Environmental Science

Geographically Weighted Regression to Measure Spatial Variations in Correlations between Water Pollution versus Land Use in a Coastal Watershed

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OCMOcean & Coastal Management, Volume 103, January 2015, Pages 14–24

By Jinliang Huang, Yaling Huang,Robert Gilmore Pontius Jr., and Zhenyu Zhang

“Highlights

  • GWR reveals spatial variation in water pollution-land use linkages.
  • Water pollution is associated more with built-up than with cropland or forest.
  • More built-up is associated with more pollution for less urbanized sub-watersheds.
  • Forest has a stronger negative association with pollution in urban sub-watersheds.
  • Cropland has a weak association with water pollution among 21 sub-watersheds.

“Land use can influence river pollution and such relationships might or might not vary spatially. Conventional global statistics assume one relationship for the entire study extent, and are not designed to consider whether a relationship varies across space. We used geographically weighted regression to consider whether relationships between land use and water pollution vary spatially across a subtropical coastal watershed of Southeast China. Surface water samples of baseflow for seven pollutants were collected twelve times during 2010–2013 from headwater sub-watersheds. We computed 21 univariate regressions, which consisted of three regressions for each of the seven pollutants. Each of the three regressions considered one of three independent variables, i.e. the percent of the sub-watershed that was cropland, built-up, or forest.

Local R2 values and local parameter estimates for GWR cropland models among three types of sub-watershed.

Local R2 values and local parameter estimates for GWR cropland models among three types of sub-watershed.

“Cropland had a local R2 less than 0.2 for most pollutants, while it had a positive association with water pollution in the agricultural sub-watersheds and a negative association with water pollution in the non-agricultural sub-watersheds. Built-up had a positive association with all pollutants consistently across space, while the increase in pollution per increase in built-up density was largest in the sub-watersheds with low built-up density. The local R2 values were stronger with built-up than with cropland and forest. The local R2 values for built-up varied spatially, and the pattern of the spatial variation was not consistent among the seven pollutants. Forest had a negative association with most pollutants across space. Forest had a stronger negative association with water pollution in the urban sub-watersheds than in the agricultural sub-watersheds. This research provides an insight into land-water linkages, which we discuss with respect to other watersheds in the literature.”

A GIS-based Relational Data Model for Multi-dimensional Representation of River Hydrodynamics and Morphodynamics

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EMS-S13648152Environmental Modelling & Software, Volume 65, March 2015, Pages 79–93

By Dongsu Kim, Marian Muste, and Venkatesh Merwade

“Highlights

  • Represent river data in a curvilinear coordinate system to support river channel oriented spatial analyses.
  • Represent multidimensional river features through points, lines, polygons, and volumes.
  • Represent simulated gridded data for river channels that can be readily coupled with observed data.
  • Represent spatio-temporal evolution of dynamic river objects using Eulerian or Lagrangian observational frameworks.
  • Efficiently store and retrieve data acquired in-situ along with the ancillary metadata.

“The emerging capabilities of the geo-based information systems to integrate spatial and temporal attributes of in-situ measurements is a long-waited solution to efficiently organize, visualize, and analyze the vast amount of data produced by the new generations of river instruments. This paper describes the construct of a river data model linked to a relational database that can be populated with both measured and simulated river data to facilitate descriptions of river features and processes using hydraulic/hydrologic terminology.

Diagram of the connectivity between multidimensional river objects in a cross-section and the river network: Relationship between the CrossSection3DPoint and CrossSection2DPoint in 3D cross-sections.

Diagram of the connectivity between multidimensional river objects in a cross-section and the river network: Relationship between the CrossSection3DPoint and CrossSection2DPoint in 3D cross-sections.

“The proposed model, labeled Arc River, is built in close connection with the existing Arc Hydro data model developed for water-related features to ensure the connection of the river characteristics with their floodplains and watersheds. This paper illustrates Arc River data model capabilities in conjunction with Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler measurements to demonstrate that essential river morphodynamics and hydrodynamics aspects can be described using data on the flow and its boundaries.”

Two New Maps that Could Change the World

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Maps have long been used by people to help navigate and understand our world. Early maps guided early humans to basic necessities such as food and water.

Today, the world is changing rapidly, and it’s difficult for traditional maps to keep up with the pace of that change. To help us keep pace with our evolving planet, we need something better. We need new, more comprehensive maps.

Esri has developed two new maps—the most detailed population map in the world and the most detailed ecological land unit map in the world—to help address the challenges we face and make our world a better place.


A New Map of World Population

Esri has compiled a human geography database of demographics and statistics about all countries in the world and has mapped this data using a new, innovative methodology.

Advances in technology are changing the type, quantity, quality, and timeliness of information available. The ideal human geography database would include uniform social and demographic information about all human populations on the globe. It would include population, household, housing unit, business, and economic information that would allow determination of societal characteristics at any scale from macro to micro.

pop-new-york_600

Esri has developed the most detailed population map in the world.

Esri’s new world population map takes advantage of this new information to track and estimate populations to support better decision making. This new model of world population will allow comparative studies and accurate depiction of statistics to ad hoc areas. Population is modeled from imagery, road networks, and populated place locations to create an urbanization likelihood score.

“The global model is currently complete for approximately 130 countries, allowing for detailed reporting that will show the demographics for any desired geography such as a watershed, drive-time area, or an area affected by a disaster,” said Earl Nordstrand, Data Product Manager, Esri. “Additionally, the likelihood surface has been used to create a global population map by obtaining the latest census population data for the remaining areas of the world.”


A New Map of World Ecology

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Esri recently announced the publication of the most detailed global ecological land units (ELUs) map in the world.

“The Global ELUs map portrays a systematic division and classification of the biosphere using ecological and physiographic land surface features,” notes Roger Sayre, Ph.D., Senior Scientist for Ecosystems, USGS.

gelu_img

Esri and USGS have developed the most detailed global ecological land units (ELUs) map in the world.

This exciting new global content provides a science platform for better understanding and accounting of the world’s resources.  Scientists, land managers, conservationists, developers and the public will use this map to improve regional, national and global resource management, planning and decision making.

“The ELUs provide an accounting framework to assess ecosystem services, such as carbon storage, soil formation, as well as risks such as, environmental degradation,” said Randy Vaughan, Manager of Content Engineering, Esri.  “The ELUs also lend themselves to the study of ecological diversity, rarity and evolutionary isolation.  For example we can identify whether the most diverse landscapes in terms of proximity to the most unique ELUs are protected. Understanding diversity can point the way to conservation and preservation planning.”

While ELUs do not definitively characterize ecosystems at multiple scales, they do provide information and pointers to the ecological patterns of the globe.  “They will be useful for constructing research agendas and for understanding global processes such as climate change,” added Sayre. “For example, the data will be important to the study of environmental change.  The automated approach to the objective classification of ELUs means that the mapping can be updated as better or more current input layers become available.”


Working Together

Separately, these two maps are important, and can be used in a variety of ways to address important local, regional, and global issues. Used together, these two new maps can give us an even better picture of the links between the human and natural components of our evolving world. “Population density and distributions are important indicator of both the demands and impacts on landscape,” said Vaughan.  “As such, population data can be used as another parameter to infer and understand the environmental processes expressed in the ecological land units.”

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How can you get access to the Global population map?

  1. You can access the map here http://pm.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=ac0401d78fa24a10a9151ffe50f35afe

How can you get access to the Global ELUs map?

  1. Introductory Story Map to the ecological land units: esriurl.com/elu
  2. Explore the online application: esriurl.com/EcoTapestry
  3. Learn more about ecological land units: www.aag.org/global_ecosystems
  4. Get started using this content in ArcGIS: ArcGIS Online Landscape Layers Group

Scientists Spotlight Top Conservation Themes for Satellite Technology

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wcsScientists from the WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), NASA, and other organizations have partnered to focus global attention on the contribution of satellites to biodiversity conservation in a recently released study entitled “Ten Ways Remote Sensing Can Contribute to Conservation,” featured in the latest edition of the scientific journal Conservation Biology.

Addressing global questions requires global datasets that are enabled by satellite remote sensing; this paper highlights the way in which continuous observations of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere can advance our understanding of how and why the Earth is changing and inform actions that can be taken to halt the degradation of planet’s natural systems.

The findings of the paper will inform discussions on improving protected area management that are underway at the IUCN World Parks Congress, an event held every 10 years by the global conservation community.

Established in many cases to conserve wildlife and the ecosystems they inhabit, protected areas still fall short of protecting species and their ecological needs. In many instances, protected areas such as Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in The Republic of Congo do not cover the full range of species such as elephants. Remote sensing can be used to gather information needed for managing landscapes beyond protected area networks.

“Remote sensing data from orbiting satellites have been used to measure, understand, and predict environmental changes since the 1970s, but technology that subsequently became available can now be applied much more widely on a whole range of conservation issues,” said WCS Conservation Support scientist Dr. Robert Rose, the lead author of the study. “To that end, we sought out the top thought leaders in conservation and the remote sensing community to identify the best conservation applications of these data.”

“Collaborations such as these that strengthen ties between disparate research communities will create new opportunities to advance conservation,” said co-author Dr Allison Leidner of NASA’s Earth Science Division. “For example, it will help remote sensing scientists tailor their research to meet the needs of field-based researchers and conservation practitioners.”

With funding from NASA to lead the study, Rose and his co-authors brought together 32 thought leaders from both the conservation and remote-sensing communities. The participants interviewed more than 100 experts in both fields and generated 360 questions, which were then whittled down to the Top 10 conservation examples on how remote sensing can be used, including:

    • Species distribution and abundances
    • Species movements and life stages
    • Ecosystem processes
    • Climate change
    • Rapid response
    • Protected areas
    • Ecosystem services
    • Conservation effectiveness
    • Agricultural/aquiculture expansion and changes in land use/cover
    • Degradation and disturbance regimes

With this study, the authors hope to jumpstart a new collaborative initiative that provides guidance to space agencies and other partners on how future Earth observation satellite missions can contribute to advancing wildlife protection and protected area management. Toward that end, the authors initiated the Conservation Remote Sensing Network, which currently has 350 members from around the world, all of whom are interested in applying remote-sensing data to a broad array of conservation challenges.

“A vital part of this new network, which will foster communications and build opportunities between the conservation and remote sensing communities and help develop new remote sensing capabilities, will be to generate interest from both the public and private sector to invest in the use of orbiting Earth observatories to help conserve the planet’s remaining biodiversity,” added Dr. David Wilkie of WCS’s Conservation Support Program.

The authors of the study are: Robert A. Rose of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Dirck Byler of the US Fish and Wildlife Service; J. Ron Eastman of Clark University; Erica Fleishman of the University of California; Gary Geller of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Scott Goetz of the Woods Hole Research Institute; Liane Guild of NASA Ames Research Center; Healy Hamilton of NatureServe; Matt Hanson of the University of Maryland; Rachel Headley of the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center; Jennifer Hewson of Conservation International; Ned Horning the American Museum of Natural History; Beth A. Kaplin of Antioch University New England; Nadine Laporte of the Woods Hole Research Center; Allison Leidner of the NASA Earth Science Division and Universities Space Research Association; Peter Leimgruber of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute; Jeffrey Morisette of the US Geological Survey; John Musinsky of the National Ecological Observatory Network; Lilian Pintea of the Jane Goodall Institute; Ana Prados of the University of Maryland; Volker C. Radeloff of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Mary Rowen of the US Agency for International Development; Sassan Saatchi of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Steve Schill of The Nature Conservancy; Karyn Tabor of Conservation International; Woody Turner of the NASA Earth Science Division; Anthony Vodacek of the Rochester Institute of Technology; James Vogelmann of the US Geological Survey; Martin Wegmann of the University of Wuerzburg; David Wilkie of the Wildlife Conservation Society; and Cara Wilson of the Environmental Research Division, NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC.

CONTACTS:
John Delaney: (1-718-220-3275; jdelaney@wcs.org)
Stephen Sautner: (1-718-220-3682; ssautner@wcs.org)

[ Source: Wildlife Conservation Society press release]

Spatio-temporal Analysis of Forest Changes in Contrasting Land Use Regimes of Zanzibar, Tanzania

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

Applied GeographyApplied Geography, Volume 55, December 2014, Pages 193–202

By Markus Kukkonen and Niina Käyhkö

“Highlights:

  • Deforestation has accelerated in Unguja between 1975 and 2009 and current deforestation rate is 0.46%.
  • There are significant differences in forest changes and drivers of change between community, government and agroforest land use regimes of Zanzibar.
  • Shifting cultivation, urban expansion and spread of permanent agriculture are the main proximate causes of forest clearings.
  • The accelerating deforestation rate sheds negative light on the long-term developments of the forest cover.

“We have estimated forest changes and deforestation trends on the island of Unguja (Zanzibar) over the last three decades based on satellite images, forest cover change trajectory and post-forest land cover analysis. The results show that deforestation has intensified and forest cover change rate has changed from 0.03% to −0.46% between 1975–1996 and 1996–2009. On average 0.88 km2 of forests were lost annually, which makes altogether 29.9 km2 during the 34 year study period. Using three distinctive land use regimes prevailing on the island, we are able to show that in reality the changes and their causes were unique in each region. The community forest land use regime was dominated by shifting cultivation related cyclical changes combined with growing deforestation rates. The deforestation rates were also high in agroforest land use regime, but here forest clearings were associated with urban sprawl. Opposite to these two regimes, the cover increased in government forest areas, due to large tree planting schemes. However, forest clearings increased significantly since 1996 in government areas and currently all regimes are facing decreasing forest cover. Population growth, in-migration, urbanization, tourism and increasing demand of agricultural and forestry products were the main underlying causes behind the deforestation. Although, the long-term developments of the forest cover are dictated by these relatively uncontrollable underlying causes, we suggest few actions to restrain deforestation and its effects. These actions include establishment of protected area network with forest corridors, heeding trees in urban and agricultural land use planning, replanting cleared governmental plantations and extending plantations outside the Island.”

The Advantages of Incorporating Historical Geographic Information Systems (H-GIS) into Modern Coastal Management Planning

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Journal of Map & Geography LibrariesJournal of Map & Geography Libraries: Advances in Geospatial Information, Collections & Archives, 10:157–172, Published Online 23 July 2014

By Michael Reid

“As the terrestrial and marine effects of climate change continue to intensify, the value of natural habitats as a form of protection against a variety of ecological issues is becoming clear. Coastal wetlands, for example, provide protection against incoming storm surges and extreme weather, serve to improve water quality through the sequestration of various pollutants, and offer serious potential as a new source of biofuel. Unfortunately, many of the areas that have been affected by coastal habitat loss still suffer from the same problems that caused those ecosystems to change in the first place. Cities continue to release effluence into estuaries; hydrological engineering projects continue to redirect waterways that change flow and sediment patterns; and increasing populations in coastal areas all assert significant pressures on intertidal ecosystems. This ongoing changing of the landscape-and the length of time that anthropogenic factors have been influencing these habitats-has made modern-day environmental planning and management important yet complicated pursuits. As a result, planners and managers must constantly look for new tools to better understand their environment. Incorporating historically derived environmental data into geographic information systems (GIS) can enhance the quality of ecological models, which subsequently offers environmental planners and managers with a more robust understanding of the ecosystems encompassed within their project areas.”

Data Collection and Mapping – Principles, Processes, and Application in Marine Spatial Planning

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mpMarine Policy, Volume 50, Part A, December 2014, Pages 27–33

By Rachel J. Shucksmith and Christina Kelly

“Highlights:

  • The importance of data collection and collation to marine spatial planning.
  • A systematic step wise process for data collection and collation.
  • Understanding potential applications and limitations of mapping.
  • Problems with mapping and resource implications.

“Marine spatial planning (MSP) is increasingly being used as a mechanism to manage the marine environment. Human activities can impact biophysical ecosystem features, reducing resilience and potentially impacting ecosystem services, which can affect the environmental, socio-economic and cultural benefits derived by coastal communities. Central to MSP is the collection and collation of baseline data on biophysical ecosystem features and ecosystem services to inform decision making and target management measures.

Steps in data collection and evaluation.

Steps in data collection and evaluation.

“The data collection process should be a structured, transparent process to ensure adequate data and metadata collation to enable it to be effectively used in MSP. This data should be subject to stakeholder consultation, producing quality assured information and mapping. The resources required to undertake data collection should not be underestimated. Recognition should be given to the limits of knowledge of the marine environment and its complexity. Planners and developers should exercise caution when using and interpreting the results of mapping outputs.”

Regional Marine Spatial Planning – The Data Collection and Mapping Process

/ Matt Artz

mpMarine Policy, Volume 50, Part A, December 2014, Pages 1–9

Rachel Shucksmith, Lorraine Gray, Christina Kelly, and Jacqueline F. Tweddle

“Highlights:

  • Regional marine spatial planning in practice.
  • Incorporating socio-economic, environmental and cultural data into decision making.
  • Benefits of local scrutiny and stakeholder engagement.
  • Use of data to guide decision makers and developers in the development process.
  • Using spatial data without zoning.

“Marine spatial planning (MSP) is increasingly being recognised as an important tool in the sustainable management of marine ecosystems. In preparation for the development of MSP across Scotland, the Scottish Government, via Marine Scotland, first piloted regional marine planning in 2006, through the Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI). The overarching aim of SSMEI was to develop and test the effectiveness of differing management approaches to deliver sustainable development in Scotland׳s coastal and marine environment. The Shetland Islands׳ Marine Spatial Plan (SMSP) was first developed under the SSMEI programme, and in 2014 the Shetland Islands Council is intending to adopt the fourth edition of the SMSP on a statutory basis as Supplementary Guidance to its Local Development Plan.

Example of mapped environmental feature within the Shetland Islands' Marine Spatial Plan (NAFC Marine Centre,2013).

Example of mapped environmental feature within the Shetland Islands’ Marine Spatial Plan (NAFC Marine Centre,2013).

“Using Geographic Information Systems (GISs) the SMSP has incorporated spatial data on existing marine and coastal environmental, socio-economic and cultural features and activities into the decision making process, and is an example of place based management. This has required collecting and collating 127 data sets from a range of data sources, and has utilised local stakeholders to verify evidence. This process has required significant resources by a dedicated marine spatial planning team, as well as by local stakeholders. The data within the SMSP has also been used to develop spatially-specific policies to guide the future development of Shetland׳s coastal and marine environment. It has been used by a range of users including developers and decision makers in planning and assessing areas for development, allowing potential conflicts to be avoided or mitigated early in the development process.”

Scientists Map Risk of Premature Menopause after Cancer Treatment

/ Matt Artz

icrWomen treated for the cancer Hodgkin lymphoma will be able to better understand their risks of future infertility after researchers estimated their risk of premature menopause with different treatments.

The findings, set out in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, are based on the experience of more than 2,000 young women in England and Wales treated for the cancer over a period of more than 40 years.

Previous research has suggested that women with Hodgkin lymphoma who receive certain types of chemotherapy or radiotherapy are at increased risk of going through the menopause early – but there was insufficient information to provide patients with detailed advice.

But the new study, led by scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, provides precise estimates of risk for women depending on which treatment types and doses they received and at what age – allowing doctors to give them detailed advice about their risks of future infertility.

The research was largely funded by Breakthrough Breast Cancer and involved researchers from across the UK at more than 50 universities and hospitals.

The research team followed-up 2,127 women who had been treated for Hodgkin lymphoma in England and Wales between 1960 and 2004, and who had been aged under 36 at the time. All had received treatment with chest radiotherapy, sometimes alongside other treatments.

Some 605 of the women in the study underwent non-surgical menopause before the age of 40. This was a large enough number for the researchers to estimate accurate risks of menopause at different ages, depending on the mixture and doses of treatments they received and the age they received them.

The researchers produced a risk table which could help improve the advice that clinicians are able to give to women who have undergone treatment for the disease. Several of the treatments caused a sharp increase in premature menopause risk.

For example, a woman who had received six or more cycles of a standard chemotherapy regimen in her late 20s, but without receiving radiotherapy to the pelvic area, had a chance of around 18 per cent of undergoing menopause by the age of 30, or 58 per cent by age 40.

Overall, risk of premature menopause was more than 20-fold raised after ovarian radiotherapy, and also after some specific chemotherapy regimens. Risk of menopause by age 40 was 81 per cent after receiving ovarian radiotherapy at an overall dose of 5 or more Grays, and up to 75 per cent after chemotherapy, depending on the type, although only one per cent after receiving a chemotherapy regimen called ABVD.

Study leader Professor Anthony Swerdlow, Professor of Epidemiology at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, said:

“Hodgkin lymphoma often affects younger women, and although fortunately most survive the disease, treatments including certain types of chemotherapy and pelvic radiotherapy can lead to premature menopause.

“We hope our study will help women to understand better, in consultation with their doctors, their risks of future infertility following treatment for this malignancy. By looking in a much larger group of women than previous studies of this type, we were able to produce age and treatment specific risk estimates that we hope will be of practical use to individual women. I’m extremely grateful to the patients and doctors who made it possible for us to produce this information.”

[Source: Institute of Cancer Research press release]

Map Stories Can Provide Dynamic Visualizations of the Anthropocene to Broaden Factually Based Public Understanding

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ARThe Anthropocene Review, Published Online 15 July 2014

By Andrew Zolnai

“Provision of broadly accessible and spatially referenced visualizations of the nature and rate of change in the Anthropocene is an essential tool in communicating to policy makers and to the wider public, who generally have little or no contact with academic publications and often rely on media-based information, to form and guide opinion. Three examples are used to demonstrate the use of geo-referenced data and GIS-based map compilations to provide accurate and widely accessible visual portrayals of historical processes.  The first example shows the spread of Neolithic agriculture from Mesopotamia west and north across Europe over several millennia. The second plots the history of the drainage of the Fens (wetlands) in eastern England from the early seventeenth century onward. A third example illustrates one way in which releasing data in the public domain can lead to the enhancement of public data holdings.

Data posted directly on the internet (Zolnai, 2012) from sources discussed in the text: this map story has the abstract at left, the map at centre and the legend at rig ht. It is a synoptic view putting all information in the line of sight along with its geographical context. Panning left and right or zooming in and out helps orient the reader and facilitate a better grasp of the details.

Data posted directly on the internet (Zolnai, 2012) from sources discussed in the text: this map story has the abstract at left, the map at centre and the legend at right. It is a synoptic view putting all information in the line of sight along with its geographical context. Panning left and right or zooming in and out helps orient the reader and facilitate a better grasp of the details.

“A concluding discussion outlines ways in which the methodology illustrated may be applied to processes key to understanding the Anthropocene.”