Day: February 18, 2010

National Park Service Climate Change Fellowship Applications Now Being Accepted

/ Matt Artz

The National Park Service is now accepting applications for the George Melendez Wright Climate Change Fellowship.

The goals of this student fellowship program are to support new and innovative research on climate change impacts to protected areas and to increase the use of scientific knowledge toward resource management. Awards will be made in the range of $5,000 to $20,000 per fellowship for research to be undertaken in calendar year 2010.

Projects may consist of exploratory research that could lead to a larger project funded by other sources, but must result in tangible outcomes that are aimed at informing resource decisions.

Applications are welcomed for proposed research in any area relevant to the natural and cultural resources of units of the National Park System. Examples include projects addressing vulnerability and risk assessment; adaptation strategies; public perceptions and values; and impacts to cultural landscapes and ethnographic resources.

Eligibility: Graduate students or superior upper-level undergraduate students (3.5 GPA or above) currently enrolled in a U.S. accredited college or university.

Deadline: Applications must be received by March 15th; applicants will be notified of selection decisions by April 5th. Fellowship details and an application form are available at the link below.

A Predictive GIS Model for Potential Mapping of Copper, Lead, and Zinc in Langping Area, China

/ Matt Artz

Geo-Spatial Information Science, Volume 12, Number 4 / December, 2009

Tarik. B. Benomar, Guangdao Hu, and Fuling Bian

“Mineral resource potential mapping is a complex analytical process, which requires the consideration and the integration of a number of spatial evidences like geological, geomorphological, and wall rock alteration. The aim of this paper is to establish mineral exploration model for copper, lead, and zinc in Lanping basin area using the capability of analytical tools of Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing data to generate maps showing favorable mineralized area. The geo-exploration dataset used for the research includes copper, lead, and zinc deposits, geological maps, topographic maps, structural maps, and ETM+ imagery. Geological features indicative of potential copper, lead, and zinc were extracted from the datasets input in the predictive model. The method of weights of evidence modeling is a probability-based technique for generating mineral potential maps using the spatial distribution of indicative features with respect to the known mineral occurrences. The method of weights of evidence probabilistic modeling provides a quantitative method for delineating areas with potential of copper, lead, and zinc mineral deposits in the Lanping Basin area. weights (W+, W−) and contrast (C=(W+)-(W−)) calculations guide the data-driven modeling. The four most important spatial features for exploration guide for copper, lead, and zinc mineralization hosted in the Lanping Basin area are alteration zones, faults, host rocks, and lineaments. The host rocks and deep faults have the strongest spatial association with the known copper, lead, and zinc deposits. The hydrothermal alteration zones have the moderate spatial association with the copper, lead, and zinc deposits. The predicted high-favorability zones do not show the strong affinity with lineaments. The distribution of 22 (copper, lead, and zinc) occurrences in the Lanping Basin was examined in terms of spatial association with various geological phenomena. The analysis of these relationships using GIS and weights of evidence modeling has predicted areas of high and moderate mineral potential, where a little or no mining activities exist.”

MosquitoMap and the Mal-area Calculator: New Web Tools to Relate Mosquito Species Distribution with Vector Borne Disease

/ Matt Artz

International Journal of Health Geographics 2010, 9:11

Desmond Foley, Richard Wilkerson, Ian Birney, Stanley Harrison, Jamie Christensen, and Leopoldo Rueda

“Mosquitoes are important vectors of diseases but, in spite of various mosquito faunistic surveys globally, there is a need for a spatial online database of mosquito collection data and distribution summaries. Such a resource could provide entomologists with the results of previous mosquito surveys, and vector disease control workers, preventative medicine practitioners, and health planners with information relating mosquito distribution to vector-borne disease risk.

“Results: A web application called MosquitoMap was constructed comprising mosquito collection point data stored in an ArcGIS 9.3 Server / SQL geodatabase that includes administrative area and vector species x country lookup tables. In addition to the layer containing mosquito collection points, other map layers were made available including environmental, and vector and pathogen/disease distribution layers. An application within MosquitoMap called the Mal-area calculator (MAC) was constructed to quantify the area of overlap, for any area of interest, of vector, human, and disease distribution models. Data standards for mosquito records were developed for MosquitoMap.

“Conclusion: MosquitoMap is a public domain web resource that maps and compares georeferenced mosquito collection points to other spatial information, in a geographical information system setting. The MAC quantifies the Mal-area, i.e. the area where it is theoretically possible for vector-borne disease transmission to occur, thus providing a useful decision tool where other disease information is limited. The Mal-area approach emphasizes the independent but cumulative contribution to disease risk of the vector species predicted present. MosquitoMap adds value to, and makes accessible, the results of past collecting efforts, as well as providing a template for other arthropod spatial databases.”

ESRI Announces Relationship with Amazon Web Services

/ Matt Artz

ArcGIS Cloud Computing Promises Leading-Edge IT Technology and Benefits to Users

As part of its commitment to support cloud computing, ESRI is collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to join the growing community of AWS Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) building services and solutions in the cloud computing environment.

In the debut of collaboration, AWS will be a Gold Sponsor at the ESRI Federal User Conference in Washington, D.C., February 17–19. In addition to the many cloud discussions that will occur at this event, attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the complexities and concerns of cloud computing security at a dedicated technical session. This new AWS relationship will serve the ESRI user community into the future as cloud computing continues to move quickly into the IT mainstream, becoming a convention in business.

“We have a growing user base that’s interested in cloud computing and the benefits it promises,” says Jack Dangermond, president, ESRI. “We’re excited about working with Amazon Web Services and joining their software vendor community. We’ll continue to move forward to provide leading solutions that will meet customer needs now and into the future.”

“ArcGIS provides a standards-based platform for spatial analysis, data management, and mapping. Making ArcGIS available via cloud computing will give customers a secure, scalable, and easy-to-deploy Web option for enterprise data visualization and geospatial analytics.”

More information about ESRI and AWS is available at www.esri.com/amazon.

[Source: ESRI press release]