

PubMed

Li, J

2001-01-01

Oil spills in industrialized cities pose a significant threat to their urban water environment. The largest city in Canada, the city of Toronto, has an average 300-500 oil spills per year with an average total volume of about 160,000 L/year. About 45% of the spills was eventually cleaned up. Given the enormous amount of remaining oil entering into the fragile urban ecosystem, it is important to develop an effective pollution prevention and control plan for the city. A Geographic Information System (GIS) planning model has been developed to characterize oil spills and determine preventive and control measures available in the city. A database of oil spill records from 1988 to 1997 was compiled and geo-referenced. Attributes to each record such as spill volume, oil type, location, road type, sector, source, cleanup percentage, and environmental impacts were created. GIS layers of woodlots, wetlands, watercourses, Environmental Sensitive Areas, and Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest were obtained from the local Conservation Authority. By overlaying the spill characteristics with the GIS layers, evaluation of preventive and control solutions close to these environmental features was conducted. It was found that employee training and preventive maintenance should be improved as the principal cause of spills was attributed to human errors and equipment failure. Additionally, the cost of using oil separators at strategic spill locations was found to be $1.4 million. The GIS model provides an efficient planning tool for urban oil spill management. Additionally, the graphical capability of GIS allows users to integrate environmental features and spill characteristics in the management analysis.

The Potential of GIS as a Management Tool for Avenue Trees Population in Small Communities; a Case Study of Idi-Shin Community, Ibadan, Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olokeogun, O. S.; Akintola, O. O.; Abodunrin, E. K.

2016-06-01

This study demonstrates the potentials of Geographic Information System (GIS) as a management tool for avenue trees (Street trees) populations in small communities (using Idi-Ishin community, Ibadan, Nigeria as a case study). GIS is a decision support system which integrate data or set of data from different sources, bringing them under the same referencing system in a computer system. An Ikonos Imagery (1m Spatial Resolution) of the study area was digitized to produce a digital map using ArcGIS 10.1 version. The avenue trees species ≥ 5cm diameter at breast height (DBH) was selected for enumeration. These trees were then measured and tagged. The Height, Girth and Geographic location (X &Y coordinate) of the trees were measured with Haga altimeter, Girthing tape and Hand held Global Positioning System (GPS) respectively. The species and families of the trees enumerated were also identified. Data were analysed for basal area (BA) and volume (V). A total number of 43 avenue trees were assessed in Idi-Ishin Community. Roystonea regia accounted for the majority of the avenue trees (25.58%), followed by Polyanthia longiflora (23.26%), Gliricida seprium (20.93%), Eucalyptus toreliana (13.95%), Delunix regea (6.98%). However Terminalia catapa, Terminalia radii, Azadrachita indica and Newbodia levis had the same abundance of 2.33%. It was also observed that the benefits derived from these avenue trees includes; Carbon sequestration, Beautification, Wind break and shade. A spatial relational database was created for the assessed avenue trees using ArcCatalog of ArcGIS 10.1 version. Based on the findings from the study (which serves as baseline information for the management of the avenue trees in the study area), it was therefore recommended that subsequent assessment should be carried out at 3-5 year interval in other to ensure proper and continuous monitoring and updating of the data.

Excel Spreadsheet Tools for Analyzing Groundwater Level Records and Displaying Information in ArcMap

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tillman, Fred D.

2009-01-01

When beginning hydrologic investigations, a first action is often to gather existing sources of well information, compile this information into a single dataset, and visualize this information in a geographic information system (GIS) environment. This report presents tools (macros) developed using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for Microsoft Excel 2007 to assist in these tasks. One tool combines multiple datasets into a single worksheet and formats the resulting data for use by the other tools. A second tool produces summary information about the dataset, such as a list of unique site identification numbers, the number of water-level observations for each, and a table of the number of sites with a listed number of water-level observations. A third tool creates subsets of the original dataset based on user-specified options and produces a worksheet with water-level information for each well in the subset, including the average and standard deviation of water-level observations and maximum decline and rise in water levels between any two observations, among other information. This water-level information worksheet can be imported directly into ESRI ArcMap as an 'XY Data' file, and each of the fields of summary well information can be used for custom display. A separate set of VBA tools distributed in an additional Excel workbook creates hydrograph charts of each of the wells in the data subset produced by the aforementioned tools and produces portable document format (PDF) versions of the hydrograph charts. These PDF hydrographs can be hyperlinked to well locations in ArcMap or other GIS applications.

Using R to implement spatial analysis in open source environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Yixi; Chen, Dong; Zhao, Bo

2007-06-01

R is an open source (GPL) language and environment for spatial analysis, statistical computing and graphics which provides a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques, and is highly extensible. In the Open Source environment it plays an important role in doing spatial analysis. So, to implement spatial analysis in the Open Source environment which we called the Open Source geocomputation is using the R data analysis language integrated with GRASS GIS and MySQL or PostgreSQL. This paper explains the architecture of the Open Source GIS environment and emphasizes the role R plays in the aspect of spatial analysis. Furthermore, one apt illustration of the functions of R is given in this paper through the project of constructing CZPGIS (Cheng Zhou Population GIS) supported by Changzhou Government, China. In this project we use R to implement the geostatistics in the Open Source GIS environment to evaluate the spatial correlation of land price and estimate it by Kriging Interpolation. We also use R integrated with MapServer and php to show how R and other Open Source software cooperate with each other in WebGIS environment, which represents the advantages of using R to implement spatial analysis in Open Source GIS environment. And in the end, we points out that the packages for spatial analysis in R is still scattered and the limited memory is still a bottleneck when large sum of clients connect at the same time. Therefore further work is to group the extensive packages in order or design normative packages and make R cooperate better with other commercial software such as ArcIMS. Also we look forward to developing packages for land price evaluation.

WebEQ: a web-GIS System to collect, display and query data for the management of the earthquake emergency in Central Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbone, Gianluca; Cosentino, Giuseppe; Pennica, Francesco; Moscatelli, Massimiliano; Stigliano, Francesco

2017-04-01

After the strong earthquakes that hit central Italy in recent months, the Center for Seismic Microzonation and its applications (CentroMS) was commissioned by the Italian Department of Civil Protection to conduct the study of seismic microzonation of the territories affected by the earthquake of August 24, 2016. As part of the activities of microzonation, IGAG CNR has created WebEQ, a management tool of the data that have been acquired by all participants (i.e., more than twenty research institutes and university departments). The data collection was organized and divided into sub-areas, assigned to working groups with multidisciplinary expertise in geology, geophysics and engineering. WebEQ is a web-GIS System that helps all the subjects involved in the data collection activities, through tools aimed at data uploading and validation, and with a simple GIS interface to display, query and download geographic data. WebEQ is contributing to the creation of a large database containing geographical data, both vector and raster, from various sources and types: - Regional Technical Map em Geological and geomorphological maps em Data location maps em Maps of microzones homogeneous in seismic perspective and seismic microzonation maps em National strong motion network location. Data loading is done through simple input masks that ensure consistency with the database structure, avoiding possible errors and helping users to interact with the map through user-friendly tools. All the data are thematized through standardized symbologies and colors (Gruppo di lavoro MS 2008), in order to allow the easy interpretation by all users. The data download tools allow data exchange between working groups and the scientific community to benefit from the activities. The seismic microzonation activities are still ongoing. WebEQ is enabling easy management of large amounts of data and will form a basis for the development of tools for the management of the upcoming seismic emergencies.

Monitoring Areal Snow Cover Using NASA Satellite Imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harshburger, Brian J.; Blandford, Troy; Moore, Brandon

2011-01-01

The objective of this project is to develop products and tools to assist in the hydrologic modeling process, including tools to help prepare inputs for hydrologic models and improved methods for the visualization of streamflow forecasts. In addition, this project will facilitate the use of NASA satellite imagery (primarily snow cover imagery) by other federal and state agencies with operational streamflow forecasting responsibilities. A GIS software toolkit for monitoring areal snow cover extent and producing streamflow forecasts is being developed. This toolkit will be packaged as multiple extensions for ArcGIS 9.x and an opensource GIS software package. The toolkit will provide users with a means for ingesting NASA EOS satellite imagery (snow cover analysis), preparing hydrologic model inputs, and visualizing streamflow forecasts. Primary products include a software tool for predicting the presence of snow under clouds in satellite images; a software tool for producing gridded temperature and precipitation forecasts; and a suite of tools for visualizing hydrologic model forecasting results. The toolkit will be an expert system designed for operational users that need to generate accurate streamflow forecasts in a timely manner. The Remote Sensing of Snow Cover Toolbar will ingest snow cover imagery from multiple sources, including the MODIS Operational Snowcover Data and convert them to gridded datasets that can be readily used. Statistical techniques will then be applied to the gridded snow cover data to predict the presence of snow under cloud cover. The toolbar has the ability to ingest both binary and fractional snow cover data. Binary mapping techniques use a set of thresholds to determine whether a pixel contains snow or no snow. Fractional mapping techniques provide information regarding the percentage of each pixel that is covered with snow. After the imagery has been ingested, physiographic data is attached to each cell in the snow cover image. This data can be obtained from a digital elevation model (DEM) for the area of interest.

An ArcGIS decision support tool for artificial reefs site selection (ArcGIS ARSS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stylianou, Stavros; Zodiatis, George

2017-04-01

Although the use and benefits of artificial reefs, both socio-economic and environmental, have been recognized with research and national development programmes worldwide their development is rarely subjected to a rigorous site selection process and the majority of the projects use the traditional (non-GIS) approach, based on trial and error mode. Recent studies have shown that the use of Geographic Information Systems, unlike to traditional methods, for the identification of suitable areas for artificial reefs siting seems to offer a number of distinct advantages minimizing possible errors, time and cost. A decision support tool (DSS) has been developed based on the existing knowledge, the multi-criteria decision analysis techniques and the GIS approach used in previous studies in order to help the stakeholders to identify the optimal locations for artificial reefs deployment on the basis of the physical, biological, oceanographic and socio-economic features of the sites. The tool provides to the users the ability to produce a final report with the results and suitability maps. The ArcGIS ARSS support tool runs within the existing ArcMap 10.2.x environment and for the development the VB .NET high level programming language has been used along with ArcObjects 10.2.x. Two local-scale case studies were conducted in order to test the application of the tool focusing on artificial reef siting. The results obtained from the case studies have shown that the tool can be successfully integrated within the site selection process in order to select objectively the optimal site for artificial reefs deployment.

AUTOMATED GEOSPATIAL WATERSHED ASSESSMENT (AGWA): A GIS-BASED HYRDOLOGIC MODELING TOOL FOR WATERSHED ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS

EPA Science Inventory

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment tool (AGWA) is a GIS interface jointly

developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency, the University of Arizona, and the University of Wyoming to automate the

parame...

AUTOMATED GEOSPATIAL WATERSHED ASSESSMENT (AGWA): A GIS-BASED HYDROLOGICAL MODELING TOOL FOR WATERSHED MANAGEMENT AND LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT

EPA Science Inventory

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment (http://www.epa.gov/nerlesd1/land-sci/agwa/introduction.htm and www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/agwa) tool is a GIS interface jointly developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, and the University ...

GIS as a Tool in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies: Student, Teacher, and Community Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alibrandi, Marsha

1998-01-01

Describes an application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology as a tool in an environmental community-service project in which students and adult community members participated in water-quality monitoring and biological assessment. Discusses issues and problems associated with technology in education and recommends a balance of…

RacerGISOnline: Enhancing Learning in Marketing Classes with Web-Based Business GIS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Fred L.; Mangold, W. Glynn; Roach, Joy; Brockway, Gary; Johnston, Timothy; Linnhoff, Stefan; McNeely, Sam; Smith, Kathy; Holmes, Terence

2014-01-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offer geospatial analytical tools with great potential for applications in marketing decision making. However, for various reasons, the rate of adoption of these tools in academic marketing programs has lagged behind that of marketing practitioners. RacerGISOnline is an innovative approach to integrating these…

Web-GIS-based SARS epidemic situation visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Xiaolin

2004-03-01

In order to research, perform statistical analysis and broadcast the information of SARS epidemic situation according to the relevant spatial position, this paper proposed a unified global visualization information platform for SARS epidemic situation based on Web-GIS and scientific virtualization technology. To setup the unified global visual information platform, the architecture of Web-GIS based interoperable information system is adopted to enable public report SARS virus information to health cure center visually by using the web visualization technology. A GIS java applet is used to visualize the relationship between spatial graphical data and virus distribution, and other web based graphics figures such as curves, bars, maps and multi-dimensional figures are used to visualize the relationship between SARS virus tendency with time, patient number or locations. The platform is designed to display the SARS information in real time, simulate visually for real epidemic situation and offer an analyzing tools for health department and the policy-making government department to support the decision-making for preventing against the SARS epidemic virus. It could be used to analyze the virus condition through visualized graphics interface, isolate the areas of virus source, and control the virus condition within shortest time. It could be applied to the visualization field of SARS preventing systems for SARS information broadcasting, data management, statistical analysis, and decision supporting.

Land Use Planning Exercise Using Geographic Information Systems and Digital Soil Surveys

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stout, Heidi M.; Lee, Brad D.

2004-01-01

Geographic information system (GIS) technology has become a valuable tool for environmental science professionals. By incorporating GIS into college-level course curricula, agricultural students become better qualified for employment opportunities. We have developed a case study-based laboratory exercise that introduces students to GIS and the…

Making Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Sustainable in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dascombe, Brett

2006-01-01

Spatial technologies, particularly Geographic Information Systems (GIS), have become invaluable and persuasive tools in society today. These technologies have also made their way into classrooms around the world and Australian teachers are leaders in implementing GIS technology into their classrooms. There is still a way to go in order to make…

ESMPy and OpenClimateGIS: Python Interfaces for High Performance Grid Remapping and Geospatial Dataset Manipulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Kuinghttons, Ryan; Koziol, Benjamin; Oehmke, Robert; DeLuca, Cecelia; Theurich, Gerhard; Li, Peggy; Jacob, Joseph

2016-04-01

The Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) Python interface (ESMPy) supports analysis and visualization in Earth system modeling codes by providing access to a variety of tools for data manipulation. ESMPy started as a Python interface to the ESMF grid remapping package, which provides mature and robust high-performance and scalable grid remapping between 2D and 3D logically rectangular and unstructured grids and sets of unconnected data. ESMPy now also interfaces with OpenClimateGIS (OCGIS), a package that performs subsetting, reformatting, and computational operations on climate datasets. ESMPy exposes a subset of ESMF grid remapping utilities. This includes bilinear, finite element patch recovery, first-order conservative, and nearest neighbor grid remapping methods. There are also options to ignore unmapped destination points, mask points on source and destination grids, and provide grid structure in the polar regions. Grid remapping on the sphere takes place in 3D Cartesian space, so the pole problem is not an issue as it can be with other grid remapping software. Remapping can be done between any combination of 2D and 3D logically rectangular and unstructured grids with overlapping domains. Grid pairs where one side of the regridding is represented by an appropriate set of unconnected data points, as is commonly found with observational data streams, is also supported. There is a developing interoperability layer between ESMPy and OpenClimateGIS (OCGIS). OCGIS is a pure Python, open source package designed for geospatial manipulation, subsetting, and computation on climate datasets stored in local NetCDF files or accessible remotely via the OPeNDAP protocol. Interfacing with OCGIS has brought GIS-like functionality to ESMPy (i.e. subsetting, coordinate transformations) as well as additional file output formats (i.e. CSV, ESRI Shapefile). ESMPy is distinguished by its strong emphasis on open source, community governance, and distributed development. The user base has grown quickly, and the package is integrating with several other software tools and frameworks. These include the Ultrascale Visualization Climate Data Analysis Tools (UV-CDAT), Iris, PyFerret, cfpython, and the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS). ESMPy minimum requirements include Python 2.6, Numpy 1.6.1 and an ESMF installation. Optional dependencies include NetCDF and OCGIS-related dependencies: GDAL, Shapely, and Fiona. ESMPy is regression tested nightly, and supported on Darwin, Linux and Cray systems with the GNU compiler suite and MPI communications. OCGIS is supported on Linux, and also undergoes nightly regression testing. Both packages are installable from Anaconda channels. Upcoming development plans for ESMPy involve development of a higher order conservative grid remapping method. Future OCGIS development will focus on mesh and location stream interoperability and streamlined access to ESMPy's MPI implementation.

Development of Waypoint Planning Tool in Response to NASA Field Campaign Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

He, Matt; Hardin, Danny; Mayer, Paul; Blakeslee, Richard; Goodman, Michael

2012-01-01

Airborne real time observations are a major component of NASA 's Earth Science research and satellite ground validation studies. Multiple aircraft are involved in most NASA field campaigns. The coordination of the aircraft with satellite overpasses, other airplanes and the constantly evolving, dynamic weather conditions often determines the success of the campaign. Planning a research aircraft mission within the context of meeting the science objectives is a complex task because it requires real time situational awareness of the weather conditions that affect the aircraft track. A flight planning tools is needed to provide situational awareness information to the mission scientists, and help them plan and modify the flight tracks. Scientists at the University of Alabama ]Huntsville and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center developed the Waypoint Planning Tool, an interactive software tool that enables scientists to develop their own flight plans (also known as waypoints) with point -and-click mouse capabilities on a digital map filled with real time raster and vector data. The development of this Waypoint Planning Tool demonstrates the significance of mission support in responding to the challenges presented during NASA field campaigns. Analysis during and after each campaign helped identify both issues and new requirements, and initiated the next wave of development. Currently the Waypoint Planning Tool has gone through three rounds of development and analysis processes. The development of this waypoint tool is directly affected by the technology advances on GIS/Mapping technologies. From the standalone Google Earth application and simple KML functionalities, to Google Earth Plugin on web platform, and to the rising open source GIS tools with New Java Script frameworks, the Waypoint Planning Tool has entered its third phase of technology advancement. Adapting new technologies for the Waypoint Planning Tool ensures its success in helping scientist reach their mission objectives.

Spatial problem-solving strategies of middle school students: Wayfinding with geographic information systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wigglesworth, John C.

2000-06-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a powerful computer software package that emphasizes the use of maps and the management of spatially referenced environmental data archived in a systems data base. Professional applications of GIS have been in place since the 1980's, but only recently has GIS gained significant attention in the K--12 classroom. Students using GIS are able to manipulate and query data in order to solve all manners of spatial problems. Very few studies have examined how this technological innovation can support classroom learning. In particular, there has been little research on how experience in using the software correlates with a child's spatial cognition and his/her ability to understand spatial relationships. This study investigates the strategies used by middle school students to solve a wayfinding (route-finding) problem using the ArcView GIS software. The research design combined an individual background questionnaire, results from the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) test, and analysis of reflective think-aloud sessions to define the characteristics of the strategies students' used to solve this particular class of spatial problem. Three uniquely different spatial problem solving strategies were identified. Visual/Concrete Wayfinders used a highly visual strategy; Logical/Abstract Wayfinders used GIS software tools to apply a more analytical and systematic approach; Transitional Wayfinders used an approach that showed evidence of one that was shifting from a visual strategy to one that was more analytical. The triangulation of data sources indicates that this progression of wayfinding strategy can be correlated both to Piagetian stages of logical thought and to experience with the use of maps. These findings suggest that GIS teachers must be aware that their students' performance will lie on a continuum that is based on cognitive development, spatial ability, and prior experience with maps. To be most effective, GIS teaching strategies and curriculum development should also represent a progression that correlates to the learners' current skills and experience.

Remote Sensing Systems Optimization for Geobase Enhancement

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-03-01

through feedback from base users, as well as the researcher’s observations. 3.1 GeoBase and GIS Learning GeoBase and Geographic Information System ...Abstract The U.S. Air Force is in the process of implementing GeoBase, a geographic information system (GIS), throughout its worldwide installations...Geographic Information System (GIS). A GIS is a computer database that contains geo-spatial information . It is the principal tool used to input, view

Sentinel-2 ArcGIS Tool for Environmental Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plesoianu, Alin; Cosmin Sandric, Ionut; Anca, Paula; Vasile, Alexandru; Calugaru, Andreea; Vasile, Cristian; Zavate, Lucian

2017-04-01

This paper addresses one of the biggest challenges regarding Sentinel-2 data, related to the need of an efficient tool to access and process the large collection of images that are available. Consequently, developing a tool for the automation of Sentinel-2 data analysis is the most immediate need. We developed a series of tools for the automation of Sentinel-2 data download and processing for vegetation health monitoring. The tools automatically perform the following operations: downloading image tiles from ESA's Scientific Hub or other venders (Amazon), pre-processing of the images to extract the 10-m bands, creating image composites, applying a series of vegetation indexes (NDVI, OSAVI, etc.) and performing change detection analyses on different temporal data sets. All of these tools run in a dynamic way in the ArcGIS Platform, without the need of creating intermediate datasets (rasters, layers), as the images are processed on-the-fly in order to avoid data duplication. Finally, they allow complete integration with the ArcGIS environment and workflows

HydroDesktop as a Community Designed and Developed Resource for Hydrologic Data Discovery and Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ames, D. P.

2013-12-01

As has been seen in other informatics fields, well-documented and appropriately licensed open source software tools have the potential to significantly increase both opportunities and motivation for inter-institutional science and technology collaboration. The CUAHSI HIS (and related HydroShare) projects have aimed to foster such activities in hydrology resulting in the development of many useful community software components including the HydroDesktop software application. HydroDesktop is an open source, GIS-based, scriptable software application for discovering data on the CUAHSI Hydrologic Information System and related resources. It includes a well-defined plugin architecture and interface to allow 3rd party developers to create extensions and add new functionality without requiring recompiling of the full source code. HydroDesktop is built in the C# programming language and uses the open source DotSpatial GIS engine for spatial data management. Capabilities include data search, discovery, download, visualization, and export. An extension that integrates the R programming language with HydroDesktop provides scripting and data automation capabilities and an OpenMI plugin provides the ability to link models. Current revision and updates to HydroDesktop include migration of core business logic to cross platform, scriptable Python code modules that can be executed in any operating system or linked into other software front-end applications.

Lowering the barriers to computational modeling of Earth's surface: coupling Jupyter Notebooks with Landlab, HydroShare, and CyberGIS for research and education.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandaragoda, C.; Castronova, A. M.; Phuong, J.; Istanbulluoglu, E.; Strauch, R. L.; Nudurupati, S. S.; Tarboton, D. G.; Wang, S. W.; Yin, D.; Barnhart, K. R.; Tucker, G. E.; Hutton, E.; Hobley, D. E. J.; Gasparini, N. M.; Adams, J. M.

2017-12-01

The ability to test hypotheses about hydrology, geomorphology and atmospheric processes is invaluable to research in the era of big data. Although community resources are available, there remain significant educational, logistical and time investment barriers to their use. Knowledge infrastructure is an emerging intellectual framework to understand how people are creating, sharing and distributing knowledge - which has been dramatically transformed by Internet technologies. In addition to the technical and social components in a cyberinfrastructure system, knowledge infrastructure considers educational, institutional, and open source governance components required to advance knowledge. We are designing an infrastructure environment that lowers common barriers to reproducing modeling experiments for earth surface investigation. Landlab is an open-source modeling toolkit for building, coupling, and exploring two-dimensional numerical models. HydroShare is an online collaborative environment for sharing hydrologic data and models. CyberGIS-Jupyter is an innovative cyberGIS framework for achieving data-intensive, reproducible, and scalable geospatial analytics using the Jupyter Notebook based on ROGER - the first cyberGIS supercomputer, so that models that can be elastically reproduced through cloud computing approaches. Our team of geomorphologists, hydrologists, and computer geoscientists has created a new infrastructure environment that combines these three pieces of software to enable knowledge discovery. Through this novel integration, any user can interactively execute and explore their shared data and model resources. Landlab on HydroShare with CyberGIS-Jupyter supports the modeling continuum from fully developed modelling applications, prototyping new science tools, hands on research demonstrations for training workshops, and classroom applications. Computational geospatial models based on big data and high performance computing can now be more efficiently developed, improved, scaled, and seamlessly reproduced among multidisciplinary users, thereby expanding the active learning curriculum and research opportunities for students in earth surface modeling and informatics.

Evaluating the Potential of Commercial GIS for Accelerator Configuration Management

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

T.L. Larrieu; Y.R. Roblin; K. White

2005-10-10

The Geographic Information System (GIS) is a tool used by industries needing to track information about spatially distributed assets. A water utility, for example, must know not only the precise location of each pipe and pump, but also the respective pressure rating and flow rate of each. In many ways, an accelerator such as CEBAF (Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility) can be viewed as an ''electron utility''. Whereas the water utility uses pipes and pumps, the ''electron utility'' uses magnets and RF cavities. At Jefferson lab we are exploring the possibility of implementing ESRI's ArcGIS as the framework for buildingmore » an all-encompassing accelerator configuration database that integrates location, configuration, maintenance, and connectivity details of all hardware and software. The possibilities of doing so are intriguing. From the GIS, software such as the model server could always extract the most-up-to-date layout information maintained by the Survey & Alignment for lattice modeling. The Mechanical Engineering department could use ArcGIS tools to generate CAD drawings of machine segments from the same database. Ultimately, the greatest benefit of the GIS implementation could be to liberate operators and engineers from the limitations of the current system-by-system view of machine configuration and allow a more integrated regional approach. The commercial GIS package provides a rich set of tools for database-connectivity, versioning, distributed editing, importing and exporting, and graphical analysis and querying, and therefore obviates the need for much custom development. However, formidable challenges to implementation exist and these challenges are not only technical and manpower issues, but also organizational ones. The GIS approach would crosscut organizational boundaries and require departments, which heretofore have had free reign to manage their own data, to cede some control and agree to a centralized framework.« less

An integrated and open source GIS environmental management system for a protected area in the south of Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teodoro, A.; Duarte, L.; Sillero, N.; Gonçalves, J. A.; Fonte, J.; Gonçalves-Seco, L.; Pinheiro da Luz, L. M.; dos Santos Beja, N. M. R.

2015-10-01

Herdade da Contenda (HC), located in Moura municipality, Beja district (Alentejo province) in the south of Portugal (southwestern Iberia Peninsula), is a national hunting area with 5270ha. The development of an integrated system that aims to make the management of the natural and cultural heritage resources will be very useful for an effective management of this area. This integrated system should include the physical characterization of the territory, natural conservation, land use and land management themes, as well the cultural heritage resources. This paper presents a new tool for an integrated environmental management system of the HC, which aims to produce maps under a GIS open source environment (QGIS). The application is composed by a single button which opens a window. The window is composed by twelve menus (File, DRASTIC, Forest Fire Risk, Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), Bioclimatic Index, Cultural Heritage, Fauna and Flora, Ortofoto, Normalizes Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Digital Elevation Model (DEM), Land Use Land Cover Cover (LULC) and Help. Several inputs are requires to generate these maps, e.g. DEM, geologic information, soil map, hydraulic conductivity information, LULC map, vulnerability and economic information, NDVI. Six buttons were added to the toolbar which allows to manipulate the information in the map canvas: Zoom in, Zoom out, Pan, Print/Layout and Clear. This integrated and open source GIS environment management system was developed for the HC area, but could be easily adapted to other natural or protected area. Despite the lack of data, the methodology presented fulfills the objectives.

Teachers' Perceptions of Esri Story Maps as Effective Teaching Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Strachan, Caitlin; Mitchell, Jerry

2014-01-01

The current study explores teachers' perceptions of Esri Story Maps as effective teaching tools. Story Maps are a relatively new web application created using Esri's cloud-based GIS platform, ArcGIS Online. They combine digitized, dynamic web maps with other story elements to help the creator effectively convey a message. The relative ease…

Assessment of a Bayesian Belief Network-GIS framework as a practical tool to support marine planning.

PubMed

Stelzenmüller, V; Lee, J; Garnacho, E; Rogers, S I

2010-10-01

For the UK continental shelf we developed a Bayesian Belief Network-GIS framework to visualise relationships between cumulative human pressures, sensitive marine landscapes and landscape vulnerability, to assess the consequences of potential marine planning objectives, and to map uncertainty-related changes in management measures. Results revealed that the spatial assessment of footprints and intensities of human activities had more influence on landscape vulnerabilities than the type of landscape sensitivity measure used. We addressed questions regarding consequences of potential planning targets, and necessary management measures with spatially-explicit assessment of their consequences. We conclude that the BN-GIS framework is a practical tool allowing for the visualisation of relationships, the spatial assessment of uncertainty related to spatial management scenarios, the engagement of different stakeholder views, and enables a quick update of new spatial data and relationships. Ultimately, such BN-GIS based tools can support the decision-making process used in adaptive marine management. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study on the key technology of grain logistics tracking system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhen, Tong; Ge, Hongyi; Jiang, Yuying; Che, Yi

2010-07-01

In recent year, with the rapid development of GIS technology, more and more programming problems depend on the GIS technology and professional model system. The solution of auxiliary programming problem by using GIS technology, which has become very popular. GIS is an important tool and technology, that captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that are linked to location. A grain logistics distribution system based on GIS is established, which provides a visualization scheme during the process of grain circulation and supports users making decision and analyzing for grain logistics enterprise.

Status report - Geographic retail food environment measures for use in public health.

PubMed

Mahendra, Ahalya; Polsky, Jane Y; Robitaille, Éric; Lefebvre, Marc; McBrien, Tina; Minaker, Leia M

2017-10-01

The Association of Public Health Epidemiologists in Ontario (APHEO) Core Indicators Work Group standardizes definitions and calculation methods for over 120 public health indicators to enhance accurate and standardized community health status reporting across public health units in Ontario. The Built Environment Subgroup is a multi-disciplinary group made up of planners, researchers, policy analysts, registered dietitians, geographic information systems (GIS) analysts and epidemiologists. The Subgroup selected and operationalized a suite of objective, standardized indicators intended to help public health units and regional health authorities assess their community retail food environments. The Subgroup proposed three indicators that use readily available data sources and GIS tools to characterize geographic access to various types of retail food outlets within neighbourhoods in urban settings. This article provides a status report on the development of these food environment indicators.

Atmospheric data access for the geospatial user community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van de Vegte, John; Som de Cerff, Wim-Jan; van den Oord, Gijsbertus H. J.; Sluiter, Raymond; van der Neut, Ian A.; Plieger, Maarten; van Hees, Richard M.; de Jeu, Richard A. M.; Schaepman, Michael E.; Hoogerwerf, Marc R.; Groot, Nikée E.; Domenico, Ben; Nativi, Stefano; Wilhelmi, Olga V.

2007-10-01

Historically the atmospheric and meteorological communities are separate worlds with their own data formats and tools for data handling making sharing of data difficult and cumbersome. On the other hand, these information sources are becoming increasingly of interest outside these communities because of the continuously improving spatial and temporal resolution of e.g. model and satellite data and the interest in historical datasets. New user communities that use geographically based datasets in a cross-domain manner are emerging. This development is supported by the progress made in Geographical Information System (GIS) software. The current GIS software is not yet ready for the wealth of atmospheric data, although the faint outlines of new generation software are already visible: support of HDF, NetCDF and an increasing understanding of temporal issues are only a few of the hints.

Visualizing Opportunities: GIS Skills for Retail Marketing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Peter Y.; Rathswohl, Eugene

2011-01-01

Business students need to develop skills in the intelligent use of information, especially spatial information, for decision-making. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a viable tool for that purpose. Yet the few GIS courses in the Information Systems curriculum offered in various business schools tend to focus on different concepts and skills.…

Geographic Information System (GIS) | Virginia Department of Forestry

Science.gov Websites

relationships, making GIS a valuable tool to explore management and policy alternatives. GIS at the Virginia in combination in various VDOF applications. InFOREST can be used to map your property. Foresters can Property Inventory and Stand Mapping Riparian Buffer Tax Credit Program Management Forest Sustainability

GIS in Evaluation: Utilizing the Power of Geographic Information Systems to Represent Evaluation Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Azzam, Tarek; Robinson, David

2013-01-01

This article provides an introduction to geographic information systems (GIS) and how the technology can be used to enhance evaluation practice. As a tool, GIS enables evaluators to incorporate contextual features (such as accessibility of program sites or community health needs) into evaluation designs and highlights the interactions between…

Teaching Practical Science Online Using GIS: A Cautionary Tale of Coping Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Argles, Tom

2017-01-01

Strong demand for GIS and burgeoning cohorts have encouraged the delivery of GIS teaching via online distance education models. This contribution reviews a brief foray (2012-2014) into this field by the Open University, deploying open source GIS software to enable students to perform practical science investigations online. The "Remote…

Development of ITSASGIS-5D: seeking interoperability between Marine GIS layers and scientific multidimensional data using open source tools and OGC services for multidisciplinary research.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sagarminaga, Y.; Galparsoro, I.; Reig, R.; Sánchez, J. A.

2012-04-01

Since 2000, an intense effort was conducted in AZTI's Marine Research Division to set up a data management system which could gather all the marine datasets that were being produced by different in-house research projects. For that, a corporative GIS was designed that included a data and metadata repository, a database, a layer catalog & search application and an internet map viewer. Several layers, mostly dealing with physical, chemical and biological in-situ sampling, and basic and thematic cartography including bathymetry, geomorphology, different species habitat maps, and human pressure and activities maps, were successfully gathered in this system. Very soon, it was realised that new marine technologies yielding continuous multidimensional data, sometimes called FES (Fluid Earth System) data, were difficult to handle in this structure. The data affected, mainly included numerical oceanographic and meteorological models, remote sensing data, coastal RADAR data, and some in-situ observational systems such as CTD's casts, moored or lagrangian buoys, etc. A management system for gridded multidimensional data was developed using standardized formats (netcdf using CF conventions) and tools such as THREDDS catalog (UNIDATA/UCAR) providing web services such as OPENDAP, NCSS, and WCS, as well as ncWMS service developed by the Reading e-science Center. At present, a system (ITSASGIS-5D) is being developed, based on OGC standards and open-source tools to allow interoperability between all the data types mentioned before. This system includes, in the server side, postgresql/postgis databases and geoserver for GIS layers, and THREDDS/Opendap and ncWMS services for FES gridded data. Moreover, an on-line client is being developed to allow joint access, user configuration, data visualisation & query and data distribution. This client is using mapfish, ExtJS - GeoEXT, and openlayers libraries. Through this presentation the elements of the first released version of this system will be described and showed, together with the new topics to be developed in new versions that include among others, the integration of geoNetwork libraries and tools for both FES and GIS metadata management, and the use of new OGC Sensor Observation Services (SOS) to integrate non gridded multidimensional data such as time series, depth profiles or trajectories provided by different observational systems. The final aim of this approach is to contribute to the multidisciplinary access and use of marine data for management and research activities, and facilitate the implementation of integrated ecosystem based approaches in the fields of fisheries advice and management, marine spatial planning, or the implementation of the European policies such as the Water Framework Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive or the Habitat Framework Directive.

FREEWAT: an HORIZON 2020 project to build open source tools for water management.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossetto, Rudy; Borsi, Iacopo; Foglia, Laura

2015-04-01

FREEWAT is an HORIZON 2020 project financed by the EU Commission under the call WATER INNOVATION: BOOSTING ITS VALUE FOR EUROPE. FREEWAT main result will be an open source and public domain GIS integrated modelling environment for the simulation of water quantity and quality in surface water and groundwater with an integrated water management and planning module. FREEWAT aims at promoting water resource management by simplifying the application of the Water Framework Directive and other EU water related Directives. Specific objectives of the FREEWAT project are: to coordinate previous EU and national funded research to integrate existing software modules for water management in a single environment into the GIS based FREEWAT and to support the FREEWAT application in an innovative participatory approach gathering technical staff and relevant stakeholders (in primis policy and decision makers) in designing scenarios for the proper application of water policies. The open source characteristics of the platform allow to consider this an initiative "ad includendum" (looking for inclusion of other entities), as further research institutions, private developers etc. may contribute to the platform development. The core of the FREEWAT platform will be the SID&GRID framework in its version ported to the QGIS desktop. SID&GRID (GIS integrated physically-based distributed numerical hydrological model based on a modified version of MODFLOW 2005; Rossetto et al. 2013) is an open source and public domain modelling platform firstly developed within the EU-POR FSE 2007-2013 Regione Toscana - Italy and then ported to the QGIS desktop through a dedicated fund by Regione Toscana. SID&GRID will be complemented by June 2015 with solute transport (also density dependent) capabilities in aquifers within the MARSOL (2014) EU FPVII project. Activities will be mainly carried out on two branches: (i) integration of modules, so that the software will fit the end-users requirements, including tools for better producing feasibility and management plans; (ii) a set of activities devoted to fix bugs and to provide a well-integrated interface for the different tools implemented. Further capabilities to be integrated are: - a dedicated module for water management and planning that will help to manage and aggregate all the distributed data coming from the simulation scenarios; - a whole module for calibration, uncertainty and sensitivity analysis; - a module for solute transport in the unsaturated zone; - a module for crop growth and water requirements in agriculture; - tools for dealing with groundwater quality issues; - tools for the analysis, interpretation and visualization of hydrogeological data. Through creating a common environment among water research/professionals, policy makers and implementers, FREEWAT main impact will be on enhancing science- and participatory approach and evidence-based decision making in water resource management, hence producing relevant and appropriate outcomes for policy implementation. The Consortium is constituted by partners from various water sectors from 10 EU countries, plus Turkey and Ukraine. Synergies with the UNESCO HOPE initiative on free and open source software in water management greatly boost the value of the project. Large stakeholders involvement is thought to guarantee results dissemination and exploitation. Acknowledgements This paper is presented within the framework of the project FREEWAT, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement n. 642224. References MARSOL (2014). Demonstrating Managed Aquifer Recharge as a Solution to Water Scarcity and Drought www.marsol.eu [accessed 4 January 2015] Rossetto, R., Borsi, I., Schifani, C., Bonari, E., Mogorovich P. & Primicerio M. (2013) - SID&GRID: integrating hydrological modeling in GIS environment hydroinformatics system for the management of the water resource. Rendiconti Online Societa Geologica Italiana Volume 24, 282-283

Role of GIS in social sector planning: can developing countries benefit from the examples of primary health care (PHC) planning in Britain?

PubMed

Ishfaq, Mohammad; Lodhi, Bilal Khan

2012-04-01

Social sector planning requires rational approaches where community needs are identified by referring to relative deprivation among localities and resources are allocated to address inequalities. Geographical information system (GIS) has been widely argued and used as a base for rational planning for equal resource allocation in social sectors around the globe. Devolution of primary health care is global strategy that needs pains taking efforts to implement it. GIS is one of the most important tools used around the world in decentralization process of primary health care. This paper examines the scope of GIS in social sector planning by concentration on primary health care delivery system in Pakistan. The work is based on example of the UK's decentralization process and further evidence from US. This paper argues that to achieve benefits of well informed decision making to meet the communities' needs GIS is an essential tool to support social sector planning and can be used without any difficulty in any environment. There is increasing trend in the use of Health Management Information System (HMIS) in Pakistan with ample internet connectivity which provides well established infrastructure in Pakistan to implement GIS for health care, however there is need for change in attitude towards empowering localities especially with reference to decentralization of decision making. This paper provides GIS as a tool for primary health care planning in Pakistan as a starting point in defining localities and preparing locality profiles for need identification that could help developing countries in implementing the change.

Open source software integrated into data services of Japanese planetary explorations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Y.; Ishihara, Y.; Otake, H.; Imai, K.; Masuda, K.

2015-12-01

Scientific data obtained by Japanese scientific satellites and lunar and planetary explorations are archived in DARTS (Data ARchives and Transmission System). DARTS provides the data with a simple method such as HTTP directory listing for long-term preservation while DARTS tries to provide rich web applications for ease of access with modern web technologies based on open source software. This presentation showcases availability of open source software through our services. KADIAS is a web-based application to search, analyze, and obtain scientific data measured by SELENE(Kaguya), a Japanese lunar orbiter. KADIAS uses OpenLayers to display maps distributed from Web Map Service (WMS). As a WMS server, open source software MapServer is adopted. KAGUYA 3D GIS (KAGUYA 3D Moon NAVI) provides a virtual globe for the SELENE's data. The main purpose of this application is public outreach. NASA World Wind Java SDK is used to develop. C3 (Cross-Cutting Comparisons) is a tool to compare data from various observations and simulations. It uses Highcharts to draw graphs on web browsers. Flow is a tool to simulate a Field-Of-View of an instrument onboard a spacecraft. This tool itself is open source software developed by JAXA/ISAS, and the license is BSD 3-Caluse License. SPICE Toolkit is essential to compile FLOW. SPICE Toolkit is also open source software developed by NASA/JPL, and the website distributes many spacecrafts' data. Nowadays, open source software is an indispensable tool to integrate DARTS services.

BMP analysis system for watershed-based stormwater management.

PubMed

Zhen, Jenny; Shoemaker, Leslie; Riverson, John; Alvi, Khalid; Cheng, Mow-Soung

2006-01-01

Best Management Practices (BMPs) are measures for mitigating nonpoint source (NPS) pollution caused mainly by stormwater runoff. Established urban and newly developing areas must develop cost effective means for restoring or minimizing impacts, and planning future growth. Prince George's County in Maryland, USA, a fast-growing region in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, has developed a number of tools to support analysis and decision making for stormwater management planning and design at the watershed level. These tools support watershed analysis, innovative BMPs, and optimization. Application of these tools can help achieve environmental goals and lead to significant cost savings. This project includes software development that utilizes GIS information and technology, integrates BMP processes simulation models, and applies system optimization techniques for BMP planning and selection. The system employs the ESRI ArcGIS as the platform, and provides GIS-based visualization and support for developing networks including sequences of land uses, BMPs, and stream reaches. The system also provides interfaces for BMP placement, BMP attribute data input, and decision optimization management. The system includes a stand-alone BMP simulation and evaluation module, which complements both research and regulatory nonpoint source control assessment efforts, and allows flexibility in the examining various BMP design alternatives. Process based simulation of BMPs provides a technique that is sensitive to local climate and rainfall patterns. The system incorporates a meta-heuristic optimization technique to find the most cost-effective BMP placement and implementation plan given a control target, or a fixed cost. A case study is presented to demonstrate the application of the Prince George's County system. The case study involves a highly urbanized area in the Anacostia River (a tributary to Potomac River) watershed southeast of Washington, DC. An innovative system of management practices is proposed to minimize runoff, improve water quality, and provide water reuse opportunities. Proposed management techniques include bioretention, green roof, and rooftop runoff collection (rain barrel) systems. The modeling system was used to identify the most cost-effective combinations of management practices to help minimize frequency and size of runoff events and resulting combined sewer overflows to the Anacostia River.

Communication and implementation of GIS data in fire management: a case study

Treesearch

Kenneth G. Boykin; Douglas I. Boykin; Rusty Stovall; Ryan Whitaker

2008-01-01

Remotely sensed data and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can be an effective tool in fire management. For the inclusion of these tools, fire management and research personnel must be effective in communication regarding needs and limitations of the data and implementing that data at various scales. A number of personnel can be involved within fire management...

Integration of Watershed Model AnnAGNPS and Stream Network Model CCHE1D for the Development of a New GIS-Based BMP Planning Tool

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This paper presents a new GIS-based Best Management Practice (BMP) Tool developed for watershed managers to assist in the decision making process by simulating various scenarios using various combinations of Best Management Practices (BMPs). The development of this BMPTool is based on the integratio...

ACME, a GIS tool for Automated Cirque Metric Extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spagnolo, Matteo; Pellitero, Ramon; Barr, Iestyn D.; Ely, Jeremy C.; Pellicer, Xavier M.; Rea, Brice R.

2017-02-01

Regional scale studies of glacial cirque metrics provide key insights on the (palaeo) environment related to the formation of these erosional landforms. The growing availability of high resolution terrain models means that more glacial cirques can be identified and mapped in the future. However, the extraction of their metrics still largely relies on time consuming manual techniques or the combination of, more or less obsolete, GIS tools. In this paper, a newly coded toolbox is provided for the automated, and comparatively quick, extraction of 16 key glacial cirque metrics; including length, width, circularity, planar and 3D area, elevation, slope, aspect, plan closure and hypsometry. The set of tools, named ACME (Automated Cirque Metric Extraction), is coded in Python, runs in one of the most commonly used GIS packages (ArcGIS) and has a user friendly interface. A polygon layer of mapped cirques is required for all metrics, while a Digital Terrain Model and a point layer of cirque threshold midpoints are needed to run some of the tools. Results from ACME are comparable to those from other techniques and can be obtained rapidly, allowing large cirque datasets to be analysed and potentially important regional trends highlighted.

Using GIS to analyze animal movements in the marine environment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hooge, Philip N.; Eichenlaub, William M.; Solomon, Elizabeth K.; Kruse, Gordon H.; Bez, Nicolas; Booth, Anthony; Dorn, Martin W.; Hills, Susan; Lipcius, Romuald N.; Pelletier, Dominique; Roy, Claude; Smith, Stephen J.; Witherell, David B.

2001-01-01

Advanced methods for analyzing animal movements have been little used in the aquatic research environment compared to the terrestrial. In addition, despite obvious advantages of integrating geographic information systems (GIS) with spatial studies of animal movement behavior, movement analysis tools have not been integrated into GIS for either aquatic or terrestrial environments. We therefore developed software that integrates one of the most commonly used GIS programs (ArcView®) with a large collection of animal movement analysis tools. This application, the Animal Movement Analyst Extension (AMAE), can be loaded as an extension to ArcView® under multiple operating system platforms (PC, Unix, and Mac OS). It contains more than 50 functions, including parametric and nonparametric home range analyses, random walk models, habitat analyses, point and circular statistics, tests of complete spatial randomness, tests for autocorrelation and sample size, point and line manipulation tools, and animation tools. This paper describes the use of these functions in analyzing animal location data; some limited examples are drawn from a sonic-tracking study of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) in Glacier Bay, Alaska. The extension is available on the Internet at www.absc.usgs.gov/glba/gistools/index.htm.

Achieving sustainable ground-water management by using GIS-integrated simulation tools: the EU H2020 FREEWAT platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossetto, Rudy; De Filippis, Giovanna; Borsi, Iacopo; Foglia, Laura; Toegl, Anja; Cannata, Massimiliano; Neumann, Jakob; Vazquez-Sune, Enric; Criollo, Rotman

2017-04-01

In order to achieve sustainable and participated ground-water management, innovative software built on the integration of numerical models within GIS software is a perfect candidate to provide a full characterization of quantitative and qualitative aspects of ground- and surface-water resources maintaining the time and spatial dimension. The EU H2020 FREEWAT project (FREE and open source software tools for WATer resource management; Rossetto et al., 2015) aims at simplifying the application of EU water-related Directives through an open-source and public-domain, GIS-integrated simulation platform for planning and management of ground- and surface-water resources. The FREEWAT platform allows to simulate the whole hydrological cycle, coupling the power of GIS geo-processing and post-processing tools in spatial data analysis with that of process-based simulation models. This results in a modeling environment where large spatial datasets can be stored, managed and visualized and where several simulation codes (mainly belonging to the USGS MODFLOW family) are integrated to simulate multiple hydrological, hydrochemical or economic processes. So far, the FREEWAT platform is a large plugin for the QGIS GIS desktop software and it integrates the following capabilities: • the AkvaGIS module allows to produce plots and statistics for the analysis and interpretation of hydrochemical and hydrogeological data; • the Observation Analysis Tool, to facilitate the import, analysis and visualization of time-series data and the use of these data to support model construction and calibration; • groundwater flow simulation in the saturated and unsaturated zones may be simulated using MODFLOW-2005 (Harbaugh, 2005); • multi-species advective-dispersive transport in the saturated zone can be simulated using MT3DMS (Zheng & Wang, 1999); the possibility to simulate viscosity- and density-dependent flows is further accomplished through SEAWAT (Langevin et al., 2007); • sustainable management of combined use of ground- and surface-water resources in rural environments is accomplished by the Farm Process module embedded in MODFLOW-OWHM (Hanson et al., 2014), which allows to dynamically integrate crop water demand and supply from ground- and surface-water; • UCODE_2014 (Poeter et al., 2014) is implemented to perform sensitivity analysis and parameter estimation to improve the model fit through an inverse, regression method based on the evaluation of an objective function. Through creating a common environment among water research/professionals, policy makers and implementers, FREEWAT aims at enhancing science and participatory approach and evidence-based decision making in water resource management, hence producing relevant outcomes for policy implementation. Acknowledgements This paper is presented within the framework of the project FREEWAT, which has received funding from the European Union's HORIZON 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement n. 642224. References Hanson, R.T., Boyce, S.E., Schmid, W., Hughes, J.D., Mehl, S.M., Leake, S.A., Maddock, T., Niswonger, R.G. One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MODFLOW-OWHM), U.S. Geological Survey, Techniques and Methods 6-A51, 2014 134 p. Harbaugh A.W. (2005) - MODFLOW-2005, The U.S. Geological Survey Modular Ground-Water Model - the Ground-Water Flow Process. U.S. Geological Survey, Techniques and Methods 6-A16, 253 p. Langevin C.D., Thorne D.T. Jr., Dausman A.M., Sukop M.C. & Guo Weixing (2007) - SEAWAT Version 4: A Computer Program for Simulation of Multi-Species Solute and Heat Transport. U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods 6-A22, 39 pp. Poeter E.P., Hill M.C., Lu D., Tiedeman C.R. & Mehl S. (2014) - UCODE_2014, with new capabilities to define parameters unique to predictions, calculate weights using simulated values, estimate parameters with SVD, evaluate uncertainty with MCMC, and more. Integrated Groundwater Modeling Center Report Number GWMI 2014-02. Rossetto, R., Borsi, I. & Foglia, L. FREEWAT: FREE and open source software tools for WATer resource management, Rendiconti Online Società Geologica Italiana, 2015, 35, 252-255. Zheng C. & Wang P.P. (1999) - MT3DMS, A modular three-dimensional multi-species transport model for simulation of advection, dispersion and chemical reactions of contaminants in groundwater systems. U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Contract Report SERDP-99-1, Vicksburg, MS, 202 pp.

Data are from Mars, Tools are from Venus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, H. Joe

2017-01-01

Although during the data production phase, the data producers will usually ensure the products to be easily used by the specific power users the products serve. However, most data products are also posted for general public to use. It is not straightforward for data producers to anticipate what tools that these general end-data users are likely to use. In this talk, we will try to help fill in the gap by going over various tools related to Earth Science and how they work with the existing NASA HDF (Hierarchical Data Format) data products and the reasons why some products cannot be visualized or analyzed by existing tools. One goal is for to give insights for data producers on how to make their data product more interoperable. On the other hand, we also provide some hints for end users on how to make tools work with existing HDF data products. (tool category list: check the comments) HDF-EOS tools: HDFView HDF-EOS Plugin, HEG, h4tonccf, hdf-eos2 dumper, NCL, MATLAB, IDL, etc.net; CDF-Java tools: Panoply, IDV, toosUI, NcML, etc.net; CDF-C tools: ArcGIS Desktop, GrADS, NCL, NCO, etc.; GDAL tools: ArcGIS Desktop, QGIS, Google Earth, etc.; CSV tools: ArcGIS Online, MS Excel, Tableau, etc.

A Preliminary Investigation into the Challenges of Learning GIS in Interdisciplinary Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rickles, Patrick; Ellul, Claire

2015-01-01

A geographic information system (GIS) can be a valuable research tool, helping scientists understand location and bridge the gaps between subjects in interdisciplinary research (IDR), which has been promoted for its real-world solutions. However, a GIS can be difficult to use and may require understanding of a number of concepts as well as tools…

An Overview of the GIS Weasel

USGS Publications Warehouse

Viger, Roland J.

2008-01-01

This fact sheet provides a high-level description of the GIS Weasel, a software system designed to aid users in preparing spatial information as input to lumped and distributed parameter environmental simulation models (ESMs). The GIS Weasel provides geographic information system (GIS) tools to help create maps of geographic features relevant to the application of a user?s ESM and to generate parameters from those maps. The operation of the GIS Weasel does not require a user to be a GIS expert, only that a user has an understanding of the spatial information requirements of the model. The GIS Weasel software system provides a GIS-based graphical user interface (GUI), C programming language executables, and general utility scripts. The software will run on any computing platform where ArcInfo Workstation (version 8.1 or later) and the GRID extension are accessible. The user controls the GIS Weasel by interacting with menus, maps, and tables.

Geographic information systems, remote sensing, and spatial analysis activities in Texas, 2002-07

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pearson, D.K.; Gary, R.H.; Wilson, Z.D.

2007-01-01

Geographic information system (GIS) technology has become an important tool for scientific investigation, resource management, and environmental planning. A GIS is a computer-aided system capable of collecting, storing, analyzing, and displaying spatially referenced digital data. GIS technology is particularly useful when analyzing a wide variety of spatial data such as with remote sensing and spatial analysis. Remote sensing involves collecting remotely sensed data, such as satellite imagery, aerial photography, or radar images, and analyzing the data to gather information or investigate trends about the environment or the Earth's surface. Spatial analysis combines remotely sensed, thematic, statistical, quantitative, and geographical data through overlay, modeling, and other analytical techniques to investigate specific research questions. It is the combination of data formats and analysis techniques that has made GIS an essential tool in scientific investigations. This document presents information about the technical capabilities and project activities of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center (TWSC) GIS Workgroup from 2002 through 2007.

NASA Remote Sensing Observations for Water Resource and Infrastructure Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Granger, S. L.; Armstrong, L.; Farr, T.; Geller, G.; Heath, E.; Hyon, J.; Lavoie, S.; McDonald, K.; Realmuto, V.; Stough, T.; Szana, K.

2008-12-01

Decision support tools employed by water resource and infrastructure managers often utilize data products obtained from local sources or national/regional databases of historic surveys and observations. Incorporation of data from these sources can be laborious and time consuming as new products must be identified, cleaned and archived for each new study site. Adding remote sensing observations to the list of sources holds promise for a timely, consistent, global product to aid decision support at regional and global scales by providing global observations of geophysical parameters including soil moisture, precipitation, atmospheric temperature, derived evapotranspiration, and snow extent needed for hydrologic models and decision support tools. However, issues such as spatial and temporal resolution arise when attempting to integrate remote sensing observations into existing decision support tools. We are working to overcome these and other challenges through partnerships with water resource managers, tool developers and other stakeholders. We are developing a new data processing framework, enabled by a core GIS server, to seamlessly pull together observations from disparate sources for synthesis into information products and visualizations useful to the water resources community. A case study approach is being taken to develop the system by working closely with water infrastructure and resource managers to integrate remote observations into infrastructure, hydrologic and water resource decision tools. We present the results of a case study utilizing observations from the PALS aircraft instrument as a proxy for NASA's upcoming Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission and an existing commercial decision support tool.

Ground subsidence information as a valuable layer in GIS analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdzek, Radosław; Malik, Hubert; Leśniak, Andrzej

2018-04-01

Among the technologies used to improve functioning of local governments the geographic information systems (GIS) are widely used. GIS tools allow to simultaneously integrate spatial data resources, analyse them, process and use them to make strategic decisions. Nowadays GIS analysis is widely used in spatial planning or environmental protection. In these applications a number of spatial information are utilized, but rarely it is an information about environmental hazards. This paper includes information about ground subsidence that occurred in USCB mining area into GIS analysis. Monitoring of this phenomenon can be carried out using the radar differential interferometry (DInSAR) method.

Spatial Data Uncertainty in a Webgis Tool Supporting Sediments Management in Wallonia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stéphenne, N. R.; Beaumont, B.; Veschkens, M.; Palm, S.; Charlemagne, C.

2015-08-01

This paper describes a WebGIS prototype developed for the Walloon administration to improve the communication and the management of sediments dredging actions carried out in rivers and lakes. In Wallonia, levelling dredged sediments on banks requires an official authorization from the administration. This request refers to geospatial datasets such as the official land use map, the cadastral map or the distance to potential pollution sources. Centralising geodatabases within a web interface facilitate the management of these authorizations for the managers and the central administration. The proposed system integrates various data from disparate sources. Some issues in map scale, spatial search quality and cartographic visualisation are discussed in this paper with the solutions provided. The prototype web application is currently discussed with some potential users in order to understand in which way this tool facilitate the communication, the management and the quality of the authorisation process. The structure of the paper states the why, what, who and how of this communication tool with a special focus on errors and uncertainties.

Application of Spatial Data Modeling and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for Identification of Potential Siting Options for Various Electrical Generation Sources

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

Mays, Gary T; Belles, Randy; Blevins, Brandon R

2012-05-01

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) initiated an internal National Electric Generation Siting Study, which is an ongoing multiphase study addressing several key questions related to our national electrical energy supply. This effort has led to the development of a tool, OR-SAGE (Oak Ridge Siting Analysis for power Generation Expansion), to support siting evaluations. The objective in developing OR-SAGE was to use industry-accepted approaches and/or develop appropriate criteria for screening sites and employ an array of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data sources at ORNL to identify candidate areas for a power generation technology application. The initial phase of the study examinedmore » nuclear power generation. These early nuclear phase results were shared with staff from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), which formed the genesis and support for an expansion of the work to several other power generation forms, including advanced coal with carbon capture and storage (CCS), solar, and compressed air energy storage (CAES). Wind generation was not included in this scope of work for EPRI. The OR-SAGE tool is essentially a dynamic visualization database. The results shown in this report represent a single static set of results using a specific set of input parameters. In this case, the GIS input parameters were optimized to support an economic study conducted by EPRI. A single set of individual results should not be construed as an ultimate energy solution, since US energy policy is very complex. However, the strength of the OR-SAGE tool is that numerous alternative scenarios can be quickly generated to provide additional insight into electrical generation or other GIS-based applications. The screening process divides the contiguous United States into 100 x 100 m (1-hectare) squares (cells), applying successive power generation-appropriate site selection and evaluation criteria (SSEC) to each cell. There are just under 700 million cells representing the contiguous United States. If a cell meets the requirements of each criterion, the cell is deemed a candidate area for siting a specific power generation form relative to a reference plant for that power type. Some SSEC parameters preclude siting a power plant because of an environmental, regulatory, or land-use constraint. Other SSEC assist in identifying less favorable areas, such as proximity to hazardous operations. All of the selected SSEC tend to recommend against sites. The focus of the ORNL electrical generation source siting study is on identifying candidate areas from which potential sites might be selected, stopping short of performing any detailed site evaluations or comparisons. This approach is designed to quickly screen for and characterize candidate areas. Critical assumptions supporting this work include the supply of cooling water to thermoelectric power generation; a methodology to provide an adequate siting footprint for typical power plant applications; a methodology to estimate thermoelectric plant capacity while accounting for available cooling water; and a methodology to account for future ({approx}2035) siting limitations as population increases and demands on freshwater sources change. OR-SAGE algorithms were built to account for these critical assumptions. Stream flow is the primary thermoelectric plant cooling source evaluated in this study. All cooling was assumed to be provided by a closed-cycle cooling (CCC) system requiring makeup water to account for evaporation and blowdown. Limited evaluations of shoreline cooling and the use of municipal processed water (gray) cooling were performed. Using a representative set of SSEC as input to the OR-SAGE tool and employing the accompanying critical assumptions, independent results for the various power generation sources studied were calculated.« less

Open-Source GIS

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

Vatsavai, Raju; Burk, Thomas E; Lime, Steve

2012-01-01

The components making up an Open Source GIS are explained in this chapter. A map server (Sect. 30.1) can broadly be defined as a software platform for dynamically generating spatially referenced digital map products. The University of Minnesota MapServer (UMN Map Server) is one such system. Its basic features are visualization, overlay, and query. Section 30.2 names and explains many of the geospatial open source libraries, such as GDAL and OGR. The other libraries are FDO, JTS, GEOS, JCS, MetaCRS, and GPSBabel. The application examples include derived GIS-software and data format conversions. Quantum GIS, its origin and its applications explainedmore » in detail in Sect. 30.3. The features include a rich GUI, attribute tables, vector symbols, labeling, editing functions, projections, georeferencing, GPS support, analysis, and Web Map Server functionality. Future developments will address mobile applications, 3-D, and multithreading. The origins of PostgreSQL are outlined and PostGIS discussed in detail in Sect. 30.4. It extends PostgreSQL by implementing the Simple Feature standard. Section 30.5 details the most important open source licenses such as the GPL, the LGPL, the MIT License, and the BSD License, as well as the role of the Creative Commons.« less

The application of GIS and RS for epidemics: a case study of the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza in China in 2004-2005

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Shaobo; Lan, Guiwen; Zhu, Haiguo; Wen, Renqiang; Zhao, Qiansheng; Huang, Quanyi

2008-12-01

Because of their inherent advantages, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) are extremely useful for dealing with geographically referenced information. In the study of epidemics, most data are geographically referenced, which makes GIS and RS the perfect even necessary tools for processing, analysis, representation of epidemic data. Comprehensively considering the data requirements in the study of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) coupled with the quality of the existing remotely sensed data in terms of the resolution of space, time and spectra, the data sensed by MODIS are chosen and the relevant methods and procedures of data processing from RS and GIS for some environmental factors are proposed. Through using spatial analysis functions and Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) of GIS, some results of relationship between HPAI occurrences and these potential factors are presented. The role played by bird migration is also preliminarily illustrated with some operations such as visualization, overlapping etc. provided by GIS. Through the work of this paper, we conclude: Firstly, the migration of birds causes the spread of HPAI all over the country in 2004-2005. Secondly, the migration of birds is the reason why the spread of HPAI is perturbed. That is, for some classic communicable diseases, their spread exhibits obvious spatial diffusion process. However, the spread of HPAI breaks this general rule. We think leap diffusion and time lag are the probable reasons for this kind of phenomena. Potential distribution of HPAI viruses (corresponding to the distribution of flyways and putative risk sources) is not completely consistent with the occurrences of HPAI. For this phenomenon, we think, in addition to the flyways of birds, all kinds of geographical, climatic factors also have important effect on the occurrences of HPAI. Through the case study of HPAI, we can see that GIS and RS can play very important roles in the study of epidemics.

Bim and Gis: when Parametric Modeling Meets Geospatial Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barazzetti, L.; Banfi, F.

2017-12-01

Geospatial data have a crucial role in several projects related to infrastructures and land management. GIS software are able to perform advanced geospatial analyses, but they lack several instruments and tools for parametric modelling typically available in BIM. At the same time, BIM software designed for buildings have limited tools to handle geospatial data. As things stand at the moment, BIM and GIS could appear as complementary solutions, notwithstanding research work is currently under development to ensure a better level of interoperability, especially at the scale of the building. On the other hand, the transition from the local (building) scale to the infrastructure (where geospatial data cannot be neglected) has already demonstrated that parametric modelling integrated with geoinformation is a powerful tool to simplify and speed up some phases of the design workflow. This paper reviews such mixed approaches with both simulated and real examples, demonstrating that integration is already a reality at specific scales, which are not dominated by "pure" GIS or BIM. The paper will also demonstrate that some traditional operations carried out with GIS software are also available in parametric modelling software for BIM, such as transformation between reference systems, DEM generation, feature extraction, and geospatial queries. A real case study is illustrated and discussed to show the advantage of a combined use of both technologies. BIM and GIS integration can generate greater usage of geospatial data in the AECOO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Owner and Operator) industry, as well as new solutions for parametric modelling with additional geoinformation.

A GIS-based tool for estimating tree canopy cover on fixed-radius plots using high-resolution aerial imagery

Treesearch

Sara A. Goeking; Greg C. Liknes; Erik Lindblom; John Chase; Dennis M. Jacobs; Robert. Benton

2012-01-01

Recent changes to the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program's definition of forest land precipitated the development of a geographic information system (GIS)-based tool for efficiently estimating tree canopy cover for all FIA plots. The FIA definition of forest land has shifted from a density-related criterion based on stocking to a 10 percent tree canopy...

A GIS tool to analyze forest road sediment production and stream impacts

Treesearch

Ajay Prasad; David G. Tarboton; Charles H. Luce; Thomas A. Black

2005-01-01

A set of GIS tools to analyze the impacts of forest roads on streams considering sediment production, mass wasting risk, and fish passage barriers, has been developed. Sediment production for each road segment is calculated from slope, length, road surface condition and road-side drain vegetation gathered by a GPS inventory and by overlaying the road path on a Digital...

National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Area-Characterization Toolbox

USGS Publications Warehouse

Price, Curtis

2010-01-01

This is release 1.0 of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Area-Characterization Toolbox. These tools are designed to be accessed using ArcGIS Desktop software (versions 9.3 and 9.3.1). The toolbox is composed of a collection of custom tools that implement geographic information system (GIS) techniques used by the NAWQA Program to characterize aquifer areas, drainage basins, and sampled wells.

Construction of a Distributed-network Digital Watershed Management System with B/S Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, W. C.; Liu, Y. M.; Fang, J.

2017-07-01

Integrated watershed assessment tools for supporting land management and hydrologic research are becoming established tools in both basic and applied research. The core of these tools are mainly spatially distributed hydrologic models as they can provide a mechanism for investigating interactions among climate, topography, vegetation, and soil. However, the extensive data requirements and the difficult task of building input parameter files for driving these distributed models, have long been an obstacle to the timely and cost-effective use of such complex models by watershed managers and policy-makers. Recently, a web based geographic information system (GIS) tool to facilitate this process has been developed for a large watersheds of Jinghe and Weihe catchments located in the loess plateau of the Huanghe River basin in north-western China. A web-based GIS provides the framework within which spatially distributed data are collected and used to prepare model input files of these two watersheds and evaluate model results as well as to provide the various clients for watershed information inquiring, visualizing and assessment analysis. This Web-based Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment GIS (WAGWA-GIS) tool uses widely available standardized spatial datasets that can be obtained via the internet oracle databank designed with association of Map Guide platform to develop input parameter files for online simulation at different spatial and temporal scales with Xing’anjiang and TOPMODEL that integrated with web-based digital watershed. WAGWA-GIS automates the process of transforming both digital data including remote sensing data, DEM, Land use/cover, soil digital maps and meteorological and hydrological station geo-location digital maps and text files containing meteorological and hydrological data obtained from stations of the watershed into hydrological models for online simulation and geo-spatial analysis and provides a visualization tool to help the user interpret results. The utility of WAGWA-GIS in jointing hydrologic and ecological investigations has been demonstrated on such diverse landscapes as Jinhe and Weihe watersheds, and will be extended to be utilized in the other watersheds in China step by step in coming years

Development of Gis Tool for the Solution of Minimum Spanning Tree Problem using Prim's Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutta, S.; Patra, D.; Shankar, H.; Alok Verma, P.

2014-11-01

minimum spanning tree (MST) of a connected, undirected and weighted network is a tree of that network consisting of all its nodes and the sum of weights of all its edges is minimum among all such possible spanning trees of the same network. In this study, we have developed a new GIS tool using most commonly known rudimentary algorithm called Prim's algorithm to construct the minimum spanning tree of a connected, undirected and weighted road network. This algorithm is based on the weight (adjacency) matrix of a weighted network and helps to solve complex network MST problem easily, efficiently and effectively. The selection of the appropriate algorithm is very essential otherwise it will be very hard to get an optimal result. In case of Road Transportation Network, it is very essential to find the optimal results by considering all the necessary points based on cost factor (time or distance). This paper is based on solving the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) problem of a road network by finding it's minimum span by considering all the important network junction point. GIS technology is usually used to solve the network related problems like the optimal path problem, travelling salesman problem, vehicle routing problems, location-allocation problems etc. Therefore, in this study we have developed a customized GIS tool using Python script in ArcGIS software for the solution of MST problem for a Road Transportation Network of Dehradun city by considering distance and time as the impedance (cost) factors. It has a number of advantages like the users do not need a greater knowledge of the subject as the tool is user-friendly and that allows to access information varied and adapted the needs of the users. This GIS tool for MST can be applied for a nationwide plan called Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana in India to provide optimal all weather road connectivity to unconnected villages (points). This tool is also useful for constructing highways or railways spanning several cities optimally or connecting all cities with minimum total road length.

Using GIS and secondary data to target diabetes-related public health efforts.

PubMed

Curtis, Amy B; Kothari, Catherine; Paul, Rajib; Connors, Elyse

2013-01-01

To efficiently help communities prevent and manage diabetes, health departments need to be able to target populations with high risk but low resources. To aid in this process, we mapped county-level diabetes-related rates and resources/use using publicly available secondary data to identify Michigan counties with high diabetes prevalence and low or no medical and/or community resources. We collected county-level diabetes-related rates and resources from Web-based sources and mapped them using geographic information systems (GIS) software. Data included age-adjusted county diabetes rates, diabetes-related medical resource and resource use (i.e., the number of endocrinologists and percentage of Medicare patients with diabetes who received hemoglobin A1c testing in the past year), community resources (i.e., the number of certified diabetes self-management education and diabetes support groups), as well as population estimates and demographics (e.g., rural residence, education, poverty, and race/ethnicity). We created GIS maps highlighting areas that had higher-than-median rates of disease and lower-than-median resources. We also conducted linear, logistic, and Poisson regression analyses to confirm GIS findings. There were clear regional trends in resource distribution across Michigan. The 15 counties in the Upper Peninsula were lacking in medical resources but higher in community resources compared with the 68 counties in the Lower Peninsula. There was little apparent association between need (diabetes prevalence) and diabetes-related resources/use. Specific counties with high diabetes prevalence and low resources were easily identified using GIS mapping. Using public data and mapping tools identified diabetes health-service shortage areas for targeted public health programming.

geoKepler Workflow Module for Computationally Scalable and Reproducible Geoprocessing and Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowart, C.; Block, J.; Crawl, D.; Graham, J.; Gupta, A.; Nguyen, M.; de Callafon, R.; Smarr, L.; Altintas, I.

2015-12-01

The NSF-funded WIFIRE project has developed an open-source, online geospatial workflow platform for unifying geoprocessing tools and models for for fire and other geospatially dependent modeling applications. It is a product of WIFIRE's objective to build an end-to-end cyberinfrastructure for real-time and data-driven simulation, prediction and visualization of wildfire behavior. geoKepler includes a set of reusable GIS components, or actors, for the Kepler Scientific Workflow System (https://kepler-project.org). Actors exist for reading and writing GIS data in formats such as Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, and using OGC web services such as WFS. The actors also allow for calling geoprocessing tools in other packages such as GDAL and GRASS. Kepler integrates functions from multiple platforms and file formats into one framework, thus enabling optimal GIS interoperability, model coupling, and scalability. Products of the GIS actors can be fed directly to models such as FARSITE and WRF. Kepler's ability to schedule and scale processes using Hadoop and Spark also makes geoprocessing ultimately extensible and computationally scalable. The reusable workflows in geoKepler can be made to run automatically when alerted by real-time environmental conditions. Here, we show breakthroughs in the speed of creating complex data for hazard assessments with this platform. We also demonstrate geoKepler workflows that use Data Assimilation to ingest real-time weather data into wildfire simulations, and for data mining techniques to gain insight into environmental conditions affecting fire behavior. Existing machine learning tools and libraries such as R and MLlib are being leveraged for this purpose in Kepler, as well as Kepler's Distributed Data Parallel (DDP) capability to provide a framework for scalable processing. geoKepler workflows can be executed via an iPython notebook as a part of a Jupyter hub at UC San Diego for sharing and reporting of the scientific analysis and results from various runs of geoKepler workflows. The communication between iPython and Kepler workflow executions is established through an iPython magic function for Kepler that we have implemented. In summary, geoKepler is an ecosystem that makes geospatial processing and analysis of any kind programmable, reusable, scalable and sharable.

Developing and Testing an Online Tool for Teaching GIS Concepts Applied to Spatial Decision-Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carver, Steve; Evans, Andy; Kingston, Richard

2004-01-01

The development and testing of a Web-based GIS e-learning resource is described. This focuses on the application of GIS for siting a nuclear waste disposal facility and the associated principles of spatial decision-making using Boolean and weighted overlay methods. Initial student experiences in using the system are analysed as part of a research…

Teaching Gis outside of Geography: A Case Study in the School of International Development, University of East Anglia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bearman, Nick; Munday, Paul; McAvoy, Daniel

2015-01-01

The importance of developing employability skills of graduates has become a strategic priority in higher education. Knowledge of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools is a valuable skill for graduates both in terms of the specific skillset it provides and of the wider transferable skills. This paper discusses the importance of GIS as an…

Developing a middleware to support HDF data access in ArcGIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, M.; Jiang, Y.; Yang, C. P.

2014-12-01

Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) is the standard data format for the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) data products, like the MODIS level-3 data. These data have been widely used in long-term study of the land surface, biosphere, atmosphere, and oceans of the Earth. Several toolkits have been developed to access HDF data, such as the HDF viewer and Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL), etc. ArcGIS integrated the GDAL providing data user a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to read HDF data. However, there are still some problems when using the toolkits:for example, 1) the projection information is not recognized correctly, 2) the image is dispalyed inverted, and 3) the tool lacks of capability to read the third dimension information stored in the data subsets, etc. Accordingly, in this study we attempt to improve the current HDF toolkits to address the aformentioned issues. Considering the wide-usage of ArcGIS, we develop a middleware for ArcGIS based on GDAL to solve the particular data access problems happening in ArcGIS, so that data users can access HDF data successfully and perform further data analysis with the ArcGIS geoprocessing tools.

Combining GPS, GIS, and accelerometry: methodological issues in the assessment of location and intensity of travel behaviors.

PubMed

Oliver, Melody; Badland, Hannah; Mavoa, Suzanne; Duncan, Mitch J; Duncan, Scott

2010-01-01

Global positioning systems (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), and accelerometers are powerful tools to explain activity within a built environment, yet little integration of these tools has taken place. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of combining GPS, GIS, and accelerometry to understand transport-related physical activity (TPA) in adults. Forty adults wore an accelerometer and portable GPS unit over 7 consecutive days and completed a demographics questionnaire and 7-day travel log. Accelerometer and GPS data were extracted for commutes to/from workplace and integrated into a GIS database. GIS maps were generated to visually explore physical activity intensity, GPS speeds and routes traveled. GPS, accelerometer, and survey data were collected for 37 participants. Loss of GPS data was substantial due to a range of methodological issues, such as low battery life, signal drop out, and participant noncompliance. Nonetheless, greater travel distances and significantly higher speeds were observed for motorized trips when compared with TPA. Pragmatic issues of using GPS monitoring to understand TPA behaviors and methodological recommendations for future research were identified. Although methodologically challenging, the combination of GPS monitoring, accelerometry and GIS technologies holds promise for understanding TPA within the built environment.

Study of water supply & sanitation practices in India using geographic information systems: some design & other considerations in a village setting.

PubMed

Gopal, Srila; Sarkar, Rajiv; Banda, Kalyan; Govindarajan, Jeyanthi; Harijan, B B; Jeyakumar, M B; Mitta, Philip; Sadanala, M E; Selwyn, Tryphena; Suresh, C R; Thomas, V A; Devadason, Pethuru; Kumar, Ranjit; Selvapandian, David; Kang, Gagandeep; Balraj, Vinohar

2009-03-01

Availability of clean water and adequate sanitation facilities are of prime importance for limiting diarrhoeal diseases. We examined the water and sanitation facilities of a village in southern India using geographic information system (GIS) tools. Places of residence, water storage and distribution, sewage and places where people in the village defaecated were mapped and drinking water sources were tested for microbial contamination in Nelvoy village, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu. Water in the village was found to be microbiologically unfit for consumption. Analysis using direct observations supplemented by GIS maps revealed poor planning, poor engineering design and lack of policing of the water distribution system causing possible contamination of drinking water from sewage at multiple sites. Until appropriate engineering designs for water supply and sewage disposal to suit individual village needs are made available, point-of-use water disinfection methods could serve as an interim solution.

GIS-based spatial decision support system for grain logistics management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhen, Tong; Ge, Hongyi; Jiang, Yuying; Che, Yi

2010-07-01

Grain logistics is the important component of the social logistics, which can be attributed to frequent circulation and the great quantity. At present time, there is no modern grain logistics distribution management system, and the logistics cost is the high. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been widely used for spatial data manipulation and model operations and provide effective decision support through its spatial database management capabilities and cartographic visualization. In the present paper, a spatial decision support system (SDSS) is proposed to support policy makers and to reduce the cost of grain logistics. The system is composed of two major components: grain logistics goods tracking model and vehicle routing problem optimization model and also allows incorporation of data coming from external sources. The proposed system is an effective tool to manage grain logistics in order to increase the speed of grain logistics and reduce the grain circulation cost.

Environmental impact assessment of rail infrastructure.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-01-29

This project resulted in three products: a comprehensive "Sustainable Rail Checklist," a rail planning GIS database, and a web GIS tool that integrates sustainability metrics and facilitates a rapid assessment before a formal NEPA process is implemen...

ModBack - simplified contaminant source zone delineation using backtracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thielsch, K.; Herold, M.; Ptak, T.

2012-12-01

Contaminated groundwater poses a serious threat to drinking water resources all over the world. Even though contaminated water might be detected in observation wells, a proper clean up is often only successful if the source of the contamination is detected and subsequently removed, contained or remediated. The high costs of groundwater remediation could be possibly significantly reduced if, from the outset, a focus is placed on source zone detection. ModBack combines several existing modelling tools in one easy to use GIS-based interface helping to delineate potential contaminant source zones in the subsurface. The software is written in Visual Basic 3.5 and uses the ArcObjects library to implement all required GIS applications. It can run without modification on any Microsoft Windows based PC with sufficient RAM and at least Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5. Using ModBack requires additional installation of the following software: Processing Modflow Pro 7.0, ModPath, CSTREAM (Bayer-Raich et al., 2003), Golden Software Surfer and Microsoft Excel. The graphical user interface of ModBack is separated into four blocks of procedures dealing with: data input, groundwater modelling, backtracking and analyses. Geographical data input includes all georeferenced information pertaining to the study site. Information on subsurface contamination is gathered either by conventional sampling of monitoring wells or by conducting integral pumping tests at control planes with a specific sampling scheme. Hydraulic data from these pumping tests together with all other available information are then used to set up a groundwater flow model of the study site, which provides the flow field for transport simulations within the subsequent contamination backtracking procedures, starting from the defined control planes. The backtracking results are then analysed within ModBack. The potential areas of contamination source presence or absence are determined based on the procedure used by Jarsjö et al. (2005). The contaminant plume length can be estimated using plume length statistics, first order rate degradation equations or calculations based on site specific hydraulic and chemical parameters. Furthermore, an analytical tool is included to identify the distribution of contaminants across a control plane. All relevant output can be graphically displayed and saved as vector data to be later used in GIS software. ModBack has been already used to delimit the zones of source presence or absence at several test sites. With ModBack, a tool is now available which enables environmental consultants, engineers and environmental agencies to delineate possible sources of contamination already at the planning stage of site investigation and remediation measures, helping to significantly reduce costs of contaminated site management. Bayer-Raich, M., Jarsjö, J., Holder, T. and Ptak, T. (2003): "Numerical estimations of contaminant mass flow rate based on concentration measurements in pumping wells", ModelCare 2002: A Few Steps Closer to Reality, IAHS Publication No. 277, 10-16. Jarsjö, J., Bayer-Raich, M., Ptak, T. (2005): "Monitoring groundwater contamination and delineating source zones at industrial sites: Uncertainty analyses using integral pumping tests", Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 79, 107-134

GIS Tool for Real-time Decision Making and Analysis of Multidisciplinary Cryosphere Datasets.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roberts, S. D.; Moore, J. A.

2004-12-01

In support of the Western Arctic Shelf-Basin Interaction Project(SBI) a web-based interactive mapping server was installed on the USCGC Healy's on-board science computer network during its 2004 spring(HLY-04-02) and summer cruises (HLY-04-03) in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. SBI is a National Science Foundation sponsored multi-year and multidisciplinary project studying the biological productivity in the region. The mapping server was developed by the UCAR Joint Office of Science Support(JOSS) using OpenSource GIS tools(University of Minnesota Mapserver and USGS MapSurfer). Additional OpenSource tools such as GMT and MB-Systems were also utilized. The key layers in this system are the current ship track, station locations, multibeam bottom bathymetry, IBCAO bathymetry, DMSP satellite imagery , NOAA AVHRR Sea Surface temperature and all past SBI Project ship tracks and station locations. The ship track and multibeam layers are updated in real-time and the satellite layers are updated daily only during clear weather. In addition to using current high resolution multibeam bathymetry data, a composite high resolution bathymetry layer was created using multibeam data from past cruises in the SBI region. The server provides click-and-drag zooms, pan, feature query, distance measure and lat/lon/depth querys on a polar projection map of the arctic ocean. The main use of the system on the ship was for cruise track and station position planning by the scientists utilizing all available historical data and high resolution bathymetry. It was also the main source of information to all the scientist on board as to the cruise progress and plans. The system permitted on-board scientists to integrate historical cruise information for comparative purposes. A mirror web site was set up on land and the current ship track/station information was copied once a day to this site via a satellite link so people interested SBI research could follow the cruise progress.

The integration of digital orthophotographs with GISs in a microcomputer environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Steiner, David R.

1992-01-01

The issues involved in the use of orthoimages as a data source for GIS databases are examined. The integration of digital photographs into a GIS is discussed. A prototype PC-based program for the production of GIS databases using orthoimages is described.

A GIS-based multi-source and multi-box modeling approach (GMSMB) for air pollution assessment--a North American case study.

PubMed

Wang, Bao-Zhen; Chen, Zhi

2013-01-01

This article presents a GIS-based multi-source and multi-box modeling approach (GMSMB) to predict the spatial concentration distributions of airborne pollutant on local and regional scales. In this method, an extended multi-box model combined with a multi-source and multi-grid Gaussian model are developed within the GIS framework to examine the contributions from both point- and area-source emissions. By using GIS, a large amount of data including emission sources, air quality monitoring, meteorological data, and spatial location information required for air quality modeling are brought into an integrated modeling environment. It helps more details of spatial variation in source distribution and meteorological condition to be quantitatively analyzed. The developed modeling approach has been examined to predict the spatial concentration distribution of four air pollutants (CO, NO(2), SO(2) and PM(2.5)) for the State of California. The modeling results are compared with the monitoring data. Good agreement is acquired which demonstrated that the developed modeling approach could deliver an effective air pollution assessment on both regional and local scales to support air pollution control and management planning.

Ptolemy's Britain and Ireland: A New Digital Reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abshire, Corey; Durham, Anthony; Gusev, Dmitri A.; Stafeyev, Sergey K.

2018-05-01

In this paper, we expand application of our mathematical methods for translating ancient coordinates from the classical Geography by Claudius Ptolemy into modern coordinates from India and Arabia to Britain and Ireland, historically important islands on the periphery of the ancient Roman Empire. The methods include triangulation and flocking with subsequent Bayesian correction. The results of our work can be conveniently visualized in modern GIS tools, such as ArcGIS, QGIS, and Google Earth. The enhancements we have made include a novel technique for handling tentatively identified points. We compare the precision of reconstruction achieved for Ptolemy's Britain and Ireland with the precisions that we had computed earlier for his India before the Ganges and three provinces of Arabia. We also provide improved validation and comparison amongst the methods applied. We compare our results with the prior work, while utilizing knowledge from such important ancient sources as the Antonine Itinerary, Tabula Peutingeriana, and the Ravenna Cosmography. The new digital reconstruction of Claudius Ptolemy's Britain and Ireland presented in this paper, along with the accompanying linguistic analysis of ancient toponyms, contributes to improvement of understanding of our cultural cartographic heritage by making it easier to study the ancient world using the popular and accessible GIS programs.

a Free and Open Source Tool to Assess the Accuracy of Land Cover Maps: Implementation and Application to Lombardy Region (italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bratic, G.; Brovelli, M. A.; Molinari, M. E.

2018-04-01

The availability of thematic maps has significantly increased over the last few years. Validation of these maps is a key factor in assessing their suitability for different applications. The evaluation of the accuracy of classified data is carried out through a comparison with a reference dataset and the generation of a confusion matrix from which many quality indexes can be derived. In this work, an ad hoc free and open source Python tool was implemented to automatically compute all the matrix confusion-derived accuracy indexes proposed by literature. The tool was integrated into GRASS GIS environment and successfully applied to evaluate the quality of three high-resolution global datasets (GlobeLand30, Global Urban Footprint, Global Human Settlement Layer Built-Up Grid) in the Lombardy Region area (Italy). In addition to the most commonly used accuracy measures, e.g. overall accuracy and Kappa, the tool allowed to compute and investigate less known indexes such as the Ground Truth and the Classification Success Index. The promising tool will be further extended with spatial autocorrelation analysis functions and made available to researcher and user community.

Use of raster-based data layers to model spatial variation of seismotectonic data in probabilistic seismic hazard assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zolfaghari, Mohammad R.

2009-07-01

Recent achievements in computer and information technology have provided the necessary tools to extend the application of probabilistic seismic hazard mapping from its traditional engineering use to many other applications. Examples for such applications are risk mitigation, disaster management, post disaster recovery planning and catastrophe loss estimation and risk management. Due to the lack of proper knowledge with regard to factors controlling seismic hazards, there are always uncertainties associated with all steps involved in developing and using seismic hazard models. While some of these uncertainties can be controlled by more accurate and reliable input data, the majority of the data and assumptions used in seismic hazard studies remain with high uncertainties that contribute to the uncertainty of the final results. In this paper a new methodology for the assessment of seismic hazard is described. The proposed approach provides practical facility for better capture of spatial variations of seismological and tectonic characteristics, which allows better treatment of their uncertainties. In the proposed approach, GIS raster-based data models are used in order to model geographical features in a cell-based system. The cell-based source model proposed in this paper provides a framework for implementing many geographically referenced seismotectonic factors into seismic hazard modelling. Examples for such components are seismic source boundaries, rupture geometry, seismic activity rate, focal depth and the choice of attenuation functions. The proposed methodology provides improvements in several aspects of the standard analytical tools currently being used for assessment and mapping of regional seismic hazard. The proposed methodology makes the best use of the recent advancements in computer technology in both software and hardware. The proposed approach is well structured to be implemented using conventional GIS tools.

Feature Geo Analytics and Big Data Processing: Hybrid Approaches for Earth Science and Real-Time Decision Support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wright, D. J.; Raad, M.; Hoel, E.; Park, M.; Mollenkopf, A.; Trujillo, R.

2016-12-01

Introduced is a new approach for processing spatiotemporal big data by leveraging distributed analytics and storage. A suite of temporally-aware analysis tools summarizes data nearby or within variable windows, aggregates points (e.g., for various sensor observations or vessel positions), reconstructs time-enabled points into tracks (e.g., for mapping and visualizing storm tracks), joins features (e.g., to find associations between features based on attributes, spatial relationships, temporal relationships or all three simultaneously), calculates point densities, finds hot spots (e.g., in species distributions), and creates space-time slices and cubes (e.g., in microweather applications with temperature, humidity, and pressure, or within human mobility studies). These "feature geo analytics" tools run in both batch and streaming spatial analysis mode as distributed computations across a cluster of servers on typical "big" data sets, where static data exist in traditional geospatial formats (e.g., shapefile) locally on a disk or file share, attached as static spatiotemporal big data stores, or streamed in near-real-time. In other words, the approach registers large datasets or data stores with ArcGIS Server, then distributes analysis across a cluster of machines for parallel processing. Several brief use cases will be highlighted based on a 16-node server cluster at 14 Gb RAM per node, allowing, for example, the buffering of over 8 million points or thousands of polygons in 1 minute. The approach is "hybrid" in that ArcGIS Server integrates open-source big data frameworks such as Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark on the cluster in order to run the analytics. In addition, the user may devise and connect custom open-source interfaces and tools developed in Python or Python Notebooks; the common denominator being the familiar REST API.

Using expert informed GIS to locate important marine social-ecological hotspots.

PubMed

Mahboubi, Pouyan; Parkes, Margot; Stephen, Craig; Chan, Hing Man

2015-09-01

The marine environment provides significant benefits to many local communities. Pressure to develop coastal waterways worldwide creates an urgent need for tools to locate marine spaces that have important social or ecological values, and to quantify their relative importance. The primary objective of this study was to develop, apply and critically assess a tool to identify important social-ecological hotspots in the marine environment. The study was conducted in a typical coastal community in northern British Columbia, Canada. This expert-informed GIS, or xGIS, tool used a survey instrument to draw on the knowledge of local experts from a range of backgrounds with respect to a series of 12 social-ecological value attributes, such as biodiversity, cultural and economic values. We identified approximately 1500 polygons on marine maps and assigned relative values to them using a token distribution exercise. A series of spatial statistical analyses were performed to locate and quantify the relative social-ecological importance of marine spaces and the results were ultimately summarized in a single hotspot map of the entire study area. This study demonstrates the utility of xGIS as a useful tool for stakeholders and environmental managers engaged in the planning and management of marine resources at the local and regional levels. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhancing DInSAR capabilities for landslide monitoring by applying GIS-based multicriteria filtering analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beyene, F.; Knospe, S.; Busch, W.

2015-04-01

Landslide detection and monitoring remain difficult with conventional differential radar interferometry (DInSAR) because most pixels of radar interferograms around landslides are affected by different error sources. These are mainly related to the nature of high radar viewing angles and related spatial distortions (such as overlays and shadows), temporal decorrelations owing to vegetation cover, and speed and direction of target sliding masses. On the other hand, GIS can be used to integrate spatial datasets obtained from many sources (including radar and non-radar sources). In this paper, a GRID data model is proposed to integrate deformation data derived from DInSAR processing with other radar origin data (coherence, layover and shadow, slope and aspect, local incidence angle) and external datasets collected from field study of landslide sites and other sources (geology, geomorphology, hydrology). After coordinate transformation and merging of data, candidate landslide representing pixels of high quality radar signals were filtered out by applying a GIS based multicriteria filtering analysis (GIS-MCFA), which excludes grid points in areas of shadow and overlay, low coherence, non-detectable and non-landslide deformations, and other possible sources of errors from the DInSAR data processing. At the end, the results obtained from GIS-MCFA have been verified by using the external datasets (existing landslide sites collected from fieldworks, geological and geomorphologic maps, rainfall data etc.).

Hands-on Approach to Prepare Specialists in Climate Changes Modeling and Analysis Using an Information-Computational Web-GIS Portal "Climate"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shulgina, T. M.; Gordova, Y. E.; Martynova, Y. V.

2014-12-01

A problem of making education relevant to the workplace tasks is a key problem of higher education in the professional field of environmental sciences. To answer this challenge several new courses for students of "Climatology" and "Meteorology" specialties were developed and implemented at the Tomsk State University, which comprises theoretical knowledge from up-to-date environmental sciences with computational tasks. To organize the educational process we use an open-source course management system Moodle (www.moodle.org). It gave us an opportunity to combine text and multimedia in a theoretical part of educational courses. The hands-on approach is realized through development of innovative trainings which are performed within the information-computational web GIS platform "Climate" (http://climate.scert.ru/). The platform has a set of tools and data bases allowing a researcher to perform climate changes analysis on the selected territory. The tools are also used for students' trainings, which contain practical tasks on climate modeling and climate changes assessment and analysis. Laboratory exercises are covering three topics: "Analysis of regional climate changes"; "Analysis of climate extreme indices on the regional scale"; and "Analysis of future climate". They designed to consolidate students' knowledge of discipline, to instill in them the skills to work independently with large amounts of geophysical data using modern processing and analysis tools of web-GIS platform "Climate" and to train them to present results obtained on laboratory work as reports with the statement of the problem, the results of calculations and logically justified conclusion. Thus, students are engaged in n the use of modern tools of the geophysical data analysis and it cultivates dynamic of their professional learning. The approach can help us to fill in this gap because it is the only approach that offers experience, increases students involvement, advance the use of modern information and communication tools. Financial support for this research from the RFBR (13-05-12034, 14-05-00502), SB RAS project VIII.80.2.1 and grant of the President of RF (№ 181) is acknowledged.

GIS Application System Design Applied to Information Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qun, Zhou; Yujin, Yuan; Yuena, Kang

Natural environment information management system involves on-line instrument monitoring, data communications, database establishment, information management software development and so on. Its core lies in collecting effective and reliable environmental information, increasing utilization rate and sharing degree of environment information by advanced information technology, and maximizingly providing timely and scientific foundation for environmental monitoring and management. This thesis adopts C# plug-in application development and uses a set of complete embedded GIS component libraries and tools libraries provided by GIS Engine to finish the core of plug-in GIS application framework, namely, the design and implementation of framework host program and each functional plug-in, as well as the design and implementation of plug-in GIS application framework platform. This thesis adopts the advantages of development technique of dynamic plug-in loading configuration, quickly establishes GIS application by visualized component collaborative modeling and realizes GIS application integration. The developed platform is applicable to any application integration related to GIS application (ESRI platform) and can be as basis development platform of GIS application development.

Use of the AGNPS model to assess impacts of development and best management practices in an urban watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cross, J. A.

2006-12-01

A Geographical Information System (GIS) is an invaluable tool in the estimation of land use changes and spatial variability in urban areas. (Non-Point Source (NPS) models provide hypothetical opportunities to assess impacts which storm water management strategies and land use changes have on watersheds by predicting loadings on a watershed scale. This study establishes a methodology for analyzing land use changes and management associated with them by utilizing a GIS analysis of impervious surfaces and AGricultural Non- Point Source (AGNPS) modeling. The GIS analysis of Total Impervious Area (TIA) was used to quantify increases in development and provided land use data for use in AGNPS modeling in a small artificially- delineated urban watershed. AGNPS modeling was executed in several different scenarios to predict changes in NPS loadings associated with increases in TIA and its subsequent management in a small artificially- delineated urban watershed. Data editing, creation and extracting was completed using ArcView (3.2) GeoMedia (6) GIS systems. The GIS analysis quantified the increase in urbanization via TIA within the Bluebonnet Swamp Watershed (BSW) in East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP), Louisiana. The BSW had significant increases in urbanization in the 8 year time span of 1996 2004 causing and increase in quantity and decrease in quality of subsequent runoff. Datasets made available from the GIS analysis included TIA and the change in percentage from 1996 to 2004. This information is fundamental for the AGNPS model because it was used to calculate TIA percentages within each AGNPS cell. A 30 year daily climate file was used to execute AGNPS in different land use and storm water management scenarios within the 1100 acre BSW. Runoff qualities and quantities were then compared for different periods of 1996 and 2004. Predictions of sediment, erosion and runoff were compared according by scenario year. Management practices were also simulated by changing the Runoff Curve Number (RCN) within AGNPS and their results were also compared. This study provides an aid to planners and managers in estimating increases in urbanization by artificially- delineated watershed. It also in illustrates how to use AGNPS to predict NPS pollution and the influence that change in TIA, land use and storm water management strategies have on sediment loadings, erosion and runoff in a watershed.

Dose-Response Calculator for ArcGIS

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hanser, Steven E.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Leu, Matthias; Nielsen, Scott E.

2011-01-01

The Dose-Response Calculator for ArcGIS is a tool that extends the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS 10 Desktop application to aid with the visualization of relationships between two raster GIS datasets. A dose-response curve is a line graph commonly used in medical research to examine the effects of different dosage rates of a drug or chemical (for example, carcinogen) on an outcome of interest (for example, cell mutations) (Russell and others, 1982). Dose-response curves have recently been used in ecological studies to examine the influence of an explanatory dose variable (for example, percentage of habitat cover, distance to disturbance) on a predicted response (for example, survival, probability of occurrence, abundance) (Aldridge and others, 2008). These dose curves have been created by calculating the predicted response value from a statistical model at different levels of the explanatory dose variable while holding values of other explanatory variables constant. Curves (plots) developed using the Dose-Response Calculator overcome the need to hold variables constant by using values extracted from the predicted response surface of a spatially explicit statistical model fit in a GIS, which include the variation of all explanatory variables, to visualize the univariate response to the dose variable. Application of the Dose-Response Calculator can be extended beyond the assessment of statistical model predictions and may be used to visualize the relationship between any two raster GIS datasets (see example in tool instructions). This tool generates tabular data for use in further exploration of dose-response relationships and a graph of the dose-response curve.

A prototype web-GIS application for risk analysis of natural hazards in Switzerland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aye, Zar Chi; Nicolet, Pierrick; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Derron, Marc-Henri; Gerber, Christian; Lévy, Sebastien

2016-04-01

Following changes in the system of Swiss subsidy in January 2008, the Swiss cantons and the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) were forced to prioritize different natural hazard protection projects based on their cost-effectiveness, as a response to limited financial resources (Bründl et al., 2009). For this purpose, applications such as EconoMe (OFEV, 2016) and Valdorisk (DGE, 2016) were developed for risk evaluation and prioritization of mitigation projects. These tools serve as a useful decision-making instrument to the community of practitioners and responsible authorities for natural hazard risk management in Switzerland. However, there are several aspects which could be improved, in particular, the integration and visualization of spatial information interactively through a web-GIS interface for better risk planning and evaluation. Therefore, in this study, we aim to develop an interactive web-GIS application based on the risk concepts applied in Switzerland. The purpose of this tool is to provide a rapid evaluation of risk before and after protection measures, and to test the efficiency of measures by using a simplified cost-benefit analysis within the context of different protection projects. This application allows to integrate different layers which are necessary to calculate risk, in particular, hazard intensity (vector) maps for different scenarios (such as 30, 100 and 300 years of return periods based on Swiss guidelines), exposed objects (such as buildings) and vulnerability information of these objects. Based on provided information and additional parameters, risk is calculated automatically and results are visualized within the web-GIS interface of the application. The users can modify these input information and parameters to create different risk scenarios. Based on the resultant risk scenarios, the users can propose and visualize (preliminary) risk reduction measures before realizing the actual design and dimensions of such protective measures in the area. After designing measures, the users can re-calculate risk by updating hazard intensity and object layers. This is achieved by manual editing of shape (vector) layers in the web-GIS interface interactively. Within the application, a cost-benefit analysis tool is also integrated to support the decision-making process for the selection of different protection measures. Finally, the resultant risk information (vector layers and data) can be exported in the form of shapefiles and excel sheets. A prototype application is realized using open-source geospatial software and technologies. Boundless framework with its client-side SDK environment is applied for the rapid prototyping. Free and open source components such as PostGIS spatial database, GeoServer and GeoWebCache, GeoExt and OpenLayers are used for the development of the platform. This developed prototype is demonstrated with a case study area located in Les Diablerets, Switzerland. This research work is carried out within a project funded by the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. References: Bründl, M., Romang, H. E., Bischof, N., and Rheinberger, C. M.: The risk concept and its application in natural hazard risk management in Switzerland, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 9, 801-813, 2009. DGE: Valdorisk - Direction Générale de l'Environnement, www.vd.ch, accessed 9 January 2016, 2016. OFEV: EconoMe - Office fédéral de l'environnement, www.econome.admin.ch, accessed 9 January 2016, 2016.

Environmental Geographic Information Systems (EGIS) at Stennis Space Center (SSC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carr, Hugh; Smoot, James; Parikh, Joy

2004-01-01

This viewgraph presentation includes: 1) Background of SSC Environmental GIS (EGIS); 2) Principal Center Activities; 3) SSC's GIS Applications: a) Environmental Emergency Response Tool, b) CERCLA, c) Facilities Master Planning, d) Natural Resource Management and Site Assessment.

Integrating traffic management data via an enterprise LRS

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-06-01

A Geographic Information System for Transportation (GIS-T) can be a powerful tool to integrate traffic data with other data and help analyze results for transportation decision-making (e.g., program, traffic, or safety management). For successful GIS...

[Development and Use of Hidrosig

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gupta, Vijay K.; Milne, Bruce T.

2003-01-01

The NASA portion of this joint NSF-NASA grant consists of objective 2 and a part of objective 3. A major effort was made on objective 2, and it consisted of developing a numerical GIs environment called Hidrosig. This major research tool is being developed by the University of Colorado for conducting river-network-based scaling analyses of coupled water-energy-landform-vegetation interactions including water and energy balances, and floods and droughts, at multiple space-time scales.Objective 2: To analyze the relevant remotely sensed products from satellites, radars and ground measurements to compute the transported water mass for each complete Strahler stream using an 'assimilated water balance equation' at daily and other appropriate time scales. This objective requires analysis of concurrent data sets for Precipitation (PPT), Evapotranspiration (ET) and stream flows (Q) on river networks. To solve this major problem, our decision was to develop Hidrosig, a new Open-Source GIs software. A research group in Colombia, South America, developed the first version of Hidrosig, and Ricardo Mantilla was part of this effort as an undergraduate student before joining the graduate program at the University of Colorado in 2001. Hydrosig automatically extracts river networks from large DEMs and creates a "link-based" data structure, which is required to conduct a variety of analyses under objective 2. It is programmed in Java, which is a multi-platform programming language freely distributed by SUN under a GPL license. Some existent commercial tools like Arc-Info, RiverTools and others are not suitable for our purpose for two reasons. First, the source code is not available that is needed to build on the network data structure. Second, these tools use different programming languages that are not most versatile for our purposes. For example, RiverTools uses an IDL platform that is not very efficient for organizing diverse data sets on river networks. Hidrosig establishes a clear data organization framework that allows a simultaneous analysis of spatial fields along river network structures involving Horton- Strahler framework. Software tools for network extraction from DEMs and network-based analysis of geomorphologic and topologic variables were developed during the first year and a part of second year.

Integrative Biological Chemistry Program Includes The Use Of Informatics Tools, GIS And SAS Software Applications

PubMed Central

D’Souza, Malcolm J.; Kashmar, Richard J.; Hurst, Kent; Fiedler, Frank; Gross, Catherine E.; Deol, Jasbir K.; Wilson, Alora

2015-01-01

Wesley College is a private, primarily undergraduate minority-serving institution located in the historic district of Dover, Delaware (DE). The College recently revised its baccalaureate biological chemistry program requirements to include a one-semester Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences course and project-based experiential learning courses using instrumentation, data-collection, data-storage, statistical-modeling analysis, visualization, and computational techniques. In this revised curriculum, students begin with a traditional set of biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics major core-requirements, a geographic information systems (GIS) course, a choice of an instrumental analysis course or a statistical analysis systems (SAS) programming course, and then, students can add major-electives that further add depth and value to their future post-graduate specialty areas. Open-sourced georeferenced census, health and health disparity data were coupled with GIS and SAS tools, in a public health surveillance system project, based on US county zip-codes, to develop use-cases for chronic adult obesity where income, poverty status, health insurance coverage, education, and age were categorical variables. Across the 48 contiguous states, obesity rates are found to be directly proportional to high poverty and inversely proportional to median income and educational achievement. For the State of Delaware, age and educational attainment were found to be limiting obesity risk-factors in its adult population. Furthermore, the 2004–2010 obesity trends showed that for two of the less densely populated Delaware counties; Sussex and Kent, the rates of adult obesity were found to be progressing at much higher proportions when compared to the national average. PMID:26191337

Integrative Biological Chemistry Program Includes The Use Of Informatics Tools, GIS And SAS Software Applications.

PubMed

D'Souza, Malcolm J; Kashmar, Richard J; Hurst, Kent; Fiedler, Frank; Gross, Catherine E; Deol, Jasbir K; Wilson, Alora

Wesley College is a private, primarily undergraduate minority-serving institution located in the historic district of Dover, Delaware (DE). The College recently revised its baccalaureate biological chemistry program requirements to include a one-semester Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences course and project-based experiential learning courses using instrumentation, data-collection, data-storage, statistical-modeling analysis, visualization, and computational techniques. In this revised curriculum, students begin with a traditional set of biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics major core-requirements, a geographic information systems (GIS) course, a choice of an instrumental analysis course or a statistical analysis systems (SAS) programming course, and then, students can add major-electives that further add depth and value to their future post-graduate specialty areas. Open-sourced georeferenced census, health and health disparity data were coupled with GIS and SAS tools, in a public health surveillance system project, based on US county zip-codes, to develop use-cases for chronic adult obesity where income, poverty status, health insurance coverage, education, and age were categorical variables. Across the 48 contiguous states, obesity rates are found to be directly proportional to high poverty and inversely proportional to median income and educational achievement. For the State of Delaware, age and educational attainment were found to be limiting obesity risk-factors in its adult population. Furthermore, the 2004-2010 obesity trends showed that for two of the less densely populated Delaware counties; Sussex and Kent, the rates of adult obesity were found to be progressing at much higher proportions when compared to the national average.

Sources of endocrine-disrupting compounds in North Carolina waterways: a geographic information systems approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sackett, Dana K.; Pow, Crystal Lee; Rubino, Matthew J.; Aday, D.D.; Cope, W. Gregory; Kullman, Seth W.; Rice, J.A.; Kwak, Thomas J.; Law, L.M.

2015-01-01

The presence of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), particularly estrogenic compounds, in the environment has drawn public attention across the globe, yet a clear understanding of the extent and distribution of estrogenic EDCs in surface waters and their relationship to potential sources is lacking. The objective of the present study was to identify and examine the potential input of estrogenic EDC sources in North Carolina water bodies using a geographic information system (GIS) mapping and analysis approach. Existing data from state and federal agencies were used to create point and nonpoint source maps depicting the cumulative contribution of potential sources of estrogenic EDCs to North Carolina surface waters. Water was collected from 33 sites (12 associated with potential point sources, 12 associated with potential nonpoint sources, and 9 reference), to validate the predictive results of the GIS analysis. Estrogenicity (measured as 17β-estradiol equivalence) ranged from 0.06 ng/L to 56.9 ng/L. However, the majority of sites (88%) had water 17β-estradiol concentrations below 1 ng/L. Sites associated with point and nonpoint sources had significantly higher 17β-estradiol levels than reference sites. The results suggested that water 17β-estradiol was reflective of GIS predictions, confirming the relevance of landscape-level influences on water quality and validating the GIS approach to characterize such relationships.

Sources of endocrine-disrupting compounds in North Carolina waterways: a geographic information systems approach.

PubMed

Sackett, Dana K; Pow, Crystal Lee; Rubino, Matthew J; Aday, D Derek; Cope, W Gregory; Kullman, Seth; Rice, James A; Kwak, Thomas J; Law, Mac

2015-02-01

The presence of endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), particularly estrogenic compounds, in the environment has drawn public attention across the globe, yet a clear understanding of the extent and distribution of estrogenic EDCs in surface waters and their relationship to potential sources is lacking. The objective of the present study was to identify and examine the potential input of estrogenic EDC sources in North Carolina water bodies using a geographic information system (GIS) mapping and analysis approach. Existing data from state and federal agencies were used to create point and nonpoint source maps depicting the cumulative contribution of potential sources of estrogenic EDCs to North Carolina surface waters. Water was collected from 33 sites (12 associated with potential point sources, 12 associated with potential nonpoint sources, and 9 reference), to validate the predictive results of the GIS analysis. Estrogenicity (measured as 17β-estradiol equivalence) ranged from 0.06 ng/L to 56.9 ng/L. However, the majority of sites (88%) had water 17β-estradiol concentrations below 1 ng/L. Sites associated with point and nonpoint sources had significantly higher 17β-estradiol levels than reference sites. The results suggested that water 17β-estradiol was reflective of GIS predictions, confirming the relevance of landscape-level influences on water quality and validating the GIS approach to characterize such relationships. © 2014 SETAC.

Geographic information systems, remote sensing, and spatial analysis activities in Texas, 2008-09

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2009-01-01

Geographic information system (GIS) technology has become an important tool for scientific investigation, resource management, and environmental planning. A GIS is a computer-aided system capable of collecting, storing, analyzing, and displaying spatially referenced digital data. GIS technology is useful for analyzing a wide variety of spatial data. Remote sensing involves collecting remotely sensed data, such as satellite imagery, aerial photography, or radar images, and analyzing the data to gather information or investigate trends about the environment or the Earth's surface. Spatial analysis combines remotely sensed, thematic, statistical, quantitative, and geographical data through overlay, modeling, and other analytical techniques to investigate specific research questions. It is the combination of data formats and analysis techniques that has made GIS an essential tool in scientific investigations. This fact sheet presents information about the technical capabilities and project activities of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center (TWSC) GIS Workgroup during 2008 and 2009. After a summary of GIS Workgroup capabilities, brief descriptions of activities by project at the local and national levels are presented. Projects are grouped by the fiscal year (October-September 2008 or 2009) the project ends and include overviews, project images, and Internet links to additional project information and related publications or articles.

A GIS-based methodology for the estimation of potential volcanic damage and its application to Tenerife Island, Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scaini, C.; Felpeto, A.; Martí, J.; Carniel, R.

2014-05-01

This paper presents a GIS-based methodology to estimate damages produced by volcanic eruptions. The methodology is constituted by four parts: definition and simulation of eruptive scenarios, exposure analysis, vulnerability assessment and estimation of expected damages. Multi-hazard eruptive scenarios are defined for the Teide-Pico Viejo active volcanic complex, and simulated through the VORIS tool. The exposure analysis identifies the elements exposed to the hazard at stake and focuses on the relevant assets for the study area. The vulnerability analysis is based on previous studies on the built environment and complemented with the analysis of transportation and urban infrastructures. Damage assessment is performed associating a qualitative damage rating to each combination of hazard and vulnerability. This operation consists in a GIS-based overlap, performed for each hazardous phenomenon considered and for each element. The methodology is then automated into a GIS-based tool using an ArcGIS® program. Given the eruptive scenarios and the characteristics of the exposed elements, the tool produces expected damage maps. The tool is applied to the Icod Valley (North of Tenerife Island) which is likely to be affected by volcanic phenomena in case of eruption from both the Teide-Pico Viejo volcanic complex and North-West basaltic rift. Results are thematic maps of vulnerability and damage that can be displayed at different levels of detail, depending on the user preferences. The aim of the tool is to facilitate territorial planning and risk management in active volcanic areas.

Large Crater Clustering tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laura, Jason; Skinner, James A.; Hunter, Marc A.

2017-08-01

In this paper we present the Large Crater Clustering (LCC) tool set, an ArcGIS plugin that supports the quantitative approximation of a primary impact location from user-identified locations of possible secondary impact craters or the long-axes of clustered secondary craters. The identification of primary impact craters directly supports planetary geologic mapping and topical science studies where the chronostratigraphic age of some geologic units may be known, but more distant features have questionable geologic ages. Previous works (e.g., McEwen et al., 2005; Dundas and McEwen, 2007) have shown that the source of secondary impact craters can be estimated from secondary impact craters. This work adapts those methods into a statistically robust tool set. We describe the four individual tools within the LCC tool set to support: (1) processing individually digitized point observations (craters), (2) estimating the directional distribution of a clustered set of craters, back projecting the potential flight paths (crater clusters or linearly approximated catenae or lineaments), (3) intersecting projected paths, and (4) intersecting back-projected trajectories to approximate the local of potential source primary craters. We present two case studies using secondary impact features mapped in two regions of Mars. We demonstrate that the tool is able to quantitatively identify primary impacts and supports the improved qualitative interpretation of potential secondary crater flight trajectories.

Geographic information systems in public health and medicine.

PubMed

Mullner, Ross M; Chung, Kyusuk; Croke, Kevin G; Mensah, Edward K

2004-06-01

Geographic information systems (GIS) are increasingly being used in public health and medicine. Advances in computer technology, the encouragement of its use by the federal government, and the wide availability of academic and commercial courses on GIS are responsible for its growth. Some view GIS as only a tool for spatial research and policy analysis, while others believe it is part of a larger emerging new science including geography, cartography, geodesy, and remote sensing. The specific advantages and problems of GIS are discussed. The greatest potential of GIS is its ability to clearly show the results of complex analyses through maps. Problems in using GIS include its costs, the need to adequately train staff, the use of appropriate spatial units, and the risk it poses to violating patient confidentiality. Lastly, the fourteen articles in this special issue devoted to GIS are introduced and briefly discussed.

When Informationists Get Involved: the CHICA-GIS Project.

PubMed

Whipple, Elizabeth C; Odell, Jere D; Ralston, Rick K; Liu, Gilbert C

2013-01-01

Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) is a computer decision support system (CDSS) that interfaces with existing electronic medical record systems (EMRS) and delivers "just-in-time" patient-relevant guidelines to physicians during the clinical encounter and accurately captures structured data from all who interact with the system. "Delivering Geospatial Intelligence to Health Care Professionals (CHICA-GIS)" (1R01LM010923-01) expands the medical application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) by integrating a geographic information system with CHICA. To provide knowledge management support for CHICA-GIS, three informationists at the Indiana University School of Medicine were awarded a supplement from the National Library Medicine. The informationists will enhance CHICA-GIS by: improving the accuracy and accessibility of information, managing and mapping the knowledge which undergirds the CHICA-GIS decision support tool, supporting community engagement and consumer health information outreach, and facilitating the dissemination of new CHICA-GIS research results and services.

Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assess the role of the built environment in influencing obesity: a glossary.

PubMed

Thornton, Lukar E; Pearce, Jamie R; Kavanagh, Anne M

2011-07-01

Features of the built environment are increasingly being recognised as potentially important determinants of obesity. This has come about, in part, because of advances in methodological tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS has made the procurement of data related to the built environment easier and given researchers the flexibility to create a new generation of environmental exposure measures such as the travel time to the nearest supermarket or calculations of the amount of neighbourhood greenspace. Given the rapid advances in the availability of GIS data and the relative ease of use of GIS software, a glossary on the use of GIS to assess the built environment is timely. As a case study, we draw on aspects the food and physical activity environments as they might apply to obesity, to define key GIS terms related to data collection, concepts, and the measurement of environmental features.

Analyst Performance Measures. Volume 1: Persistent Surveillance Data Processing, Storage and Retrieval

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

solutions to address these important challenges . The Air Force is seeking innovative architectures to process and store massive data sets in a flexible...Google Earth, the Video LAN Client ( VLC ) media player, and the Environmental Systems Research Institute corporation‘s (ESRI) ArcGIS product — to...Earth, Quantum GIS, VLC Media Player, NASA WorldWind, ESRI ArcGIS and many others. Open source GIS and media visualization software can also be

GIS application on modern Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prakash, Bharath

This is a GIS based tool for showcasing the history of modern Mexico starting from the post-colonial era to the elections of 2012. The tool is developed using simple language and is flexible so as to allow for future enhancements. The application consists of numerous images and textual information, and also some links which can be used by primary and high school students to understand the history of modern Mexico, and also by tourists to look for all the international airports and United States of America consulates. This software depicts the aftermaths of the Colonial Era or the Spanish rule of Mexico. It covers various topics like the wars, politics, important personalities, drug cartels and violence. All these events are shown on GIS (Geographic information Science) maps. The software can be customized according to the user requirements and is developed using JAVA and GIS technology. The user interface is created using JAVA and MOJO which contributes to effective learning and understanding of the concepts with ease. Some of the user interface features provided in this tool includes zoom-in, zoom-out, legend editing, location identifier, print command, adding a layer and numerous menu items.

Enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration and decisionmaking with J-Earth: an open source data sharing, visualization and GIS analysis platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prashad, L. C.; Christensen, P. R.; Fink, J. H.; Anwar, S.; Dickenshied, S.; Engle, E.; Noss, D.

2010-12-01

Our society currently is facing a number of major environmental challenges, most notably the threat of climate change. A multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach involving physical and social scientists, engineers and decisionmakers is critical to adequately address these complex issues. To best facilitate this interdisciplinary approach, data and models at various scales - from local to global - must be quickly and easily shared between disciplines to effectively understand environmental phenomena and human-environmental interactions. When data are acquired and studied on different scales and within different disciplines, researchers and practitioners may not be able to easily learn from each others results. For example, climate change models are often developed at a global scale, while strategies that address human vulnerability to climate change and mitigation/adaptation strategies are often assessed on a local level. Linkages between urban heat island phenomena and global climate change may be better understood with increased data flow amongst researchers and those making policy decisions. In these cases it would be useful have a single platform to share, visualize, and analyze numerical model and satellite/airborne remote sensing data with social, environmental, and economic data between researchers and practitioners. The Arizona State University 100 Cities Project and Mars Space Flight Facility are developing the open source application J-Earth, with the goal of providing this single platform, that facilitates data sharing, visualization, and analysis between researchers and applied practitioners around environmental and other sustainability challenges. This application is being designed for user communities including physical and social scientists, NASA researchers, non-governmental organizations, and decisionmakers to share and analyze data at multiple scales. We are initially focusing on urban heat island and urban ecology studies, with data and users from local to global levels. J-Earth is a Geographic Information System (GIS) that provides analytical tools for visualizing high-resolution and hyperspectral remote sensing imagery along with numeric and vector data. J-Earth is part of the JMARS (Java Mission-planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing) suite of tools which were first created to target NASA instruments on Mars and Lunar missions. Data can currently be incorporated in J-Earth at a scale of over 32,000 pixels per degree. Among other GIS functions, users can analyze trends along a transect line, or across vector regions, over multiple stacked numerical data layers and export their results. Open source tools, like J-Earth, are not only generally free or low-cost to users but provide the opportunity for users to contribute direction, functionality, and data standards to these projects. The flexible nature of open source projects often facilitates the incorporation of unique and emerging data sources, such as mobile phone data, sensor networks, croudsourced inputs, and social networking. The J-Earth team plans to incorporate datasources such as these with the feedback and participation of the user community.

PI2GIS: processing image to geographical information systems, a learning tool for QGIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Correia, R.; Teodoro, A.; Duarte, L.

2017-10-01

To perform an accurate interpretation of remote sensing images, it is necessary to extract information using different image processing techniques. Nowadays, it became usual to use image processing plugins to add new capabilities/functionalities integrated in Geographical Information System (GIS) software. The aim of this work was to develop an open source application to automatically process and classify remote sensing images from a set of satellite input data. The application was integrated in a GIS software (QGIS), automating several image processing steps. The use of QGIS for this purpose is justified since it is easy and quick to develop new plugins, using Python language. This plugin is inspired in the Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin (SCP) developed by Luca Congedo. SCP allows the supervised classification of remote sensing images, the calculation of vegetation indices such as NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index) and other image processing operations. When analysing SCP, it was realized that a set of operations, that are very useful in teaching classes of remote sensing and image processing tasks, were lacking, such as the visualization of histograms, the application of filters, different image corrections, unsupervised classification and several environmental indices computation. The new set of operations included in the PI2GIS plugin can be divided into three groups: pre-processing, processing, and classification procedures. The application was tested consider an image from Landsat 8 OLI from a North area of Portugal.

Heat Flow Contours and Well Data Around the Milford FORGE Site

DOE Data Explorer

Joe Moore

2016-03-09

This submission contains a shapefile of heat flow contour lines around the FORGE site located in Milford, Utah. The model was interpolated from data points in the Milford_wells shapefile. This heat flow model was interpolated from 66 data points using the kriging method in Geostatistical Analyst tool of ArcGIS. The resulting model was smoothed 100%. The well dataset contains 59 wells from various sources, with lat/long coordinates, temperature, quality, basement depth, and heat flow. This data was used to make models of the specific characteristics.

AgBufferBuilder: A geographic information system (GIS) tool for precision design and performance assessment of filter strips

Treesearch

M. G. Dosskey; S. Neelakantan; T. G. Mueller; T. Kellerman; M. J. Helmers; E. Rienzi

2015-01-01

Spatially nonuniform runoif reduces the water qua1iry perfortnance of constant- width filter strips. A geographic inlormation system (Gls)-based tool was developed and tested that ernploys terrain analysis to account lor spatially nonuniform runoffand produce more ellbctive filter strip designs.The computer program,AgBufTerBuilder, runs with ATcGIS versions 10.0 and 10...

geneGIS: Computational Tools for Spatial Analyses of DNA Profiles with Associated Photo-Identification and Telemetry Records of Marine Mammals

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-30

computational tools provide the ability to display, browse, select, filter and summarize spatio-temporal relationships of these individual-based...her research assistant at Esri, Shaun Walbridge, and members of the Marine Mammal Institute ( MMI ), including Tomas Follet and Debbie Steel. This...Genomics Laboratory, MMI , OSU. 4 As part of the geneGIS initiative, these SPLASH photo-identification records and the geneSPLASH DNA profiles

Section 4. The GIS Weasel User's Manual

USGS Publications Warehouse

Viger, Roland J.; Leavesley, George H.

2007-01-01

INTRODUCTION The GIS Weasel was designed to aid in the preparation of spatial information for input to lumped and distributed parameter hydrologic or other environmental models. The GIS Weasel provides geographic information system (GIS) tools to help create maps of geographic features relevant to a user's model and to generate parameters from those maps. The operation of the GIS Weasel does not require the user to be a GIS expert, only that the user have an understanding of the spatial information requirements of the environmental simulation model being used. The GIS Weasel software system uses a GIS-based graphical user interface (GUI), the C programming language, and external scripting languages. The software will run on any computing platform where ArcInfo Workstation (version 8.0.2 or later) and the GRID extension are accessible. The user controls the processing of the GIS Weasel by interacting with menus, maps, and tables. The purpose of this document is to describe the operation of the software. This document is not intended to describe the usage of this software in support of any particular environmental simulation model. Such guides are published separately.

Integrated GIS and multivariate statistical analysis for regional scale assessment of heavy metal soil contamination: A critical review.

PubMed

Hou, Deyi; O'Connor, David; Nathanail, Paul; Tian, Li; Ma, Yan

2017-12-01

Heavy metal soil contamination is associated with potential toxicity to humans or ecotoxicity. Scholars have increasingly used a combination of geographical information science (GIS) with geostatistical and multivariate statistical analysis techniques to examine the spatial distribution of heavy metals in soils at a regional scale. A review of such studies showed that most soil sampling programs were based on grid patterns and composite sampling methodologies. Many programs intended to characterize various soil types and land use types. The most often used sampling depth intervals were 0-0.10 m, or 0-0.20 m, below surface; and the sampling densities used ranged from 0.0004 to 6.1 samples per km 2 , with a median of 0.4 samples per km 2 . The most widely used spatial interpolators were inverse distance weighted interpolation and ordinary kriging; and the most often used multivariate statistical analysis techniques were principal component analysis and cluster analysis. The review also identified several determining and correlating factors in heavy metal distribution in soils, including soil type, soil pH, soil organic matter, land use type, Fe, Al, and heavy metal concentrations. The major natural and anthropogenic sources of heavy metals were found to derive from lithogenic origin, roadway and transportation, atmospheric deposition, wastewater and runoff from industrial and mining facilities, fertilizer application, livestock manure, and sewage sludge. This review argues that the full potential of integrated GIS and multivariate statistical analysis for assessing heavy metal distribution in soils on a regional scale has not yet been fully realized. It is proposed that future research be conducted to map multivariate results in GIS to pinpoint specific anthropogenic sources, to analyze temporal trends in addition to spatial patterns, to optimize modeling parameters, and to expand the use of different multivariate analysis tools beyond principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High geothermal heat flux in close proximity to the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream.

PubMed

Rysgaard, Søren; Bendtsen, Jørgen; Mortensen, John; Sejr, Mikael K

2018-01-22

The Greenland ice sheet (GIS) is losing mass at an increasing rate due to surface melt and flow acceleration in outlet glaciers. Currently, there is a large disagreement between observed and simulated ice flow, which may arise from inaccurate parameterization of basal motion, subglacial hydrology or geothermal heat sources. Recently it was suggested that there may be a hidden heat source beneath GIS caused by a higher than expected geothermal heat flux (GHF) from the Earth's interior. Here we present the first direct measurements of GHF from beneath a deep fjord basin in Northeast Greenland. Temperature and salinity time series (2005-2015) in the deep stagnant basin water are used to quantify a GHF of 93 ± 21 mW m -2 which confirm previous indirect estimated values below GIS. A compilation of heat flux recordings from Greenland show the existence of geothermal heat sources beneath GIS and could explain high glacial ice speed areas such as the Northeast Greenland ice stream.

Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges: Using EJ SCREEN ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Communities across the United States are faced with concerns about environmental risks and exposures including air contaminants near roadways, proximity to hazardous waste sites and children’s environmental health. These concerns are compounded by complicated data, limited opportunities for collaboration and resource-based restrictions such as funding. This workshop will introduce innovative approaches for combining the capacity of EPA science tools - EJ SCREEN and the recently released Community Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST). Following a nationally applicable case study, participants will learn how these tools can be used sequentially to; (1) identify community environmental health ‘hotspots’; (2) take a closer look at local scale sources of exposure and; (3) use new features of the tool to target potential partners and resources across the country. By exploring the power of GIS mapping and crowdsource data, participants will leave with simple, user-defined approaches for using state of the science tools to advance their community and environmental health projects. Presentation using EJ SCREEN and C-FERST

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT

EPA Science Inventory

GIS has become a common tool in environmental management and enforcement. Only in the last few years, however, has the technology come into use directly by litigators working on environmental cases. This presentation explores how GIS is being used in law firms to manage and sup...

GIS and crop simulation modelling applications in climate change research

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The challenges that climate change presents humanity require an unprecedented ability to predict the responses of crops to environment and management. Geographic information systems (GIS) and crop simulation models are two powerful and highly complementary tools that are increasingly used for such p...

Open cyberGIS software for geospatial research and education in the big data era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shaowen; Liu, Yan; Padmanabhan, Anand

CyberGIS represents an interdisciplinary field combining advanced cyberinfrastructure, geographic information science and systems (GIS), spatial analysis and modeling, and a number of geospatial domains to improve research productivity and enable scientific breakthroughs. It has emerged as new-generation GIS that enable unprecedented advances in data-driven knowledge discovery, visualization and visual analytics, and collaborative problem solving and decision-making. This paper describes three open software strategies-open access, source, and integration-to serve various research and education purposes of diverse geospatial communities. These strategies have been implemented in a leading-edge cyberGIS software environment through three corresponding software modalities: CyberGIS Gateway, Toolkit, and Middleware, and achieved broad and significant impacts.

An approach of groundwater management in Barcelona City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Criollo, Rotman; Vázquez-Suñé, Enric; Velasco, Violeta; Marazuela, Miguel Angel; Burdons, Silvia; Enrich, Monica; Cardona, Fidel

2017-04-01

Urban groundwater is a valuable resource since its quantity is larger than frequently expected due to additional recharge sources (Lerner, 2002; Vázquez-Suñé et al., 2003). Its interaction with the complex infrastructures network makes the water authorities a challenge to ensure a proper water management. Necessary datasets to ensure a suitable water management have normally different origins and formats. At the same time, the water management of a city involves different decision makers with different knowledges. In this scenario, it is a necessity to create a common environment where different actors would be able to understand and analyze problems in the same way. It should be also necessary to store, analyze and visualize all the required data in the same formats within its geographical context by using standardized specific tools. To apply these recommendations for the urban groundwater management of the Barcelona City Council, we have implemented a software platform developed in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. These GIS-based tools will give support to the users for storing, managing, and analyzing geological, hydrogeological and hydrochemical data in 2D and in a 3D context (Velasco et al., 2013). This implementation will improve the groundwater management in Barcelona city optimizing the analysis and decision making processes. References Lerner, D.N., (2002). Identifying and quantifying urban recharge: a review. Hydrogeology Journal, 10 (1), pp. 143-152 Vázquez-Suñé, E., Sánchez-Vila, X. & Carrera, J. (2005). Introductory review of specific factors influencing urban groundwater, an emerging branch of hydrogeology, with reference to Barcelona, Spain. Hydrogeology Journal, 13: 522. doi:10.1007/s10040-004-0360-2 Velasco, V., Gogu, R., Vázquez-Suñè, E., Garriga A., Ramos, E., Riera, J., Alcaraz, M. (2013). The use of GIS-based 3D geological tools to improve hydrogeological models of sedimentary media in an urban environment. Environmental Earth Sciences 68: 2145. doi:10.1007/s12665-012-1898-2

Teaching Introductory GIS Programming to Geographers Using an Open Source Python Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Etherington, Thomas R.

2016-01-01

Computer programming is not commonly taught to geographers as a part of geographic information system (GIS) courses, but the advent of NeoGeography, big data and open GIS means that programming skills are becoming more important. To encourage the teaching of programming to geographers, this paper outlines a course based around a series of…

PROMAB-GIS: A GIS based Tool for Estimating Runoff and Sediment Yield in running Waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenewein, S.; Rinderer, M.; Ploner, A.; Sönser, T.

2003-04-01

In recent times settlements have expanded, traffic and tourist activities have increased in most alpine regions. As a consequence, on the one hand humans and goods are affected by natural hazard processes more often, while on the other hand the demand for protection by both technical constructions and planning measures carried out by public authorities is growing. This situation results in an ever stronger need of reproducibility, comparability, transparency of all methods applied in modern natural hazard management. As a contribution to a new way of coping this situation Promab-GIS Version 1.0 has been developed. Promab-Gis has been designed as a model for time- and space-dependent determination of both runoff and bedload transport in rivers of small alpine catchment areas. The estimation of the unit hydrograph relies upon the "rational formula" and the time-area curves of the watershed. The time area diagram is a graph of cumulative drainage area contributing to discharge at the watershed outlet within a specified time of travel. The sediment yield is estimated for each cell of the channel network by determining the actual process type (erosion, transport or accumulation). Two types of transport processes are considered, sediment transport and debris flows. All functions of Promab-GIS are integrated in the graphical user interface of ArcView as pull-up menus and tool buttons. Hence the application of Promab-GIS does not rely on a sophisticated knowledge of GIS in general, respectively the ArcView software. However, despite the use of computer assistance, Promab-GIS still is an expert support system. In order to obtain plausible results, the users must be familiar with all the relevant processes controlling runoff and sediment yield in torrent catchments.

GIS-based analysis of drinking-water supply structures: a module for microbial risk assessment.

PubMed

Kistemann, T; Herbst, S; Dangendorf, F; Exner, M

2001-05-01

Water-related infections constitute an important health impact world-wide. A set of tools serving for Microbial Risk Assessment (MRA) of waterborne diseases should comprise the entire drinking-water management system and take into account the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) concept which provides specific Critical Control Points (CCPs) reflecting each step of drinking-water provision. A Geographical Information System (GIS) study concerning water-supply structure (WSS) was conducted in the Rhein-Berg District (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). As a result, suitability of the existing water databases HYGRIS (hydrological basis geo-information system) and TEIS (drinking-water recording and information system) for the development of a WSS-GIS module could be demonstrated. Spatial patterns within the integrated raw and drinking-water data can easily be uncovered by GIS-specific options. The application of WSS-GIS allows a rapid visualization and analysis of drinking-water supply structure and offers huge advantages concerning microbial monitoring of raw and drinking water as well as recognition and investigation of incidents and outbreaks. Increasing requests regarding health protection and health reporting, demands for a better outbreak management and water-related health impacts of global climate change are major challenges of future water management to be tackled with methods including spatial analysis. GIS is assumed to be a very useful tool to meet these requirements.

GIS Representation of Coal-Bearing Areas in North, Central, and South America

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tewalt, Susan J.; Kinney, Scott A.; Merrill, Matthew D.

2008-01-01

Worldwide coal consumption and international coal trade are projected to increase in the next several decades (Energy Information Administration, 2007). A search of existing literature indicates that in the Western Hemisphere, coal resources are known to occur in about 30 countries. The need exists to be able to depict these areas in a digital format for use in Geographic Information System (GIS) applications at small scales (large areas) and in visual presentations. Existing surficial geology GIS layers of the appropriate geologic age have been used as an approximation to depict the extent of coal-bearing areas in North, Central, and South America, as well as Greenland (fig. 1). Global surficial geology GIS data were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for use in world petroleum assessments (Hearn and others, 2003). These USGS publications served as the major sources for the selection and creation of polygons to represent coal-bearing areas. Additional publications and maps by various countries and agencies were also used as sources of coal locations. GIS geologic polygons were truncated where literature or hardcopy maps did not indicate the presence of coal. The depicted areas are not adequate for use in coal resource calculations, as they were not adjusted for geologic structure and do not include coal at depth. Additionally, some coal areas in Central America could not be represented by the mapped surficial geology and are shown only as points based on descriptions or depictions from scientific publications or available maps. The provided GIS files are intended to serve as a backdrop for display of coal information. Three attributes of the coal that are represented by the polygons or points include geologic age (or range of ages), published rank (or range of ranks), and information source (published sources for age, rank, or physical location, or GIS geology base).

The Confluence of GIS, Cloud and Open Source, Enabling Big Raster Data Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plesea, L.; Emmart, C. B.; Boller, R. A.; Becker, P.; Baynes, K.

2016-12-01

The rapid evolution of available cloud services is profoundly changing the way applications are being developed and used. Massive object stores, service scalability, continuous integration are some of the most important cloud technology advances that directly influence science applications and GIS. At the same time, more and more scientists are using GIS platforms in their day to day research. Yet with new opportunities there are always some challenges. Given the large amount of data commonly required in science applications, usually large raster datasets, connectivity is one of the biggest problems. Connectivity has two aspects, one being the limited bandwidth and latency of the communication link due to the geographical location of the resources, the other one being the interoperability and intrinsic efficiency of the interface protocol used to connect. NASA and Esri are actively helping each other and collaborating on a few open source projects, aiming to provide some of the core technology components to directly address the GIS enabled data connectivity problems. Last year Esri contributed LERC, a very fast and efficient compression algorithm to the GDAL/MRF format, which itself is a NASA/Esri collaboration project. The MRF raster format has some cloud aware features that make it possible to build high performance web services on cloud platforms, as some of the Esri projects demonstrate. Currently, another NASA open source project, the high performance OnEarth WMTS server is being refactored and enhanced to better integrate with MRF, GDAL and Esri software. Taken together, the GDAL, MRF and OnEarth form the core of an open source CloudGIS toolkit that is already showing results. Since it is well integrated with GDAL, which is the most common interoperability component of GIS applications, this approach should improve the connectivity and performance of many science and GIS applications in the cloud.

Monitoring Metal Pollution Levels in Mine Wastes around a Coal Mine Site Using GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanliyuksel Yucel, D.; Yucel, M. A.; Ileri, B.

2017-11-01

In this case study, metal pollution levels in mine wastes at a coal mine site in Etili coal mine (Can coal basin, NW Turkey) are evaluated using geographical information system (GIS) tools. Etili coal mine was operated since the 1980s as an open pit. Acid mine drainage is the main environmental problem around the coal mine. The main environmental contamination source is mine wastes stored around the mine site. Mine wastes were dumped over an extensive area along the riverbeds, and are now abandoned. Mine waste samples were homogenously taken at 10 locations within the sampling area of 102.33 ha. The paste pH and electrical conductivity values of mine wastes ranged from 2.87 to 4.17 and 432 to 2430 μS/cm, respectively. Maximum Al, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn and Ni concentrations of wastes were measured as 109300, 70600, 309.86, 115.2, 38 and 5.3 mg/kg, respectively. The Al, Fe and Pb concentrations of mine wastes are higher than world surface rock average values. The geochemical analysis results from the study area were presented in the form of maps. The GIS based environmental database will serve as a reference study for our future work.

Modeling the Hydrologic Effects of Large-Scale Green Infrastructure Projects with GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bado, R. A.; Fekete, B. M.; Khanbilvardi, R.

2015-12-01

Impervious surfaces in urban areas generate excess runoff, which in turn causes flooding, combined sewer overflows, and degradation of adjacent surface waters. Municipal environmental protection agencies have shown a growing interest in mitigating these effects with 'green' infrastructure practices that partially restore the perviousness and water holding capacity of urban centers. Assessment of the performance of current and future green infrastructure projects is hindered by the lack of adequate hydrological modeling tools; conventional techniques fail to account for the complex flow pathways of urban environments, and detailed analyses are difficult to prepare for the very large domains in which green infrastructure projects are implemented. Currently, no standard toolset exists that can rapidly and conveniently predict runoff, consequent inundations, and sewer overflows at a city-wide scale. We demonstrate how streamlined modeling techniques can be used with open-source GIS software to efficiently model runoff in large urban catchments. Hydraulic parameters and flow paths through city blocks, roadways, and sewer drains are automatically generated from GIS layers, and ultimately urban flow simulations can be executed for a variety of rainfall conditions. With this methodology, users can understand the implications of large-scale land use changes and green/gray storm water retention systems on hydraulic loading, peak flow rates, and runoff volumes.

GIS for livable communities : examination of community perceptions of assets, liabilities and transportation improvements

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-09-01

This report examines the role that the built environment plays in the shaping of an individual's sense of community. New tools such as GIS, which can generate detailed spatial maps, can provide information to decision makers and stakeholders about th...

EuGI: a novel resource for studying genomic islands to facilitate horizontal gene transfer detection in eukaryotes.

PubMed

Clasen, Frederick Johannes; Pierneef, Rian Ewald; Slippers, Bernard; Reva, Oleg

2018-05-03

Genomic islands (GIs) are inserts of foreign DNA that have potentially arisen through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). There are evidences that GIs can contribute significantly to the evolution of prokaryotes. The acquisition of GIs through HGT in eukaryotes has, however, been largely unexplored. In this study, the previously developed GI prediction tool, SeqWord Gene Island Sniffer (SWGIS), is modified to predict GIs in eukaryotic chromosomes. Artificial simulations are used to estimate ratios of predicting false positive and false negative GIs by inserting GIs into different test chromosomes and performing the SWGIS v2.0 algorithm. Using SWGIS v2.0, GIs are then identified in 36 fungal, 22 protozoan and 8 invertebrate genomes. SWGIS v2.0 predicts GIs in large eukaryotic chromosomes based on the atypical nucleotide composition of these regions. Averages for predicting false negative and false positive GIs were 20.1% and 11.01% respectively. A total of 10,550 GIs were identified in 66 eukaryotic species with 5299 of these GIs coding for at least one functional protein. The EuGI web-resource, freely accessible at http://eugi.bi.up.ac.za , was developed that allows browsing the database created from identified GIs and genes within GIs through an interactive and visual interface. SWGIS v2.0 along with the EuGI database, which houses GIs identified in 66 different eukaryotic species, and the EuGI web-resource, provide the first comprehensive resource for studying HGT in eukaryotes.

GenGIS 2: Geospatial Analysis of Traditional and Genetic Biodiversity, with New Gradient Algorithms and an Extensible Plugin Framework

PubMed Central

Parks, Donovan H.; Mankowski, Timothy; Zangooei, Somayyeh; Porter, Michael S.; Armanini, David G.; Baird, Donald J.; Langille, Morgan G. I.; Beiko, Robert G.

2013-01-01

GenGIS is free and open source software designed to integrate biodiversity data with a digital map and information about geography and habitat. While originally developed with microbial community analyses and phylogeography in mind, GenGIS has been applied to a wide range of datasets. A key feature of GenGIS is the ability to test geographic axes that can correspond to routes of migration or gradients that influence community similarity. Here we introduce GenGIS version 2, which extends the linear gradient tests introduced in the first version to allow comprehensive testing of all possible linear geographic axes. GenGIS v2 also includes a new plugin framework that supports the development and use of graphically driven analysis packages: initial plugins include implementations of linear regression and the Mantel test, calculations of alpha-diversity (e.g., Shannon Index) for all samples, and geographic visualizations of dissimilarity matrices. We have also implemented a recently published method for biomonitoring reference condition analysis (RCA), which compares observed species richness and diversity to predicted values to determine whether a given site has been impacted. The newest version of GenGIS supports vector data in addition to raster files. We demonstrate the new features of GenGIS by performing a full gradient analysis of an Australian kangaroo apple data set, by using plugins and embedded statistical commands to analyze human microbiome sample data, and by applying RCA to a set of samples from Atlantic Canada. GenGIS release versions, tutorials and documentation are freely available at http://kiwi.cs.dal.ca/GenGIS, and source code is available at https://github.com/beiko-lab/gengis. PMID:23922841

Estimation of Heavy Metal Contamination in Groundwater and Development of a Heavy Metal Pollution Index by Using GIS Technique.

PubMed

Tiwari, Ashwani Kumar; Singh, Prasoon Kumar; Singh, Abhay Kumar; De Maio, Marina

2016-04-01

Heavy metal (Al, As, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Se and Zn) concentration in sixty-six groundwater samples of the West Bokaro coalfield were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy for determination of seasonal fluctuation, source apportionment and heavy metal pollution index (HPI). Metal concentrations were found higher in the pre-monsoon season as compared to the post-monsoon season. Geographic information system (GIS) tool was attributed to study the metals risk in groundwater of the West Bokaro coalfield. The results show that 94 % of water samples were found as low class and 6 % of water samples were in medium class in the post-monsoon season. However, 79 % of water samples were found in low class, 18 % in medium class and 3 % in high class in the pre-monsoon season. The HPI values were below the critical pollution index value of 100. The concentrations of Al, Fe, Mn, and Ni are exceeding the desirable limits in many groundwater samples in both seasons.

Integration of Geographical Information Systems and Geophysical Applications with Distributed Computing Technologies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pierce, M. E.; Aktas, M. S.; Aydin, G.; Fox, G. C.; Gadgil, H.; Sayar, A.

2005-12-01

We examine the application of Web Service Architectures and Grid-based distributed computing technologies to geophysics and geo-informatics. We are particularly interested in the integration of Geographical Information System (GIS) services with distributed data mining applications. GIS services provide the general purpose framework for building archival data services, real time streaming data services, and map-based visualization services that may be integrated with data mining and other applications through the use of distributed messaging systems and Web Service orchestration tools. Building upon on our previous work in these areas, we present our current research efforts. These include fundamental investigations into increasing XML-based Web service performance, supporting real time data streams, and integrating GIS mapping tools with audio/video collaboration systems for shared display and annotation.

Geographic information system as country-level development and monitoring tool, Senegal example

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, Donald G.; Howard, Stephen M.; ,

1990-01-01

Geographic information systems (GIS) allow an investigator the capability to merge and analyze numerous types of country-level resource data. Hypothetical resource analysis applications in Senegal were conducted to illustrate the utility of a GIS for development planning and resource monitoring. Map and attribute data for soils, vegetation, population, infrastructure, and administrative units were merged to form a database within a GIS. Several models were implemented using a GIS to: analyze development potential for sustainable dryland agriculture; prioritize where agricultural development should occur based upon a regional food budget; and monitor dynamic events with remote sensing. The steps for implementing a GIS analysis are described and illustrated, and the use of a GIS for conducting an economic analysis is outlined. Using a GIS for analysis and display of results opens new methods of communication between resource scientists and decision makers. Analyses yielding country-wide map output and detailed statistical data for each level of administration provide the advantage of a single system that can serve a variety of users.

FOSS GIS on the GFZ HPC cluster: Towards a service-oriented Scientific Geocomputation Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loewe, P.; Klump, J.; Thaler, J.

2012-12-01

High performance compute clusters can be used as geocomputation workbenches. Their wealth of resources enables us to take on geocomputation tasks which exceed the limitations of smaller systems. These general capabilities can be harnessed via tools such as Geographic Information System (GIS), provided they are able to utilize the available cluster configuration/architecture and provide a sufficient degree of user friendliness to allow for wide application. While server-level computing is clearly not sufficient for the growing numbers of data- or computation-intense tasks undertaken, these tasks do not get even close to the requirements needed for access to "top shelf" national cluster facilities. So until recently such kind of geocomputation research was effectively barred due to lack access to of adequate resources. In this paper we report on the experiences gained by providing GRASS GIS as a software service on a HPC compute cluster at the German Research Centre for Geosciences using Platform Computing's Load Sharing Facility (LSF). GRASS GIS is the oldest and largest Free Open Source (FOSS) GIS project. During ramp up in 2011, multiple versions of GRASS GIS (v 6.4.2, 6.5 and 7.0) were installed on the HPC compute cluster, which currently consists of 234 nodes with 480 CPUs providing 3084 cores. Nineteen different processing queues with varying hardware capabilities and priorities are provided, allowing for fine-grained scheduling and load balancing. After successful initial testing, mechanisms were developed to deploy scripted geocomputation tasks onto dedicated processing queues. The mechanisms are based on earlier work by NETELER et al. (2008) and allow to use all 3084 cores for GRASS based geocomputation work. However, in practice applications are limited to fewer resources as assigned to their respective queue. Applications of the new GIS functionality comprise so far of hydrological analysis, remote sensing and the generation of maps of simulated tsunamis in the Mediterranean Sea for the Tsunami Atlas of the FP-7 TRIDEC Project (www.tridec-online.eu). This included the processing of complex problems, requiring significant amounts of processing time up to full 20 CPU days. This GRASS GIS-based service is provided as a research utility in the sense of "Software as a Service" (SaaS) and is a first step towards a GFZ corporate cloud service.

A data-based conservation planning tool for Florida panthers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Murrow, Jennifer L.; Thatcher, Cindy A.; Van Manen, Frank T.; Clark, Joseph D.

2013-01-01

Habitat loss and fragmentation are the greatest threats to the endangered Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). We developed a data-based habitat model and user-friendly interface so that land managers can objectively evaluate Florida panther habitat. We used a geographic information system (GIS) and the Mahalanobis distance statistic (D2) to develop a model based on broad-scale landscape characteristics associated with panther home ranges. Variables in our model were Euclidean distance to natural land cover, road density, distance to major roads, human density, amount of natural land cover, amount of semi-natural land cover, amount of permanent or semi-permanent flooded area–open water, and a cost–distance variable. We then developed a Florida Panther Habitat Estimator tool, which automates and replicates the GIS processes used to apply the statistical habitat model. The estimator can be used by persons with moderate GIS skills to quantify effects of land-use changes on panther habitat at local and landscape scales. Example applications of the tool are presented.

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

Deshmukh, Ranjit; Wu, Grace

The MapRE (Multi-criteria Analysis for Planning Renewable Energy) GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Tools are a set of ArcGIS tools to a) conduct site suitability analysis for wind and solar resources using inclusion and exclusion criteria, and create resource maps, b) create project opportunity areas and compute various attributes such as cost, distances to existing and planned infrastructure. and environmental impact factors; and c) calculate and update various attributes for already processed renewable energy zones. In addition, MapRE data sets are geospatial data of renewable energy project opportunity areas and zones with pre-calculated attributes for several countries. These tools and datamore » are available at mapre.lbl.gov.« less

System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA) v. 2.1.4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conrad, O.; Bechtel, B.; Bock, M.; Dietrich, H.; Fischer, E.; Gerlitz, L.; Wehberg, J.; Wichmann, V.; Böhner, J.

2015-02-01

The System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA) is an open-source Geographic Information System (GIS), mainly licensed under the GNU General Public License. Since its first release in 2004, SAGA has rapidly developed from a specialized tool for digital terrain analysis to a comprehensive and globally established GIS platform for scientific analysis and modeling. SAGA is coded in C++ in an object oriented design and runs under several operating systems including Windows and Linux. Key functional features of the modular organized software architecture comprise an application programming interface for the development and implementation of new geoscientific methods, an easily approachable graphical user interface with many visualization options, a command line interpreter, and interfaces to scripting and low level programming languages like R and Python. The current version 2.1.4 offers more than 700 tools, which are implemented in dynamically loadable libraries or shared objects and represent the broad scopes of SAGA in numerous fields of geoscientific endeavor and beyond. In this paper, we inform about the system's architecture, functionality, and its current state of development and implementation. Further, we highlight the wide spectrum of scientific applications of SAGA in a review of published studies with special emphasis on the core application areas digital terrain analysis, geomorphology, soil science, climatology and meteorology, as well as remote sensing.

System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA) v. 2.1.4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conrad, O.; Bechtel, B.; Bock, M.; Dietrich, H.; Fischer, E.; Gerlitz, L.; Wehberg, J.; Wichmann, V.; Böhner, J.

2015-07-01

The System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA) is an open source geographic information system (GIS), mainly licensed under the GNU General Public License. Since its first release in 2004, SAGA has rapidly developed from a specialized tool for digital terrain analysis to a comprehensive and globally established GIS platform for scientific analysis and modeling. SAGA is coded in C++ in an object oriented design and runs under several operating systems including Windows and Linux. Key functional features of the modular software architecture comprise an application programming interface for the development and implementation of new geoscientific methods, a user friendly graphical user interface with many visualization options, a command line interpreter, and interfaces to interpreted languages like R and Python. The current version 2.1.4 offers more than 600 tools, which are implemented in dynamically loadable libraries or shared objects and represent the broad scopes of SAGA in numerous fields of geoscientific endeavor and beyond. In this paper, we inform about the system's architecture, functionality, and its current state of development and implementation. Furthermore, we highlight the wide spectrum of scientific applications of SAGA in a review of published studies, with special emphasis on the core application areas digital terrain analysis, geomorphology, soil science, climatology and meteorology, as well as remote sensing.

Basin Assessment Spatial Planning Platform

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

The tool is intended to facilitate hydropower development and water resource planning by improving synthesis and interpretation of disparate spatial datasets that are considered in development actions (e.g., hydrological characteristics, environmentally and culturally sensitive areas, existing or proposed water power resources, climate-informed forecasts). The tool enables this capability by providing a unique framework for assimilating, relating, summarizing, and visualizing disparate spatial data through the use of spatial aggregation techniques, relational geodatabase platforms, and an interactive web-based Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Data are aggregated and related based on shared intersections with a common spatial unit; in this case, industry-standard hydrologic drainagemore » areas for the U.S. (National Hydrography Dataset) are used as the spatial unit to associate planning data. This process is performed using all available scalar delineations of drainage areas (i.e., region, sub-region, basin, sub-basin, watershed, sub-watershed, catchment) to create spatially hierarchical relationships among planning data and drainages. These entity-relationships are stored in a relational geodatabase that provides back-end structure to the web GIS and its widgets. The full technology stack was built using all open-source software in modern programming languages. Interactive widgets that function within the viewport are also compatible with all modern browsers.« less

Applications of Mobile GIS in Forestry South Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battad, D. T.; Mackenzie, P.

2012-07-01

South Australian Forestry Corporation (ForestrySA) had been actively investigating the applications of mobile GIS in forestry for the past few years. The main objective is to develop an integrated mobile GIS capability that allows staff to collect new spatial information, verify existing data, and remotely access and post data from the field. Two (2) prototype mobile GIS applications have been developed already using the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ARCGISR technology as the main spatial component. These prototype systems are the Forest Health Surveillance System and the Mobile GIS for Wetlands System. The Forest Health Surveillance System prototype is used primarily for aerial forest health surveillance. It was developed using a tablet PC with ArcMapR GIS. A customised toolbar was developed using ArcObjectsR in the Visual Basic 6 Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The resulting dynamic linked library provides a suite of custom tools which enables the following: - quickly create spatial features and attribute the data - full utilisation of global positioning system (GPS) technology - excellent screen display navigation tools, i.e. pan, rotate map, capture of flight path - seamless integration of data into GIS as geodatabase (GDB) feature classes - screen entry of text and conversion to annotation feature classes The Mobile GIS for Wetlands System prototype was developed for verifying existing wetland areas within ForestrySA's plantation estate, collect new wetland data, and record wetland conditions. Mapping of actual wetlands within ForestrySA's plantation estate is very critical because of the need to establish protection buffers around these features during the implementation of plantation operations. System development has been focussed on a mobile phone platform (HTC HD2R ) with WindowsR Mobile 6, ESRI's ArcGISR Mobile software development kit (SDK) employing ArcObjectsR written on C#.NET IDE, and ArcGIS ServerR technology. The system is also implemented in the VILIVR X70. The system has undergone testing by ForestrySA staff and the refinements had been incorporated in the latest version of the system. The system has the following functionalities: - display and query strategic data layers - collect and edit spatial and attribute data - full utilisation of global positioning GPS technology - distance and area measurements - display of high resolution imagery - seamless integration of data into GIS as feature classes - screen display and navigation tools, i.e. pan, zoom in/out, rotate map - capture of flight path The next stages in the development of mobile GIS technologies at ForestrySA are to enhance the systems' capabilities as one of the organization main data capture systems. These include incorporating other applications, e.g. roads/tracks mapping, mapping of significant sites, etc., and migration of the system to Windows Phone7.

Groundwater vulnerability and risk mapping using GIS, modeling and a fuzzy logic tool.

PubMed

Nobre, R C M; Rotunno Filho, O C; Mansur, W J; Nobre, M M M; Cosenza, C A N

2007-12-07

A groundwater vulnerability and risk mapping assessment, based on a source-pathway-receptor approach, is presented for an urban coastal aquifer in northeastern Brazil. A modified version of the DRASTIC methodology was used to map the intrinsic and specific groundwater vulnerability of a 292 km(2) study area. A fuzzy hierarchy methodology was adopted to evaluate the potential contaminant source index, including diffuse and point sources. Numerical modeling was performed for delineation of well capture zones, using MODFLOW and MODPATH. The integration of these elements provided the mechanism to assess groundwater pollution risks and identify areas that must be prioritized in terms of groundwater monitoring and restriction on use. A groundwater quality index based on nitrate and chloride concentrations was calculated, which had a positive correlation with the specific vulnerability index.

GIS Tools to Estimate Average Annual Daily Traffic

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-06-01

This project presents five tools that were created for a geographical information system to estimate Annual Average Daily : Traffic using linear regression. Three of the tools can be used to prepare spatial data for linear regression. One tool can be...

Leveraging community health worker system to map a mountainous rural district in low resource setting: a low-cost approach to expand use of geographic information systems for public health.

PubMed

Munyaneza, Fabien; Hirschhorn, Lisa R; Amoroso, Cheryl L; Nyirazinyoye, Laetitia; Birru, Ermyas; Mugunga, Jean Claude; Murekatete, Rachel M; Ntaganira, Joseph

2014-12-06

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become an important tool in monitoring and improving health services, particularly at local levels. However, GIS data are often unavailable in rural settings and village-level mapping is resource-intensive. This study describes the use of community health workers' (CHW) supervisors to map villages in a mountainous rural district of Northern Rwanda and subsequent use of these data to map village-level variability in safe water availability. We developed a low literacy and skills-focused training in the local language (Kinyarwanda) to train 86 CHW Supervisors and 25 nurses in charge of community health at the health center (HC) and health post (HP) levels to collect the geographic coordinates of the villages using Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Data were validated through meetings with key stakeholders at the sub-district and district levels and joined using ArcMap 10 Geo-processing tools. Costs were calculated using program budgets and activities' records, and compared with the estimated costs of mapping using a separate, trained GIS team. To demonstrate the usefulness of this work, we mapped drinking water sources (DWS) from data collected by CHW supervisors from the chief of the village. DWSs were categorized as safe versus unsafe using World Health Organization definitions. Following training, each CHW Supervisor spent five days collecting data on the villages in their coverage area. Over 12 months, the CHW supervisors mapped the district's 573 villages using 12 shared GPS devices. Sector maps were produced and distributed to local officials. The cost of mapping using CHW supervisors was $29,692, about two times less than the estimated cost of mapping using a trained and dedicated GIS team ($60,112). The availability of local mapping was able to rapidly identify village-level disparities in DWS, with lower access in populations living near to lakes and wetlands (p < .001). Existing national CHW system can be leveraged to inexpensively and rapidly map villages even in mountainous rural areas. These data are important to provide managers and decision makers with local-level GIS data to rapidly identify variability in health and other related services to better target and evaluate interventions.

AUTOMATED GIS WATERSHED ANALYSIS TOOLS FOR RUSLE/SEDMOD SOIL EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION MODELING

EPA Science Inventory

A comprehensive procedure for computing soil erosion and sediment delivery metrics has been developed using a suite of automated Arc Macro Language (AML ) scripts and a pair of processing- intensive ANSI C++ executable programs operating on an ESRI ArcGIS 8.x Workstation platform...

Professional Development: Teachers Use of GIS to Enhance Student Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClurg, Patricia A.; Buss, Alan

2007-01-01

This article explains a professional development experience of fifth to twelfth grade teachers in using geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) technologies to enhance classroom teaching and learning environments. A key challenge faced by the developers was whether teachers would value the technology tools enough…

a Webgis for the Knowledge and Conservation of the Historical Wall Structures of the 13TH-18TH Centuries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vacca, G.; Pili, D.; Fiorino, D. R.; Pintus, V.

2017-05-01

The presented work is part of the research project, titled "Tecniche murarie tradizionali: conoscenza per la conservazione ed il miglioramento prestazionale" (Traditional building techniques: from knowledge to conservation and performance improvement), with the purpose of studying the building techniques of the 13th-18th centuries in the Sardinia Region (Italy) for their knowledge, conservation, and promotion. The end purpose of the entire study is to improve the performance of the examined structures. In particular, the task of the authors within the research project was to build a WebGIS to manage the data collected during the examination and study phases. This infrastructure was entirely built using Open Source software. The work consisted of designing a database built in PostgreSQL and its spatial extension PostGIS, which allows to store and manage feature geometries and spatial data. The data input is performed via a form built in HTML and PHP. The HTML part is based on Bootstrap, an open tools library for websites and web applications. The implementation of this template used both PHP and Javascript code. The PHP code manages the reading and writing of data to the database, using embedded SQL queries. As of today, we surveyed and archived more than 300 buildings, belonging to three main macro categories: fortification architectures, religious architectures, residential architectures. The masonry samples investigated in relation to the construction techniques are more than 150. The database is published on the Internet as a WebGIS built using the Leaflet Javascript open libraries, which allows creating map sites with background maps and navigation, input and query tools. This too uses an interaction of HTML, Javascript, PHP and SQL code.

Special population planner 4 : an open source release.

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

Kuiper, J.; Metz, W.; Tanzman, E.

2008-01-01

Emergencies like Hurricane Katrina and the recent California wildfires underscore the critical need to meet the complex challenge of planning for individuals with special needs and for institutionalized special populations. People with special needs and special populations often have difficulty responding to emergencies or taking protective actions, and emergency responders may be unaware of their existence and situations during a crisis. Special Population Planner (SPP) is an ArcGIS-based emergency planning system released as an open source product. SPP provides for easy production of maps, reports, and analyses to develop and revise emergency response plans. It includes tools to manage amore » voluntary registry of data for people with special needs, integrated links to plans and documents, tools for response planning and analysis, preformatted reports and maps, and data on locations of special populations, facility and resource characteristics, and contacts. The system can be readily adapted for new settings without programming and is broadly applicable. Full documentation and a demonstration database are included in the release.« less

First Prototype of a Web Map Interface for ESA's Planetary Science Archive (PSA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manaud, N.; Gonzalez, J.

2014-04-01

We present a first prototype of a Web Map Interface that will serve as a proof of concept and design for ESA's future fully web-based Planetary Science Archive (PSA) User Interface. The PSA is ESA's planetary science archiving authority and central repository for all scientific and engineering data returned by ESA's Solar System missions [1]. All data are compliant with NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS) Standards and are accessible through several interfaces [2]: in addition to serving all public data via FTP and the Planetary Data Access Protocol (PDAP), a Java-based User Interface provides advanced search, preview, download, notification and delivery-basket functionality. It allows the user to query and visualise instrument observations footprints using a map-based interface (currently only available for Mars Express HRSC and OMEGA instruments). During the last decade, the planetary mapping science community has increasingly been adopting Geographic Information System (GIS) tools and standards, originally developed for and used in Earth science. There is an ongoing effort to produce and share cartographic products through Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Services, or as standalone data sets, so that they can be readily used in existing GIS applications [3,4,5]. Previous studies conducted at ESAC [6,7] have helped identify the needs of Planetary GIS users, and define key areas of improvement for the future Web PSA User Interface. Its web map interface shall will provide access to the full geospatial content of the PSA, including (1) observation geometry footprints of all remote sensing instruments, and (2) all georeferenced cartographic products, such as HRSC map-projected data or OMEGA global maps from Mars Express. It shall aim to provide a rich user experience for search and visualisation of this content using modern and interactive web mapping technology. A comprehensive set of built-in context maps from external sources, such as MOLA topography, TES infrared maps or planetary surface nomenclature, provided in both simple cylindrical and polar stereographic projections, shall enhance this user experience. In addition, users should be able to import and export data in commonly used open- GIS formats. It is also intended to serve all PSA geospatial data through OGC-compliant Web Services so that they can be captured, visualised and analysed directly from GIS software, along with data from other sources. The following figure illustrates how the PSA web map interface and services shall fit in a typical Planetary GIS user working environment.

An open source workflow for 3D printouts of scientific data volumes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loewe, P.; Klump, J. F.; Wickert, J.; Ludwig, M.; Frigeri, A.

2013-12-01

As the amount of scientific data continues to grow, researchers need new tools to help them visualize complex data. Immersive data-visualisations are helpful, yet fail to provide tactile feedback and sensory feedback on spatial orientation, as provided from tangible objects. The gap in sensory feedback from virtual objects leads to the development of tangible representations of geospatial information to solve real world problems. Examples are animated globes [1], interactive environments like tangible GIS [2], and on demand 3D prints. The production of a tangible representation of a scientific data set is one step in a line of scientific thinking, leading from the physical world into scientific reasoning and back: The process starts with a physical observation, or from a data stream generated by an environmental sensor. This data stream is turned into a geo-referenced data set. This data is turned into a volume representation which is converted into command sequences for the printing device, leading to the creation of a 3D printout. As a last, but crucial step, this new object has to be documented and linked to the associated metadata, and curated in long term repositories to preserve its scientific meaning and context. The workflow to produce tangible 3D data-prints from science data at the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) was implemented as a software based on the Free and Open Source Geoinformatics tools GRASS GIS and Paraview. The workflow was successfully validated in various application scenarios at GFZ using a RapMan printer to create 3D specimens of elevation models, geological underground models, ice penetrating radar soundings for planetology, and space time stacks for Tsunami model quality assessment. While these first pilot applications have demonstrated the feasibility of the overall approach [3], current research focuses on the provision of the workflow as Software as a Service (SAAS), thematic generalisation of information content and long term curation. [1] http://www.arcscience.com/systemDetails/omniTechnology.html [2] http://video.esri.com/watch/53/landscape-design-with-tangible-gis [3] Löwe et al. (2013), Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 15, EGU2013-1544-1.

Using geographical information systems and cartograms as a health service quality improvement tool.

PubMed

Lovett, Derryn A; Poots, Alan J; Clements, Jake T C; Green, Stuart A; Samarasundera, Edgar; Bell, Derek

2014-07-01

Disease prevalence can be spatially analysed to provide support for service implementation and health care planning, these analyses often display geographic variation. A key challenge is to communicate these results to decision makers, with variable levels of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) knowledge, in a way that represents the data and allows for comprehension. The present research describes the combination of established GIS methods and software tools to produce a novel technique of visualising disease admissions and to help prevent misinterpretation of data and less optimal decision making. The aim of this paper is to provide a tool that supports the ability of decision makers and service teams within health care settings to develop services more efficiently and better cater to the population; this tool has the advantage of information on the position of populations, the size of populations and the severity of disease. A standard choropleth of the study region, London, is used to visualise total emergency admission values for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and bronchiectasis using ESRI's ArcGIS software. Population estimates of the Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) are then used with the ScapeToad cartogram software tool, with the aim of visualising geography at uniform population density. An interpolation surface, in this case ArcGIS' spline tool, allows the creation of a smooth surface over the LSOA centroids for admission values on both standard and cartogram geographies. The final product of this research is the novel Cartogram Interpolation Surface (CartIS). The method provides a series of outputs culminating in the CartIS, applying an interpolation surface to a uniform population density. The cartogram effectively equalises the population density to remove visual bias from areas with a smaller population, while maintaining contiguous borders. CartIS decreases the number of extreme positive values not present in the underlying data as can be found in interpolation surfaces. This methodology provides a technique for combining simple GIS tools to create a novel output, CartIS, in a health service context with the key aim of improving visualisation communication techniques which highlight variation in small scale geographies across large regions. CartIS more faithfully represents the data than interpolation, and visually highlights areas of extreme value more than cartograms, when either is used in isolation. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

GIS-based interactive tool to map the advent of world conquerors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lakkaraju, Mahesh

The objective of this thesis is to show the scale and extent of some of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. This is a hybrid project between the GIS based interactive tool and the web-based JavaScript tool. This approach lets the students learn effectively about the emperors themselves while understanding how long and far their empires spread. In the GIS based tool, a map is displayed with various points on it, and when a user clicks on one point, the relevant information of what happened at that particular place is displayed. Apart from this information, users can also select the interactive animation button and can walk through a set of battles in chronological order. As mentioned, this uses Java as the main programming language, and MOJO (Map Objects Java Objects) provided by ESRI. MOJO is very effective as its GIS related features can be included in the application itself. This app. is a simple tool and has been developed for university or high school level students. D3.js is an interactive animation and visualization platform built on the Javascript framework. Though HTML5, CSS3, Javascript and SVG animations can be used to derive custom animations, this tool can help bring out results with less effort and more ease of use. Hence, it has become the most sought after visualization tool for multiple applications. D3.js has provided a map-based visualization feature so that we can easily display text-based data in a map-based interface. To draw the map and the points on it, D3.js uses data rendered in TOPO JSON format. The latitudes and longitudes can be provided, which are interpolated into the Map svg. One of the main advantages of doing it this way is that more information is retained when we use a visual medium.

New ArcGIS tools developed for stream network extraction and basin delineations using Python and java script

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omran, Adel; Dietrich, Schröder; Abouelmagd, Abdou; Michael, Märker

2016-09-01

Damages caused by flash floods hazards are an increasing phenomenon, especially in arid and semi-arid areas. Thus, the need to evaluate these areas based on their flash flood risk using maps and hydrological models is also becoming more important. For ungauged watersheds a tentative analysis can be carried out based on the geomorphometric characteristics of the terrain. To process regions with larger watersheds, where perhaps hundreds of watersheds have to be delineated, processed and classified, the overall process need to be automated. GIS packages such as ESRI's ArcGIS offer a number of sophisticated tools that help regarding such analysis. Yet there are still gaps and pitfalls that need to be considered if the tools are combined into a geoprocessing model to automate the complete assessment workflow. These gaps include issues such as i) assigning stream order according to Strahler theory, ii) calculating the threshold value for the stream network extraction, and iii) determining the pour points for each of the nodes of the Strahler ordered stream network. In this study a complete automated workflow based on ArcGIS Model Builder using standard tools will be introduced and discussed. Some additional tools have been implemented to complete the overall workflow. These tools have been programmed using Python and Java in the context of ArcObjects. The workflow has been applied to digital data from the southwestern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. An optimum threshold value has been selected to optimize drainage configuration by statistically comparing all of the extracted stream configuration results from DEM with the available reference data from topographic maps. The code has succeeded in estimating the correct ranking of specific stream orders in an automatic manner without additional manual steps. As a result, the code has proven to save time and efforts; hence it's considered a very useful tool for processing large catchment basins.

A simple rapid approach using coupled multivariate statistical methods, GIS and trajectory models to delineate areas of common oil spill risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guillen, George; Rainey, Gail; Morin, Michelle

2004-04-01

Currently, the Minerals Management Service uses the Oil Spill Risk Analysis model (OSRAM) to predict the movement of potential oil spills greater than 1000 bbl originating from offshore oil and gas facilities. OSRAM generates oil spill trajectories using meteorological and hydrological data input from either actual physical measurements or estimates generated from other hydrological models. OSRAM and many other models produce output matrices of average, maximum and minimum contact probabilities to specific landfall or target segments (columns) from oil spills at specific points (rows). Analysts and managers are often interested in identifying geographic areas or groups of facilities that pose similar risks to specific targets or groups of targets if a spill occurred. Unfortunately, due to the potentially large matrix generated by many spill models, this question is difficult to answer without the use of data reduction and visualization methods. In our study we utilized a multivariate statistical method called cluster analysis to group areas of similar risk based on potential distribution of landfall target trajectory probabilities. We also utilized ArcView™ GIS to display spill launch point groupings. The combination of GIS and multivariate statistical techniques in the post-processing of trajectory model output is a powerful tool for identifying and delineating areas of similar risk from multiple spill sources. We strongly encourage modelers, statistical and GIS software programmers to closely collaborate to produce a more seamless integration of these technologies and approaches to analyzing data. They are complimentary methods that strengthen the overall assessment of spill risks.

The review of some chosen approaches to foresee the development of urban areas. (Polish Title: Przeglad wybranych podejsc w zakresie prognozowania rozwoju obszarow miast)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radło-Kulisiewicz, M.

2015-12-01

The practical importance of Geographical Information Systems in urban planning and managing of urban areas is becoming much more explicit. Managing small cities usually needs simple GIS spatial analysis tools to support planners' decisions. Otherwise, the urban dynamic is bigger and factors affecting changes in city are combined. These analyses are not sufficient and then a need for more advanced and sophisticated solutions can appear. The aim of this article is to introduce popular techniques for urban modelling and underlying importance of GIS as an environment for creating simple models, which let t easy decisions in creating vision of a city be taken. The Article touches on the following issues related to the planning and management of urban space; from the applicable standards concerning materials planning in Poland, through the possibilities that give us network solutions useful at the municipal and country level, to existing techniques in modelling cities in the world. The background for these questions are the Geographical Information Systems (their role in this respect), that naturally fit into this theme. The ability to analyze multi-source data at different levels of detail, in different variants and ranges, predispose the GIS to environmental urban management. While also taking into account social - economic factors, integrated with GIS predictive modeling techniques, allows us to understand dependencies that navigate complex urban phenomena. City management in an integrated and thoughtful manner and will reduce the costs associated with the expansion of the urban fabric and avoid the chaos of urban development.

Proceedings of the U.S. Geological Survey Fourth Biennial Geographic Information Science Workshop: Denver, Colorado, April 23-27, 2001

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sieverling, Jennifer B.; Char, Stephen J.; San Juan, Carma A.

2005-01-01

Introduction: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fourth Biennial Geographic Information Science (GIS) Workshop (USGS-GIS 2001) was held April 23-27, 2001, at the Denver Federal Center in Denver, Colorado. The workshop provided an environment for participants to improve their knowledge about GIS and GIS-related applications that are used within the USGS. Two major topics of USGS-GIS 2001 were the application of GIS technology to interdisciplinary science and the distribution and sharing of USGS GIS products. Additionally, several presentations included GIS technology and tools, project applications of GIS, and GIS data management. USGS-GIS 2001 included user and vendor presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on technical workshops. Presentation abstracts that were submitted for publication are included in these proceedings. The keynote speaker was Karen Siderelis, the USGS Associate Director for Information (Geographic Information Officer). In addition to the USGS, other Federal agencies, GIS-related companies, and university researchers presented lectures or demonstrations or conducted hands-on sessions. USGS employees and contractors from every discipline and region attended the workshop. To facilitate the interaction between the Federal agencies, each of the presenting Federal agencies was invited to send a representative to the workshop. One of the most beneficial activities of USGS-GIS 2001, as identified by an informal poll of attendees, was the Monday evening poster session in which more than 75 poster presentations gave attendees a chance to learn of work being performed throughout the USGS. A feature new to USGS-GIS 2001 was internet participation of USGS personnel through cyber seminars of the morning plenary sessions.

Integration of modern statistical tools for the analysis of climate extremes into the web-GIS “CLIMATE”

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryazanova, A. A.; Okladnikov, I. G.; Gordov, E. P.

2017-11-01

The frequency of occurrence and magnitude of precipitation and temperature extreme events show positive trends in several geographical regions. These events must be analyzed and studied in order to better understand their impact on the environment, predict their occurrences, and mitigate their effects. For this purpose, we augmented web-GIS called “CLIMATE” to include a dedicated statistical package developed in the R language. The web-GIS “CLIMATE” is a software platform for cloud storage processing and visualization of distributed archives of spatial datasets. It is based on a combined use of web and GIS technologies with reliable procedures for searching, extracting, processing, and visualizing the spatial data archives. The system provides a set of thematic online tools for the complex analysis of current and future climate changes and their effects on the environment. The package includes new powerful methods of time-dependent statistics of extremes, quantile regression and copula approach for the detailed analysis of various climate extreme events. Specifically, the very promising copula approach allows obtaining the structural connections between the extremes and the various environmental characteristics. The new statistical methods integrated into the web-GIS “CLIMATE” can significantly facilitate and accelerate the complex analysis of climate extremes using only a desktop PC connected to the Internet.

Using Cesium for 3D Thematic Visualisations on the Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gede, Mátyás

2018-05-01

Cesium (http://cesiumjs.org) is an open source, WebGL-based JavaScript library for virtual globes and 3D maps. It is an excellent tool for 3D thematic visualisations, but to use its full functionality it has to be feed with its own file format, CZML. Unfortunately, this format is not yet supported by any major GIS software. This paper intro- duces a plugin for QGIS, developed by the author, which facilitates the creation of CZML file for various types of visualisations. The usability of Cesium is also examined in various hardware/software environments.

webMGR: an online tool for the multiple genome rearrangement problem.

PubMed

Lin, Chi Ho; Zhao, Hao; Lowcay, Sean Harry; Shahab, Atif; Bourque, Guillaume

2010-02-01

The algorithm MGR enables the reconstruction of rearrangement phylogenies based on gene or synteny block order in multiple genomes. Although MGR has been successfully applied to study the evolution of different sets of species, its utilization has been hampered by the prohibitive running time for some applications. In the current work, we have designed new heuristics that significantly speed up the tool without compromising its accuracy. Moreover, we have developed a web server (webMGR) that includes elaborate web output to facilitate navigation through the results. webMGR can be accessed via http://www.gis.a-star.edu.sg/~bourque. The source code of the improved standalone version of MGR is also freely available from the web site. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Geothopica and the interactive analysis and visualization of the updated Italian National Geothermal Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trumpy, Eugenio; Manzella, Adele

2017-02-01

The Italian National Geothermal Database (BDNG), is the largest collection of Italian Geothermal data and was set up in the 1980s. It has since been updated both in terms of content and management tools: information on deep wells and thermal springs (with temperature > 30 °C) are currently organized and stored in a PostgreSQL relational database management system, which guarantees high performance, data security and easy access through different client applications. The BDNG is the core of the Geothopica web site, whose webGIS tool allows different types of user to access geothermal data, to visualize multiple types of datasets, and to perform integrated analyses. The webGIS tool has been recently improved by two specially designed, programmed and implemented visualization tools to display data on well lithology and underground temperatures. This paper describes the contents of the database and its software and data update, as well as the webGIS tool including the new tools for data lithology and temperature visualization. The geoinformation organized in the database and accessible through Geothopica is of use not only for geothermal purposes, but also for any kind of georesource and CO2 storage project requiring the organization of, and access to, deep underground data. Geothopica also supports project developers, researchers, and decision makers in the assessment, management and sustainable deployment of georesources.

GIS tool to locate major Sikh temples in USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Saumya

This tool is a GIS based interactive and graphical user interface tool, which locates the major Sikh temples of USA on a map. This tool is using Java programming language along with MOJO (Map Object Java Object) provided by ESRI that is the organization that provides the GIS software. It also includes some of the integration with Google's API's like Google Translator API. This application will tell users about the origin of Sikhism in India and USA, the major Sikh temples in each state of USA, location, name and detail information through their website. The primary purpose of this application is to make people aware about this religion and culture. This tool will also measure the distance between two temple points in a map and display the result in miles and kilometers. Also, there is an added support to convert each temple's website language from English to Punjabi or any other language using a language convertor tool so that people from different nationalities can understand their culture. By clicking on each point on a map, a new window will pop up showing the picture of the temple and a hyperlink that will redirect to the website of that particular temple .It will also contain links to their dance, music, history, and also a help menu to guide the users to use the software efficiently.

Bim-Gis Integrated Geospatial Information Model Using Semantic Web and Rdf Graphs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hor, A.-H.; Jadidi, A.; Sohn, G.

2016-06-01

In recent years, 3D virtual indoor/outdoor urban modelling becomes a key spatial information framework for many civil and engineering applications such as evacuation planning, emergency and facility management. For accomplishing such sophisticate decision tasks, there is a large demands for building multi-scale and multi-sourced 3D urban models. Currently, Building Information Model (BIM) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are broadly used as the modelling sources. However, data sharing and exchanging information between two modelling domains is still a huge challenge; while the syntactic or semantic approaches do not fully provide exchanging of rich semantic and geometric information of BIM into GIS or vice-versa. This paper proposes a novel approach for integrating BIM and GIS using semantic web technologies and Resources Description Framework (RDF) graphs. The novelty of the proposed solution comes from the benefits of integrating BIM and GIS technologies into one unified model, so-called Integrated Geospatial Information Model (IGIM). The proposed approach consists of three main modules: BIM-RDF and GIS-RDF graphs construction, integrating of two RDF graphs, and query of information through IGIM-RDF graph using SPARQL. The IGIM generates queries from both the BIM and GIS RDF graphs resulting a semantically integrated model with entities representing both BIM classes and GIS feature objects with respect to the target-client application. The linkage between BIM-RDF and GIS-RDF is achieved through SPARQL endpoints and defined by a query using set of datasets and entity classes with complementary properties, relationships and geometries. To validate the proposed approach and its performance, a case study was also tested using IGIM system design.

GIS Technologies for the Planetary Science Archive (PSA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Docasal, R.

2017-09-01

In my abstract I try to show how a GIS and 3D visual tools architecture could handle the different approaches for visualizing the spatial info, depending on the nature and shape of the object (planet, satellite, comet...etc) to be mapped in a multi-mission website such as the new PSA.

Student-Teachers' Use of "Google Earth" in Problem-Based Geology Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ratinen, Ilkka; Keinonen, Tuula

2011-01-01

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are adequate for analyzing complex scientific and spatial phenomena in geography education. "Google Earth" is a geographic information tool for GIS-based learning. It allows students to engage in the lesson, explore the Earth, explain what they identify and evaluate the implications of what they are…

Assessing soil erosion risk using RUSLE through a GIS open source desktop and web application.

PubMed

Duarte, L; Teodoro, A C; Gonçalves, J A; Soares, D; Cunha, M

2016-06-01

Soil erosion is a serious environmental problem. An estimation of the expected soil loss by water-caused erosion can be calculated considering the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Geographical Information Systems (GIS) provide different tools to create categorical maps of soil erosion risk which help to study the risk assessment of soil loss. The objective of this study was to develop a GIS open source application (in QGIS), using the RUSLE methodology for estimating erosion rate at the watershed scale (desktop application) and provide the same application via web access (web application). The applications developed allow one to generate all the maps necessary to evaluate the soil erosion risk. Several libraries and algorithms from SEXTANTE were used to develop these applications. These applications were tested in Montalegre municipality (Portugal). The maps involved in RUSLE method-soil erosivity factor, soil erodibility factor, topographic factor, cover management factor, and support practices-were created. The estimated mean value of the soil loss obtained was 220 ton km(-2) year(-1) ranged from 0.27 to 1283 ton km(-2) year(-1). The results indicated that most of the study area (80 %) is characterized by very low soil erosion level (<321 ton km(-2) year(-1)) and in 4 % of the studied area the soil erosion was higher than 962 ton km(-2) year(-1). It was also concluded that areas with high slope values and bare soil are related with high level of erosion and the higher the P and C values, the higher the soil erosion percentage. The RUSLE web and the desktop application are freely available.

The analysis of inland water transport on technically developed Polish section of the E70 waterway using GIS tools in the years 2005-2014

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabant, Hubert; Szatten, Dawid; Nadolny, Grzegorz

2017-11-01

The article presents the characteristics of changes in the spatial extent of transport on the hydrotechnically developed section of the E70 waterway in Poland using methods and tools of geographic information systems (GIS). The results of the analyzes show the conditions for vessel traffic, their type and volatility in the years 2005-2014. The methods made it possible to analyze the spatial determinants of navigation. The obtained results were referred to the current state and prospects for development of Polish waterways and indicated that the applied tools have a great application role in the research on their logistics and development.

An Overview of GIS-Based Modeling and Assessment of Mining-Induced Hazards: Soil, Water, and Forest

PubMed Central

Kim, Sung-Min; Yi, Huiuk; Choi, Yosoon

2017-01-01

In this study, current geographic information system (GIS)-based methods and their application for the modeling and assessment of mining-induced hazards were reviewed. Various types of mining-induced hazard, including soil contamination, soil erosion, water pollution, and deforestation were considered in the discussion of the strength and role of GIS as a viable problem-solving tool in relation to mining-induced hazards. The various types of mining-induced hazard were classified into two or three subtopics according to the steps involved in the reclamation procedure, or elements of the hazard of interest. Because GIS is appropriated for the handling of geospatial data in relation to mining-induced hazards, the application and feasibility of exploiting GIS-based modeling and assessment of mining-induced hazards within the mining industry could be expanded further. PMID:29186922

An Overview of GIS-Based Modeling and Assessment of Mining-Induced Hazards: Soil, Water, and Forest.

PubMed

Suh, Jangwon; Kim, Sung-Min; Yi, Huiuk; Choi, Yosoon

2017-11-27

In this study, current geographic information system (GIS)-based methods and their application for the modeling and assessment of mining-induced hazards were reviewed. Various types of mining-induced hazard, including soil contamination, soil erosion, water pollution, and deforestation were considered in the discussion of the strength and role of GIS as a viable problem-solving tool in relation to mining-induced hazards. The various types of mining-induced hazard were classified into two or three subtopics according to the steps involved in the reclamation procedure, or elements of the hazard of interest. Because GIS is appropriated for the handling of geospatial data in relation to mining-induced hazards, the application and feasibility of exploiting GIS-based modeling and assessment of mining-induced hazards within the mining industry could be expanded further.

DIY-style GIS service in mobile navigation system integrated with web and wireless GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Yongbin; Wu, Jianping; Fan, Caiyou; Wang, Minqi; Dai, Sheng

2007-06-01

Mobile navigation system based on handheld device can not only provide basic GIS services, but also enable these GIS services to be provided without location limit, to be more instantly interacted between users and devices. However, we still see that most navigation systems have common defects on user experience like limited map format, few map resources, and unable location share. To overcome the above defects, we propose DIY-style GIS service which provide users a more free software environment and allow uses to customize their GIS services. These services include defining geographical coordinate system of maps which helps to hugely enlarge the map source, editing vector feature, related property information and hotlink images, customizing covered area of download map via General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and sharing users' location information via SMS (Short Message Service) which establishes the communication between users who needs GIS services. The paper introduces the integration of web and wireless GIS service in a mobile navigation system and presents an implementation sample of a DIY-Style GIS service in a mobile navigation system.

Using Geographic Information Systems for Exposure Assessment in Environmental Epidemiology Studies

PubMed Central

Nuckols, John R.; Ward, Mary H.; Jarup, Lars

2004-01-01

Geographic information systems (GIS) are being used with increasing frequency in environmental epidemiology studies. Reported applications include locating the study population by geocoding addresses (assigning mapping coordinates), using proximity analysis of contaminant source as a surrogate for exposure, and integrating environmental monitoring data into the analysis of the health outcomes. Although most of these studies have been ecologic in design, some have used GIS in estimating environmental levels of a contaminant at the individual level and to design exposure metrics for use in epidemiologic studies. In this article we discuss fundamentals of three scientific disciplines instrumental to using GIS in exposure assessment for epidemiologic studies: geospatial science, environmental science, and epidemiology. We also explore how a GIS can be used to accomplish several steps in the exposure assessment process. These steps include defining the study population, identifying source and potential routes of exposure, estimating environmental levels of target contaminants, and estimating personal exposures. We present and discuss examples for the first three steps. We discuss potential use of GIS and global positioning systems (GPS) in the last step. On the basis of our findings, we conclude that the use of GIS in exposure assessment for environmental epidemiology studies is not only feasible but can enhance the understanding of the association between contaminants in our environment and disease. PMID:15198921

National Geothermal Data System: Open Access to Geoscience Data, Maps, and Documents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caudill, C. M.; Richard, S. M.; Musil, L.; Sonnenschein, A.; Good, J.

2014-12-01

The U.S. National Geothermal Data System (NGDS) provides free open access to millions of geoscience data records, publications, maps, and reports via distributed web services to propel geothermal research, development, and production. NGDS is built on the US Geoscience Information Network (USGIN) data integration framework, which is a joint undertaking of the USGS and the Association of American State Geologists (AASG), and is compliant with international standards and protocols. NGDS currently serves geoscience information from 60+ data providers in all 50 states. Free and open source software is used in this federated system where data owners maintain control of their data. This interactive online system makes geoscience data easily discoverable, accessible, and interoperable at no cost to users. The dynamic project site http://geothermaldata.org serves as the information source and gateway to the system, allowing data and applications discovery and availability of the system's data feed. It also provides access to NGDS specifications and the free and open source code base (on GitHub), a map-centric and library style search interface, other software applications utilizing NGDS services, NGDS tutorials (via YouTube and USGIN site), and user-created tools and scripts. The user-friendly map-centric web-based application has been created to support finding, visualizing, mapping, and acquisition of data based on topic, location, time, provider, or key words. Geographic datasets visualized through the map interface also allow users to inspect the details of individual GIS data points (e.g. wells, geologic units, etc.). In addition, the interface provides the information necessary for users to access the GIS data from third party software applications such as GoogleEarth, UDig, and ArcGIS. A redistributable, free and open source software package called GINstack (USGIN software stack) was also created to give data providers a simple way to release data using interoperable and shareable standards, upload data and documents, and expose those data as a node in the NGDS or any larger data system through a CSW endpoint. The easy-to-use interface is supported by back-end software including Postgres, GeoServer, and custom CKAN extensions among others.

How NASA's Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) is operationally using the Esri ArcGIS Platform to improve data discoverability, accessibility and interoperability to meet the diversifying government, private, public and academic communities' driven requirements.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tisdale, M.

2016-12-01

NASA's Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) is operationally using the Esri ArcGIS Platform to improve data discoverability, accessibility and interoperability to meet the diversifying government, private, public and academic communities' driven requirements. The ASDC is actively working to provide their mission essential datasets as ArcGIS Image Services, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Web Mapping Services (WMS), OGC Web Coverage Services (WCS) and leveraging the ArcGIS multidimensional mosaic dataset structure. Science teams and ASDC are utilizing these services, developing applications using the Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS and ArcGIS API for Javascript, and evaluating restructuring their data production and access scripts within the ArcGIS Python Toolbox framework and Geoprocessing service environment. These capabilities yield a greater usage and exposure of ASDC data holdings and provide improved geospatial analytical tools for a mission critical understanding in the areas of the earth's radiation budget, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric chemistry.

Classification and spatial mapping of riparian habitat with applications toward management of streams impacted by nonpoint source pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delong, Michael D.; Brusven, Merlyn A.

1991-07-01

Management of riparian habitats has been recognized for its importance in reducing instream effects of agricultural nonpoint source pollution. By serving as a buffer, well structured riparian habitats can reduce nonpoint source impacts by filtering surface runoff from field to stream. A system has been developed where key characteristics of riparian habitat, vegetation type, height, width, riparian and shoreline bank slope, and land use are classified as discrete categorical units. This classification system recognizes seven riparian vegetation types, which are determined by dominant plant type. Riparian and shoreline bank slope, in addition to riparian width and height, each consist of five categories. Classification by discrete units allows for ready digitizing of information for production of spatial maps using a geographic information system (GIS). The classification system was tested for field efficiency on Tom Beall Creek watershed, an agriculturally impacted third-order stream in the Clearwater River drainage, Nez Perce County, Idaho, USA. The classification system was simple to use during field applications and provided a good inventory of riparian habitat. After successful field tests, spatial maps were produced for each component using the Professional Map Analysis Package (pMAP), a GIS program. With pMAP, a map describing general riparian habitat condition was produced by combining the maps of components of riparian habitat, and the condition map was integrated with a map of soil erosion potential in order to determine areas along the stream that are susceptible to nonpoint source pollution inputs. Integration of spatial maps of riparian classification and watershed characteristics has great potential as a tool for aiding in making management decisions for mitigating off-site impacts of agricultural nonpoint source pollution.

Battle of France WWII

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gadhath, Arpitha Rao

The purpose of this thesis is to build an interactive Geographical Information System (GIS) tool, relating to the series of events that occurred during the Battle of France World War II. The tool gives us an insight about the countries involved in the battle, their allies and their strategies. This tool was created to use it as a one stop source of information regarding all the important battles that took place, which lead to the fall of France. The tool brings together the maps of all the countries involved. Integrated with each map is the data relevant to that map. The data for each country includes the place of attack, the strategies used during the attack, and the kind of warfare. The tool also makes use of HTML files to give all the information, along with the images from the time of the war and a footage which explains everything about the particular battle. The tool was build using JAVA, along with the use of MOJO (Map Objects Java Objects) to develop Maps of each of the countries. MOJO is developed by ESRI (Environmental Science Research Institute) which makes it easier to add data to the maps. It also makes highlighting important information easier making use of pop-up windows, charts and infographics. HTML files were designed making use of the open-source template developed by Bootstrap. The tool is built in such a way that the interface is simple and easy for the user to use and understand.

Hands-on approach to teaching Earth system sciences using a information-computational web-GIS portal "Climate"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordova, Yulia; Gorbatenko, Valentina; Martynova, Yulia; Shulgina, Tamara

2014-05-01

A problem of making education relevant to the workplace tasks is a key problem of higher education because old-school training programs are not keeping pace with the rapidly changing situation in the professional field of environmental sciences. A joint group of specialists from Tomsk State University and Siberian center for Environmental research and Training/IMCES SB RAS developed several new courses for students of "Climatology" and "Meteorology" specialties, which comprises theoretical knowledge from up-to-date environmental sciences with practical tasks. To organize the educational process we use an open-source course management system Moodle (www.moodle.org). It gave us an opportunity to combine text and multimedia in a theoretical part of educational courses. The hands-on approach is realized through development of innovative trainings which are performed within the information-computational platform "Climate" (http://climate.scert.ru/) using web GIS tools. These trainings contain practical tasks on climate modeling and climate changes assessment and analysis and should be performed using typical tools which are usually used by scientists performing such kind of research. Thus, students are engaged in n the use of modern tools of the geophysical data analysis and it cultivates dynamic of their professional learning. The hands-on approach can help us to fill in this gap because it is the only approach that offers experience, increases students involvement, advance the use of modern information and communication tools. The courses are implemented at Tomsk State University and help forming modern curriculum in Earth system science area. This work is partially supported by SB RAS project VIII.80.2.1, RFBR grants numbers 13-05-12034 and 14-05-00502.

Evaluation of Wind Energy Production in Texas using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrer, L. M.

2017-12-01

Texas has the highest installed wind capacity in the United States. The purpose of this research was to estimate the theoretical wind turbine energy production and the utilization ratio of wind turbines in Texas. Windfarm data was combined applying Geographic Information System (GIS) methodology to create an updated GIS wind turbine database, including location and technical specifications. Applying GIS diverse tools, the windfarm data was spatially joined with National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) wind data to calculate the wind speed at each turbine hub. The power output for each turbine at the hub wind speed was evaluated by the GIS system according the respective turbine model power curve. In total over 11,700 turbines are installed in Texas with an estimated energy output of 60 GWh per year and an average utilization ratio of 0.32. This research indicates that applying GIS methodologies will be crucial in the growth of wind energy and efficiency in Texas.

Invasive species management and research using GIS

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holcombe, Tracy R.; Stohlgren, Thomas J.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.

2007-01-01

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are powerful tools in the field of invasive species management. GIS can be used to create potential distribution maps for all manner of taxa, including plants, animals, and diseases. GIS also performs well in the early detection and rapid assessment of invasive species. Here, we used GIS applications to investigate species richness and invasion patterns in fish in the United States (US) at the 6-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) level. We also created maps of potential spread of the cane toad (Bufo marinus) in the southeastern US at the 8-digit HUC level using regression and environmental envelope techniques. Equipped with this potential map, resource managers can target their field surveys to areas most vulnerable to invasion. Advances in GIS technology, maps, data, and many of these techniques can be found on websites such as the National Institute of Invasive Species Science (www.NIISS.org). Such websites provide a forum for data sharing and analysis that is an invaluable service to the invasive species community.

Chapter 4: The GIS Project for the Geologic Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas in the Upper Cretaceous Navarro and Taylor Groups, Western Gulf Province, Texas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Biewick, Laura

2006-01-01

A geographic information system (GIS) focusing on the Upper Cretaceous Navarro and Taylor Groups in the Gulf Coast region was developed as a visual-analysis tool for the U.S. Geological Survey's 2003 assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and natural gas resources in the Western Gulf Province. The Central Energy Resources Team of the U.S. Geological Survey has also developed an Internet Map Service to deliver the GIS data to the general public. This mapping tool utilizes information from a database about the oil and natural gas endowment of the United States - including physical locations of geologic and geographic data - and converts the data into visual layers. Portrayal and analysis of geologic features on an interactive map provide an excellent tool for understanding domestic oil and gas resources for strategic planning, formulating economic and energy policies, evaluating lands under the purview of the Federal Government, and developing sound environmental policies. Assessment results can be viewed and analyzed or downloaded from the internet web site.

Nebhydro: Sharing Geospatial Data to Supportwater Management in Nebraska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamble, B.; Irmak, A.; Hubbard, K.; Deogun, J.; Dvorak, B.

2012-12-01

Recent advances in web-enabled geographical technologies have the potential to make a dramatic impact on development of highly interactive spatial applications on the web for visualization of large-scale geospatial data by water resources and irrigation scientists. Spatial and point scale water resources data visualization are an emerging and challenging application domain. Query based visual explorations of geospatial hydrological data can play an important role in stimulating scientific hypotheses and seeking causal relationships among hydro variables. The Nebraska Hydrological Information System (NebHydro) utilizes ESRI's ArcGIS server technology to increase technological awareness among farmers, irrigation managers and policy makers. Web-based geospatial applications are an effective way to expose scientific hydrological datasets to the research community and the public. NebHydro uses Adobe Flex technology to offer an online visualization and data analysis system for presentation of social and economic data. Internet mapping services is an integrated product of GIS and Internet technologies; it is a favored solution to achieve the interoperability of GIS. The development of Internet based GIS services in the state of Nebraska showcases the benefits of sharing geospatial hydrological data among agencies, resource managers and policy makers. Geospatial hydrological Information (Evapotranspiration from Remote Sensing, vegetation indices (NDVI), USGS Stream gauge data, Climatic data etc.) is generally generated through model simulation (METRIC, SWAP, Linux, Python based scripting etc). Information is compiled into and stored within object oriented relational spatial databases using a geodatabase information model that supports the key data types needed by applications including features, relationships, networks, imagery, terrains, maps and layers. The system provides online access, querying, visualization, and analysis of the hydrological data from several sources at one place. The study indicates that internet GIS, developed using advanced technologies, provides valuable education potential to users in hydrology and irrigation engineering and suggests that such a system can support advanced hydrological data access and analysis tools to improve utility of data in operations. Keywords: Hydrological Information System, NebHydro, Water Management, data sharing, data visualization, ArcGIS server.

GIS Based Distributed Runoff Predictions in Variable Source Area Watersheds Employing the SCS-Curve Number

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steenhuis, T. S.; Mendoza, G.; Lyon, S. W.; Gerard Marchant, P.; Walter, M. T.; Schneiderman, E.

2003-04-01

Because the traditional Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) approach continues to be ubiquitously used in GIS-BASED water quality models, new application methods are needed that are consistent with variable source area (VSA) hydrological processes in the landscape. We developed within an integrated GIS modeling environment a distributed approach for applying the traditional SCS-CN equation to watersheds where VSA hydrology is a dominant process. Spatial representation of hydrologic processes is important for watershed planning because restricting potentially polluting activities from runoff source areas is fundamental to controlling non-point source pollution. The methodology presented here uses the traditional SCS-CN method to predict runoff volume and spatial extent of saturated areas and uses a topographic index to distribute runoff source areas through watersheds. The resulting distributed CN-VSA method was incorporated in an existing GWLF water quality model and applied to sub-watersheds of the Delaware basin in the Catskill Mountains region of New York State. We found that the distributed CN-VSA approach provided a physically-based method that gives realistic results for watersheds with VSA hydrology.

An Assessment of the Use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Teaching Geography in Singapore Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yap, Lee Yong; Tan, Geok Chin Ivy; Zhu, Xuan; Wettasinghe, Marissa C.

2008-01-01

In 1998, geographical information systems (GIS) were introduced to secondary schools in Singapore as a tool for teaching geography at the secondary and junior college levels. However, general observations and feedback from school teachers suggested that only a small number of secondary schools and junior colleges in Singapore were actually using…

AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ADDRESSING NEIGHBORHOOD SCALE AIR QUALITY CONCERNS: THE INTEGRATION OF GIS, URBAN MORPHOLOGY, PREDICTIVE METEOROLOGY, AND AIR QUALITY MONITORING TOOLS

EPA Science Inventory

The paper describes a project that combines the capabilities of urban geography, raster-based GIS, predictive meteorological and air pollutant diffusion modeling, to support a neighborhood-scale air quality monitoring pilot study under the U.S. EPA EMPACT Program. The study ha...

Effects of a GIS Course on Self-Assessment of Spatial Habits of Mind (SHOM)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Minsung; Bednarz, Robert

2013-01-01

This study identified five subdimensions of spatial habits of mind--pattern recognition, spatial description, visualization, spatial concept use, and spatial tool use--and created an inventory to measure them. In addition, the effects of GIS learning on spatial habits of mind were investigated. Pre- and post-tests were conducted at the beginning…

Wireless Mapping, GIS, and Learning about the Digital Divide: A Classroom Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giordano, Alberto; Lu, Yongmei; Anderson, Sharolyn; Fonstad, Mark

2007-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe a capstone course in undergraduate student geographical research in which GIS and other geospatial tools were used to teach undergraduate students basic geographical principles. The course uses the "cooperative learning" pedagogical approach to address one of a number of client-supplied research projects,…

DIY visualizations: opportunities for story-telling with esri tools

Treesearch

Charles H. Perry; Barry T. Wilson

2015-01-01

The Forest Service and Esri recently entered into a partnership: (1) to distribute FIA and other Forest Service data with the public and stakeholders through ArcGIS Online, and (2) to facilitate the application of the ArcGIS platform within the Forest Service to develop forest management and landscape management plans, and support their scientific research activities....

Map-IT! A Web-Based GIS Tool for Watershed Science Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curtis, David H.; Hewes, Christopher M.; Lossau, Matthew J.

This paper describes the development of a prototypic, Web-accessible GIS solution for K-12 science education and citizen-based watershed monitoring. The server side consists of ArcView IMS running on an NT workstation. The client is built around MapCafe. The client interface, which runs through a standard Web browser, supports standard MapCafe…

Concept Maps as a Tool to Analyse College Students' Knowledge of Geospatial Concepts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oda, Katsuhiko

2016-01-01

This study focused on college students' development of conceptual knowledge in geographic information system (GIS). The aim of this study was to examine if and how students developed their conceptual knowledge during their enrollment in an introductory-level GIS course. Twelve undergraduate students constructed 36 concept maps and revised 24…

Techniques of remote sensing and GIS as tools for visualizing impact of climate change-induced flood in the southern African region.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This study employs remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) data to visualize the impact of climate change caused by flooding in the Southern African region in order to assist decision makers’ plans for future occurrences. In pursuit of this objective, this study uses Digital Elevat...

The Pilot Study of Integrating Spatial Educational Experiences (Isee) in an Undergraduate Crop Production Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitzman, Stephanie; Snyder, Lori Unruh; Schulze, Darrell G.; Owens, Phillip R.; Bracke, Marianne Stowell

2011-01-01

Recent National Research Council reports make compelling arguments for the need to incorporate spatial abilities and use spatial technologies throughout our educational system. We conducted a pilot study to determine the pedagogical effectiveness of teaching with geographic information systems (GIS) by using a web-based GIS tool of Indiana soils.…

When GIS zooms in: spatio-genetic maps of multipaternity in Armadillidium vulgare.

PubMed

Bech, Nicolas; Depeux, Charlotte; Durand, Sylvine; Debenest, Catherine; Lafitte, Alexandra; Beltran-Bech, Sophie

2017-12-01

Geographic information system (GIS) tools are designed to illustrate, analyse and integrate geographic or spatial data, usually on a macroscopic scale. By contrast, genetic tools focus on a microscopic scale. Because in reality, landscapes have no predefined scale, our original study aims to develop a new approach, combining both cartographic and genetic approaches to explore microscopic landscapes. For this, we focused on Armadillidium vulgare, a terrestrial isopod model in which evolutionary pressures imposed by terrestrial life have led to the development of internal fertilisation and, consequently, to associated physiological changes. Among these, the emergence of internal receptacles, found in many taxa ranging from mammals to arthropods, allowed females to store sperm from several partners, enabling multipaternity. Among arthropods, terrestrial isopods like the polygynandrous A. vulgare present a female structure, the marsupium, in which fertilised eggs migrate and develop into mancae (larval stage). To test our innovative combined approach, we proposed different males to four independent females, and at the end of incubation in the marsupium, we mapped (using GIS methods) and genotyped (using 12 microsatellite markers) all the incubated mancae. This methodology permitted to obtain spatio-genetic maps describing heterozygosity and spatial distribution of mancae and of multipaternity within the marsupial landscape. We discussed the interest of this kind of multidisciplinary approach which could improve in this case our understanding of sexual selection mechanisms in this terrestrial crustacean. Beyond the interesting model-focused insights, the main challenge of this study was the transfer of GIS techniques to a microscopic scale and our results appear so as pioneers rendering GIS tools available for studies involving imagery whatever their study scale.

Integrating natural language processing and web GIS for interactive knowledge domain visualization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Fangming

Recent years have seen a powerful shift towards data-rich environments throughout society. This has extended to a change in how the artifacts and products of scientific knowledge production can be analyzed and understood. Bottom-up approaches are on the rise that combine access to huge amounts of academic publications with advanced computer graphics and data processing tools, including natural language processing. Knowledge domain visualization is one of those multi-technology approaches, with its aim of turning domain-specific human knowledge into highly visual representations in order to better understand the structure and evolution of domain knowledge. For example, network visualizations built from co-author relations contained in academic publications can provide insight on how scholars collaborate with each other in one or multiple domains, and visualizations built from the text content of articles can help us understand the topical structure of knowledge domains. These knowledge domain visualizations need to support interactive viewing and exploration by users. Such spatialization efforts are increasingly looking to geography and GIS as a source of metaphors and practical technology solutions, even when non-georeferenced information is managed, analyzed, and visualized. When it comes to deploying spatialized representations online, web mapping and web GIS can provide practical technology solutions for interactive viewing of knowledge domain visualizations, from panning and zooming to the overlay of additional information. This thesis presents a novel combination of advanced natural language processing - in the form of topic modeling - with dimensionality reduction through self-organizing maps and the deployment of web mapping/GIS technology towards intuitive, GIS-like, exploration of a knowledge domain visualization. A complete workflow is proposed and implemented that processes any corpus of input text documents into a map form and leverages a web application framework to let users explore knowledge domain maps interactively. This workflow is implemented and demonstrated for a data set of more than 66,000 conference abstracts.

Arc4nix: A cross-platform geospatial analytical library for cluster and cloud computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Jingyin; Matyas, Corene J.

2018-02-01

Big Data in geospatial technology is a grand challenge for processing capacity. The ability to use a GIS for geospatial analysis on Cloud Computing and High Performance Computing (HPC) clusters has emerged as a new approach to provide feasible solutions. However, users lack the ability to migrate existing research tools to a Cloud Computing or HPC-based environment because of the incompatibility of the market-dominating ArcGIS software stack and Linux operating system. This manuscript details a cross-platform geospatial library "arc4nix" to bridge this gap. Arc4nix provides an application programming interface compatible with ArcGIS and its Python library "arcpy". Arc4nix uses a decoupled client-server architecture that permits geospatial analytical functions to run on the remote server and other functions to run on the native Python environment. It uses functional programming and meta-programming language to dynamically construct Python codes containing actual geospatial calculations, send them to a server and retrieve results. Arc4nix allows users to employ their arcpy-based script in a Cloud Computing and HPC environment with minimal or no modification. It also supports parallelizing tasks using multiple CPU cores and nodes for large-scale analyses. A case study of geospatial processing of a numerical weather model's output shows that arcpy scales linearly in a distributed environment. Arc4nix is open-source software.

The impacts of Segura River (Spain) channelization on the coastal seabed.

PubMed

Aragonés, L; Pagán, J I; López, M P; García-Barba, J

2016-02-01

Human actions over rivers and coasts have generated great changes along seaboard. In order to know future development of those changes, it is necessary to understand the development of the coast during the past. When there is a complex morphologic system as a result of the combination of natural elements with human construction elements, the study of the abovementioned changes requires a wider perspective than the one provided by traditional two-dimensional methods. Thus, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) become a suitable tool for that kind of studies. In this work, GIS are used to understand changes in bathymetry, sediments properties and transport, as well as surface variations of plant species occurred in the Segura River mouth (Spain) within a period of 17 years due to the channelization of the river low course. The methodology followed here implies the integration of data coming from different sources and with different formats in a GIS, what allows for a spatial analysis. Results obtained show the grain-size spatial distribution for every period of time studied, as well as bathymetry changes and seabed morphology. It can be concluded that the construction works carried out in the riverbed have affected sediment grain-size in the area. Clays have nearly disappeared and consequently there is a descent of seabed level that affects plant species, such as Posidonia oceanica. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The importance of Radio Quiet Zone (RQZ) for radio astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Umar, Roslan; Abidin, Zamri Zainal; Ibrahim, Zainol Abidin

2013-05-01

Most of radio observatories are located in isolated areas. Since radio sources from the universe is very weak, astronomer need to avoid radio frequency interference (RFI) from active spectrum users and radio noise produced by human made (telecommunication, mobile phone, microwave user and many more. There are many observatories around the world are surrounded by a Radio Quiet Zone (RQZ), which is it was set up using public or state laws. A Radio Quiet Zone normally consists of two areas: an exclusive area in which totally radio emissions are forbidden, with restrictions for residents and business developments, and a larger (radius up to 100 km above) coordination area where the power of radio transmission limits to threshold levels. Geographical Information System (GIS) can be used as a powerful tool in mapping large areas with varying RQZ profiles. In this paper, we report the initial testing of the usage of this system in order to identify the areas were suitable for Radio Quiet Zone. Among the important parameters used to develop the database for our GIS are population density, information on TV and telecommunication (mobile phones) transmitters, road networks (highway), and contour shielding. We will also use other information gathered from on-site RFI level measurements on selected 'best' areas generated by the GIS. The intention is to find the best site for the purpose of establishing first radio quiet zones for radio telescope in Malaysia.

Development of Waypoint Planning Tool in Response to NASA Field Campaign Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

He, Matt; Hardin, Danny; Conover, Helen; Graves, Sara; Meyer, Paul; Blakeslee, Richard; Goodman, Michael

2012-01-01

Airborne real time observations are a major component of NASA's Earth Science research and satellite ground validation studies. For mission scientists, planning a research aircraft mission within the context of meeting the science objectives is a complex task because it requires real time situational awareness of the weather conditions that affect the aircraft track. Multiple aircrafts are often involved in NASA field campaigns. The coordination of the aircrafts with satellite overpasses, other airplanes and the constantly evolving, dynamic weather conditions often determines the success of the campaign. A flight planning tool is needed to provide situational awareness information to the mission scientists, and help them plan and modify the flight tracks. Scientists at the University of Alabama-Huntsville and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center developed the Waypoint Planning Tool, an interactive software tool that enables scientists to develop their own flight plans (also known as waypoints) with point -and-click mouse capabilities on a digital map filled with real time raster and vector data. The development of this Waypoint Planning Tool demonstrates the significance of mission support in responding to the challenges presented during NASA field campaigns. Analysis during and after each campaign helped identify both issues and new requirements, and initiated the next wave of development. Currently the Waypoint Planning Tool has gone through three rounds of development and analysis processes. The development of this waypoint tool is directly affected by the technology advances on GIS/Mapping technologies. From the standalone Google Earth application and simple KML functionalities, to Google Earth Plugin and Java Web Start/Applet on web platform, and to the rising open source GIS tools with new JavaScript frameworks, the Waypoint Planning Tool has entered its third phase of technology advancement. The newly innovated, cross ]platform, modular designed JavaScript ]controlled Way Point Tool is planned to be integrated with NASA Airborne Science Mission Tool Suite. Adapting new technologies for the Waypoint Planning Tool ensures its success in helping scientists reach their mission objectives. This presentation will discuss the development processes of the Waypoint Planning Tool in responding to field campaign challenges, identify new information technologies, and describe the capabilities and features of the Waypoint Planning Tool with the real time aspect, interactive nature, and the resultant benefits to the airborne science community.

The Way Point Planning Tool: Real Time Flight Planning for Airborne Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

He, Yubin; Blakeslee, Richard; Goodman, Michael; Hall, John

2012-01-01

Airborne real time observation are a major component of NASA's Earth Science research and satellite ground validation studies. For mission scientist, planning a research aircraft mission within the context of meeting the science objective is a complex task because it requires real time situational awareness of the weather conditions that affect the aircraft track. Multiple aircraft are often involved in the NASA field campaigns the coordination of the aircraft with satellite overpasses, other airplanes and the constantly evolving dynamic weather conditions often determine the success of the campaign. A flight planning tool is needed to provide situational awareness information to the mission scientist and help them plan and modify the flight tracks successfully. Scientists at the University of Alabama Huntsville and the NASA Marshal Space Flight Center developed the Waypoint Planning Tool (WPT), an interactive software tool that enables scientist to develop their own flight plans (also known as waypoints), with point and click mouse capabilities on a digital map filled with time raster and vector data. The development of this Waypoint Planning Tool demonstrates the significance of mission support in responding to the challenges presented during NASA field campaigns. Analyses during and after each campaign helped identify both issues and new requirements, initiating the next wave of development. Currently the Waypoint Planning Tool has gone through three rounds of development and analysis processes. The development of this waypoint tool is directly affected by the technology advances on GIS/Mapping technologies. From the standalone Google Earth application and simple KML functionalities to the Google Earth Plugin and Java Web Start/Applet on web platform, as well as to the rising open source GIS tools with new JavaScript frameworks, the Waypoint planning Tool has entered its third phase of technology advancement. The newly innovated, cross-platform, modular designed JavaScript-controled Waypoint tool is planned to be integrated with the NASA Airborne Science Mission Tool Suite. Adapting new technologies for the Waypoint Planning Tool ensures its success in helping scientist reach their mission objectives. This presentation will discuss the development process of the Waypoint Planning Tool in responding to field campaign challenges, identifying new information technologies, and describing the capabilities and features of the Waypoint Planning Tool with the real time aspect, interactive nature, and the resultant benefits to the airborne science community.

Development of Way Point Planning Tool in Response to NASA Field Campaign Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, M.; Hardin, D. M.; Conover, H.; Graves, S. J.; Meyer, P.; Blakeslee, R. J.; Goodman, M. L.

2012-12-01

Airborne real time observations are a major component of NASA's Earth Science research and satellite ground validation studies. For mission scientists, planning a research aircraft mission within the context of meeting the science objectives is a complex task because it requires real time situational awareness of the weather conditions that affect the aircraft track. Multiple aircrafts are often involved in NASA field campaigns. The coordination of the aircrafts with satellite overpasses, other airplanes and the constantly evolving, dynamic weather conditions often determines the success of the campaign. A flight planning tool is needed to provide situational awareness information to the mission scientists, and help them plan and modify the flight tracks. Scientists at the University of Alabama-Huntsville and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center developed the Waypoint Planning Tool, an interactive software tool that enables scientists to develop their own flight plans (also known as waypoints) with point-and-click mouse capabilities on a digital map filled with real time raster and vector data. The development of this Waypoint Planning Tool demonstrates the significance of mission support in responding to the challenges presented during NASA field campaigns. Analysis during and after each campaign helped identify both issues and new requirements, and initiated the next wave of development. Currently the Waypoint Planning Tool has gone through three rounds of development and analysis processes. The development of this waypoint tool is directly affected by the technology advances on GIS/Mapping technologies. From the standalone Google Earth application and simple KML functionalities, to Google Earth Plugin and Java Web Start/Applet on web platform, and to the rising open source GIS tools with new JavaScript frameworks, the Waypoint Planning Tool has entered its third phase of technology advancement. The newly innovated, cross-platform, modular designed JavaScript-controlled Way Point Tool is planned to be integrated with NASA Airborne Science Mission Tool Suite. Adapting new technologies for the Waypoint Planning Tool ensures its success in helping scientists reach their mission objectives. This presentation will discuss the development processes of the Waypoint Planning Tool in responding to field campaign challenges, identify new information technologies, and describe the capabilities and features of the Waypoint Planning Tool with the real time aspect, interactive nature, and the resultant benefits to the airborne science community.

Web-based routing assistance tool to reduce pavement damage by overweight and oversize vehicles.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-10-30

This report documents the results of a completed project titled Web-Based Routing Assistance Tool to Reduce Pavement Damage by Overweight and Oversize Vehicles. The tasks involved developing a Web-based GIS routing assistance tool and evaluate ...

GIS Toolsets for Planetary Geomorphology and Landing-Site Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nass, Andrea; van Gasselt, Stephan

2015-04-01

Modern Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow expert and lay users alike to load and position geographic data and perform simple to highly complex surface analyses. For many applications dedicated and ready-to-use GIS tools are available in standard software systems while other applications require the modular combination of available basic tools to answer more specific questions. This also applies to analyses in modern planetary geomorphology where many of such (basic) tools can be used to build complex analysis tools, e.g. in image- and terrain model analysis. Apart from the simple application of sets of different tools, many complex tasks require a more sophisticated design for storing and accessing data using databases (e.g. ArcHydro for hydrological data analysis). In planetary sciences, complex database-driven models are often required to efficiently analyse potential landings sites or store rover data, but also geologic mapping data can be efficiently stored and accessed using database models rather than stand-alone shapefiles. For landings-site analyses, relief and surface roughness estimates are two common concepts that are of particular interest and for both, a number of different definitions co-exist. We here present an advanced toolset for the analysis of image and terrain-model data with an emphasis on extraction of landing site characteristics using established criteria. We provide working examples and particularly focus on the concepts of terrain roughness as it is interpreted in geomorphology and engineering studies.

Assessing critical source areas in watersheds for conservation buffer planning and riparian restoration.

PubMed

Qiu, Zeyuan

2009-11-01

A science-based geographic information system (GIS) approach is presented to target critical source areas in watersheds for conservation buffer placement. Critical source areas are the intersection of hydrologically sensitive areas and pollutant source areas in watersheds. Hydrologically sensitive areas are areas that actively generate runoff in the watershed and are derived using a modified topographic index approach based on variable source area hydrology. Pollutant source areas are the areas in watersheds that are actively and intensively used for such activities as agricultural production. The method is applied to the Neshanic River watershed in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The capacity of the topographic index in predicting the spatial pattern of runoff generation and the runoff contribution to stream flow in the watershed is evaluated. A simple cost-effectiveness assessment is conducted to compare the conservation buffer placement scenario based on this GIS method to conventional riparian buffer scenarios for placing conservation buffers in agricultural lands in the watershed. The results show that the topographic index reasonably predicts the runoff generation in the watershed. The GIS-based conservation buffer scenario appears to be more cost-effective than the conventional riparian buffer scenarios.

Analytical Tools Interface for Landscape Assessments

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental management practices are trending away from simple, local-scale assessments toward complex, multiple-stressor regional assessments. Landscape ecology provides the theory behind these assessments while geographic information systems (GIS) supply the tools to implemen...

A GIS-based generic real-time risk assessment framework and decision tools for chemical spills in the river basin.

PubMed

Jiang, Jiping; Wang, Peng; Lung, Wu-seng; Guo, Liang; Li, Mei

2012-08-15

This paper presents a generic framework and decision tools of real-time risk assessment on Emergency Environmental Decision Support System for response to chemical spills in river basin. The generic "4-step-3-model" framework is able to delineate the warning area and the impact on vulnerable receptors considering four types of hazards referring to functional area, societal impact, and human health and ecology system. Decision tools including the stand-alone system and software components were implemented on GIS platform. A detailed case study on the Songhua River nitrobenzene spill illustrated the goodness of the framework and tool Spill first responders and decision makers of catchment management will benefit from the rich, visual and dynamic hazard information output from the software. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Real-time micro-modelling of city evacuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Löhner, Rainald; Haug, Eberhard; Zinggerling, Claudio; Oñate, Eugenio

2018-01-01

A methodology to integrate geographical information system (GIS) data with large-scale pedestrian simulations has been developed. Advances in automatic data acquisition and archiving from GIS databases, automatic input for pedestrian simulations, as well as scalable pedestrian simulation tools have made it possible to simulate pedestrians at the individual level for complete cities in real time. An example that simulates the evacuation of the city of Barcelona demonstrates that this is now possible. This is the first step towards a fully integrated crowd prediction and management tool that takes into account not only data gathered in real time from cameras, cell phones or other sensors, but also merges these with advanced simulation tools to predict the future state of the crowd.

New Multibeam Bathymetry Mosaic at NOAA/NCEI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varner, J. D.; Cartwright, J.; Rosenberg, A. M.; Amante, C.; Sutherland, M.; Jencks, J. H.

2017-12-01

NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) maintains an ever-growing archive of multibeam bathymetric data acquired from U.S. and international government and academic sources. The data are partitioned in the individual survey files in which they were originally received, and are stored in various formats not directly accessible by popular analysis and visualization tools. In order to improve the discoverability and accessibility of the data, NCEI created a new Multibeam Bathymetry Mosaic. Each survey was gridded at 3 arcsecond cell size and organized in an ArcGIS mosaic dataset, which was published as a set of standards-based web services usable in desktop GIS and web clients. In addition to providing a "seamless" grid of all surveys, a filter can be applied to isolate individual surveys. Both depth values in meters and shaded relief visualizations are available. The product represents the current state of the archive; no QA/QC was performed on the data before being incorporated, and the mosaic will be updated incrementally as new surveys are added to the archive. We expect the mosaic will address customer needs for visualization/extraction that existing tools (e.g. NCEI's AutoGrid) are unable to meet, and also assist data managers in identifying problem surveys, missing data, quality control issues, etc. This project complements existing efforts such as the Global Multi-Resolution Topography Data Synthesis (GMRT) at LDEO. Comprehensive visual displays of bathymetric data holdings are invaluable tools for seafloor mapping initiatives, such as Seabed 2030, that will aid in minimizing data collection redundancies and ensuring that valuable data are made available to the broadest community.

Study of water-table behaviour for the Indian Punjab using GIS.

PubMed

Kaur, Samanpreet; Aggarwal, Rajan; Soni, Ashwani

2011-01-01

The state of Punjab (India) has witnessed a spectacular increase in agricultural production in the last few decades. This has been possible due to high use of fertilizers, good quality seeds and increased use of water resources. This increased demand of water resources has resulted in extensive use of groundwater in the central districts of the state and surface water (canals) in South-West Punjab, where groundwater is of poor quality in general. The state has been facing the twin problem of water table decline/rise in different parts. Efficient management relies on comprehensive database and regular monitoring of the resources. GIS is one of the important tools for integrating and analyzing spatial information from different sources or disciplines. It helps to integrate, analyze and represent spatial information and database of any resource, which could be easily used for planning of resource development, environmental protection and scientific researches and investigations. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been used for a variety of groundwater studies. Groundwater level change maps are useful in determining areas of greatest changes in storage in the regional systems. In this study, an attempt has been made to assess the long term groundwater behaviour of the state using GIS to visually and spatially analyze water level data obtained from the state and central agencies. The data was analysed for 0-3 m, 3-10 m, 10-20 m and beyond 20 m. The study revealed that per cent area with water table depth > 10 m was 20% in 1998 and has increased to 58% by 2006 which is critical limit for shifting from centrifugal pump to submersible pump.

A Spreadsheet-based GIS tool for planning aerial photography

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S.EPA's Pacific Coastal Ecology Branch has developed a tool which facilitates planning aerial photography missions. This tool is an Excel spreadsheet which accepts various input parameters such as desired photo-scale and boundary coordinates of the study area and compiles ...

Mapping as a Spatial Data Source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hudecová, Ľubica

2013-03-01

The basic database for a geographic information system (BD GIS) forms the core of a national spatial data infrastructure. Nowadays decisions are being made about the potential data sources for additional data updates and refinement of the BD GIS. Will the data from departmental or other information system administrators serve for this purpose? This paper gives an answer as to whether it is advisable to use "geodetic mapping" (the results realized in the process of land consolidation) or "cadastral mapping" (the results realized in the process of the renewal of cadastral documentation by new mapping) for additional data updates. In our analysis we focus on the quality parameters at the individual data element level, namely the positional accuracy, attribute accuracy, logical consistency, and data resolution. The results of the analysis are compared with the contents of the Object Class Catalog of BD GIS (OCC), which describes the group of objects managed by BD GIS and defines the data collection methods, types of geometry and its properties.

J-Earth: An Essential Resource for Terrestrial Remote Sensing and Data Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunn, S.; Rupp, J.; Cheeseman, S.; Christensen, P. R.; Prashad, L. C.; Dickenshied, S.; Anwar, S.; Noss, D.; Murray, K.

2011-12-01

There is a need for a software tool that has the ability to display and analyze various types of earth science and social data through a simple, user-friendly interface. The J-Earth software tool has been designed to be easily accessible for download and intuitive use, regardless of the technical background of the user base. This tool does not require courses or text books to learn to use, yet is powerful enough to allow a more general community of users to perform complex data analysis. Professions that will benefit from this tool range from geologists, geographers, and climatologists to sociologists, economists, and ecologists as well as policy makers. J-Earth was developed by the Arizona State University Mars Space Flight Facility as part of the JMARS (Java Mission-planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing) suite of open-source tools. The program is a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) application used for viewing and processing satellite and airborne remote sensing data. While the functionality of JMARS has historically focused on the research needs of the planetary science community, J-Earth has been designed for a much broader Earth-based user audience. NASA instrument products accessible within J-Earth include data from ASTER, GOES, Landsat, MODIS, and TIMS. While J-Earth contains exceptionally comprehensive and high resolution satellite-derived data and imagery, this tool also includes many socioeconomic data products from projects lead by international organizations and universities. Datasets used in J-Earth take the form of grids, rasters, remote sensor "stamps", maps, and shapefiles. Some highly demanded global datasets available within J-Earth include five levels of administrative/political boundaries, climate data for current conditions as well as models for future climates, population counts and densities, land cover/land use, and poverty indicators. While this application does share the same powerful functionality of JMARS, J-Earth's apperance is enhanced for much easier data analysis. J-Earth utilizes a layering system to view data from different sources which can then be exported, scaled, colored and superimposed for quick comparisons. Users may now perform spatial analysis over several diverse datasets with respect to a defined geographic area or the entire globe. In addition, several newly acquired global datasets contain a temporal dimension which when accessed through J-Earth, make this a unique and powerful tool for spatial analysis over time. The functionality and ease of use set J-Earth apart from all other terrestrial GIS software packages and enable endless social, political, and scientific possibilities

ICLUS Tools and Datasets (Version 1.2) and User's Manual: Arcgis Tools and Datasets for Modeling US Housing Density (External Review Draft)

EPA Science Inventory

This draft Geographic Information System (GIS) tool can be used to generate scenarios of housing-density changes and calculate impervious surface cover for the conterminous United States. A draft User’s Guide accompanies the tool. This product distributes the population project...

NetMap: a new tool in support of watershed science and resource management.

Treesearch

L. Benda; D. Miller; K. Andras; P. Bigelow; G. Reeves; D. Michael

2007-01-01

In this paper, we show how application of principles of river ecology can guide use of a comprehensive terrain database within geographic information system (GIS) to facilitate watershed analysis relevant to natural resource management. We present a unique arrangement of a terrain database, GIS, and principles of riverine ecology for the purpose of advancing watershed...

Place-Based Education and Geographic Information Systems: Enhancing the Spatial Awareness of Middle School Students in Maine

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perkins, Nancy; Hazelton, Eric; Erickson, Jeryl; Allan, Walter

2010-01-01

Spatial literacy is a new frontier in K-12 education. This article describes a place-based introductory GIS/GPS middle school curriculum unit in which students used measuring tools, GPS units, and My World GIS software to collect physical and spatial data of trees to create a schoolyard tree inventory. Maine students completed "memory…

Site selection for managed aquifer recharge using fuzzy rules: integrating geographical information system (GIS) tools and multi-criteria decision making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malekmohammadi, Bahram; Ramezani Mehrian, Majid; Jafari, Hamid Reza

2012-11-01

One of the most important water-resources management strategies for arid lands is managed aquifer recharge (MAR). In establishing a MAR scheme, site selection is the prime prerequisite that can be assisted by geographic information system (GIS) tools. One of the most important uncertainties in the site-selection process using GIS is finite ranges or intervals resulting from data classification. In order to reduce these uncertainties, a novel method has been developed involving the integration of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM), GIS, and a fuzzy inference system (FIS). The Shemil-Ashkara plain in the Hormozgan Province of Iran was selected as the case study; slope, geology, groundwater depth, potential for runoff, land use, and groundwater electrical conductivity have been considered as site-selection factors. By defining fuzzy membership functions for the input layers and the output layer, and by constructing fuzzy rules, a FIS has been developed. Comparison of the results produced by the proposed method and the traditional simple additive weighted (SAW) method shows that the proposed method yields more precise results. In conclusion, fuzzy-set theory can be an effective method to overcome associated uncertainties in classification of geographic information data.

Putting Chronic Disease on the Map: Building GIS Capacity in State and Local Health Departments

PubMed Central

Casper, Michele; Tootoo, Joshua; Schieb, Linda

2013-01-01

Techniques based on geographic information systems (GIS) have been widely adopted and applied in the fields of infectious disease and environmental epidemiology; their use in chronic disease programs is relatively new. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention is collaborating with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors and the University of Michigan to provide health departments with capacity to integrate GIS into daily operations, which support priorities for surveillance and prevention of chronic diseases. So far, 19 state and 7 local health departments participated in this project. On the basis of these participants’ experiences, we describe our training strategy and identify high-impact GIS skills that can be mastered and applied over a short time in support of chronic disease surveillance. We also describe the web-based resources in the Chronic Disease GIS Exchange that were produced on the basis of this training and are available to anyone interested in GIS and chronic disease (www.cdc.gov/DHDSP/maps/GISX). GIS offers diverse sets of tools that promise increased productivity for chronic disease staff of state and local health departments. PMID:23786907

Putting chronic disease on the map: building GIS capacity in state and local health departments.

PubMed

Miranda, Marie Lynn; Casper, Michele; Tootoo, Joshua; Schieb, Linda

2013-06-20

Techniques based on geographic information systems (GIS) have been widely adopted and applied in the fields of infectious disease and environmental epidemiology; their use in chronic disease programs is relatively new. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention is collaborating with the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors and the University of Michigan to provide health departments with capacity to integrate GIS into daily operations, which support priorities for surveillance and prevention of chronic diseases. So far, 19 state and 7 local health departments participated in this project. On the basis of these participants' experiences, we describe our training strategy and identify high-impact GIS skills that can be mastered and applied over a short time in support of chronic disease surveillance. We also describe the web-based resources in the Chronic Disease GIS Exchange that were produced on the basis of this training and are available to anyone interested in GIS and chronic disease (www.cdc.gov/DHDSP/maps/GISX). GIS offers diverse sets of tools that promise increased productivity for chronic disease staff of state and local health departments.

Developing geospatial thinking and the science practices of investigation and evalutation with geographic information systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamilton, Kelli

Geospatial thinking is a subset of spatial thinking, which has been identified by the National Geography Standards as an essential skill for students to gain through geography instruction (Heffron & Downs, 2013). One tool which has been shown to help students develop their geospatial thinking skills is Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (Kim & Bednraz, 2013; Lee & Bednarz, 2009; Patterson, 2007). Much of the research conducted with GIS has been in the context of social studies classrooms. This study examined the use of GIS with seventh grade students in a science classroom. Results of this study indicate that students who use GIS as part of their science instruction are able to practice geospatial thinking skills. In addition, this study examined how GIS could be used to enhance the instruction of the science practices of investigation and evaluation. The Next Generation Science Standards identify certain science practices which students should experience as part of science instruction (NGSS Lead States, 2013). Among those practices are investigation and evaluation. Students in this study used GIS to investigate and evaluate scientific data. Both the teacher and the students were able to identify ways that GIS enhanced both the investigation and evaluation of data.

Enabling Web-Based GIS Tools for Internet and Mobile Devices To Improve and Expand NASA Data Accessibility and Analysis Functionality for the Renewable Energy and Agricultural Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ross, A.; Stackhouse, P. W.; Tisdale, B.; Tisdale, M.; Chandler, W.; Hoell, J. M., Jr.; Kusterer, J.

2014-12-01

The NASA Langley Research Center Science Directorate and Atmospheric Science Data Center have initiated a pilot program to utilize Geographic Information System (GIS) tools that enable, generate and store climatological averages using spatial queries and calculations in a spatial database resulting in greater accessibility of data for government agencies, industry and private sector individuals. The major objectives of this effort include the 1) Processing and reformulation of current data to be consistent with ESRI and openGIS tools, 2) Develop functions to improve capability and analysis that produce "on-the-fly" data products, extending these past the single location to regional and global scales. 3) Update the current web sites to enable both web-based and mobile application displays for optimization on mobile platforms, 4) Interact with user communities in government and industry to test formats and usage of optimization, and 5) develop a series of metrics that allow for monitoring of progressive performance. Significant project results will include the the development of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) compliant web services (WMS, WCS, WFS, WPS) that serve renewable energy and agricultural application products to users using GIS software and tools. Each data product and OGC service will be registered within ECHO, the Common Metadata Repository, the Geospatial Platform, and Data.gov to ensure the data are easily discoverable and provide data users with enhanced access to SSE data, parameters, services, and applications. This effort supports cross agency, cross organization, and interoperability of SSE data products and services by collaborating with DOI, NRCan, NREL, NCAR, and HOMER for requirements vetting and test bed users before making available to the wider public.

Prediction of agriculture derived groundwater nitrate distribution in North China Plain with GIS-based BPNN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, M. X.; Liu, G. D.; Wu, W. L.; Bao, Y. H.; Liu, W. N.

2006-07-01

In recent years, nitrate contamination of groundwater has become a growing concern for people in rural areas in North China Plain (NCP) where groundwater is used as drinking water. The objective of this study was to simulate agriculture derived groundwater nitrate pollution patterns with artificial neural network (ANN), which has been proved to be an effective tool for prediction in many branches of hydrology when data are not sufficient to understand the physical process of the systems but relative accurate predictions is needed. In our study, a back propagation neural network (BPNN) was developed to simulate spatial distribution of NO3-N concentrations in groundwater with land use information and site-specific hydrogeological properties in Huantai County, a typical agriculture dominated region of NCP. Geographic information system (GIS) tools were used in preparing and processing input-output vectors data for the BPNN. The circular buffer zones centered on the sampling wells were designated so as to consider the nitrate contamination of groundwater due to neighboring field. The result showed that the GIS-based BPNN simulated groundwater NO3-N concentration efficiently and captured the general trend of groundwater nitrate pollution patterns. The optimal result was obtained with a learning rate of 0.02, a 4-7-1 architecture and a buffer zone radius of 400 m. Nitrogen budget combined with GIS-based BPNN can serve as a cost-effective tool for prediction and management of groundwater nitrate pollution in an agriculture dominated regions in North China Plain.

Modeling Nutrient Loading to Watersheds in the Great Lakes Basin: A Detailed Source Model at the Regional Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luscz, E.; Kendall, A. D.; Martin, S. L.; Hyndman, D. W.

2011-12-01

Watershed nutrient loading models are important tools used to address issues including eutrophication, harmful algal blooms, and decreases in aquatic species diversity. Such approaches have been developed to assess the level and source of nutrient loading across a wide range of scales, yet there is typically a tradeoff between the scale of the model and the level of detail regarding the individual sources of nutrients. To avoid this tradeoff, we developed a detailed source nutrient loading model for every watershed in Michigan's lower peninsula. Sources considered include atmospheric deposition, septic tanks, waste water treatment plants, combined sewer overflows, animal waste from confined animal feeding operations and pastured animals, as well as fertilizer from agricultural, residential, and commercial sources and industrial effluents . Each source is related to readily-available GIS inputs that may vary through time. This loading model was used to assess the importance of sources and landscape factors in nutrient loading rates to watersheds, and how these have changed in recent decades. The results showed the value of detailed source inputs, revealing regional trends while still providing insight to the existence of variability at smaller scales.

GIS Services, Visualization Products, and Interoperability at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldwin, R.; Ansari, S.; Reid, G.; Lott, N.; Del Greco, S.

2007-12-01

The main goal in developing and deploying Geographic Information System (GIS) services at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is to provide users with simple access to data archives while integrating new and informative climate products. Several systems at NCDC provide a variety of climatic data in GIS formats and/or map viewers. The Online GIS Map Services provide users with data discovery options which flow into detailed product selection maps, which may be queried using standard "region finder" tools or gazetteer (geographical dictionary search) functions. Each tabbed selection offers steps to help users progress through the systems. A series of additional base map layers or data types have been added to provide companion information. New map services include: Severe Weather Data Inventory, Local Climatological Data, Divisional Data, Global Summary of the Day, and Normals/Extremes products. THREDDS Data Server technology is utilized to provide access to gridded multidimensional datasets such as Model, Satellite and Radar. This access allows users to download data as a gridded NetCDF file, which is readable by ArcGIS. In addition, users may subset the data for a specific geographic region, time period, height range or variable prior to download. The NCDC Weather Radar Toolkit (WRT) is a client tool which accesses Weather Surveillance Radar 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) data locally or remotely from the NCDC archive, NOAA FTP server or any URL or THREDDS Data Server. The WRT Viewer provides tools for custom data overlays, Web Map Service backgrounds, animations and basic filtering. The export of images and movies is provided in multiple formats. The WRT Data Exporter allows for data export in both vector polygon (Shapefile, Well-Known Text) and raster (GeoTIFF, ESRI Grid, VTK, NetCDF, GrADS) formats. As more users become accustom to GIS, questions of better, cheaper, faster access soon follow. Expanding use and availability can best be accomplished through standards which promote interoperability. Our GIS related products provide Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) compliant Web Map Services (WMS), Web Feature Services (WFS), Web Coverage Services (WCS) and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata as a complement to the map viewers. KML/KMZ data files (soon to be compliant OGC specifications) also provide access.

Monitoring Method of Cow Anthrax Based on Gis and Spatial Statistical Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Lin; Yang, Yong; Wang, Hongbin; Dong, Jing; Zhao, Yujun; He, Jianbin; Fan, Honggang

Geographic information system (GIS) is a computer application system, which possesses the ability of manipulating spatial information and has been used in many fields related with the spatial information management. Many methods and models have been established for analyzing animal diseases distribution models and temporal-spatial transmission models. Great benefits have been gained from the application of GIS in animal disease epidemiology. GIS is now a very important tool in animal disease epidemiological research. Spatial analysis function of GIS can be widened and strengthened by using spatial statistical analysis, allowing for the deeper exploration, analysis, manipulation and interpretation of spatial pattern and spatial correlation of the animal disease. In this paper, we analyzed the cow anthrax spatial distribution characteristics in the target district A (due to the secret of epidemic data we call it district A) based on the established GIS of the cow anthrax in this district in combination of spatial statistical analysis and GIS. The Cow anthrax is biogeochemical disease, and its geographical distribution is related closely to the environmental factors of habitats and has some spatial characteristics, and therefore the correct analysis of the spatial distribution of anthrax cow for monitoring and the prevention and control of anthrax has a very important role. However, the application of classic statistical methods in some areas is very difficult because of the pastoral nomadic context. The high mobility of livestock and the lack of enough suitable sampling for the some of the difficulties in monitoring currently make it nearly impossible to apply rigorous random sampling methods. It is thus necessary to develop an alternative sampling method, which could overcome the lack of sampling and meet the requirements for randomness. The GIS computer application software ArcGIS9.1 was used to overcome the lack of data of sampling sites.Using ArcGIS 9.1 and GEODA to analyze the cow anthrax spatial distribution of district A. we gained some conclusions about cow anthrax' density: (1) there is a spatial clustering model. (2) there is an intensely spatial autocorrelation. We established a prediction model to estimate the anthrax distribution based on the spatial characteristic of the density of cow anthrax. Comparing with the true distribution, the prediction model has a well coincidence and is feasible to the application. The method using a GIS tool facilitates can be implemented significantly in the cow anthrax monitoring and investigation, and the space statistics - related prediction model provides a fundamental use for other study on space-related animal diseases.

Contamination, Transport, and Exposure Mapping and Assessment of Karst Groundwater Systems in Northern Puerto Rico Using GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howard, J.; Schifman, L. A.; Irrizary, C.; Torres, P.; Padilla, I. Y.

2011-12-01

Ground waters from karst aquifer systems are one of the most important sources of freshwater worldwide and are highly vulnerable to both natural and anthropogenic contamination. Contaminants released into karst groundwater systems move through complex pathways from their sources to discharge areas of potential exposure. Points of exposure can include wells, springs, and surface waters that serve as drinking water sources. In Puerto Rico, the North Coast Limestone Aquifer System, which extends 90 miles across the north coast with an area of nearly 700 sq. miles, provides more than 50% of the potable water demand for industrial and drinking purposes. Historical reports from the 1980s revealed that volatile organic compounds, phthalates, and metals were close to or exceeded maximum contaminant levels. Exposure to such contaminants has been reported to cause reproductive and developmental issues, such as preterm birth. Since there is minimal understanding of the extent of contamination it is important to identify areas of potential concern. Preliminary analysis of 20 groundwater/springs and 20 tap water sites within the North Coast suggest that contamination is still a major concern. In addition, mixed effects models analyses suggest that >60% of pre-term birth rates may be explained by the presence of sites contaminated with volatile organic compounds, phthalates, and metals within the North Coast region. This presentation will focus primarily on how GIS was used as a tool for developing sampling strategies for collecting groundwater and tap water sources within the North Coast Limestone Aquifer System of Puerto Rico. In addition, the linkage of contamination, transport, and exposure to volatile organic compounds and phthalates will be addressed.

SIG Contribution in the Making of Geotechnical Maps in Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monteiro, António; Pais, Luís Andrade; Rodrigues, Carlos; Carvalho, Paulo

2017-10-01

The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has spread to several science areas, from oceanography to geotechnics. Its application in the urban mapping was intensified in the last century, which allowed a great development, due to the use of geographic database, new analysis tools and, more recently, free open source software. Geotechnical cartography struggle with a permanent and large environment re-organization in urban area, due to new building construction, trenching and the drilling of sampling wells and holes. This creates an extra important and largest volume of data at any pre-existence geological map. The main problem results on the fact that the natural environment is covered with buildings and communications system. The purpose of this work is to create a viable geographic information base for geotechnical mapping through a free GIS computer program and open source, with non-traditional cartographic sources, giving preference to open platforms. QGIS was used as software and “Google Maps”, “Bing Maps” and “OpenStreetMap” were applied as cartographic sources using the “OpenLayers plugin” module. Finally, we also pretend to identify and delimit the degree of granite’s change and fracturing areas using a “Streetview” platform. This model has cartographic input which are a geological map study area, open cartographic web archives and the use of “Streetview” platform. The output has several layouts, such as topography intersection (roads, borders, etc.), with geological map and the bordering area of Guarda Urban Zone. The use of this platform types decrease the collect data time and, sometimes, a careful observation of pictures that were taken during excavations may reveal important details for geological mapping in the study area.

Merged GIS, GPS data assist siting for gulf gas line

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

Scott, D.R.; Schmidt, J.A.

1998-06-29

A GIS-based decision-support system was developed for a US Gulf of Mexico onshore and offshore pipeline that has assisted in locating a cost-effective pipeline route based on landcover type, wetland distribution, and proximity to other environmentally sensitive resources. Described here are the methods used to integrate various sources of available GIS data with satellite imagery and surveyed information. Costs of collecting and processing these data are compared with benefits of the system over use of manual methods.

The Development of GIS Educational Resources Sharing among Central Taiwan Universities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chou, T.-Y.; Yeh, M.-L.; Lai, Y.-C.

2011-09-01

Using GIS in the classroom enhance students' computer skills and explore the range of knowledge. The paper highlights GIS integration on e-learning platform and introduces a variety of abundant educational resources. This research project will demonstrate tools for e-learning environment and delivers some case studies for learning interaction from Central Taiwan Universities. Feng Chia University (FCU) obtained a remarkable academic project subsidized by Ministry of Education and developed e-learning platform for excellence in teaching/learning programs among Central Taiwan's universities. The aim of the project is to integrate the educational resources of 13 universities in central Taiwan. FCU is serving as the hub of Center University. To overcome the problem of distance, e-platforms have been established to create experiences with collaboration enhanced learning. The e-platforms provide coordination of web service access among the educational community and deliver GIS educational resources. Most of GIS related courses cover the development of GIS, principles of cartography, spatial data analysis and overlaying, terrain analysis, buffer analysis, 3D GIS application, Remote Sensing, GPS technology, and WebGIS, MobileGIS, ArcGIS manipulation. In each GIS case study, students have been taught to know geographic meaning, collect spatial data and then use ArcGIS software to analyze spatial data. On one of e-Learning platforms provide lesson plans and presentation slides. Students can learn Arc GIS online. As they analyze spatial data, they can connect to GIS hub to get data they need including satellite images, aerial photos, and vector data. Moreover, e-learning platforms provide solutions and resources. Different levels of image scales have been integrated into the systems. Multi-scale spatial development and analyses in Central Taiwan integrate academic research resources among CTTLRC partners. Thus, establish decision-making support mechanism in teaching and learning. Accelerate communication, cooperation and sharing among academic units

SwathProfiler and NProfiler: Two new ArcGIS Add-ins for the automatic extraction of swath and normalized river profiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez-Peña, J. V.; Al-Awabdeh, M.; Azañón, J. M.; Galve, J. P.; Booth-Rea, G.; Notti, D.

2017-07-01

The present-day great availability of high-resolution Digital Elevation Models has improved tectonic geomorphology analyses in their methodological aspects and geological meaning. Analyses based on topographic profiles are valuable to explore the short and long-term landscape response to tectonic activity and climate changes. Swath and river longitudinal profiles are two of the most used analysis to explore the long and short-term landscape responses. Most of these morphometric analyses are conducted in GIS software, which have become standard tools for analyzing drainage network metrics. In this work we present two ArcGIS Add-Ins to automatically delineate swath and normalized river profiles. Both tools are programmed in Visual Basic . NET and use ArcObjects library-architecture to access directly to vector and raster data. The SwathProfiler Add-In allows analyzing the topography within a swath or band by representing maximum-minimum-mean elevations, first and third quartile, local relief and hypsometry. We have defined a new transverse hypsometric integral index (THi) that analyzes hypsometry along the swath and offer valuable information in these kind of graphics. The NProfiler Add-In allows representing longitudinal normalized river profiles and their related morphometric indexes as normalized concavity (CT), maximum concavity (Cmax) and length of maximum concavity (Lmax). Both tools facilitate the spatial analysis of topography and drainage networks directly in a GIS environment as ArcMap and provide graphical outputs. To illustrate how these tools work, we analyzed two study areas, the Sierra Alhamilla mountain range (Betic Cordillera, SE Spain) and the Eastern margin of the Dead Sea (Jordan). The first study area has been recently studied from a morphotectonic perspective and these new tools can show an added value to the previous studies. The second study area has not been analyzed by quantitative tectonic geomorphology and the results suggest a landscape in transient state due to a continuous base-level fall produced by the formation of the Dead Sea basin.

Research on the Intensity Analysis and Result Visualization of Construction Land in Urban Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, J.; Dong, B.; Li, J.; Li, L.

2017-09-01

As a fundamental work of urban planning, the intensity analysis of construction land involves many repetitive data processing works that are prone to cause errors or data precision loss, and the lack of efficient methods and tools to visualizing the analysis results in current urban planning. In the research a portable tool is developed by using the Model Builder technique embedded in ArcGIS to provide automatic data processing and rapid result visualization for the works. A series of basic modules provided by ArcGIS are linked together to shape a whole data processing chain in the tool. Once the required data is imported, the analysis results and related maps and graphs including the intensity values and zoning map, the skyline analysis map etc. are produced automatically. Finally the tool is installation-free and can be dispatched quickly between planning teams.

Information System and Geographic Information System Tools in the Data Analyses of the Control Program for Visceral Leishmaniases from 2006 to 2010 in the Sanitary District of Venda Nova, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

PubMed Central

Saraiva, Lara; Leite, Camila Gonçalves; de Carvalho, Luiz Otávio Alves; Andrade Filho, José Dilermando; de Menezes, Fernanda Carvalho; Fiúza, Vanessa de Oliveira Pires

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to report a brief history of control actions for Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) from 2006 to 2010 in the Sanitary District (DS) of Venda Nova, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, focusing on the use of information systems and Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. The analyses showed that the use of an automated database allied with geoprocessing tools may favor control measures of VL, especially with regard to the evaluation of control actions carried out. Descriptive analyses of control measures allowed to evaluating that the information system and GIS tools promoted greater efficiency in making decisions and planning activities. These analyses also pointed to the necessity of new approaches to the control of VL in large urban centers. PMID:22518168

Finding and Using Wasted Water to Restore Baldcypress - Water Tupelo Swamps and Freshwater Marshes and Protect Against Salt Water Intrusion: A Case Study of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaffer, G. P.; Lane, R.; Day, J. W.; Barrett, S.

2017-12-01

We developed a geographic information system (GIS) containing substantial point and non-point freshwater sources along the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, from Lake Maurepas to the Pearl River, which potentially could be directed at degraded wetlands. Thus far, we have concentrated on municipal wastewater treatment facilities, subdivisions treating their own sewage, non-point source drainage features, and potential Mississippi River diversion sites. Most analysis, processing, and mapping were conducted in Arc GIS v9.2. Five classes of source water ranging from <25,000 to >100,000 gallons per day were mapped. These were color and size coded and the level of detail in the GIS varies according to aerial coverage. That is, the overall image is in broad brush and increasing detail is automatically provided as the user increases magnification The sources were then prioritized by size and distance from a marsh or swamp. Because assimilation wetlands into marshes in coastal Louisiana attract the introduced rodent nutria (Myocaster coypus) swamps were weighted higher than marshes. The top five sources were all wastewater facilities located near swamps.

ADDING GLOBAL SOILS DATA TO THE AUTOMATED GEOSPATIAL WATERSHED ASSESSMENT TOOL (AGWA)

EPA Science Inventory

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA) is a GIS-based hydrologic modeling tool that is available as an extension for ArcView 3.x from the USDA-ARS Southwest Watershed Research Center (www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/agwa). AGWA is designed to facilitate the assessment of...

Assessment of groundwater vulnerability to nitrates from agricultural sources using a GIS-compatible logic multicriteria model.

PubMed

Rebolledo, Boris; Gil, Antonia; Flotats, Xavier; Sánchez, José Ángel

2016-04-15

In the present study an overlay method to assess groundwater vulnerability is proposed. This new method based on multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) was developed and validated using an appropriate case study in Aragon area (NE Spain). The Vulnerability Index to Nitrates from Agricultural Sources (VINAS) incorporates a novel Logic Scoring of Preferences (LSP) approach, and it has been developed using public geographic information from the European Union. VINAS-LSP identifies areas with five categories of vulnerability, taking into account the hydrogeological and environmental characteristics of the territory as a whole. The resulting LSP map is a regional screening tool that can provide guidance on the potential risk of nitrate pollution, as well as highlight areas where specific research and farming planning policies are required. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

USING GIS AND AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY TO DETERMINE A HISTORICAL IMPERVIOUS SURFACE/STREAMFLOW RELATIONSHIP

EPA Science Inventory

Impervious surfaces are a leading contributor to non-point-source water pollution in urban watersheds. These surfaces include such features as roads, parking lots, rooftops and driveways. Arcview GIS and the Image Analysis extension have been utilized to geo-register and map imp...

A GIS-based framework for evaluating investments in fire management: Spatial allocation of recreation values

Treesearch

Kenneth A. Baerenklau; Armando González-Cabán; Catrina I. Páez; Edgard Chávez

2009-01-01

The U.S. Forest Service is responsible for developing tools to facilitate effective and efficient fire management on wildlands and urban-wildland interfaces. Existing GIS-based fire modeling software only permits estimation of the costs of fire prevention and mitigation efforts as well as the effects of those efforts on fire behavior. This research demonstrates how the...

Making Space for Place: Mapping Tools and Practices to Teach for Spatial Justice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubel, Laurie H.; Hall-Wieckert, Maren; Lim, Vivian Y.

2017-01-01

This article presents a set of spatial tools for classroom learning about spatial justice. As part of a larger team, we designed a curriculum that engaged 10 learners with 3 spatial tools: (a) an oversized floor map, (b) interactive geographic information systems (GIS) maps, and (c) participatory mapping. We analyze how these tools supported…

Intelligent Model Management in a Forest Ecosystem Management Decision Support System

Treesearch

Donald Nute; Walter D. Potter; Frederick Maier; Jin Wang; Mark Twery; H. Michael Rauscher; Peter Knopp; Scott Thomasma; Mayukh Dass; Hajime Uchiyama

2002-01-01

Decision making for forest ecosystem management can include the use of a wide variety of modeling tools. These tools include vegetation growth models, wildlife models, silvicultural models, GIS, and visualization tools. NED-2 is a robust, intelligent, goal-driven decision support system that integrates tools in each of these categories. NED-2 uses a blackboard...

From data to information: Tools and techniques educators can use to enhance Google Earth imagery with geographic information systems data and three dimensional models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simms, M.

2007-12-01

As with any educational technology, moving beyond basic information delivery to dynamic use can be a challenge and Google Earth (GE) is no exception. Moving beyond annotated placemarks and pictures, educators can utilize free, free-to-educators, and low cost tools to develop learning experiences within GE to facilitate dynamic interaction with real world data in the form of three dimensional models (3D) and geographic information systems data (GIS). Students take an active role in knowledge construction through self-directed navigation in 3D, seeing features of the landscape not in snapshot views found in textbooks, but in situ and in context. By incorporating categorized data, such as what is commonly found in GIS, an added dimension of human interaction can be incorporated. For example, GIS layers such as landuse, soil type, etc. provide students with data tools for investigating the role their community plays in supporting migrating Monarch butterfly habitat. Functionality for changing the appearance of layers in GE facilitates interaction with geospatial data in a manner that creates a type of "visual" GIS and can serve as an advanced organizer for later use of more powerful GIS software. GE can also be used as a metaphor to create a new context for an otherwise abstract concept, for example, scaling 3D models of the sun and planets to the size of a well known football stadium and placing each planet at the corresponding scaled distances from that location. Photorealistic 3D models created using SketchUp and Anim8or may help students relate to an otherwise abstract concept of planetary size and distances. Finally, digital elevation models (DEM) draped with imagery not available in GE or with GIS data can be used to make topic-specific 3D models either used within GE or in a 3D model viewer embedded in a website or email. With a little instruction, students can quickly learn how to make their own models as well. Procedures and software to accomplish each of these examples will be demonstrated.

Composite use of numerical groundwater flow modeling and geoinformatics techniques for monitoring Indus Basin aquifer, Pakistan.

PubMed

Ahmad, Zulfiqar; Ashraf, Arshad; Fryar, Alan; Akhter, Gulraiz

2011-02-01

The integration of the Geographic Information System (GIS) with groundwater modeling and satellite remote sensing capabilities has provided an efficient way of analyzing and monitoring groundwater behavior and its associated land conditions. A 3-dimensional finite element model (Feflow) has been used for regional groundwater flow modeling of Upper Chaj Doab in Indus Basin, Pakistan. The approach of using GIS techniques that partially fulfill the data requirements and define the parameters of existing hydrologic models was adopted. The numerical groundwater flow model is developed to configure the groundwater equipotential surface, hydraulic head gradient, and estimation of the groundwater budget of the aquifer. GIS is used for spatial database development, integration with a remote sensing, and numerical groundwater flow modeling capabilities. The thematic layers of soils, land use, hydrology, infrastructure, and climate were developed using GIS. The Arcview GIS software is used as additive tool to develop supportive data for numerical groundwater flow modeling and integration and presentation of image processing and modeling results. The groundwater flow model was calibrated to simulate future changes in piezometric heads from the period 2006 to 2020. Different scenarios were developed to study the impact of extreme climatic conditions (drought/flood) and variable groundwater abstraction on the regional groundwater system. The model results indicated a significant response in watertable due to external influential factors. The developed model provides an effective tool for evaluating better management options for monitoring future groundwater development in the study area.

Road Traffic Accident Analysis of Ajmer City Using Remote Sensing and GIS Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhalla, P.; Tripathi, S.; Palria, S.

2014-12-01

With advancement in technology, new and sophisticated models of vehicle are available and their numbers are increasing day by day. A traffic accident has multi-facet characteristics associated with it. In India 93% of crashes occur due to Human induced factor (wholly or partly). For proper traffic accident analysis use of GIS technology has become an inevitable tool. The traditional accident database is a summary spreadsheet format using codes and mileposts to denote location, type and severity of accidents. Geo-referenced accident database is location-referenced. It incorporates a GIS graphical interface with the accident information to allow for query searches on various accident attributes. Ajmer city, headquarter of Ajmer district, Rajasthan has been selected as the study area. According to Police records, 1531 accidents occur during 2009-2013. Maximum accident occurs in 2009 and the maximum death in 2013. Cars, jeeps, auto, pickup and tempo are mostly responsible for accidents and that the occurrence of accidents is mostly concentrated between 4PM to 10PM. GIS has proved to be a good tool for analyzing multifaceted nature of accidents. While road safety is a critical issue, yet it is handled in an adhoc manner. This Study is a demonstration of application of GIS for developing an efficient database on road accidents taking Ajmer City as a study. If such type of database is developed for other cities, a proper analysis of accidents can be undertaken and suitable management strategies for traffic regulation can be successfully proposed.

GIS based application tool -- history of East India Company

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phophaliya, Sudhir

The emphasis of the thesis is to build an intuitive and robust GIS (Geographic Information systems) Tool which gives an in depth information on history of East India Company. The GIS tool also incorporates various achievements of East India Company which helped to establish their business all over world especially India. The user has the option to select these movements and acts by clicking on any of the marked states on the World map. The World Map also incorporates key features for East India Company like landing of East India Company in India, Darjeeling Tea Establishment, East India Company Stock Redemption Act etc. The user can know more about these features simply by clicking on each of them. The primary focus of the tool is to give the user a unique insight about East India Company; for this the tool has several HTML (Hypertext markup language) pages which the user can select. These HTML pages give information on various topics like the first Voyage, Trade with China, 1857 Revolt etc. The tool has been developed in JAVA. For the Indian map MOJO (Map Objects Java Objects) is used. MOJO is developed by ESRI. The major features shown on the World map was designed using MOJO. MOJO made it easy to incorporate the statistical data with these features. The user interface was intentionally kept simple and easy to use. To keep the user engaged, key aspects are explained using HTML pages. The idea is that pictures will help the user garner interest in the history of East India Company.

An Observation Analysis Tool for time-series analysis and sensor management in the FREEWAT GIS environment for water resources management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cannata, Massimiliano; Neumann, Jakob; Cardoso, Mirko; Rossetto, Rudy; Foglia, Laura; Borsi, Iacopo

2017-04-01

In situ time-series are an important aspect of environmental modelling, especially with the advancement of numerical simulation techniques and increased model complexity. In order to make use of the increasing data available through the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive, the FREEWAT GIS environment incorporates the newly developed Observation Analysis Tool for time-series analysis. The tool is used to import time-series data into QGIS from local CSV files, online sensors using the istSOS service, or MODFLOW model result files and enables visualisation, pre-processing of data for model development, and post-processing of model results. OAT can be used as a pre-processor for calibration observations, integrating the creation of observations for calibration directly from sensor time-series. The tool consists in an expandable Python library of processing methods and an interface integrated in the QGIS FREEWAT plug-in which includes a large number of modelling capabilities, data management tools and calibration capacity.

A GIS-based approach for the screening assessment of noise and vibration impacts from transit projects.

PubMed

Hamed, Maged; Effat, Waleed

2007-08-01

Urban transportation projects are essential in increasing the efficiency of moving people and goods within a city, and between cities. Environmental impacts from such projects must be evaluated and mitigated, as applicable. Spatial modeling is a valuable tool for quantifying the potential level of environmental consequences within the context of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study. This paper presents a GIS-based tool for the assessment of airborne-noise and ground-borne vibration from public transit systems, and its application to an actual project. The tool is based on the US Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) approach, and incorporates spatial information, satellite imaging, geostatistical modeling, and software programming. The tool is applied on a case study of initial environmental evaluation of a light rail transit project in an urban city in the Middle East, to evaluate alternative layouts. The tool readily allowed the alternative evaluation and the results were used as input to a multi-criteria analytic framework.

A flexible tool for hydraulic and water quality performance analysis of green infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massoudieh, A.; Alikhani, J.

2017-12-01

Models that allow for design considerations of green infrastructure (GI) practices to control stormwater runoff and associated contaminants have received considerable attention in recent years. To be used to evaluate the effect design configurations on the long-term performance of GIs, models should be able to consider processes within GIs with good fidelity. In this presentation, a sophisticated, yet flexible tool for hydraulic and water quality assessment of GIs will be introduced. The tool can be used by design engineers and researchers to capture and explore the effect of design factors and properties of the media employed in the performance of GI systems at a relatively small scale. We deemed it essential to have a flexible GI modeling tool that is capable of simulating GI system components and specific biogeochemical processes affecting contaminants such as evapotranspiration, plant uptake, reactions, and particle-associated transport accurately while maintaining a high degree of flexibility to account for the myriad of GI alternatives. The mathematical framework for a stand-alone GI performance assessment tool has been developed and will be demonstrated. The process-based model framework developed here can be used to model a diverse range of GI practices such as stormwater ponds, green roofs, retention ponds, bioretention systems, infiltration trench, permeable pavement and other custom-designed combinatory systems. An example of the application of the system to evaluate the performance of a rain-garden system will be demonstrated.

The impact of geographic information systems on emergency management decision making at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Steven Gray

Geographic information systems (GIS) reveal relationships and patterns from large quantities of diverse data in the form of maps and reports. The United States spends billions of dollars to use GIS to improve decisions made during responses to natural disasters and terrorist attacks, but precisely how GIS improves or impairs decision making is not known. This research examined how GIS affect decision making during natural disasters, and how GIS can be more effectively used to improve decision making for emergency management. Using a qualitative case study methodology, this research examined decision making at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during a large full-scale disaster exercise. This study indicates that GIS provided decision makers at DHS with an outstanding context for information that would otherwise be challenging to understand, especially through the integration of multiple data sources and dynamic three-dimensional interactive maps. Decision making was hampered by outdated information, a reliance on predictive models based on hypothetical data rather than actual event data, and a lack of understanding of the capabilities of GIS beyond cartography. Geospatial analysts, emergency managers, and other decision makers who use GIS should take specific steps to improve decision making based on GIS for disaster response and emergency management.

Providing open-access online materials and hands-on sessions for GIS exercises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oguchi, T.; Yamauchi, H.; Hayakawa, Y. S.

2017-12-01

Researchers of GIS (Geographical Information Systems/Sciences) in Japan have collaborated to provide materials for GIS lecture classes in universities for the last 20 years. The major outcomes include 1) a GIS core curriculum, 2) a GIS "body of knowledge" explaining the details of the curriculum, 3) a series of PowerPoint presentations, and 4) a comprehensive GIS textbook. However, materials for GIS exercises at university classes using GIS software have been limited in Japan. Therefore, we launched a project to provide such materials which will be available online and accessible by anybody. The materials cover broad basic aspects of GIS including geoscientific applications such as terrain analysis using digital elevation models. The materials utilize public-domain and open-source software packages such as QGIS and GRASS. The data used are also freely available ones such as those from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan. The use of the GitHub platform to distribute the materials allow easier online interactions by both material producers and users. Selected sets of the materials have been utilized for hands-on activities including both official university classes and public instructions. We have been updating the materials based on the opinions of people who took the hands-on courses for better GIS education. The current materials are in Japanese, but we plan to translate some of them into English.

Design and application analysis of prediction system of geo-hazards based on GIS in the Three Gorges Reservoir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Deying; Yin, Kunlong; Gao, Huaxi; Liu, Changchun

2009-10-01

Although the project of the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze River in China can utilize this huge potential source of hydroelectric power, and eliminate the loss of life and damage by flood, it also causes environmental problems due to the big rise and fluctuation of the water, such as geo-hazards. In order to prevent and predict geo-hazards, the establishment of prediction system of geo-hazards is very necessary. In order to implement functions of hazard prediction of regional and urban geo-hazard, single geo-hazard prediction, prediction of landslide surge and risk evaluation, logical layers of the system consist of data capturing layer, data manipulation and processing layer, analysis and application layer, and information publication layer. Due to the existence of multi-source spatial data, the research on the multi-source transformation and fusion data should be carried on in the paper. Its applicability of the system was testified on the spatial prediction of landslide hazard through spatial analysis of GIS in which information value method have been applied aims to identify susceptible areas that are possible to future landslide, on the basis of historical record of past landslide, terrain parameter, geology, rainfall and anthropogenic activity. Detailed discussion was carried out on spatial distribution characteristics of landslide hazard in the new town of Badong. These results can be used for risk evaluation. The system can be implemented as an early-warning and emergency management tool by the relevant authorities of the Three Gorges Reservoir in the future.

NASA GES DISC DAAC Satellite Data for GIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nickless, Darryl; Leptoukh, Gregory; Morahan, Michael; Pollack, Nathan; Savtchenko, Andrey; Teng, William

2005-01-01

NASA's Goddard Earth Science (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) makes available a large and continually growing collection of spatially continuous global satellite observations of environmental parameters. These products include those from the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on both Terra and Aqua platforms, and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). These data products are well suited for use within Geographic Information Systems (GIS), as both backdrops to cartographic products as well as spatial analysis. However, data format, file size, and other issues have limited their widespread use by traditional GIS users. To address these data usability issues, the GES DISC DAAC recently updated tools and improved documentation of conversion procedures. In addition, the GES DISC DAAC has also been working with a major GIS software vendor to incorporate the ability to read the native Hierarchial Data Format (HDF), the format in which most of the NASA data is stored. The result is the enabling of GIS users to realize the benefit of GES DISC DAAC data without a substantial expenditure in resources to incorporate these data into their GIS. Several documents regarding the potential uses of GES DISC DAAC satellite data in GIS have recently been created. These show the combinations of concurrent data from different satellite products with traditional GIS vector products for given geographic areas. These map products include satellite imagery of Hurricane Isabel and the California wildfires, and can be viewed at http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/MODIS/GIS/.

Creating and Sharing Understanding: GEOSS and ArcGIS Online

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, C. E.; Hogeweg, M.; Foust, J.

2014-12-01

The GEOSS program brokers various forms of earth observation data and information via its online platform Discovery and Access Broker (DAB). The platform connects relevant information systems and infrastructures through the world. Esri and the National Research Council of Italy Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (CNR-IIA) are building two-way technology between DAB framework and ArcGIS Online using the ArcGIS Online API. Developers will engineer Esri and DAB interfaces and build interoperable web services that connect the two systems. This collaboration makes GEOSS earth observation data and services available to the ArcGIS Online community, and ArcGIS Online a significant part of the GEOSS DAB infrastructure. ArcGIS Online subscribers can discover and access the resources published by GEOSS, use GEOSS data services, and build applications. Making GEOSS content available in ArcGIS Online increases opportunities for scientists in other communities to visualize information in greater context. Moreover, because the platform supports authoritative and crowd-sourcing information, GEOSS members can build networks into other disciplines. This talk will discuss the power of interoperable service architectures that make such a collaboration possible, and the results thus far.

Extension of a GIS procedure for calculating the RUSLE equation LS factor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Hongming; Yang, Qinke; Li, Rui; Liu, Qingrui; Moore, Demie; He, Peng; Ritsema, Coen J.; Geissen, Violette

2013-03-01

The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and revised USLE (RUSLE) are often used to estimate soil erosion at regional landscape scales, however a major limitation is the difficulty in extracting the LS factor. The geographic information system-based (GIS-based) methods which have been developed for estimating the LS factor for USLE and RUSLE also have limitations. The unit contributing area-based estimation method (UCA) converts slope length to unit contributing area for considering two-dimensional topography, however is not able to predict the different zones of soil erosion and deposition. The flowpath and cumulative cell length-based method (FCL) overcomes this disadvantage but does not consider channel networks and flow convergence in two-dimensional topography. The purpose of this research was to overcome these limitations and extend the FCL method through inclusion of channel networks and convergence flow. We developed LS-TOOL in Microsoft's.NET environment using C♯ with a user-friendly interface. Comparing the LS factor calculated with the three methodologies (UCA, FCL and LS-TOOL), LS-TOOL delivers encouraging results. In particular, LS-TOOL uses breaks in slope identified from the DEM to locate soil erosion and deposition zones, channel networks and convergence flow areas. Comparing slope length and LS factor values generated using LS-TOOL with manual methods, LS-TOOL corresponds more closely with the reality of the Xiannangou catchment than results using UCA or FCL. The LS-TOOL algorithm can automatically calculate slope length, slope steepness, L factor, S factor, and LS factors, providing the results as ASCII files which can be easily used in some GIS software. This study is an important step forward in conducting more accurate large area erosion evaluation.

Developing a Web-Based Ppgis, as AN Environmental Reporting Service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ranjbar Nooshery, N.; Taleai, M.; Kazemi, R.; Ebadi, K.

2017-09-01

Today municipalities are searching for new tools to empower locals for changing the future of their own areas by increasing their participation in different levels of urban planning. These tools should involve the community in planning process using participatory approaches instead of long traditional top-down planning models and help municipalities to obtain proper insight about major problems of urban neighborhoods from the residents' point of view. In this matter, public participation GIS (PPGIS) which enables citizens to record and following up their feeling and spatial knowledge regarding problems of the city in the form of maps have been introduced. In this research, a tool entitled CAER (Collecting & Analyzing of Environmental Reports) is developed. In the first step, a software framework based on Web-GIS tool, called EPGIS (Environmental Participatory GIS) has been designed to support public participation in reporting urban environmental problems and to facilitate data flow between citizens and municipality. A web-based cartography tool was employed for geo-visualization and dissemination of map-based reports. In the second step of CAER, a subsystem is developed based on SOLAP (Spatial On-Line Analytical Processing), as a data mining tools to elicit the local knowledge facilitating bottom-up urban planning practices and to help urban managers to find hidden relations among the recorded reports. This system is implemented in a case study area in Boston, Massachusetts and its usability was evaluated. The CAER should be considered as bottom-up planning tools to collect people's problems and views about their neighborhood and transmits them to the city officials. It also helps urban planners to find solutions for better management from citizen's viewpoint and gives them this chance to develop good plans to the neighborhoods that should be satisfied the citizens.

Sensitivity of wildlife habitat models to uncertainties in GIS data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stoms, David M.; Davis, Frank W.; Cogan, Christopher B.

1992-01-01

Decision makers need to know the reliability of output products from GIS analysis. For many GIS applications, it is not possible to compare these products to an independent measure of 'truth'. Sensitivity analysis offers an alternative means of estimating reliability. In this paper, we present a CIS-based statistical procedure for estimating the sensitivity of wildlife habitat models to uncertainties in input data and model assumptions. The approach is demonstrated in an analysis of habitat associations derived from a GIS database for the endangered California condor. Alternative data sets were generated to compare results over a reasonable range of assumptions about several sources of uncertainty. Sensitivity analysis indicated that condor habitat associations are relatively robust, and the results have increased our confidence in our initial findings. Uncertainties and methods described in the paper have general relevance for many GIS applications.

Public health, GIS, and the internet.

PubMed

Croner, Charles M

2003-01-01

Internet access and use of georeferenced public health information for GIS application will be an important and exciting development for the nation's Department of Health and Human Services and other health agencies in this new millennium. Technological progress toward public health geospatial data integration, analysis, and visualization of space-time events using the Web portends eventual robust use of GIS by public health and other sectors of the economy. Increasing Web resources from distributed spatial data portals and global geospatial libraries, and a growing suite of Web integration tools, will provide new opportunities to advance disease surveillance, control, and prevention, and insure public access and community empowerment in public health decision making. Emerging supercomputing, data mining, compression, and transmission technologies will play increasingly critical roles in national emergency, catastrophic planning and response, and risk management. Web-enabled public health GIS will be guided by Federal Geographic Data Committee spatial metadata, OpenGIS Web interoperability, and GML/XML geospatial Web content standards. Public health will become a responsive and integral part of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure.

Emerging role of Geographical Information System (GIS), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and spatial LCA (GIS-LCA) in sustainable bioenergy planning.

PubMed

Hiloidhari, Moonmoon; Baruah, D C; Singh, Anoop; Kataki, Sampriti; Medhi, Kristina; Kumari, Shilpi; Ramachandra, T V; Jenkins, B M; Thakur, Indu Shekhar

2017-10-01

Sustainability of a bioenergy project depends on precise assessment of biomass resource, planning of cost-effective logistics and evaluation of possible environmental implications. In this context, this paper reviews the role and applications of geo-spatial tool such as Geographical Information System (GIS) for precise agro-residue resource assessment, biomass logistic and power plant design. Further, application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in understanding the potential impact of agro-residue bioenergy generation on different ecosystem services has also been reviewed and limitations associated with LCA variability and uncertainty were discussed. Usefulness of integration of GIS into LCA (i.e. spatial LCA) to overcome the limitations of conventional LCA and to produce a holistic evaluation of the environmental benefits and concerns of bioenergy is also reviewed. Application of GIS, LCA and spatial LCA can help alleviate the challenges faced by ambitious bioenergy projects by addressing both economics and environmental goals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vulnerability of port and harbor communities to earthquake and tsunami hazards: The use of GIS in community hazard planning

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wood, Nathan J.; Good, James W.

2004-01-01

AbstractEarthquakes and tsunamis pose significant threats to Pacific Northwest coastal port and harbor communities. Developing holistic mitigation and preparedness strategies to reduce the potential for loss of life and property damage requires community-wide vulnerability assessments that transcend traditional site-specific analyses. The ability of a geographic information system (GIS) to integrate natural, socioeconomic, and hazards information makes it an ideal assessment tool to support community hazard planning efforts. This article summarizes how GIS was used to assess the vulnerability of an Oregon port and harbor community to earthquake and tsunami hazards, as part of a larger risk-reduction planning initiative. The primary purposes of the GIS were to highlight community vulnerability issues and to identify areas that both are susceptible to hazards and contain valued port and harbor community resources. Results of the GIS analyses can help decision makers with limited mitigation resources set priorities for increasing community resiliency to natural hazards.

Creating and validating GIS measures of urban design for health research.

PubMed

Purciel, Marnie; Neckerman, Kathryn M; Lovasi, Gina S; Quinn, James W; Weiss, Christopher; Bader, Michael D M; Ewing, Reid; Rundle, Andrew

2009-12-01

Studies relating urban design to health have been impeded by the unfeasibility of conducting field observations across large areas and the lack of validated objective measures of urban design. This study describes measures for five dimensions of urban design - imageability, enclosure, human scale, transparency, and complexity - created using public geographic information systems (GIS) data from the US Census and city and state government. GIS measures were validated for a sample of 588 New York City block faces using a well-documented field observation protocol. Correlations between GIS and observed measures ranged from 0.28 to 0.89. Results show valid urban design measures can be constructed from digital sources.

Creating and validating GIS measures of urban design for health research

PubMed Central

Purciel, Marnie; Neckerman, Kathryn M.; Lovasi, Gina S.; Quinn, James W.; Weiss, Christopher; Bader, Michael D.M.; Ewing, Reid; Rundle, Andrew

2012-01-01

Studies relating urban design to health have been impeded by the unfeasibility of conducting field observations across large areas and the lack of validated objective measures of urban design. This study describes measures for five dimensions of urban design – imageability, enclosure, human scale, transparency, and complexity – created using public geographic information systems (GIS) data from the US Census and city and state government. GIS measures were validated for a sample of 588 New York City block faces using a well-documented field observation protocol. Correlations between GIS and observed measures ranged from 0.28 to 0.89. Results show valid urban design measures can be constructed from digital sources. PMID:22956856

Using game engine for 3D terrain visualisation of GIS data: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Che Mat, Ruzinoor; Shariff, Abdul Rashid Mohammed; Nasir Zulkifli, Abdul; Shafry Mohd Rahim, Mohd; Hafiz Mahayudin, Mohd

2014-06-01

This paper reviews on the 3D terrain visualisation of GIS data using game engines that are available in the market as well as open source. 3D terrain visualisation is a technique used to visualise terrain information from GIS data such as a digital elevation model (DEM), triangular irregular network (TIN) and contour. Much research has been conducted to transform the 2D view of map to 3D. There are several terrain visualisation softwares that are available for free, which include Cesium, Hftool and Landserf. This review paper will help interested users to better understand the current state of art in 3D terrain visualisation of GIS data using game engines.

A new spatial multi-criteria decision support tool for site selection for implementation of managed aquifer recharge.

PubMed

Rahman, M Azizur; Rusteberg, Bernd; Gogu, R C; Lobo Ferreira, J P; Sauter, Martin

2012-05-30

This study reports the development of a new spatial multi-criteria decision analysis (SMCDA) software tool for selecting suitable sites for Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) systems. The new SMCDA software tool functions based on the combination of existing multi-criteria evaluation methods with modern decision analysis techniques. More specifically, non-compensatory screening, criteria standardization and weighting, and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) have been combined with Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) and Ordered Weighted Averaging (OWA). This SMCDA tool may be implemented with a wide range of decision maker's preferences. The tool's user-friendly interface helps guide the decision maker through the sequential steps for site selection, those steps namely being constraint mapping, criteria hierarchy, criteria standardization and weighting, and criteria overlay. The tool offers some predetermined default criteria and standard methods to increase the trade-off between ease-of-use and efficiency. Integrated into ArcGIS, the tool has the advantage of using GIS tools for spatial analysis, and herein data may be processed and displayed. The tool is non-site specific, adaptive, and comprehensive, and may be applied to any type of site-selection problem. For demonstrating the robustness of the new tool, a case study was planned and executed at Algarve Region, Portugal. The efficiency of the SMCDA tool in the decision making process for selecting suitable sites for MAR was also demonstrated. Specific aspects of the tool such as built-in default criteria, explicit decision steps, and flexibility in choosing different options were key features, which benefited the study. The new SMCDA tool can be augmented by groundwater flow and transport modeling so as to achieve a more comprehensive approach to the selection process for the best locations of the MAR infiltration basins, as well as the locations of recovery wells and areas of groundwater protection. The new spatial multicriteria analysis tool has already been implemented within the GIS based Gabardine decision support system as an innovative MAR planning tool. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

WEB-GIS Decision Support System for CO2 storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaitanaru, Dragos; Leonard, Anghel; Radu Gogu, Constantin; Le Guen, Yvi; Scradeanu, Daniel; Pagnejer, Mihaela

2013-04-01

Environmental decision support systems (DSS) paradigm evolves and changes as more knowledge and technology become available to the environmental community. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to extract, assess and disseminate some types of information, which are otherwise difficult to access by traditional methods. In the same time, with the help of the Internet and accompanying tools, creating and publishing online interactive maps has become easier and rich with options. The Decision Support System (MDSS) developed for the MUSTANG (A MUltiple Space and Time scale Approach for the quaNtification of deep saline formations for CO2 storaGe) project is a user friendly web based application that uses the GIS capabilities. MDSS can be exploited by the experts for CO2 injection and storage in deep saline aquifers. The main objective of the MDSS is to help the experts to take decisions based large structured types of data and information. In order to achieve this objective the MDSS has a geospatial objected-orientated database structure for a wide variety of data and information. The entire application is based on several principles leading to a series of capabilities and specific characteristics: (i) Open-Source - the entire platform (MDSS) is based on open-source technologies - (1) database engine, (2) application server, (3) geospatial server, (4) user interfaces, (5) add-ons, etc. (ii) Multiple database connections - MDSS is capable to connect to different databases that are located on different server machines. (iii)Desktop user experience - MDSS architecture and design follows the structure of a desktop software. (iv)Communication - the server side and the desktop are bound together by series functions that allows the user to upload, use, modify and download data within the application. The architecture of the system involves one database and a modular application composed by: (1) a visualization module, (2) an analysis module, (3) a guidelines module, and (4) a risk assessment module. The Database component is build by using the PostgreSQL and PostGIS open source technology. The visualization module allows the user to view data of CO2 injection sites in different ways: (1) geospatial visualization, (2) table view, (3) 3D visualization. The analysis module will allow the user to perform certain analysis like Injectivity, Containment and Capacity analysis. The Risk Assessment module focus on the site risk matrix approach. The Guidelines module contains the methodologies of CO2 injection and storage into deep saline aquifers guidelines.

PAIRS, The GIS-Based Incident Response System for Pennsylvania, and NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Conrad, Eric; Arbegast, Daniel; Maynard, Nancy; Vicente, Gilberto

2003-01-01

Over the past several years the Pennsylvania Departments of Environmental Protection (DEP), Health (DOH), and Agriculture (PDA) built the GIs-based Pennsylvania West Nile Surveillance System. That system has become a model for collecting data that has a field component, laboratory component, reporting and mapping component, and a public information component. Given the success of the West Nile Virus System and the events of September 11, 2001, DEP then embarked on the development of the Pennsylvania Incident Response System, or PAIRS. PAIRS is an effective GIs-based approach to providing a system for response to incidents of any kind, including terrorism because it is building upon the existing experience, infrastructure and databases that were successfully developed to respond to the West Nile Virus by DEP, DOH, and PDA. The proposed system can be described as one that supports data acquisition, laboratory forensics, decision making/response, and communications. Decision makers will have tools to view and analyze data from various sources and, at the same time, to communicate with the large numbers of people responding to the same incident. Recent collaborations with NASA partners are creating mechanisms for the PAIRS system to incorporate space-based and other remote sensing geophysical parameters relevant to public health assessment and management, such as surface temperatures, precipitation, land cover/land use change, and humidity. This presentation will describe the PAIRS system and outline the Pennsylvania-NASA collaboration for integration of space-based data into the PAIRS system.

Landscape characterization integrating expert and local spatial knowledge of land and forest resources.

PubMed

Fagerholm, Nora; Käyhkö, Niina; Van Eetvelde, Veerle

2013-09-01

In many developing countries, political documentation acknowledges the crucial elements of participation and spatiality for effective land use planning. However, operative approaches to spatial data inclusion and representation in participatory land management are often lacking. In this paper, we apply and develop an integrated landscape characterization approach to enhance spatial knowledge generation about the complex human-nature interactions in landscapes in the context of Zanzibar, Tanzania. We apply an integrated landscape conceptualization as a theoretical framework where the expert and local knowledge can meet in spatial context. The characterization is based on combining multiple data sources in GIS, and involves local communities and their local spatial knowledge since the beginning into the process. Focusing on the expected information needs for community forest management, our characterization integrates physical landscape features and retrospective landscape change data with place-specific community knowledge collected through participatory GIS techniques. The characterization is established in a map form consisting of four themes and their synthesis. The characterization maps are designed to support intuitive interpretation, express the inherently uncertain nature of the data, and accompanied by photographs to enhance communication. Visual interpretation of the characterization mediates information about the character of areas and places in the studied local landscape, depicting the role of forest resources as part of the landscape entity. We conclude that landscape characterization applied in GIS is a highly potential tool for participatory land and resource management, where spatial argumentation, stakeholder communication, and empowerment are critical issues.

Disseminating near-real-time hazards information and flood maps in the Philippines through Web-GIS.

PubMed

A Lagmay, Alfredo Mahar Francisco; Racoma, Bernard Alan; Aracan, Ken Adrian; Alconis-Ayco, Jenalyn; Saddi, Ivan Lester

2017-09-01

The Philippines being a locus of tropical cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, is a hotbed of disasters. These natural hazards inflict loss of lives and costly damage to property. Situated in a region where climate and geophysical tempest is common, the Philippines will inevitably suffer from calamities similar to those experienced recently. With continued development and population growth in hazard prone areas, it is expected that damage to infrastructure and human losses would persist and even rise unless appropriate measures are immediately implemented by government. In 2012, the Philippines launched a responsive program for disaster prevention and mitigation called the Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (Project NOAH), specifically for government warning agencies to be able to provide a 6hr lead-time warning to vulnerable communities against impending floods and to use advanced technology to enhance current geo-hazard vulnerability maps. To disseminate such critical information to as wide an audience as possible, a Web-GIS using mashups of freely available source codes and application program interface (APIs) was developed and can be found in the URLs http://noah.dost.gov.ph and http://noah.up.edu.ph/. This Web-GIS tool is now heavily used by local government units in the Philippines in their disaster prevention and mitigation efforts and can be replicated in countries that have a proactive approach to address the impacts of natural hazards but lack sufficient funds. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Landscape Characterization Integrating Expert and Local Spatial Knowledge of Land and Forest Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fagerholm, Nora; Käyhkö, Niina; Van Eetvelde, Veerle

2013-09-01

In many developing countries, political documentation acknowledges the crucial elements of participation and spatiality for effective land use planning. However, operative approaches to spatial data inclusion and representation in participatory land management are often lacking. In this paper, we apply and develop an integrated landscape characterization approach to enhance spatial knowledge generation about the complex human-nature interactions in landscapes in the context of Zanzibar, Tanzania. We apply an integrated landscape conceptualization as a theoretical framework where the expert and local knowledge can meet in spatial context. The characterization is based on combining multiple data sources in GIS, and involves local communities and their local spatial knowledge since the beginning into the process. Focusing on the expected information needs for community forest management, our characterization integrates physical landscape features and retrospective landscape change data with place-specific community knowledge collected through participatory GIS techniques. The characterization is established in a map form consisting of four themes and their synthesis. The characterization maps are designed to support intuitive interpretation, express the inherently uncertain nature of the data, and accompanied by photographs to enhance communication. Visual interpretation of the characterization mediates information about the character of areas and places in the studied local landscape, depicting the role of forest resources as part of the landscape entity. We conclude that landscape characterization applied in GIS is a highly potential tool for participatory land and resource management, where spatial argumentation, stakeholder communication, and empowerment are critical issues.

Distance education course on spatial multi-hazard risk assessment, using Open Source software

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Westen, C. J.; Frigerio, S.

2009-04-01

As part of the capacity building activities of the United Nations University - ITC School on Disaster Geo-Information Management (UNU-ITC DGIM) the International Institute for Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation (ITC) has developed a distance education course on the application of Geographic Information Systems for multi-hazard risk assessment. This course is designed for academic staff, as well as for professionals working in (non-) governmental organizations where knowledge of disaster risk management is essential. The course guides the participants through the entire process of risk assessment, on the basis of a case study of a city exposed to multiple hazards, in a developing country. The courses consists of eight modules, each with a guide book explaining the theoretical background, and guiding the participants through spatial data requirements for risk assessment, hazard assessment procedures, generation of elements at risk databases, vulnerability assessment, qualitative and quantitative risk assessment methods, risk evaluation and risk reduction. Linked to the theory is a large set of exercises, with exercise descriptions, answer sheets, demos and GIS data. The exercises deal with four different types of hazards: earthquakes, flooding, technological hazards, and landslides. One important consideration in designing the course is that people from developing countries should not be restricted in using it due to financial burdens for software acquisition. Therefore the aim was to use Open Source software as a basis. The GIS exercises are written for the ILWIS software. All exercises have also been integrated into a WebGIS, using the Open source software CartoWeb (based on GNU License). It is modular and customizable thanks to its object-oriented architecture and based on a hierarchical structure (to manage and organize every package of information of every step required in risk assessment). Different switches for every component of the risk assessment course have been defined and through various menus the user can define the options for every exercise. For every layer of information tools for querying, printing, searching and surface analysis are implemented, allowing the option to compare maps at different scale and for on-line interpretations.

Defining Primary Care Shortage Areas: Do GIS-based Measures Yield Different Results?

PubMed

Daly, Michael R; Mellor, Jennifer M; Millones, Marco

2018-02-12

To examine whether geographic information systems (GIS)-based physician-to-population ratios (PPRs) yield determinations of geographic primary care shortage areas that differ from those based on bounded-area PPRs like those used in the Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) designation process. We used geocoded data on primary care physician (PCP) locations and census block population counts from 1 US state to construct 2 shortage area indicators. The first is a bounded-area shortage indicator defined without GIS methods; the second is a GIS-based measure that measures the populations' spatial proximity to PCP locations. We examined agreement and disagreement between bounded shortage areas and GIS-based shortage areas. Bounded shortage area indicators and GIS-based shortage area indicators agree for the census blocks where the vast majority of our study populations reside. Specifically, 95% and 98% of the populations in our full and urban samples, respectively, reside in census blocks where the 2 indicators agree. Although agreement is generally high in rural areas (ie, 87% of the rural population reside in census blocks where the 2 indicators agree), agreement is significantly lower compared to urban areas. One source of disagreement suggests that bounded-area measures may "overlook" some shortages in rural areas; however, other aspects of the HPSA designation process likely mitigate this concern. Another source of disagreement arises from the border-crossing problem, and it is more prevalent. The GIS-based PPRs we employed would yield shortage area determinations that are similar to those based on bounded-area PPRs defined for Primary Care Service Areas. Disagreement rates were lower than previous studies have found. © 2018 National Rural Health Association.

Evaluating conflation methods using uncertainty modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doucette, Peter; Dolloff, John; Canavosio-Zuzelski, Roberto; Lenihan, Michael; Motsko, Dennis

2013-05-01

The classic problem of computer-assisted conflation involves the matching of individual features (e.g., point, polyline, or polygon vectors) as stored in a geographic information system (GIS), between two different sets (layers) of features. The classical goal of conflation is the transfer of feature metadata (attributes) from one layer to another. The age of free public and open source geospatial feature data has significantly increased the opportunity to conflate such data to create enhanced products. There are currently several spatial conflation tools in the marketplace with varying degrees of automation. An ability to evaluate conflation tool performance quantitatively is of operational value, although manual truthing of matched features is laborious and costly. In this paper, we present a novel methodology that uses spatial uncertainty modeling to simulate realistic feature layers to streamline evaluation of feature matching performance for conflation methods. Performance results are compiled for DCGIS street centerline features.

Identifying suitable sanitary landfill locations in the state of Morelos, México, using a Geographic Information System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marín, Luis E.; Torres, Vicente; Bolongaro, Andrea; Reyna, José A.; Pohle, O.; Hernández-Espriú, A.; Chavarría, Jerónimo; García-Barrios, R.; Tabla, Hugo Francisco Parra

GIS is a powerful tool that may help to better manage natural resources. In this paper, we present a GIS model developed for the state of Morelos as an aid to determine whether a potential site, Loma de Mejia, met the Mexican Federal Guidelines. The Mexican Government has established federal guidelines for sanitary landfill site selection (NOM-083-SERMARNAT-2003). These guidelines were translated into a water-based Geographic Information System and applied to the state of Morelos, Mexico. For these examples, we used the SIGAM® (Sistema de Información Geográfico del Agua en México; a water-based GIS for Mexico) which has at least 60 layers from the National Water Commission (CONAGUA), the national mapping agency (INEGI; Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática), NASA, and academic institutions. Results show that a GIS is a powerful tool that may allow federal, state and municipal policy makers to conduct an initial regional site reconnaissance rapidly. Once potential sites are selected, further characterization must be carried out in order to determine if proposed locations are suitable or not for a sanitary landfill. Based on the SIGAM© software, the Loma de Mejia would not comply with the Mexican Federal Guidelines.

An Evaluation of Teaching Introductory Geomorphology Using Computer-based Tools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wentz, Elizabeth A.; Vender, Joann C.; Brewer, Cynthia A.

1999-01-01

Compares student reactions to traditional teaching methods and an approach where computer-based tools (GEODe CD-ROM and GIS-based exercises) were either integrated with or replaced the traditional methods. Reveals that the students found both of these tools valuable forms of instruction when used in combination with the traditional methods. (CMK)

Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA): Applications for Fire Management and Assessment.

EPA Science Inventory

New tools and functionality have been incorporated into the Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA) to assess the impacts of wildland fire on runoff and erosion. AGWA (see: www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/agwa or http://www.epa.gov/esd/land-sci/agwa/) is a GIS interface joi...

ICLUS Tools and Datasets (Version 1.2) and User's Manual ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This draft Geographic Information System (GIS) tool can be used to generate scenarios of housing-density changes and calculate impervious surface cover for the conterminous United States. A draft User’s Guide accompanies the tool. This product distributes the population projections and creates land use data described in the 2009 EPA report

The Sky's the Limit: Integrating Geospatial Tools with Pre-College Youth Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGee, John; Kirwan, Jeff

2010-01-01

Geospatial tools, which include global positioning systems (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), and remote sensing, are increasingly driving a variety of applications. Local governments and private industry are embracing these tools, and the public is beginning to demand geospatial services. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) reported that…

Challenges and complications in neighborhood mapping: from neighborhood concept to operationalization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Yongxin

2016-07-01

This paper examines complications in neighborhood mapping and corresponding challenges for the GIS community, taking both a conceptual and a methodological perspective. It focuses on the social and spatial dimensions of the neighborhood concept and highlights their relationship in neighborhood mapping. Following a brief summary of neighborhood definitions, five interwoven factors are identified to be origins of neighborhood mapping difficulties: conceptual vagueness, uncertainty of various sources, GIS representation, scale, and neighborhood homogeneity or continuity. Existing neighborhood mapping methods are grouped into six categories to be assessed: perception based, physically based, inference based, preexisting, aggregated, and automated. Mapping practices in various neighborhood-related disciplines and applications are cited as examples to demonstrate how the methods work, as well as how they should be evaluated. A few mapping strategies for the improvement of neighborhood mapping are prescribed from a GIS perspective: documenting simplifications employed in the mapping procedure, addressing uncertainty sources, developing new data solutions, and integrating complementary mapping methods. Incorporation of high-resolution data and introduction of more GIS ideas and methods (such as fuzzy logic) are identified to be future opportunities.

Modeling of natural risks in GIS, decision support in the Civil Protection and Emergency Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, M.; Martins, L.; Moreira, S.; Costa, A.; Matos, F.; Teixeira, M.; Bateira, C.

2012-04-01

The assessment of natural hazards in Civil Protection is essential in the prevention and mitigation of emergency situations. This paper presents the results of the development of mapping susceptibility to landslides, floods, forest fires and soil erosion, using GIS (Geographic Information System) tools in two municipalities - Santo Tirso and Trofa - in the district of Oporto, in the northwest of Portugal. The mapping of natural hazards fits in the legislative plan of the Municipal Civil Protection (Law No. 65/2007 of 12 November) and it provides the key elements to planning and preparing an appropriate response in case some of the processes / phenomena occur, thus optimizing the procedures for protection and relief provided by the Municipal Civil Protection Service. Susceptibility mapping to landslides, floods, forest fires and soil erosion was performed with GIS tools resources. The methodology used to compile the mapping of landslides, forest fires and soil erosion was based on the modeling of different conditioning factors and validated with field work and event log. The mapping of susceptibility to floods and flooding was developed through mathematical parameters (statistical, hydrologic and hydraulic), supported by field work and the recognition of individual characteristics of each sector analysis and subsequently analyzed in a GIS environment The mapping proposal was made in 1:5000 scale which allows not only the identification of large sets affected by the spatial dynamics of the processes / phenomena, but also a more detailed analysis, especially when combined with geographic information systems (GIS) thus allowing to study more specific situations that require a quick response. The maps developed in this study are fundamental to the understanding, prediction and prevention of susceptibility and risks present in the municipalities, being a valuable tool in the process of Emergency Planning, since it identifies priority areas of intervention for farther detail analysis, promote and safeguard mechanisms to prevent injury and it anticipates the possibility of potential interventions that can minimize the risk.

Terrace Layout Using a Computer Assisted System

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Development of a web-based terrace design tool based on the MOTERR program is presented, along with representative layouts for conventional and parallel terrace systems. Using digital elevation maps and geographic information systems (GIS), this tool utilizes personal computers to rapidly construct ...

Analytical tools for identifying bicycle route suitability, coverage, and continuity.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-05-01

This report presents new tools created to assess bicycle suitability using geographic information systems (GIS). Bicycle suitability is a rating of how appropriate a roadway is for bicycle travel based on attributes of the roadway, such as vehi...

Making Knowledge from Numbers : The Shale Network as an Honest Broker for Evaluating and Educating about the Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing in the Marcellus Shale Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollak, J.; Brantley, S.; Williams, J.; Dykhoff, S.; Brazil, L. I.

2015-12-01

The Marcellus Shale Network is an NSF-funded project that investigates the impacts of hydraulic fracturing for shale gas development on water resources in and around the state of Pennsylvania. It is a collaborative effort that aims to be an honest broker in the shale gas conversation by involving multiple entities (including universities, government agencies, industry groups, nonprofits, etc.) to collect, analyze, and disseminate data that describe the past and current conditions of water in the Marcellus shale region. A critical component of this project has been to engage multiple types of stakeholders - academia, government agencies, industry, and citizen science groups - in annual workshops to present and discuss how to ensure the integrity of water resources in light of the challenges that natural gas extraction can present. Each workshop has included a hands-on activity that allows participants to access water quality data using the tools provided by the CUAHSI Water Data Center. One of these tools is HydroDesktop, which is an open source GIS application that can be used in formal and informal education settings as a geoscience research tool. In addition to being a GIS, HydroDesktop accesses CUAHSI's large catalog of water data thus enabling students, professional researchers, and citizen scientists to discover data that can expand the understanding of water quality issues in one's local environment and beyond. This presentation will highlight the goals of the Shale Network project and the stakeholders involved in addition to how cyberinfrastructure is being used to create a democratic, data-driven conversation about the relationship between energy production from shale gas and our water resources.

SDMtoolbox 2.0: the next generation Python-based GIS toolkit for landscape genetic, biogeographic and species distribution model analyses.

PubMed

Brown, Jason L; Bennett, Joseph R; French, Connor M

2017-01-01

SDMtoolbox 2.0 is a software package for spatial studies of ecology, evolution, and genetics. The release of SDMtoolbox 2.0 allows researchers to use the most current ArcGIS software and MaxEnt software, and reduces the amount of time that would be spent developing common solutions. The central aim of this software is to automate complicated and repetitive spatial analyses in an intuitive graphical user interface. One core tenant facilitates careful parameterization of species distribution models (SDMs) to maximize each model's discriminatory ability and minimize overfitting. This includes carefully processing of occurrence data, environmental data, and model parameterization. This program directly interfaces with MaxEnt, one of the most powerful and widely used species distribution modeling software programs, although SDMtoolbox 2.0 is not limited to species distribution modeling or restricted to modeling in MaxEnt. Many of the SDM pre- and post-processing tools have 'universal' analogs for use with any modeling software. The current version contains a total of 79 scripts that harness the power of ArcGIS for macroecology, landscape genetics, and evolutionary studies. For example, these tools allow for biodiversity quantification (such as species richness or corrected weighted endemism), generation of least-cost paths and corridors among shared haplotypes, assessment of the significance of spatial randomizations, and enforcement of dispersal limitations of SDMs projected into future climates-to only name a few functions contained in SDMtoolbox 2.0. Lastly, dozens of generalized tools exists for batch processing and conversion of GIS data types or formats, which are broadly useful to any ArcMap user.

An Open-Source Approach for Catchment's Physiographic Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Leo, M.; Di Stefano, M.

2013-12-01

A water catchment's hydrologic response is intimately linked to its morphological shape, which is a signature on the landscape of the particular climate conditions that generated the hydrographic basin over time. Furthermore, geomorphologic structures influence hydrologic regimes and land cover (vegetation). For these reasons, a basin's characterization is a fundamental element in hydrological studies. Physiographic descriptors have been extracted manually for long time, but currently Geographic Information System (GIS) tools ease such task by offering a powerful instrument for hydrologists to save time and improve accuracy of result. Here we present a program combining the flexibility of the Python programming language with the reliability of GRASS GIS, which automatically performing the catchment's physiographic characterization. GRASS (Geographic Resource Analysis Support System) is a Free and Open Source GIS, that today can look back on 30 years of successful development in geospatial data management and analysis, image processing, graphics and maps production, spatial modeling and visualization. The recent development of new hydrologic tools, coupled with the tremendous boost in the existing flow routing algorithms, reduced the computational time and made GRASS a complete toolset for hydrological analysis even for large datasets. The tool presented here is a module called r.basin, based on GRASS' traditional nomenclature, where the "r" stands for "raster", and it is available for GRASS version 6.x and more recently for GRASS 7. As input it uses a Digital Elevation Model and the coordinates of the outlet, and, powered by the recently developed r.stream.* hydrological tools, it performs the flow calculation, delimits the basin's boundaries and extracts the drainage network, returning the flow direction and accumulation, the distance to outlet and the hill slopes length maps. Based on those maps, it calculates hydrologically meaningful shape factors and morphological parameters such as topological diameter, drainage density, Horton's ratios, concentration time, and many more, beside producing statistics on main channel and elevation and geometric features such as centroid's coordinates, rectangle containing the basin, etc. Exploiting Python libraries, such as Numpy and Matplotlib, it produces graphics like the hypsographic and hypsometric curve and the Width Function. The results are exported as a spreadsheet in CSV format and graphics as pngs. The advantages offered by the implementation in Python and GRASS are manifold. Python is a powerful scripting language with huge potential for researchers due to its relative simplicity, high flexibility and thanks to a broad availability of scientific libraries. GRASS, and as a consequence, r.basin, is platform independent, so that it is available for GNU/Linux, MS Windows, Mac, etc. Furthermore, the module is constantly maintained and improved according to users' feedback with the precious help of expert developers. The code is available for review under the official GRASS add-ons repository, allowing hydrologists and researchers to knowingly use, inspect, modify, reuse, and even incorporate it in other projects, such as web services.

MATISSE: a meteorological aviation supporting system developed in a GIS environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rillo, Valeria; Mercogliano, Paola

2014-05-01

Awareness of weather conditions plays an increasing role in different societal and economic sectors, in particular the aviation one which is very sensitive to the meteorological conditions. In fact, adverse meteorological conditions are among the most important causes of accidents causing human and economic losses. For these reasons it is crucial to monitor and nowcast such events and avoid risks during all the flight phases. In this framework CIRA (Italian Aerospace Research Center) has implemented MATISSE (Meteorological AviaTIon Supporting SystEm), an ArcGIS Desktop Plug in, in order to detect and forecast meteorological aviation hazards over the main European airports, by using different sources of meteorological data (synoptic information, satellite data, numerical weather prediction models outputs). Such functionalities are realized after a preprocessing of raw data achieving more complex information, useful for the detection and the forecast of aviation hazards. After that, the data are stored in a database used by ArcGIS and further processed in order to provide maps, graphs and statistics. MATISSE presents a dockable toolbar in a GIS environment, allowing the user to easily select and visualize the desired information. In particular, the user can access to real time functionalities and visualize, on a map, the chosen meteorological hazard or variable (such as visibility conditions, cumulonimbi, wind speeds and directions, present weather, pressure, relative humidity, past weather, cloud cover, height of base of clouds, cloud type, geopotential, altimeter settings, three hour pressure change) over an airport or an area of interest (Europe, Italy). Such variables are represented in a user friendly way, by using simple icons easy to understand and reporting the risk level for aviation in order to provide pilots information about the meteorological conditions during the flight and the following hours. MATISSE, in fact, is able to handle the output of COSMO LM model (NetCDF files) and visualize such information. Moreover it is interfaced to an innovative tool based on MSG-2 satellite data, able to forecast the evolution of cumulonimbi, clouds responsible of thunderstorms, wind shear, icing and turbulence phenomena. MATISSE includes also tool for the statistical characterization of the typical weather bad conditions on the airport of interest, for example percentage of fog events on particular time windows.

GIS -- Is it a money pit or a profit generator?

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

Sutton, R.H.

1997-02-01

Today, new technologies including smart pigs and GPS technology can be used to expedite data collection and improve the accuracy of the GIS applications. Eventually, such applications as pipe information for a taxing district, corrosion testing history, and many other applications can be accommodated in a GIS system. The accompanying figure shows the potential relationship of various technologies in today`s world along with other automated data input sources such as very smart pigs and the Global Positioning System (GPS). The paper discusses implementation barriers, assuring success, and recommendations.

Utilizing mobile technology in GIS education: A case study of using iPad and iBooks in fieldwork and location based exercises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chuang, Yi-Ting

The advancement of mobile computing technology has provided diverse way for education. Combination of mobile devices and GIS tools has become a trend in many geospatial technology applications (i.e., Google Maps application on smartphones). This research aims to develop an iBook prototype (a GIS textbook) for GIS education on Apple iPads and to evaluate the effectiveness of adopting the GIS iBook in classes and fieldwork exercises. We conducted the evaluation tests in two GIS courses (GEOG104 and GEOG381) in Fall 2014 at San Diego State University. There are two main research questions in this study: (1) How to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of location-based learning exercises (from iBook) and fieldwork exercises for first-time GIS students? (2) What were major technical challenges and opportunities to utilize mobile device and mobile technology in GIS education? The procedures of developing and evaluating the prototype of the GIS iBook include creating two new chapters (chapter three: Wander the World through Remote Sensing Data and chapter four: Internet and Mobile GIS), interviewing five educators from high schools and community colleges, and improving the contents of the GIS iBook after the interview. There were 31 students who tested the GIS iBook and did a fieldwork exercise with iPads. The 31 students were required to finish five questionnaires after the exercise to express their user experiences and thoughts about the GIS iBook. Based on the result of questionnaires, most students preferred to take GIS classes with the free GIS iBook and thought fieldwork exercise can help their learning. The students also performed better in knowledge oriented survey after reading the GIS iBook. This research also adopts the SWOT analysis method to evaluate the prototype of the GIS iBook. The result of the SWOT analysis indicates that utilizing mobile device in GIS education does have a great potential value in enhancing student's understanding. The strengths of utilizing mobile device in GIS education include portability, easy update contents and abundant free development resources, while the weaknesses include distracting multimedia widgets, lack of Internet access, and security issues. The opportunities of SWOT analysis include financial plan for iPads and lack of competitors, while the threats include higher price and incompatibility of iBooks on other tablet computers. The major limitations and key challenges are limited survey time, small sample size, and technical difficulties of developing the GIS iBook.

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.

A GIS-based decision support system for regional eco-security assessment and its application on the Tibetan Plateau.

PubMed

Xiaodan, Wang; Xianghao, Zhong; Pan, Gao

2010-10-01

Regional eco-security assessment is an intricate, challenging task. In previous studies, the integration of eco-environmental models and geographical information systems (GIS) usually takes two approaches: loose coupling and tight coupling. However, the present study used a full coupling approach to develop a GIS-based regional eco-security assessment decision support system (ESDSS). This was achieved by merging the pressure-state-response (PSR) model and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) into ArcGIS 9 as a dynamic link library (DLL) using ArcObjects in ArcGIS and Visual Basic for Applications. Such an approach makes it easy to capitalize on the GIS visualization and spatial analysis functions, thereby significantly supporting the dynamic estimation of regional eco-security. A case study is presented for the Tibetan Plateau, known as the world's "third pole" after the Arctic and Antarctic. Results verified the usefulness and feasibility of the developed method. As a useful tool, the ESDSS can also help local managers to make scientifically-based and effective decisions about Tibetan eco-environmental protection and land use. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The ASTARTE Mass Transport Deposits data base - a web-based reference for submarine landslide research around Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voelker, D.; De Martini, P. M.; Lastras, G.; Patera, A.; Hunt, J.; Terrinha, P.; Noiva, J.; Gutscher, M. A.; Migeon, S.

2015-12-01

EU project ASTARTE (Assessment, STrategy And Risk Reduction for Tsunamis in Europe, Project number: 603839) aims at reaching a higher level of tsunami resilience in the North East Atlantic and Mediterranean (NEAM) region by a combination of field work, experimental work, numerical modeling and technical development. The project is a cooperative work of 26 institutes from 16 countries and links together the description of past tsunamigenic events, the characterization of tsunami sources, the calculation of the impact of such events, and the development of adequate resilience strategies (www.astarte.eu). Within ASTARTE a web-based data base on Mass Transport Deposit (MTD) in the NEAM areas is being created that claims to be the future reference source for this kind of research in Europe. The aim is to integrate every existing scientific reference on the topic and update on new entries every 3 months, hosting information and detailed data, that are crucial e.g for tsunami modeling. A relational database managed by ArcGIS for Desktop 10.3 software has been implemented to allow all partners to collaborate through a common platform for archiving and exchanging data and interpretations, such as MTD typology (slide, slump, debris, turbidite, etc), geometric characteristcs (location, depth, thickness, volume, slope, etc), but also age and dating method and eventually tsunamigenic potential. One of the final goals of the project is the sharing of the archived datasets through a web-based map service that will allow to visualize, question, analyze, and interpret all datasets. The interactive map service will be hosted by ArcGIS Online and will deploy the cloud capabilities of the portal. Any interested users will be able to access the online GIS resources through any Internet browser or ad hoc applications that run on desktop machines, smartphones, or tablets and will be able to use the analytical tools, key tasks, and workflows of the service.

Towards evidence-based, GIS-driven national spatial health information infrastructure and surveillance services in the United Kingdom

PubMed Central

Boulos, Maged N Kamel

2004-01-01

The term "Geographic Information Systems" (GIS) has been added to MeSH in 2003, a step reflecting the importance and growing use of GIS in health and healthcare research and practices. GIS have much more to offer than the obvious digital cartography (map) functions. From a community health perspective, GIS could potentially act as powerful evidence-based practice tools for early problem detection and solving. When properly used, GIS can: inform and educate (professionals and the public); empower decision-making at all levels; help in planning and tweaking clinically and cost-effective actions, in predicting outcomes before making any financial commitments and ascribing priorities in a climate of finite resources; change practices; and continually monitor and analyse changes, as well as sentinel events. Yet despite all these potentials for GIS, they remain under-utilised in the UK National Health Service (NHS). This paper has the following objectives: (1) to illustrate with practical, real-world scenarios and examples from the literature the different GIS methods and uses to improve community health and healthcare practices, e.g., for improving hospital bed availability, in community health and bioterrorism surveillance services, and in the latest SARS outbreak; (2) to discuss challenges and problems currently hindering the wide-scale adoption of GIS across the NHS; and (3) to identify the most important requirements and ingredients for addressing these challenges, and realising GIS potential within the NHS, guided by related initiatives worldwide. The ultimate goal is to illuminate the road towards implementing a comprehensive national, multi-agency spatio-temporal health information infrastructure functioning proactively in real time. The concepts and principles presented in this paper can be also applied in other countries, and on regional (e.g., European Union) and global levels. PMID:14748927

Customer-experienced rapid prototyping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lijuan; Zhang, Fu; Li, Anbo

2008-12-01

In order to describe accurately and comprehend quickly the perfect GIS requirements, this article will integrate the ideas of QFD (Quality Function Deployment) and UML (Unified Modeling Language), and analyze the deficiency of prototype development model, and will propose the idea of the Customer-Experienced Rapid Prototyping (CE-RP) and describe in detail the process and framework of the CE-RP, from the angle of the characteristics of Modern-GIS. The CE-RP is mainly composed of Customer Tool-Sets (CTS), Developer Tool-Sets (DTS) and Barrier-Free Semantic Interpreter (BF-SI) and performed by two roles of customer and developer. The main purpose of the CE-RP is to produce the unified and authorized requirements data models between customer and software developer.

GIS Story Maps : A Tool to Empower and Engage Stakeholders in Planning Sustainable Places

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-10-01

Public engagement continues to be transformed by the explosion of new digital technologies/tools, software platforms, social media networks, mobile devices, and mobile apps. Recent changes in geospatial technology offer new opportunities for use in p...

An online planning tool for designing terrace layouts

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

A web-based conservation planning tool, WebTERLOC (web-based Terrace Location Program), was developed to provide multiple terrace layout options using digital elevation model (DEM) and geographic information systems (GIS). Development of a terrace system is complicated by the time-intensive manual ...

How freight moves : estimating milage and routes using an innovative GIS tool

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-06-01

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has developed an innovative software tool, called GeoMiler, that is helping researchers better estimate freight travel. GeoMiler is being used to compute mileages along likely routes for the nearly 6 mill...

An overview on integrated data system for archiving and sharing marine geology and geophysical data in Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Sang-Hwa; Kim, Sung Dae; Park, Hyuk Min; Lee, SeungHa

2016-04-01

We established and have operated an integrated data system for managing, archiving and sharing marine geology and geophysical data around Korea produced from various research projects and programs in Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST). First of all, to keep the consistency of data system with continuous data updates, we set up standard operating procedures (SOPs) for data archiving, data processing and converting, data quality controls, and data uploading, DB maintenance, etc. Database of this system comprises two databases, ARCHIVE DB and GIS DB for the purpose of this data system. ARCHIVE DB stores archived data as an original forms and formats from data providers for data archive and GIS DB manages all other compilation, processed and reproduction data and information for data services and GIS application services. Relational data management system, Oracle 11g, adopted for DBMS and open source GIS techniques applied for GIS services such as OpenLayers for user interface, GeoServer for application server, PostGIS and PostgreSQL for GIS database. For the sake of convenient use of geophysical data in a SEG Y format, a viewer program was developed and embedded in this system. Users can search data through GIS user interface and save the results as a report.

Using open source software for the supervision and management of the water resources system of Athens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kozanis, S.; Christofides, A.; Efstratiadis, A.; Koukouvinos, A.; Karavokiros, G.; Mamassis, N.; Koutsoyiannis, D.; Nikolopoulos, D.

2012-04-01

The water supply of Athens, Greece, is implemented through a complex water resource system, extending over an area of around 4 000 km2 and including surface water and groundwater resources. It incorporates four reservoirs, 350 km of main aqueducts, 15 pumping stations, more than 100 boreholes and 5 small hydropower plants. The system is run by the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP) Over more than 10 years we have developed, information technology tools such as GIS, database and decision support systems, to assist the management of the system. Among the software components, "Enhydris", a web application for the visualization and management of geographical and hydrometeorological data, and "Hydrognomon", a data analysis and processing tool, are now free software. Enhydris is entirely based on free software technologies such as Python, Django, PostgreSQL, and JQuery. We also created http://openmeteo.org/, a web site hosting our free software products as well as a free database system devoted to the dissemination of free data. In particular, "Enhydris" is used for the management of the hydrometeorological stations and the major hydraulic structures (aqueducts, reservoirs, boreholes, etc.), as well as for the retrieval of time series, online graphs etc. For the specific needs of EYDAP, additional GIS functionality was introduced for the display and monitoring of the water supply network. This functionality is also implemented as free software and can be reused in similar projects. Except for "Hydrognomon" and "Enhydris", we have developed a number of advanced modeling applications, which are also generic-purpose tools that have been used for a long time to provide decision support for the water resource system of Athens. These are "Hydronomeas", which optimizes the operation of complex water resource systems, based on a stochastic simulation framework, "Castalia", which implements the generation of synthetic time series, and "Hydrogeios", which employs conjunctive hydrological and hydrogeological simulation, with emphasis to human-modified river basins. These tools are currently available as executable files that are free for download though the ITIA web site (http://itia.ntua.gr/). Currently, we are working towards releasing their source code as well, through making them free software, after some licensing issues are resolved.

A national look at carbon capture and storage-National carbon sequestration database and geographical information system (NatCarb)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carr, T.R.; Iqbal, A.; Callaghan, N.; ,; Look, K.; Saving, S.; Nelson, K.

2009-01-01

The US Department of Energy's Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships (RCSPs) are responsible for generating geospatial data for the maps displayed in the Carbon Sequestration Atlas of the United States and Canada. Key geospatial data (carbon sources, potential storage sites, transportation, land use, etc.) are required for the Atlas, and for efficient implementation of carbon sequestration on a national and regional scale. The National Carbon Sequestration Database and Geographical Information System (NatCarb) is a relational database and geographic information system (GIS) that integrates carbon storage data generated and maintained by the RCSPs and various other sources. The purpose of NatCarb is to provide a national view of the carbon capture and storage potential in the U.S. and Canada. The digital spatial database allows users to estimate the amount of CO2 emitted by sources (such as power plants, refineries and other fossil-fuel-consuming industries) in relation to geologic formations that can provide safe, secure storage sites over long periods of time. The NatCarb project is working to provide all stakeholders with improved online tools for the display and analysis of CO2 carbon capture and storage data. NatCarb is organizing and enhancing the critical information about CO2 sources and developing the technology needed to access, query, model, analyze, display, and distribute natural resource data related to carbon management. Data are generated, maintained and enhanced locally at the RCSP level, or at specialized data warehouses, and assembled, accessed, and analyzed in real-time through a single geoportal. NatCarb is a functional demonstration of distributed data-management systems that cross the boundaries between institutions and geographic areas. It forms the first step toward a functioning National Carbon Cyberinfrastructure (NCCI). NatCarb provides access to first-order information to evaluate the costs, economic potential and societal issues of CO2 capture and storage, including public perception and regulatory aspects. NatCarb online access has been modified to address the broad needs of a spectrum of users. NatCarb includes not only GIS and database query tools for high-end user, but simplified display for the general public using readily available web tools such as Google Earth???and Google Maps???. Not only is NatCarb connected to all the RCSPs, but data are also pulled from public servers including the U.S. Geological Survey-EROS Data Center and from the Geography Network. Data for major CO2 sources have been obtained from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) databases, and data on major coal basins and coalbed methane wells were obtained from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). ?? 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The prediction of leaf area index from forest polygons decomposed through the integration of remote sensing, GIS, UNIX, and C

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wulder, M. A.

1998-03-01

Forest stand data are normally stored in a geographic information system (GIS) on the basis of areas of similar species combinations. Polygons are created based upon species assemblages and given labels relating the percentage of areal coverage by each significant species type within the specified area. As a result, estimation of leaf area index (LAI) from the digital numbers found within GIS-stored polygons lack accuracy as the predictive equations for LAI are normally developed for individual species, not species assemblages. A Landsat TM image was acquired to enable a classification which allows for the decomposition of forest-stand polygons into greater species detail. Knowledge of the actual internal composition of the stand polygons provides for computation of LAI values based upon the appropriate predictive equation resulting in higher accuracy of these estimates. To accomplish this goal it was necessary to extract, for each cover type in each polygon, descriptive values to represent the digital numbers located in that portion of the polygon. The classified image dictates the species composition of the various portions of the polygon and within these areas the raster pixel values are tabulated and averaged. Due to a lack of existing software tools to assess the raster values occurring within GIS polygons a combination of remote sensing, GIS, UNIX, and specifically coded C programs were necessary. Such tools are frequently used by the spatial analyst and indicate the complexity of what may appear to be a straight-forward spatial analysis problem.

Cultural resource applications for a GIS: Stone conservation at Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials

USGS Publications Warehouse

Joly, Kyle; Donald, Tony; Comer, Douglas

1998-01-01

Geographical information systems are rapidly becoming essential tools for land management. They provide a way to link landscape features to the wide variety of information that managers must consider when formulating plans for a site, designing site improvement and restoration projects, determining maintenance projects and protocols, and even interpreting the site. At the same time, they can be valuable research tools.Standing structures offer a different sort of geography, even though a humanly contrived one. Therefore, the capability of a geographical information system (GIS) to link geographical units to the information pertinent to the site and resource management can be employed in the management of standing structures. This was the idea that inspired the use of a GIS software, ArcView, to link computer aided design CAD) drawings of the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials with inventories of the stones in the memorials. Both the CAD drawings and the inventory were in existence; what remained to be done was to modify the CAD files and place the inventory in an appropriately designed computerized database, and then to link the two in a GIS project. This work was carried out at the NPS Denver Service Center, Resource Planning Group, Applied Archaeology Center (DSC-RPG-AAC), in Silver Spring, Maryland, with the assistance of US/ICOMOS summer interns Katja Marasovic (Croatia) and Rastislav Gromnica (Slovakia), under the supervision of AAC office manager Douglas Comer. Project guidance was provided by Tony Donald, the Denver Service Center (DSC) project architect for the restoration of the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, and GIS consultation services by Kyle Joly.

Geographical information systems as a tool for monitoring tobacco industry advertising.

PubMed

Vardavas, C I; Connolly, G N; Kafatos, A G

2009-06-01

Although the use of a geographical information systems (GIS) approach is usually applied to epidemiological disease outbreaks and environmental exposure mapping, it has significant potential as a tobacco control research tool in monitoring point-of-purchase (POP) tobacco advertising. An ecological study design approach was applied so as to primarily evaluate and interpret the spatial density and intensity of POP and tobacco industry advertisements within <300 m to high schools in Greece with the application of GIS methodology combining mapping, photographing and global positioning data. The GIS approach identified 133 POP and 44 billboards within 300 m of the school gates of Heraklion schools. On average 13 POP (range 4-21) and 4.4 billboards (range 1-9) were located per school, and all had at least 1 POP within 20 m of the school gate. On average (SD) 9 (6) tobacco advertisements per POP (range 0-25) were noted, and 80% of them were below child height. The GIS protocol identified that kiosks, that were excepted from the Greek ban on tobacco advertising, in comparison to other POP, were found not only to be closer and visible from the school gates (44.1% vs 10.8%, p<0.001) but were also found to have more external advertisements (8 (5) vs 5 (3), p<0.001). This study demonstrates the effectiveness of a GIS system in monitoring tobacco industry advertising on a large population-based scale and implies its use as a standardised method for monitoring tobacco industry strategies and tobacco control efforts.

Application of GIS in Modeling Zilberchai Basin Runoff

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malekani, L.; Khaleghi, S.; Mahmoodi, M.

2014-10-01

Runoff is one of most important hydrological variables that are used in many civil works, planning for optimal use of reservoirs, organizing rivers and warning flood. The runoff curve number (CN) is a key factor in determining runoff in the SCS (Soil Conservation Service) based hydrologic modeling method. The traditional SCS-CN method for calculating the composite curve number consumes a major portion of the hydrologic modeling time. Therefore, geographic information systems (GIS) are now being used in combination with the SCS-CN method. This work uses a methodology of determining surface runoff by Geographic Information System model and applying SCS-CN method that needs the necessary parameters such as land use map, hydrologic soil groups, rainfall data, DEM, physiographic characteristic of the basin. The model is built by implementing some well known hydrologic methods in GIS like as ArcHydro, ArcCN-Runoff for modeling of Zilberchai basin runoff. The results show that the high average weighted of curve number indicate that permeability of the basin is low and therefore likelihood of flooding is high. So the fundamental works is essential in order to increase water infiltration in Zilberchai basin and to avoid wasting surface water resources. Also comparing the results of the computed and observed runoff value show that use of GIS tools in addition to accelerate the calculation of the runoff also increase the accuracy of the results. This paper clearly demonstrates that the integration of GIS with the SCS-CN method provides a powerful tool for estimating runoff volumes in large basins.

Operational SAR Data Processing in GIS Environments for Rapid Disaster Mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bahr, Thomas

2014-05-01

The use of SAR data has become increasingly popular in recent years and in a wide array of industries. Having access to SAR can be highly important and critical especially for public safety. Updating a GIS with contemporary information from SAR data allows to deliver a reliable set of geospatial information to advance civilian operations, e.g. search and rescue missions. SAR imaging offers the great advantage, over its optical counterparts, of not being affected by darkness, meteorological conditions such as clouds, fog, etc., or smoke and dust, frequently associated with disaster zones. In this paper we present the operational processing of SAR data within a GIS environment for rapid disaster mapping. For this technique we integrated the SARscape modules for ENVI with ArcGIS®, eliminating the need to switch between software packages. Thereby the premier algorithms for SAR image analysis can be directly accessed from ArcGIS desktop and server environments. They allow processing and analyzing SAR data in almost real time and with minimum user interaction. This is exemplified by the November 2010 flash flood in the Veneto region, Italy. The Bacchiglione River burst its banks on Nov. 2nd after two days of heavy rainfall throughout the northern Italian region. The community of Bovolenta, 22 km SSE of Padova, was covered by several meters of water. People were requested to stay in their homes; several roads, highways sections and railroads had to be closed. The extent of this flooding is documented by a series of Cosmo-SkyMed acquisitions with a GSD of 2.5 m (StripMap mode). Cosmo-SkyMed is a constellation of four Earth observation satellites, allowing a very frequent coverage, which enables monitoring using a very high temporal resolution. This data is processed in ArcGIS using a single-sensor, multi-mode, multi-temporal approach consisting of 3 steps: (1) The single images are filtered with a Gamma DE-MAP filter. (2) The filtered images are geocoded using a reference DEM without the need of ground control points. This step includes radiometric calibration. (3) A subsequent change detection analysis generates the final map showing the extent of the flash flood on Nov. 5th 2010. The underlying algorithms are provided by three different sources: Geocoding & radiometric calibration (2) is a standard functionality from the commercial SARscape Toolbox for ArcGIS. This toolbox is extended by the filter tool (1), which is called from the SARscape modules in ENVI. The change detection analysis (3) is based on ENVI processing routines and scripted with IDL. (2) and (3) are integrated with ArcGIS using a predefined Python interface. These 3 processing steps are combined using the ArcGIS ModelBuilder to create a new model for rapid disaster mapping in ArcGIS, based on SAR data. Moreover, this model can be dissolved from its desktop environment and published to users across the ArcGIS Server enterprise. Thus disaster zones, e.g. after severe flooding, can be automatically identified and mapped to support local task forces - using an operational workflow for SAR image analysis, which can be executed by the responsible operators without SAR expert knowledge.

A spatial analysis of Phytophthora ramorum symptom spread using second-order point pattern and GIS-based analyses

Treesearch

Mark Spencer; Kevin O' Hara

2006-01-01

Phytophthora ramorum is a major source of tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus) mortality in the tanoak/redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) forests of central California. This study presents a spatial analysis of the spread of the disease using second-order point pattern and GIS analyses. Our data set includes four plots...

Estimating Prediction Uncertainty from Geographical Information System Raster Processing: A User's Manual for the Raster Error Propagation Tool (REPTool)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gurdak, Jason J.; Qi, Sharon L.; Geisler, Michael L.

2009-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey Raster Error Propagation Tool (REPTool) is a custom tool for use with the Environmental System Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS Desktop application to estimate error propagation and prediction uncertainty in raster processing operations and geospatial modeling. REPTool is designed to introduce concepts of error and uncertainty in geospatial data and modeling and provide users of ArcGIS Desktop a geoprocessing tool and methodology to consider how error affects geospatial model output. Similar to other geoprocessing tools available in ArcGIS Desktop, REPTool can be run from a dialog window, from the ArcMap command line, or from a Python script. REPTool consists of public-domain, Python-based packages that implement Latin Hypercube Sampling within a probabilistic framework to track error propagation in geospatial models and quantitatively estimate the uncertainty of the model output. Users may specify error for each input raster or model coefficient represented in the geospatial model. The error for the input rasters may be specified as either spatially invariant or spatially variable across the spatial domain. Users may specify model output as a distribution of uncertainty for each raster cell. REPTool uses the Relative Variance Contribution method to quantify the relative error contribution from the two primary components in the geospatial model - errors in the model input data and coefficients of the model variables. REPTool is appropriate for many types of geospatial processing operations, modeling applications, and related research questions, including applications that consider spatially invariant or spatially variable error in geospatial data.

Factors controlling groundwater quality in the Yeonjegu District of Busan City, Korea, using the hydrogeochemical processes and fuzzy GIS.

PubMed

Venkatramanan, Senapathi; Chung, Sang Yong; Selvam, Sekar; Lee, Seung Yeop; Elzain, Hussam Eldin

2017-10-01

The hydrogeochemical processes and fuzzy GIS techniques were used to evaluate the groundwater quality in the Yeonjegu district of Busan Metropolitan City, Korea. The highest concentrations of major ions were mainly related to the local geology. The seawater intrusion into the river water and municipal contaminants were secondary contamination sources of groundwater in the study area. Factor analysis represented the contamination sources of the mineral dissolution of the host rocks and domestic influences. The Gibbs plot exhibited that the major ions were derived from the rock weathering condition. Piper's trilinear diagram showed that the groundwater quality was classified into five types of CaHCO 3 , NaHCO 3 , NaCl, CaCl 2 , and CaSO 4 types in that order. The ionic relationship and the saturation mineral index of the ions indicated that the evaporation, dissolution, and precipitation processes controlled the groundwater chemistry. The fuzzy GIS map showed that highly contaminated groundwater occurred in the northeastern and the central parts and that the groundwater of medium quality appeared in most parts of the study area. It suggested that the groundwater quality of the study area was influenced by local geology, seawater intrusion, and municipal contaminants. This research clearly demonstrated that the geochemical analyses and fuzzy GIS method were very useful to identify the contaminant sources and the location of good groundwater quality.

A new data integration approach for AutoCAD and GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Hongmei; Li, Yuhong; Wang, Cheng; Li, Lijun

2006-10-01

GIS has its advantages both on spatial data analysis and management, particularly on the geometric and attributive information management, which has also attracted lots attentions among researchers around world. AutoCAD plays more and more important roles as one of the main data sources of GIS. Various work and achievements can be found in the related literature. However, the conventional data integration from AutoCAD to GIS is time-consuming, which also can cause the information loss both in the geometric aspects and the attributive aspects for a large system. It is necessary and urgent to sort out new approach and algorithm for the efficient high-quality data integration. In this paper, a novel data integration approach from AutoCAD to GIS will be introduced based on the spatial data mining technique through the data structure analysis both in the AutoCAD and GIS. A practicable algorithm for the data conversion from CAD to GIS will be given as well. By a designed evaluation scheme, the accuracy of the conversion both in the geometric and the attributive information will be demonstrated. Finally, the validity and feasibility of the new approach will be shown by an experimental analysis.

Application of GIS Technology for Town Planning Tasks Solving

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiyashko, G. A.

2017-11-01

For developing territories, one of the most actual town-planning tasks is to find out the suitable sites for building projects. The geographic information system (GIS) allows one to model complex spatial processes and can provide necessary effective tools to solve these tasks. We propose several GIS analysis models which can define suitable settlement allocations and select appropriate parcels for construction objects. We implement our models in the ArcGIS Desktop package and verify by application to the existing objects in Primorsky Region (Primorye Territory). These suitability models use several variations of the analysis method combinations and include various ways to resolve the suitability task using vector data and a raster data set. The suitability models created in this study can be combined, and one model can be integrated into another as its part. Our models can be updated by other suitability models for further detailed planning.

Knowledge-based geographic information systems (KBGIS): New analytic and data management tools

USGS Publications Warehouse

Albert, T.M.

1988-01-01

In its simplest form, a geographic information system (GIS) may be viewed as a data base management system in which most of the data are spatially indexed, and upon which sets of procedures operate to answer queries about spatial entities represented in the data base. Utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques can enhance greatly the capabilities of a GIS, particularly in handling very large, diverse data bases involved in the earth sciences. A KBGIS has been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey which incorporates AI techniques such as learning, expert systems, new data representation, and more. The system, which will be developed further and applied, is a prototype of the next generation of GIS's, an intelligent GIS, as well as an example of a general-purpose intelligent data handling system. The paper provides a description of KBGIS and its application, as well as the AI techniques involved. ?? 1988 International Association for Mathematical Geology.

Building a functional, integrated GIS/remote sensing resource analysis and planning system. [Utah

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ridd, M. K.; Wheeler, D. J.

1985-01-01

To be an effective tool for resource analysis and planning, a geographic information system (GIS) needs to be integrated with a digital remote sensing capability. To be truly functional, the paired system must be driven by grass roots local needs. A case study couched in a Soil Conservation District in northern Utah is presented. Agency representatives determined that the most fundamental data sets to be entered into the GIS system analysis system in the first round were: land use/land cover; geomorphic/soil unit data; hydrologic unit data; and digital terrain. The least expensive and best ways to obtain these data were determined. Data were acquired and formatted to enter the state's PRIME/ARC-INFO GIS, and are being interrogated for resource management decisions related to such issues as agricultural preservation, urban expansion, soil erosion control, and dam siting.

Management of a water distribution network by coupling GIS and hydraulic modeling: a case study of Chetouane in Algeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdelbaki, Chérifa; Benchaib, Mohamed Mouâd; Benziada, Salim; Mahmoudi, Hacène; Goosen, Mattheus

2017-06-01

For more effective management of water distribution network in an arid region, Mapinfo GIS (8.0) software was coupled with a hydraulic model (EPANET 2.0) and applied to a case study region, Chetouane, situated in the north-west of Algeria. The area is characterized not only by water scarcity but also by poor water management practices. The results showed that a combination of GIS and modeling permits network operators to better analyze malfunctions with a resulting more rapid response as well as facilitating in an improved understanding of the work performed on the network. The grouping of GIS and modeling as an operating tool allows managers to diagnosis a network, to study solutions of problems and to predict future situations. The later can assist them in making informed decisions to ensure an acceptable performance level for optimal network operation.

Resource materials for a GIS spatial analysis course

USGS Publications Warehouse

Raines, Gary L.

2001-01-01

This report consists of materials prepared for a GIS spatial analysis course offered as part of the Geography curriculum at the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of California at Santa Barbara in the spring of 2000. The report is intended to share information with instructors preparing spatial-modeling training and scientists with advanced GIS expertise. The students taking this class had completed each universities GIS curriculum and had a foundation in statistics as part of a science major. This report is organized into chapters that contain the following: Slides used during lectures, Guidance on the use of Arcview, Introduction to filtering in Arcview, Conventional and spatial correlation in Arcview, Tools for fuzzification in Arcview, Data and instructions for creating using ArcSDM for simple weights-of-evidence, fuzzy logic, and neural network models for Carlin-type gold deposits in central Nevada, Reading list on spatial modeling, and Selected student spatial-modeling posters from the laboratory exercises.

An interactive economic GIS tool for Europe using map objects for Java

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srinivasan, Vaishnavi

Europe is one of the world's seven continents, which has approximately 50 countries and all are rich in culture, traditions, economy, biodiversity, among other things. This thesis focuses on creating a GIS application about Europe which will give an overview of Europe in various aspects. It covers 50 countries including financial centers, currency used, population, GDP growth, private banks, central banks, stock exchange, coat of arms and flags for each country, using the HotLink Tool. A reference link is also provided for detailed understanding of the above mentioned aspects. The other part of the thesis mainly focuses on the economics of the European Union as well as each country independently, which gives a thorough knowledge about the current investment climate in Europe. A part of this idea is to ensure transparency after the financial crisis in 2008. Further the capital markets of the European Union and other European countries are brought to light to provide a clear picture of their present financial situation. The application can help in improving policy and decision making, foreign investments, business environment for various development organizations. So this GIS application will be an effective tool for customers to understand the risks in investments by learning about the economic conditions of Europe.

Climate Impact and GIS Education Using Realistic Applications of Data.gov Thematic Datasets in a Structured Lesson-Based Workbook

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amirazodi, S.; Griffin, R.; Bugbee, K.; Ramachandran, R.; Weigel, A. M.

2016-12-01

This project created a workbook which teaches Earth Science education undergraduate and graduate students through guided in-class activities and take-home assignments organized around climate topics which use GIS to teach key geospatial analysis techniques and cartography skills. The workbook is structured to the White House's Data.gov climate change themes, which include Coastal Flooding, Ecosystem Vulnerability, Energy Infrastructure, Arctic, Food Resilience, Human Health, Transportation, Tribal Nations, Water. Each theme provides access to framing questions, associated data, interactive tools, and further reading (e.g. the US Climate Resilience Toolkit and National Climate Assessment). Lessons make use of the respective theme's available resources. The structured thematic approach is designed to encourage independent exploration. The goal is to teach climate concepts and concerns, GIS techniques and approaches, and effective cartographic representation and communication of results; and foster a greater awareness of publically available resources and datasets. To reach more audiences more effectively, a two level approach was used. Level 1 serves as an introductory study and relies on only freely available interactive tools to reach audiences with fewer resources and less familiarity. Level 2 presents a more advanced case study, and focuses on supporting common commercially available tool use and real-world analysis techniques.

Chapter 7. The GIS project for the geologic assessment of undiscovered oil and gas in the Cotton Valley group and Travis Peak and Hosston formations, East Texas basin and Louisiana-Mississippi salt basins provinces.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Biewick, Laura

2006-01-01

A geographic information system (GIS) focusing on the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Cotton Valley Group and the Lower Cretaceous Travis Peak and Hosston Formations in the northern Gulf Coast region was developed as a visual-analysis tool for the U.S. Geological Survey's 2002 assessment of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and natural gas resources in the East Texas Basin and Louisiana-Mississippi Salt Basins Provinces. The Central Energy Resources Team of the U.S. Geological Survey has also developed an Internet Map Service to deliver the GIS data to the public. This mapping tool utilizes information from a database about the oil and natural gas endowment of the United States-including physical locations of geologic and geographic data-and converts the data into visual layers. Portrayal and analysis of geologic features on an interactive map provide an excellent tool for understanding domestic oil and gas resources for strategic planning, formulating economic and energy policies, evaluating lands under the purview of the Federal Government, and developing sound environmental policies. Assessment results can be viewed and analyzed or downloaded from the internet web site, http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/oilgas/noga/ .

A Decision Analysis Tool for Climate Impacts, Adaptations, and Vulnerabilities

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

Omitaomu, Olufemi A; Parish, Esther S; Nugent, Philip J

Climate change related extreme events (such as flooding, storms, and drought) are already impacting millions of people globally at a cost of billions of dollars annually. Hence, there are urgent needs for urban areas to develop adaptation strategies that will alleviate the impacts of these extreme events. However, lack of appropriate decision support tools that match local applications is limiting local planning efforts. In this paper, we present a quantitative analysis and optimization system with customized decision support modules built on geographic information system (GIS) platform to bridge this gap. This platform is called Urban Climate Adaptation Tool (Urban-CAT). Formore » all Urban-CAT models, we divide a city into a grid with tens of thousands of cells; then compute a list of metrics for each cell from the GIS data. These metrics are used as independent variables to predict climate impacts, compute vulnerability score, and evaluate adaptation options. Overall, the Urban-CAT system has three layers: data layer (that contains spatial data, socio-economic and environmental data, and analytic data), middle layer (that handles data processing, model management, and GIS operation), and application layer (that provides climate impacts forecast, adaptation optimization, and site evaluation). The Urban-CAT platform can guide city and county governments in identifying and planning for effective climate change adaptation strategies.« less

Climate Impact and GIS Education Using Realistic Applications of Data.gov Thematic Datasets in a Structured Lesson-Based Workbook

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Amirazodi, Sara; Griffin, Robert; Bugbee, Kaylin; Ramachandran, Rahul; Weigel, Amanda

2016-01-01

This project created a workbook which teaches Earth Science to undergraduate and graduate students through guided in-class activities and take-home assignments organized around climate topics which use GIS to teach key geospatial analysis techniques and cartography skills. The workbook is structured to the White House's Data.gov climate change themes, which include Coastal Flooding, Ecosystem Vulnerability, Energy Infrastructure, Arctic, Food Resilience, Human Health, Transportation, Tribal Nations, and Water. Each theme provides access to framing questions, associated data, interactive tools, and further reading (e.g. The US Climate Resilience Toolkit and National Climate Assessment). Lessons make use of the respective theme's available resources. The structured thematic approach is designed to encourage independent exploration. The goal is to teach climate concepts and concerns, GIS techniques and approaches, and effective cartographic representation and communication results; and foster a greater awareness of publicly available resources and datasets. To reach more audiences more effectively, a two level approach was used. Level 1 serves as an introductory study and relies on only freely available interactive tools to reach audiences with fewer resources and less familiarity. Level 2 presents a more advanced case study, and focuses on supporting common commercially available tool use and real-world analysis techniques.

Application of WebGIS for traffic risk assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voumard, Jérémie; Aye, Zar Chi; Derron, Marc-Henri; Jaboyedoff, Michel

2015-04-01

Roads and railways are threatened throughout the year by several natural hazards around the world, leading to the closing of transportation corridors, loss of access, deviation travels and potentially infrastructures damages and loss of human lives and also financial, social and economic consequences. Protection measures used to reduce the exposure to natural hazards are usually expensive and cannot be deployed on an entire transportation network. It is thus necessary to choose priority areas where protection measures need to be built. The aim of this study is to propose a friendly tool to evaluate and to understand issues and consequences of section closing and affected parts of a transportation network at small region scale. The proposed tool, currently in its design and building phase, will provide ways to simulate different closure scenarios and to analyze their consequences on transportation network; like deviating traffic on others roads and railways sections, additional time and distance travel or accessibility for emergency services like police, firefighters and ambulances. The tool is based on OpenGeo architecture, which is composed of open-source components. It integrates PostGIS for database, GeoServer and GeoWebCache for application servers and finally GeoExt and OpenLayers for user interface. Users will be able to attribute quantitative (like roads and railway type and closure consequences) and qualitative (like section unavailability duration, season, etc.) data to the different roads and railways sections based on their user rights. They will also be able to evaluate different track closures consequences in terms of different scenarios. Once finalized, the goal of this project including natural hazards, traffic and geomatic thematic is to propose a decision support tool for public authorities firstly and for specialists secondly so that they can evaluate easily and accurately as much as possible to highlight the weakpoints of the transportation network in the case track closures due to natural hazards.

Numerical Model Metrics Tools in Support of Navy Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dykes, J. D.; Fanguy, P.

2017-12-01

Increasing demands of accurate ocean forecasts that are relevant to the Navy mission decision makers demand tools that quickly provide relevant numerical model metrics to the forecasters. Increasing modelling capabilities with ever-higher resolution domains including coupled and ensemble systems as well as the increasing volume of observations and other data sources to which to compare the model output requires more tools for the forecaster to enable doing more with less. These data can be appropriately handled in a geographic information system (GIS) fused together to provide useful information and analyses, and ultimately a better understanding how the pertinent model performs based on ground truth.. Oceanographic measurements like surface elevation, profiles of temperature and salinity, and wave height can all be incorporated into a set of layers correlated to geographic information such as bathymetry and topography. In addition, an automated system that runs concurrently with the models on high performance machines matches routinely available observations to modelled values to form a database of matchups with which statistics can be calculated and displayed, to facilitate validation of forecast state and derived variables. ArcMAP, developed by Environmental Systems Research Institute, is a GIS application used by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and naval operational meteorological and oceanographic centers to analyse the environment in support of a range of Navy missions. For example, acoustic propagation in the ocean is described with a three-dimensional analysis of sound speed that depends on profiles of temperature, pressure and salinity predicted by the Navy Coastal Ocean Model. The data and model output must include geo-referencing information suitable for accurately placing the data within the ArcMAP framework. NRL has developed tools that facilitate merging these geophysical data and their analyses, including intercomparisons between model predictions as well as comparison to validation data. This methodology produces new insights and facilitates identification of potential problems in ocean prediction.

Application of OpenStreetMap (OSM) to Support the Mapping Village in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swasti Kanthi, Nurin; Hery Purwanto, Taufik

2016-11-01

Geospatial Information is a important thing in this era, because the need for location information is needed to know the condition of a region. In 2015 the Indonesian government release detailed mapping in village level and their Parent maps Indonesian state regulatory standards set forth in Rule form Norm Standards, Procedures and Criteria for Mapping Village (NSPK). Over time Web and Mobile GIS was developed with a wide range of applications. The merger between detailed mapping and Web GIS is still rarely performed and not used optimally. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a WebGIS which can be utilized as Mobile GIS providing sufficient information to the representative levels of the building and can be used for mapping the village.Mapping Village using OSM was conducted using remote sensing approach and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), which's to interpret remote sensing imagery from OSM. The study was conducted to analyzed how far the role of OSM to support the mapping of the village, it's done by entering the house number data, administrative boundaries, public facilities and land use into OSM with reference data and data image Village Plan. The results of the mapping portion villages in OSM as a reference map-making village and analyzed in accordance with NSPK for detailed mapping Rukun Warga (RW) is part of the village mapping. The use of OSM greatly assists the process of mapping the details of the region with data sources in the form of images and can be accessed for Open Source. But still need their care and updating the data source to maintain the validity of the data.

AGWA: The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool

EPA Science Inventory

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA, see: www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/agwa or http://www.epa.gov/esd/land-sci/agwa/) is a GIS interface jointly developed by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Arizona...

Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA) Poster Presentation

EPA Science Inventory

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment tool (AGWA, see: www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/agwa or http://www.epa.gov/esd/land-sci/agwa/) is a GIS interface jointly developed by the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Arizona...

ICLUS Tools and Datasets (Version 1.3.2)

EPA Science Inventory

As a part of the Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios (ICLUS) project, this Geographic Information System (GIS) tool can be used to generate scenarios of housing-density changes and calculate impervious surface cover for the conterminous United States. The ICLUS User’s Guid...

A GIS-BASED MODAL MODEL OF AUTOMOBILE EXHAUST EMISSIONS

EPA Science Inventory

The report presents progress toward the development of a computer tool called MEASURE, the Mobile Emission Assessment System for Urban and Regional Evaluation. The tool works toward a goal of providing researchers and planners with a way to assess new mobile emission mitigation s...

HydroDesktop: An Open Source GIS-Based Platform for Hydrologic Data Discovery, Visualization, and Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ames, D. P.; Kadlec, J.; Cao, Y.; Grover, D.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Whiteaker, T.; Goodall, J. L.; Valentine, D. W.

2010-12-01

A growing number of hydrologic information servers are being deployed by government agencies, university networks, and individual researchers using the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) Hydrologic Information System (HIS). The CUAHSI HIS Project has developed a standard software stack, called HydroServer, for publishing hydrologic observations data. It includes the Observations Data Model (ODM) database and Water Data Service web services, which together enable publication of data on the Internet in a standard format called Water Markup Language (WaterML). Metadata describing available datasets hosted on these servers is compiled within a central metadata catalog called HIS Central at the San Diego Supercomputer Center and is searchable through a set of predefined web services based queries. Together, these servers and central catalog service comprise a federated HIS of a scale and comprehensiveness never previously available. This presentation will briefly review/introduce the CUAHSI HIS system with special focus on a new HIS software tool called "HydroDesktop" and the open source software development web portal, www.HydroDesktop.org, which supports community development and maintenance of the software. HydroDesktop is a client-side, desktop software application that acts as a search and discovery tool for exploring the distributed network of HydroServers, downloading specific data series, visualizing and summarizing data series and exporting these to formats needed for analysis by external software. HydroDesktop is based on the open source DotSpatial GIS developer toolkit which provides it with map-based data interaction and visualization, and a plug-in interface that can be used by third party developers and researchers to easily extend the software using Microsoft .NET programming languages. HydroDesktop plug-ins that are presently available or currently under development within the project and by third party collaborators include functions for data search and discovery, extensive graphing, data editing and export, HydroServer exploration, integration with the OpenMI workflow and modeling system, and an interface for data analysis through the R statistical package.

Collaborative Planetary GIS with JMARS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dickenshied, S.; Christensen, P. R.; Edwards, C. S.; Prashad, L. C.; Anwar, S.; Engle, E.; Noss, D.; Jmars Development Team

2010-12-01

Traditional GIS tools have allowed users to work locally with their own datasets in their own computing environment. More recently, data providers have started offering online repositories of preprocessed data which helps minimize the learning curve required to access new datasets. The ideal collaborative GIS tool provides the functionality of a traditional GIS and easy access to preprocessed data repositories while also enabling users to contribute data, analysis, and ideas back into the very tools they're using. JMARS (Java Mission-planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing) is a suite of geospatial applications developed by the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University. This software is used for mission planning and scientific data analysis by several NASA missions, including Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It is used by scientists, researchers and students of all ages from more than 40 countries around the world. In addition to offering a rich set of global and regional maps and publicly released orbiter images, the JMARS software development team has been working on ways to encourage the creation of collaborative datasets. Bringing together users from diverse teams and backgrounds allows new features to be developed with an interest in making the application useful and accessible to as wide a potential audience as possible. Actively engaging the scientific community in development strategy and hands on tasks allows the creation of user driven data content that would not otherwise be possible. The first community generated dataset to result from this effort is a tool mapping peer-reviewed papers to the locations they relate to on Mars with links to ancillary data. This allows users of JMARS to browse to an area of interest and then quickly locate papers corresponding to that area. Alternately, users can search for published papers over a specified time interval and visually see what areas of Mars have received the most attention over the requested time span.

Using a Web-based GIS to Teach Problem-based Science in High School and College

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metzger, E.; Lenkeit Meezan, , K. A.; Schmidt, C.; Taketa, R.; Carter, J.; Iverson, R.

2008-12-01

Foothill College has partnered with San Jose State University to bring GIS web mapping technology to the high school and college classroom. The project consists of two parts. In the first part, Foothill and San Jose State University have teamed up to offer classes on building and maintaining Web based Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Web-based GIS such as Google Maps, MapQuest and Yahoo Maps have become ubiquitous, and the skills to build and maintain these systems are in high demand from many employers. In the second part of the project, high school students will be able to learn about Web GIS as a real world tool used by scientists. The students in the Foothill College/San Jose State class will build their Web GIS using scientific data related to the San Francisco/San Joaquin Delta region, with a focus on watersheds, biodiversity and earthquake hazards. This project includes high school level curriculum development that will tie in to No Child Left Behind and National Curriculum Standards in both Science and Geography, and provide workshops for both pre-and in- service teachers in the use of Web GIS-driven course material in the high school classroom. The project will bring the work of professional scientists into any high school classroom with an internet connection; while simultaneously providing workforce training in high demand technology based jobs.

OCULUS fire: a command and control system for fire management with crowd sourcing and social media interconnectivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomopoulos, Stelios C. A.; Kyriazanos, Dimitris M.; Astyakopoulos, Alkiviadis; Dimitros, Kostantinos; Margonis, Christos; Thanos, Giorgos Konstantinos; Skroumpelou, Katerina

2016-05-01

AF3 (Advanced Forest Fire Fighting2) is a European FP7 research project that intends to improve the efficiency of current fire-fighting operations and the protection of human lives, the environment and property by developing innovative technologies to ensure the integration between existing and new systems. To reach this objective, the AF3 project focuses on innovative active and passive countermeasures, early detection and monitoring, integrated crisis management and advanced public information channels. OCULUS Fire is the innovative control and command system developed within AF3 as a monitoring, GIS and Knowledge Extraction System and Visualization Tool. OCULUS Fire includes (a) an interface for real-time updating and reconstructing of maps to enable rerouting based on estimated hazards and risks, (b) processing of GIS dynamic re-construction and mission re-routing, based on the fusion of airborne, satellite, ground and ancillary geolocation data, (c) visualization components for the C2 monitoring system, displaying and managing information arriving from a variety of sources and (d) mission and situational awareness module for OCULUS Fire ground monitoring system being part of an Integrated Crisis Management Information System for ground and ancillary sensors. OCULUS Fire will also process and visualise information from public information channels, social media and also mobile applications by helpful citizens and volunteers. Social networking, community building and crowdsourcing features will enable a higher reliability and less false alarm rates when using such data in the context of safety and security applications.

GIS-based automated management of highway surface crack inspection system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chung, Hung-Chi; Shinozuka, Masanobu; Soeller, Tony; Girardello, Roberto

2004-07-01

An automated in-situ road surface distress surveying and management system, AMPIS, has been developed on the basis of video images within the framework of GIS software. Video image processing techniques are introduced to acquire, process and analyze the road surface images obtained from a moving vehicle. ArcGIS platform is used to integrate the routines of image processing and spatial analysis in handling the full-scale metropolitan highway surface distress detection and data fusion/management. This makes it possible to present user-friendly interfaces in GIS and to provide efficient visualizations of surveyed results not only for the use of transportation engineers to manage road surveying documentations, data acquisition, analysis and management, but also for financial officials to plan maintenance and repair programs and further evaluate the socio-economic impacts of highway degradation and deterioration. A review performed in this study on fundamental principle of Pavement Management System (PMS) and its implementation indicates that the proposed approach of using GIS concept and its tools for PMS application will reshape PMS into a new information technology-based system that can provide convenient and efficient pavement inspection and management.

Real-time Web GIS to monitor marine water quality using wave glider

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maneesa Amiruddin, Siti

2016-06-01

In the past decade, Malaysia has experienced unprecedented economic development and associated socioeconomic changes. As environmentalists anticipate these changes could have negative impacts on the marine and coastal environment, a comprehensive, continuous and long term marine water quality monitoring programme needs to be strengthened to reflect the government's aggressive mind-set of enhancing its authority in protection, preservation, management and enrichment of vast resources of the ocean. Wave Glider, an autonomous, unmanned marine vehicle provides continuous ocean monitoring at all times and is durable in any weather condition. Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is ideally suited as a tool for the presentation of data derived from continuous monitoring of locations, and used to support and deliver information to environmental managers and the public. Combined with GeoEvent Processor, an extension from ArcGIS for Server, it extends the Web GIS capabilities in providing real-time data from the monitoring activities. Therefore, there is a growing need of Web GIS for easy and fast dissemination, sharing, displaying and processing of spatial information which in turn helps in decision making for various natural resources based applications.

Integrating Multiple Criteria Evaluation and GIS in Ecotourism: a Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohd, Z. H.; Ujang, U.

2016-09-01

The concept of 'Eco-tourism' is increasingly heard in recent decades. Ecotourism is one adventure that environmentally responsible intended to appreciate the nature experiences and cultures. Ecotourism should have low impact on environment and must contribute to the prosperity of local residents. This article reviews the use of Multiple Criteria Evaluation (MCE) and Geographic Information System (GIS) in ecotourism. Multiple criteria evaluation mostly used to land suitability analysis or fulfill specific objectives based on various attributes that exist in the selected area. To support the process of environmental decision making, the application of GIS is used to display and analysis the data through Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Integration between MCE and GIS tool is important to determine the relative weight for the criteria used objectively. With the MCE method, it can resolve the conflict between recreation and conservation which is to minimize the environmental and human impact. Most studies evidences that the GIS-based AHP as a multi criteria evaluation is a strong and effective in tourism planning which can aid in the development of ecotourism industry effectively.

Evaluation of SOVAT: an OLAP-GIS decision support system for community health assessment data analysis.

PubMed

Scotch, Matthew; Parmanto, Bambang; Monaco, Valerie

2008-06-09

Data analysis in community health assessment (CHA) involves the collection, integration, and analysis of large numerical and spatial data sets in order to identify health priorities. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) enable for management and analysis using spatial data, but have limitations in performing analysis of numerical data because of its traditional database architecture.On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) is a multidimensional datawarehouse designed to facilitate querying of large numerical data. Coupling the spatial capabilities of GIS with the numerical analysis of OLAP, might enhance CHA data analysis. OLAP-GIS systems have been developed by university researchers and corporations, yet their potential for CHA data analysis is not well understood. To evaluate the potential of an OLAP-GIS decision support system for CHA problem solving, we compared OLAP-GIS to the standard information technology (IT) currently used by many public health professionals. SOVAT, an OLAP-GIS decision support system developed at the University of Pittsburgh, was compared against current IT for data analysis for CHA. For this study, current IT was considered the combined use of SPSS and GIS ("SPSS-GIS"). Graduate students, researchers, and faculty in the health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh were recruited. Each round consisted of: an instructional video of the system being evaluated, two practice tasks, five assessment tasks, and one post-study questionnaire. Objective and subjective measurement included: task completion time, success in answering the tasks, and system satisfaction. Thirteen individuals participated. Inferential statistics were analyzed using linear mixed model analysis. SOVAT was statistically significant (alpha = .01) from SPSS-GIS for satisfaction and time (p < .002). Descriptive results indicated that participants had greater success in answering the tasks when using SOVAT as compared to SPSS-GIS. Using SOVAT, tasks were completed more efficiently, with a higher rate of success, and with greater satisfaction, than the combined use of SPSS and GIS. The results from this study indicate a potential for OLAP-GIS decision support systems as a valuable tool for CHA data analysis.

Evaluation of SOVAT: An OLAP-GIS decision support system for community health assessment data analysis

PubMed Central

Scotch, Matthew; Parmanto, Bambang; Monaco, Valerie

2008-01-01

Background Data analysis in community health assessment (CHA) involves the collection, integration, and analysis of large numerical and spatial data sets in order to identify health priorities. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) enable for management and analysis using spatial data, but have limitations in performing analysis of numerical data because of its traditional database architecture. On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) is a multidimensional datawarehouse designed to facilitate querying of large numerical data. Coupling the spatial capabilities of GIS with the numerical analysis of OLAP, might enhance CHA data analysis. OLAP-GIS systems have been developed by university researchers and corporations, yet their potential for CHA data analysis is not well understood. To evaluate the potential of an OLAP-GIS decision support system for CHA problem solving, we compared OLAP-GIS to the standard information technology (IT) currently used by many public health professionals. Methods SOVAT, an OLAP-GIS decision support system developed at the University of Pittsburgh, was compared against current IT for data analysis for CHA. For this study, current IT was considered the combined use of SPSS and GIS ("SPSS-GIS"). Graduate students, researchers, and faculty in the health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh were recruited. Each round consisted of: an instructional video of the system being evaluated, two practice tasks, five assessment tasks, and one post-study questionnaire. Objective and subjective measurement included: task completion time, success in answering the tasks, and system satisfaction. Results Thirteen individuals participated. Inferential statistics were analyzed using linear mixed model analysis. SOVAT was statistically significant (α = .01) from SPSS-GIS for satisfaction and time (p < .002). Descriptive results indicated that participants had greater success in answering the tasks when using SOVAT as compared to SPSS-GIS. Conclusion Using SOVAT, tasks were completed more efficiently, with a higher rate of success, and with greater satisfaction, than the combined use of SPSS and GIS. The results from this study indicate a potential for OLAP-GIS decision support systems as a valuable tool for CHA data analysis. PMID:18541037

Getting Your GIS Data into Google Earth: Data Conversion Tools and Tips

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurik, R.; Marks, M.

2009-12-01

Google Earth is a powerful platform for displaying your data. You can easily visualize content using the Keyhole Markup Language (KML). But what if you don't have your data in KML format? GIS data comes in a wide variety of formats, including .shp files, CSV, and many others. What can you do? This session will walk you through some of the tools for converting data to KML format. We will explore a variety of tools, including: Google Earth Pro, GDAL/OGR, KML2KML, etc. This session will be paced so that you can follow along on your laptop if you wish. Should you want to follow along, bring a laptop, and install the trial versions of Google Earth Pro and KML2KML. It is also recommended that you download GDAL from gdal.org and install it on your system.

Crisis GIS: Preparing for the Next Volcanic Crisis in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramsey, D. W.; Robinson, J. E.; Schilling, S. P.; Schaefer, J. R.; Kimberly, P.; Trusdell, F. A.; Guffanti, M. C.; Mayberry, G. C.; Cameron, C. E.; Smith, J. G.; McIntire, J. A.; Snedigar, S.; Ewert, J. W.

2004-12-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialists from the Volcano Hazards Program (VHP) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), including personnel at Menlo Park, California, the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington, the Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in Hawaii National Park, Hawaii, and the Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program in Washington, DC, are developing a GIS response plan in the event of a volcano crisis. This plan, referred to as "Crisis GIS", outlines how VHP can ensure rapid, reliable delivery of spatial and ancillary information for data analysis and visualization at any required location during a volcanic crisis or event within the United States. An effective Crisis GIS needs the capacity to store multiple, large datasets, including: base layer data, elevation data, geologic maps, hazard assessment maps, satellite data, and aerial photography for volcanoes around the U.S. It must be readily accessible by VHP GIS specialists stationed around the Nation. Such a GIS should also support installations of monitoring instruments and telemetry equipment that relay monitoring signals, and provision of updates to public officials, the media, and the public during a crisis. GIS technology has proven to be an invaluable tool for crisis response. Recently, GIS was applied as part of the response efforts to two large-scale crises: the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the Southern California wildfires of Fall 2003. In each case, GIS was used to organize large quantities of spatial data and to produce electronic and paper maps that illustrated hazards, supported decision making, and communicated developing situations to responsible emergency-management authorities and to the populace affected (Kant, 2002, and Pratt, 2003). VHP GIS specialists are currently testing the software and hardware employed in recent major crisis response efforts and are learning to adapt the technology for volcano crisis response.

Planimetric Features Generalization for the Production of Small-Scale Map by Using Base Maps and the Existing Algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Modiri, M.; Mohebbi, M.; Masoumi, M.; Khanlu, H.; Eftekhari, A.

2014-11-01

Land reform is identified as a key tool in fostering development in South Africa. With two decades after the advent of democracy in South Africa, the land question remains a critical issue for policy makers. A number of frameworks have been put in place by the government to identify land which is strategically located for land reform. However, many of these frameworks are not well aligned and have hampered the government's land reform initiative in promoting inclusive development. Strategically located land is herein defined as land parcels that are well positioned for the promotion of agriculture, human settlements, rural and tourism development. Accordingly, there is a need to develop a decision tool which facilitates the identification of strategically located land for development. This study proposes the use of geographic information systems (GIS), earth observation (EO) data and multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) to develop a spatial decision support system (SDSS) to identify strategically located land for land reform. The SDDS was therefore designed using GIS, EO data and MCDM to create an index for identification of strategically located land. Expert-led workshops were carried out to ascertain criteria for identifying strategically located land and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was utilised used to weight the criteria. The study demonstrates that GIS and EO are invaluable tools in facilitating evidence-based decisions for land reform. However, there is need for capacity building on GIS and EO in government departments responsible for land reform and development planning. The study suggests that there is an urgent need to develop sector specific criteria for the identification of strategically located land for inclusive development.

SDMtoolbox 2.0: the next generation Python-based GIS toolkit for landscape genetic, biogeographic and species distribution model analyses

PubMed Central

Bennett, Joseph R.; French, Connor M.

2017-01-01

SDMtoolbox 2.0 is a software package for spatial studies of ecology, evolution, and genetics. The release of SDMtoolbox 2.0 allows researchers to use the most current ArcGIS software and MaxEnt software, and reduces the amount of time that would be spent developing common solutions. The central aim of this software is to automate complicated and repetitive spatial analyses in an intuitive graphical user interface. One core tenant facilitates careful parameterization of species distribution models (SDMs) to maximize each model’s discriminatory ability and minimize overfitting. This includes carefully processing of occurrence data, environmental data, and model parameterization. This program directly interfaces with MaxEnt, one of the most powerful and widely used species distribution modeling software programs, although SDMtoolbox 2.0 is not limited to species distribution modeling or restricted to modeling in MaxEnt. Many of the SDM pre- and post-processing tools have ‘universal’ analogs for use with any modeling software. The current version contains a total of 79 scripts that harness the power of ArcGIS for macroecology, landscape genetics, and evolutionary studies. For example, these tools allow for biodiversity quantification (such as species richness or corrected weighted endemism), generation of least-cost paths and corridors among shared haplotypes, assessment of the significance of spatial randomizations, and enforcement of dispersal limitations of SDMs projected into future climates—to only name a few functions contained in SDMtoolbox 2.0. Lastly, dozens of generalized tools exists for batch processing and conversion of GIS data types or formats, which are broadly useful to any ArcMap user. PMID:29230356

Rapid Offline-Online Post-Disaster Landslide Mapping Tool: A case study from Nepal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olyazadeh, Roya; Jaboyedoff, Michel; Sudmeier-Rieux, Karen; Derron, Marc-Henri; Devkota, Sanjaya

2016-04-01

One of the crucial components of post disaster management is the efficient mapping of impacted areas. Here we present a tool designed to map landslides and affected objects after the earthquakes of 2015 in Nepal as well as for intense rainfall impact. Because internet is not available in many rural areas of Nepal, we developed an offline-online prototype based on Open-Source WebGIS technologies to make data on hazard impacts, including damaged infrastructure, landslides or flooding events available to authorities and the general public. This mobile application was designed as a low-cost, rapid and participatory method for recording impacts from hazard events. It is possible to record such events offline and upload them through a server, where internet connection is available. This application allows user authentication, image capturing, and information collation such as geolocation, event description, interactive mapping and finally storing all the data in the server for further analysis and visualisation. This application can be accessed by a mobile phone (Android) or a tablet as a hybrid version for both offline and online versions. The offline version has an interactive-offline map function which allows users to upload satellites image in order to improve ground truthing interpretation. After geolocation, the user can start mapping and then save recorded data into Geojson-TXT files that can be easily uploaded to the server whenever internet is available. This prototype was tested specifically for a rapid assessment of landslides and relevant land use characteristics such as roads, forest area, rivers in the Phewa Lake watershed near Pokhara, Nepal where a large number landslides were activated or reactivated after the 2015 monsoon season. More than 60 landslides were recorded during two days of field trip. Besides, it is possible to use this application for any other kind of hazard event like flood, avalanche, etc. Keywords: Offline, Online, Open source, WebGIS, Android, Post-Disaster, Landslide mapping

Fieldwork online: a GIS-based electronic learning environment for supervising fieldwork

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alberti, Koko; Marra, Wouter; Baarsma, Rein; Karssenberg, Derek

2016-04-01

Fieldwork comes in many forms: individual research projects in unique places, large groups of students on organized fieldtrips, and everything in between those extremes. Supervising students in often distant places can be a logistical challenge and requires a significant time investment of their supervisors. We developed an online application for remote supervision of students on fieldwork. In our fieldworkonline webapp, which is accessible through a web browser, students can upload their field data in the form of a spreadsheet with coordinates (in a system of choice) and data-fields. Field data can be any combination of quantitative or qualitative data, and can contain references to photos or other documents uploaded to the app. The student's data is converted to a map with data-points that contain all the data-fields and links to photos and documents associated with that location. Supervisors can review the data of their students and provide feedback on observations, or geo-referenced feedback on the map. Similarly, students can ask geo-referenced questions to their supervisors. Furthermore, supervisors can choose different basemaps or upload their own. Fieldwork online is a useful tool for supervising students at a distant location in the field and is most suitable for first-order feedback on students' observations, can be used to guide students to interesting locations, and allows for short discussions on phenomena observed in the field. We seek user that like to use this system, we are able to provide support and add new features if needed. The website is built and controlled using Flask, an open-source Python Framework. The maps are generated and controlled using MapServer and OpenLayers, and the database is built in PostgreSQL with PostGIS support. Fieldworkonline and all tools used to create it are open-source. Experience fieldworkonline at our demo during this session, or online at fieldworkonline.geo.uu.nl (username: EGU2016, password: Vienna).

Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment Tool (AGWA)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment tool (AGWA, see: www.tucson.ars.ag.gov/agwa or http://www.epa.gov/esd/land-sci/agwa/) is a GIS interface jointly developed by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the University of Arizona, and the University ...

Determining the direct upland hydrological contribution area of estuarine wetlands using Arc/GIS tools

EPA Science Inventory

The delineation of a polygon layer representing the direct upland runoff contribution to esturine wetland polygons can be a useful tool in estuarine wetland assessment. However, the traditional methods of watershed delineation using pour points and digital elevation models (DEMs)...

ANALYTICAL TOOL INTERFACE FOR LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENTS (ATIILA): AN ARCVIEW EXTENSION FOR THE ANALYSIS OF LANDSCAPE PATTERNS, COMPOSITION, AND STRUCTURE

EPA Science Inventory

Environmental management practices are trending away from simple, local- scale assessments toward complex, multiple-stressor regional assessments. Landscape ecology provides the theory behind these assessments while geographic information systems (GIS) supply the tools to impleme...

ICLUS Tools and Datasets (Version 1.3 & 1.3.1)

EPA Science Inventory

As a part of the Integrated Climate and Land Use Scenarios (ICLUS) project, this Geographic Information System (GIS) tool can be used to generate scenarios of housing-density changes and calculate impervious surface cover for the conterminous United States. The ICLUS User’s Guid...

Assessing Sustainability of Coral Reef Ecosystem Services using a Spatially-Explicit Decision Support Tool

EPA Science Inventory

Forecasting and communicating the potential outcomes of decision options requires support tools that aid in evaluating alternative scenarios in a user-friendly context and that highlight variables relevant to the decision options and valuable stakeholders. Envision is a GIS-base...

Bring NASA Scientific Data into GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, H.

2016-12-01

NASA's Earth Observation System (EOS) and many other missions produce data of huge volume and near real time which drives the research and understanding of climate change. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a technology used for the management, visualization and analysis of spatial data. Since it's inception in the 1960s, GIS has been applied to many fields at the city, state, national, and world scales. People continue to use it today to analyze and visualize trends, patterns, and relationships from the massive datasets of scientific data. There is great interest in both the scientific and GIS communities in improving technologies that can bring scientific data into a GIS environment, where scientific research and analysis can be shared through the GIS platform to the public. Most NASA scientific data are delivered in the Hierarchical Data Format (HDF), a format is both flexible and powerful. However, this flexibility results in challenges when trying to develop supported GIS software - data stored with HDF formats lack a unified standard and convention among these products. The presentation introduces an information model that enables ArcGIS software to ingest NASA scientific data and create a multidimensional raster - univariate and multivariate hypercubes - for scientific visualization and analysis. We will present the framework how ArcGIS leverages the open source GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstract Library) to support its raster data access, discuss how we overcame the GDAL drivers limitations in handing scientific products that are stored with HDF4 and HDF5 formats and how we improve the way in modeling the multidimensionality with GDAL. In additional, we will talk about the direction of ArcGIS handling NASA products and demonstrate how the multidimensional information model can help scientists work with various data products such as MODIS, MOPPIT, SMAP as well as many data products in a GIS environment.

Assessment of metal contamination in a small mining- and smelting-affected watershed: high resolution monitoring coupled with spatial analysis by GIS.

PubMed

Coynel, Alexandra; Blanc, Gérard; Marache, Antoine; Schäfer, Jörg; Dabrin, Aymeric; Maneux, Eric; Bossy, Cécile; Masson, Matthieu; Lavaux, Gilbert

2009-05-01

The Riou Mort River watershed (SW France), representative of a heavily polluted, small, heterogeneous watershed, represents a major source for the polymetallic pollution of the Lot-Garonne-Gironde fluvial-estuarine system due to former mining and ore-treatment activities. In order to assess spatial distribution of the metal/metalloid contamination in the watershed, a high resolution hydrological and geochemical monitoring were performed during one year at four permanent observation stations. Additionally, thirty-five stream sediment samples were collected at representative key sites and analyzed for metal/metalloid (Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, As, Sb, Mo, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Th, U and Hg) concentrations. The particulate concentrations in water and stream sediments show high spatial differences for most of the studied elements suggesting strong anthropogenic and/or lithogenic influences; for stream sediments, the sequence of the highest variability, ranging from 100% to 300%, is the following: Mo < Cu < Hg < As < Sb < Cd < Zn < Pb. Multidimensional statistical analyses combined with metal/metalloid maps generated by GIS tool were used to establish relationships between elements, to identify metal/metalloid sources and localize geochemical anomalies attributed to local geochemical background, urban and industrial activities. Finally, this study presents an approach to assess anthropogenic trace metal inputs within this watershed by combining lithology-dependent geochemical background values, metal/metalloid concentrations in stream sediments and mass balances of element fluxes at four key sites. The strongest anthropogenic contributions to particulate element fluxes are 90-95% for Cd, Zn and Hg in downstream sub-catchments. The localisation of anthropogenic metal/metalloid sources in restricted areas offers a great opportunity to further significantly reduce metal emissions and restore the Lot-Garonne-Gironde fluvial-estuarine ecosystem.

gene GIS: Computational Tools for Spatial Analyses of DNA Profiles with Associated Photo-Identification and Telemetry Records of Marine Mammals

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-30

DNA profiles. Referred to as geneGIS, the program will provide the ability to display, browse, select, filter and summarize spatial or temporal...of the SPLASH photo-identification records and available DNA profiles is underway through integration and crosschecking by Cascadia and MMI . An...Darwin Core standards where possible and can accommodate the current databases developed for telemetry data at MMI and SPLASH collection records at

Geographical information system (GIS) application for flood prediction at Sungai Sembrong

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamin, Masiri; Ahmad, Nor Farah Atiqah; Razali, Siti Nooraiin Mohd; Hilaham, Mashuda Mohamad; Rahman, Mohamad Abdul; Ngadiman, Norhayati; Sahat, Suhaila

2017-10-01

The occurrence of flood is one of natural disaster that often beset Malaysia. The latest incident that happened in 2007 was the worst occurrence of floods ever be set in Johor. Reporting floods mainly focused on rising water rising levels, so about once a focus on the area of flood delineation. A study focused on the effectiveness of using Geographic Information System (GIS) to predict the flood by taking Sg. Sembrong, Batu Pahat, Johor as study area. This study combined hydrological model and water balance model in the display to show the expected flood area for future reference. The minimum, maximum and average rainfall data for January 2007 at Sg Sembrong were used in this study. The data shows that flood does not occurs at the minimum and average rainfall of 17.2mm and 2mm respectively. At maximum rainfall, 203mm, shows the flood area was 9983 hectares with the highest level of the water depth was 2m. The result showed that the combination of hydrological models and water balance model in GIS is very suitable to be used as a tool to obtain preliminary information on flood immediately. Besides that, GIS system is a very powerful tool used in hydrology engineering to help the engineer and planner to imagine the real situation of flood events, doing flood analysis, problem solving and provide a rational, accurate and efficient decision making.

Enhancing stakeholder involvement in environmental decision making: Active Response Geographic Information System

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

Faber, B.G.; Thomas, V.L.; Thomas, M.R.

This paper describes a spatial decision support system that facilitates land-related negotiations and resolving conflicts. This system, called Active Response Geographic Information System (AR/GIS), uses a geographic information system to examine land resource management issues which involve multiple stakeholder groups. In this process, participants are given the opportunity and tools needed to share ideas in a facilitated land resource allocation negotiation session. Participants are able to assess current land status, develop objectives, propose alternative planning scenarios, and evaluate the effects or impacts of each alternative. AR/GIS is a unique tool that puts geographic information directly at the fingertips of non-technicalmore » policy analysts, decision makers, and representatives of stakeholder groups during the negotiation process. AR/GIS enhances individual comprehension and ownership of the decision making process and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of group debate. It is most beneficial to planning tasks which are inherently geographic in nature, which require consideration of a large number of physical constraints and economic implications, and which involve publicly sensitive tradeoffs.« less

U.S. Geological Survey Community for Data Integration-NWIS Web Services Snapshot Tool for ArcGIS

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holl, Sally

2011-01-01

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data resources are so vast that many scientists are unaware of data holdings that may be directly relevant to their research. Data are also difficult to access and large corporate databases, such as the National Water Information System (NWIS) that houses hydrologic data for the Nation, are challenging to use without considerable expertise and investment of time. The USGS Community for Data Integration (CDI) was established in 2009 to address data and information management issues affecting the proficiency of earth science research. A CDI workshop convened in 2009 identified common data integration needs of USGS scientists and targeted high value opportunities that might address these needs by leveraging existing projects in USGS science centers, in-kind contributions, and supplemental funding. To implement this strategy, CDI sponsored a software development project in 2010 to facilitate access and use of NWIS data with ArcGIS, a widely used Geographic Information System. The resulting software product, the NWIS Web Services Snapshot Tool for ArcGIS, is presented here.

The use of GIS tools in determining the intensity of meandering of rivers based on the example of Noteć River (Poland)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szatten, Dawid; Rabant, Hubert; Nadolny, Grzegorz

2017-11-01

The study used the tools of Geographic Information System (GIS) in the analysis of the intensity of meandering of Noteć River, calculated using indicators proposed by Brice [16], Leopold et al. [17], Rust [15] and Rosgen [18]. In this work the emphasis is placed on showing the suitability of using modelling software and spatial data. The study was based on archival cartographic materials and orthophotomap presenting the current course of the river channel. The software of geographic information system used for analysis was ArcMap v.10.0. The rate of meandering of the river in a multiyear period 1876-2013 and four typical scenarios of the development of river channel were determined. Comparing them with the types of human intervention in the fluvial system, the dynamics of transformation channel in the analysed period of time was specified. These types are characteristic for all the meandering rivers. These scenarios can determine the amount of anthropopressure and to evaluate the usefulness of GIS in the analysis of transformations of the fluvial system.

77 FR 15369 - Mobility Fund Phase I Auction GIS Data of Potentially Eligible Census Blocks

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-15

....fcc.gov/auctions/901/ , are the following: Downloadable shapefile Web mapping service MapBox map tiles... GIS software allows you to add this service as a layer to your session or project. 6. MapBox map tiles are cached map tiles of the data. With this open source software approach, these image tiles can be...