Day: November 2, 2011

Spatial Analysis of Mass Burial Carcass Disposal Regulations

/ Matt Artz

The University of MaineInternational Animal By-Products Symposium, University of Maine, 2011

Raghavan Srinivasan, Jennifer Jacobs, and Kimberly Hart

“Widespread livestock death can be caused by natural disaster or animal disease, through accidental introduction or as an act of bioterrorism. In any case, the disposal of large numbers of livestock carcasses is a challenging, yet extremely sensitive, component of any recovery effort, in terms of food security, environmental impacts, and economic loss. Proactive planning efforts are vital to the expediency of such efforts, as evidenced by the difficulties experienced in the UK in 2001 in the incineration of livestock carcasses following a Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak. The four most common methods of carcass disposal identified in the current literature are burial, incineration, composting, and rendering. Of these, burial is often the chosen method based on the logistical and economic advantages.

Mass burial suitability for Texas.

Mass burial suitability for Texas.

“In this study a spatially explicit indexing methodology was used to evaluate mass burial carcass disposal environmental and biosecurity regulations for California, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The mass burial regulations for each state, as well as relevant geospatial data, e.g. soils, topography, hydrology, and land use, were obtained and used to identify the areas available for mass burial. In general, the results of this work have identified inconsistencies between states, the lack of comprehensive response plans within states, and a lack of readily available, high quality spatial data for site identification.”

Spatial Analysis for Flood Control by Using Environmental Modeling

/ Matt Artz

Journal of Geographic Information SystemJournal of Geographic Information System, Vol.3 No.4, October 2011

Alireza Gharagozlou, Hassan Nazari, and Mohammadjavad Seddighi

“To create the final spatial information and analysis, flood hazard maps and land development priority maps and information, data for the flood events to 2009 in north of Iran were incorporated with using Geo-spatial Information System data of physiographic divisions, geologic divisions, land cover classification, elevation, drainage network, administrative districts and population density and environmental parameters modeling. Special analysis also attention was paid to population density for the construction of the land development priority map and using satellite image analysis to determine land use changes and analysis of geo-spatial information, because highly dense populated areas represent the highly important urban and industrial areas.

Spatial Analysis for determination flood risk area and improper area for development using flood modeling in north of Iran.

Spatial Analysis for determination flood risk area and improper area for development using flood modeling in north of Iran.

“While geo-information technology offers an opportunity to support flood management adequate geo-spatial information is a prerequisite for sustainable development, but many parts of the world lack adequate information on environmental resources. Such information providing, which serves as an important tool for decision-making in land use planning, can help provide effective information to natural disaster management. This paper develops a framework for flood control and begins with some general comments on the importance of land use planning and outlines some current environmental issues and then presenting environmental models to use in disaster management plan by using GIS and remote sensing results. Flood control is a complex problem that requires cooperation of many scientists in different fields. The article also discusses the role that geo-information and environmental planning and GIS and remote sensing technology play in disaster management control to reduce negative impacts of flood and present proper alternatives for developing of Gorganrood in the north of Iran. Advanced high-resolution sensor technology has provided immense scope to the decision makers for analysis of flood and damages details using GIS and remote sensing.”