Day: March 1, 2011

The Users, Uses, and Value of Landsat and Other Moderate-Resolution Satellite Imagery in the United States—Executive Report

/ Matt Artz

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1031, 42 p.

Holly M. Miller, Natalie R. Sexton, Lynne Koontz, John Loomis, Stephen R. Koontz, and Caroline Hermans

“Moderate-resolution imagery (MRI), such as that provided by the Landsat satellites, provides unique spatial information for use by many people both within and outside of the United States (U.S.). However, exactly who these users are, how they use the imagery, and the value and benefits derived from the information are, to a large extent, unknown. To explore these issues, social scientists at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center conducted a study of U.S.-based MRI users from 2008 through 2010 in two parts: 1) a user identification and 2) a user survey. The objectives for this study were to: 1) identify and classify U.S.-based users of this imagery; 2) better understand how and why MRI, and specifically Landsat, is being used; and 3) qualitatively and quantitatively measure the value and societal benefits of MRI (focusing on Landsat specifically). The results of the survey revealed that respondents from multiple sectors use Landsat imagery in many different ways, as demonstrated by the breadth of project locations and scales, as well as application areas. The value of Landsat imagery to these users was demonstrated by the high importance placed on the imagery, the numerous benefits received from projects using Landsat imagery, the negative impacts if Landsat imagery was no longer available, and the substantial willingness to pay for replacement imagery in the event of a data gap. The survey collected information from users who are both part of and apart from the known user community. The diversity of the sample delivered results that provide a baseline of knowledge about the users, uses, and value of Landsat imagery. While the results supply a wealth of information on their own, they can also be built upon through further research to generate a more complete picture of the population of Landsat users as a whole.”

Prof. Dawn Wright Selected as 2011 Leopold Leadership Fellow

/ Matt Artz

Prof. Dawn Wright.

Twenty environmental researchers from across North America have been awarded Leopold Leadership Fellowships for 2011.

Based at Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment, the Leopold Leadership Program was founded in 1998 to help academic scientists make their knowledge accessible to decision makers. Each year the program selects up to 20 mid-career academic environmental researchers as fellows. They receive intensive leadership and communications training to help them engage effectively with policymakers, journalists, business leaders, and communities confronting complex decisions about sustainability and the environment.

“These twenty outstanding researchers are change agents engaged in cutting-edge research,” said Pam Sturner, the executive director of the Leopold Leadership Program. “Through our program, they will gain new skills and connections to help them translate their knowledge into action at the regional, national, and international level.”

The 2011 fellows come from a wide range of disciplines, including marine science, ecology, engineering, geography, economics, behavioral science, and political science. They will join a network of 153 past fellows who are actively working to infuse the best research into public and private sector discussions about the environment.

The fellows were chosen for their outstanding qualifications as researchers, demonstrated leadership ability, and strong interest in communicating beyond traditional academic audiences. Each fellow participates in two week-long training sessions that include practice media interviews and meeting with policymakers in Washington, D.C. The fellowship also offers peer networking and mentoring through the Leopold Leadership Network of program advisors, trainers, and past fellows.

“Academic scientists work hard to understand environmental problems and to develop potential solutions, but to actually solve problems requires communication and a two-way flow of information between scientists and decision makers,” said Pamela Matson, Dean of Stanford University’s School of Earth Sciences and Scientific Director of the program. “The Leopold Leadership Program trains academics to close the gap between knowledge and action.”

The Leopold Leadership Program is funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

The 2011 Leopold Leadership Fellows include Dawn Wright, Professor of Geography and Oceanography, Department of Geosciences, Oregon State University. Current research: Geographic technologies for mapping of oceans and coasts; marine conservation. A complete list of all 20 fellows can be found here.

[Source: Stanford press release]

Twenty
environmental
researchers
from
across
North
America
have
been
awarded
Leopold
Leadership
Fellowships
for
2011.
Based
at
Stanford
University’s
Woods
Institute
for
the
Environment,
the
Leopold
Leadership
Program
helps
academic
scientists
make
their
knowledge
accessible
to
decision
makers.
The
program
is
funded
by
the
David
and
Lucile
Packard
Foundation.
Each
year,
the
program
selects
up
to
20
mid-­‐career
academic
environmental
researchers
as
fellows.
They
receive
intensive
leadership
and
communications
training
to
help
them
engage
effectively
with
policymakers,
journalists,
business
leaders
and
communities
confronting
complex
decisions
about
sustainability
and
the
environment.
“These
20
outstanding
researchers
are
change
agents
engaged
in
cutting-­‐edge
research,”
said
Pam
Sturner,
executive
director
of
the
Leopold
Leadership
Program.
“Through
our
program,
they
will
gain
new
skills
and
connections
to
help
them
translate
their
knowledge
into
action
at
the
regional,
national
and
international
level.”
The
2011
fellows
come
from
a
wide
range
of
disciplines,
including
marine
science,
ecology,
engineering,
geography,
economics,
behavioral
science
and
political
science.
“They
will
join
a
network
of
153
past
fellows
who
are
actively
working
to
infuse
the
best
research
into
public
and
private
sector
discussions
about
the
environment,”
Sturner
said.
The
fellows
were
chosen
for
their
outstanding
qualifications
as
researchers,
demonstrated
leadership
ability
and
strong
interest
in
communicating
beyond
traditional
academic
audiences.
Each
fellow
participates
in
two
weeklong
training
sessions
where
fellows
take
part
in
mock
media
interviews
and
meet
with
policymakers
in
Washington,
D.C.
The
fellowship
also
offers
peer
networking
and
mentoring
through
the
Leopold
Leadership
Network
of
program
advisors,
trainers
and
past
fellows.
“Academic
scientists
work
hard
to
understand
environmental
problems
and
develop
potential
solutions,
but
to
actually
solve
problems
requires
communication
and
a
two-­‐way
flow
of
information
between
scientists
and
decision
makers,”
said
scientific
director
Pamela
Matson,
dean
of
Stanford’s
School
of
Earth
Sciences
and
senior
fellow
at
the
Woods
Institute
for
the
Environment.
“The
Leopold
Leadership
Program
trains
academics
to
close
the
gap
between
knowledge
and
action.”

Spatio-temporal Patterns of Bladder Cancer Incidence in Utah (1973-2004) and their Association with the Presence of Toxic Release Inventory Sites

/ Matt Artz

International Journal of Health Geographics, 2011, 10:16 (28 February 2011)

Fortunato L, Abellan JJ, Beale L, LeFevre S, and Richardson S

“Background: The authors analyse the spatio-temporal variations of the incidence of bladder cancer between 1973 and 2004 in Utah at the census tract level (496 areas) to highlight areas of high and low relative risks that remained so throughout the 32 year period. Using these identified areas, a novel strategy is used to carry out a geographical case-control study of association between the risk of bladder cancer and presence of Toxic Release Inventory sites, where areas with stable high RRs are `case areas’ and all remaining areas with stable non increased risks are `control areas’.

“Results: The time trend of bladder cancer risk fluctuated over the study period: A steady decrease was observed, followed by an abrupt increase from 1992 to 2004. Using a Bayesian space-time model, 93 census tracts were classified as having an excess relative risk and 81 a lower relative risk, sustained over the 32 years. We showed that these high relative risk areas for bladder cancer were associated with the presence of Toxic Release Inventory sites, after adjusting for the proportion of Latter-Day Saint Church members as an area level proxy for smoking habits.

“Conclusions: Our study has demonstrated that the modeling of data in time and space has additional benefits over a purely spatial analysis. In addition to highlighting the areas with high and low relative risks, this model also allows the simultaneous study of persistency of spatial patterns over time and detection of `unusual’ time trends that may warrant further investigation.”

Modeling Spatial Pattern of Precipitation with GIS and Multivariate Geostatistical Methods in Chongqing Tobacco Planting Region, China

/ Matt Artz

Computer and Computing Technologies in Agriculture IV: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2011, Volume 346/2011

Xuan Wang, Jiake Lv, Chaofu Wei and Deti Xie

“Precipitation is important factor affecting vegetation and controlling key ecological processes. In order to quantify spatial patterns of precipitation in Chongqing tobacco planting region, China, under ArcGIS platform, three multivariate geostatistical methods including cokriging, small grid and regression kriging, coupled with auxiliary topographic factors extracted from a 1:100000 DEM were applied to predict spatial distribution of precipitation for January (the least month), June (the richest month) and the whole year. The results showed that cokriging was the best for prediction precipitation of January, which could explain 58% of the total variation. Small grid simulation with IDW interpolation exhibited higher accuracy for both June precipitation and annual precipitation, which explained 72% and 61% of the total variation respectively. Generally, multivariate geostatistics accounted for most of the spatial variability in mean precipitation and especially could exhibit great improvement for estimating precipitation in areas where topography has a major influence on the precipitation.”