Day: January 7, 2010

Developing a Web-Based e-Research Facility for Socio-Spatial Analysis to Investigate Relationships between Voting Patterns and Local Population Characteristics

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

Journal of Spatial Science, Vol. 54, No. 2

E. Liao, T- K. Shyy, R. J. Stimson

“This paper describes the development of an e-research facility for socio-spatial analysis. It is illustrated with the example of a prototype Web-based GIS and statistical application for the analysis, modelling and visualisation of the relationships between patterns of voting at the 2007 Australian federal election and the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of local populations using 2006 census data. The facility incorporates a web-based GIS which can generate maps displaying patterns of voting for political parties across polling booths with overlay data showing the population characteristics living within the surrounding polling booth catchments. Various classification approaches including equal interval, quantile, median-based natural breaks, and location quotients can be used to generate different map displays. Statistical analysis functionality – such as regression analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis – enables researchers to conduct on-line statistical modelling and the visualisation of outputs. This prototype facility not only gives researchers and students on-line access to socio-spatial datasets through a metadata directory, but also enhances the capacity and capability of researchers and students to undertake spatially integrated social science research.”

Monitoring the Albertine Rift in Africa

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

Custom Web GIS Functionality Facilitates Data Exchange

…from the Winter 2009/2010 issue of ArcNews…

Stretching from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tanganyika and spanning portions of Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, and Tanzania, the Albertine Rift is one of Africa’s most important—and most threatened—sites for the conservation of biodiversity. Formed over the course of millions of years, the Albertine Rift is the result of two tectonic plates that collided and are now slowly pulling apart. This geologic activity has created some of the continent’s tallest mountains and a number of the world’s deepest lakes and contributed to the diversity of habitats that include active glaciers, alpine grasslands, volcanoes, lowland and montane forests, and various grass and woodland savannas.

Since the early 1990s, however, this hot spot of biodiversity (home to more than 7,500 species of endemic plants and animals) has been plagued by a series of devastating conflicts, resulting in more than 3 million deaths and the displacement of approximately 2.7 million people. The region is one of the most populous in Africa, with up to 300 people per square kilometer in some locations. In addition to the pressures of population density, an influx of refugees and the lack of settlement policies have compounded the problem of forest degradation, fragmentation, and loss—particularly in protected areas.

Assessment of Water Availability in the Mountainous Watersheds of Idaho

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

American Water Resources Association 2010 Summer Specialty Conference: GIS & Water Resources VI, 29 – 31 March 2010, Orlando, Florida

Session 4: Hydrologic Modeling I.  Monday, 29 March, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Venkataramana Sridhar, Boise State University, Boise, ID

“It is both complex and challenging to model the hydrologic water balance in mountain watersheds due to the lack of observations from high elevations at a resolution that is critical to accurately understand and partition precipitation into streamflow, evapotranspiration, drainage and ground water recharge. This study will involve hydrological modeling of two basins namely the Treasure Valley and Rathdrum Prairie and Palouse Basin located in different parts of Idaho which are also the priority watersheds under the Comprehensive Aquifer Management Plan of the Idaho Department of Water Resources. Using the spatially distributed watershed model, Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), we plan to quantify current and future water availability under climate change conditions by providing GIS information including landuse, vegetation, soil and weather conditions at a high resolution to the model. SWAT-predicted streamflow and ET at some selected sites will be validated using the available data. The insights gained from this project will directly benefit in quantifying the spatial distribution and heterogeneity in ET, streamflow and groundwater over a large area on a continuous time scale.”