Day: March 21, 2011

Geovisualization of Fishing Vessel Movement Patterns using Hybrid Fractal/Velocity Signatures

/ Matt Artz

GeoViz: Linking Geovisualization with Spatial Analysis and Modeling, 10-11 March 2011, Hamburg, Germany

René A. Enguehard, Rodolphe Devillers, and Orland Hoeber

“While much work has been done on representing vessel movements, little work has been devoted to understanding and representing what particular movement patterns are associated with specific activities. Using fractal dimension as a measure of activity complexity, and velocity as a measure of activity type, it is possible to develop signatures for particular activities or behaviours. These signatures can then be used within a geovisualization system to highlight areas or data points of interest to the user. Within the context of fisheries enforcement, officers could use such a system with real-time data to quickly ascertain whether a vessel is acting illegally and increase the odds of catching them when they return to port.”

Geomorphometry Conference and Workshops, 07-11 September 2011

/ Matt Artz

Location: Esri Campus Redlands, California, USA

Confernece web site: geomorphometry.org/2011

e-mail: 2011@geomorphometry.org

KEY DATES:

  • If you wish to submit a presentation, please do so as soon as possible
  • Final camera-ready digital manuscripts due: 1 May 2011
  • Author registration & poster submission deadline: 15 May 2011
  • Early registration deadline: 15 May 2011

3 DAYS OF ORAL AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS in a single track.  PROGRAM CHAIRS:  John P. Wilson, University of Southern California; Michael Gould, ESRI; Ian S. Evans, Durham University and Tomislav Hengl, Wageningen University and Research.

A selection of papers will be invited for publication in a special issue of the Transactions in GIS.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS include H Mitasova, J Gallant, Q Zhou, T Oguchi & A-Xing Zhu

AIMS AND SCOPE The Geomorphometry 2011 conference will continue a series initiated by the Terrain Analysis and Digital Terrain Modelling conference hosted by Nanjing Normal University in November 2006 and University of Zurich in 2009.

The aim of Geomorphometry 2011 is to bring together researchers to present and discuss recent developments in the field of quantitative modelling and analysis of elevation data. Geomorphometry is the science of quantitative land-surface analysis and description at diverse spatial scales. It draws upon mathematical, statistical and image-processing techniques and interfaces with many disciplines including hydrology, geology, planetary geomorphology, computational geometry, geomorphology, remote sensing, geographic information science and geography. The conference aims to attract leading researchers in geomorphometry presenting methodological advances in the field and to provide young researchers with an opportunity to present new results.

Redlands is in San Bernardino County and at the eastern end of the S. Californian metropolis, some 100 km east of Los Angeles. It is between ‘The Badlands’ and the San Bernardino Mountains, beyond which is the Mohave Desert.

2 days of WORKSHOPS: Geomorphometry will host a number of workshops, each with ca. 15-30 attendees after the conference (weekend).

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEES:

  • PhD students: $200.00 USD
  • Everybody else: $375.00 USD

Registration fees for the workshops will be in the range $100-150 USD.

TO SUBMIT A PRESENTATION (2 to 4 page extended abstract):

  1. Download a template document.
  2. Prepare a paper following the preparation guidelines (see an example).
  3. Print a PDF version of your paper (embed all fonts and limit the compression to 300 DPI).
  4. Register at the EasyChair system.
  5. Login and submit a PDF of your article.

Development of the DUSTRAN GIS-Based Complex Terrain Model for Atmospheric Dust Dispersion

/ Matt Artz

Pacific Northwest National laboratory, Final Technical Report PNNL-16588, May 2007

K. J. Allwine, F. C. Rutz, W. J. Shaw, J. P. Rishel, B. G. Fritz, E. G. Chapman, B. L. Hoopes, and T. E. Seiple

“Activities at U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) training and testing ranges can be sources of dust in local and regional airsheds governed by air-quality regulations. Activities that generate dust by disturbing local surfaces include vehicle and troop maneuvers, convoy movement, helicopter activities, munitions impacts, roadway preparations, and wind erosion. The use of smokes and obscurants, controlled burns, and engine operations also produce particulates.

“The U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) just completed a multi-year project to develop a fully tested and documented atmospheric dispersion modeling system (DUST TRANsport or DUSTRAN) to assist the DoD in addressing particulate air-quality issues at military training and testing ranges. DoD’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program was the primary source of funding for the project with additional funding from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address their issues related to the “off-target” drift of aerially applied pesticides.

“DUSTRAN is constructed from widely used, scientifically defensible atmospheric models and model components. The modeling system efficiently couples these modeling components and advances the state-of-science in dust-emission formulations. DUSTRAN is based on Environmental System Research Institute’s ArcMap geographic information system (Version 9.x), the EPA-approved CALifornia PUFF (CALPUFF) dispersion model, and the widely used CALifornia GRID (CALGRID) dispersion model. The CALifornia METeorological (CALMET) model provides the meteorological fields (e.g., winds, mixing height) for the CALPUFF and CALGRID dispersion models. The modeling system runs on a personal computer under the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. DUSTRAN includes dust-emission models for estimating emissions from both wheeled military vehicle activities and dust generated by wind erosion. The primary features of DUSTRAN are:

  • The modeling domain is graphically specified and is size selectable (20 km to 400 km).
  • It operates at any U.S. geographic location and has an “Add Site” wizard that generates a new site’s supporting files and data structure for use in a simulation.
  • Single-station or multiple-station meteorology can be used and easily specified.
  • Multiple point, area, and line releases can be accommodated and specified graphically.
  • Simulation and release times are easily specified in the user interface.
  • The output concentrations and deposition contours can be viewed graphically, and the output can be animated to view the progression of the plume across the modeling domain.
  • Multiple particle sizes and gaseous species can be simulated at one time.
  • Simulation periods are typically a few hours to a few days.
  • The atmospheric models treat wet and dry deposition and complex terrain effects.”

Read the report [PDF]