Geographic data are closely related to both spatial and temporal domains. Geographic information systems (GIS) can capture, manage, analyze, and display spatial data. However, they are not suitable for handling temporal data. Rapid developments of data collection and location-aware technologies stimulate the interests of obtaining useful information from the historical data. Researchers have been working to build various spatio-temporal data models to support spatio-temporal query. Nevertheless, the existing models exhibit weaknesses in various aspects. For instance, the snapshot model is plagued with data redundancy and the event-based spatio-temporal data model (ESTDM) is limited to raster dataset. This study reviews existing spatio-temporal data models in order to design an object-oriented space-time GIS data model that makes additional contributions to processing spatio-temporal data. A binary large object (BLOB) data type, labeled Space-Time BLOB, is added to ArcGIS geodatabase data model to store instantiated space-time objects. A Space-Time BLOB is associated with an array that contains the spatial and temporal information for an object at different time points and time intervals. This study also implements a space-time GIS prototype system, along with a set of spatio-temporal query functions, based on the proposed space-time GIS data model.

State Climate Offices (SCO’s) in the United States are critical conduits for improving weather and climate data in local communities. Two states do not have a state-recognized SCO: Tennessee and Massachusetts. Efforts are underway at East Tennessee State University to develop the Tennessee Climate Office (TCO). Currently, climate services and products are severely lacking across Tennessee. This thesis provides an improved methodology for an existing TCO product and outlines the development of a new product using Python scripting. Daily storm reports within the monthly climate report are automated and a Weather Forecasts Hazard Index (WFHI) web application is developed. Both products utilize data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with the automated daily storm reports providing substantial time savings and the WFHI providing a high resolution web application for emergency managers and others to interpret potentially hazardous forecasts for extreme temperatures, high winds, snowfall/ice accumulation, and tornado/hail events.

In the Tampa Bay region, increasing population and changing demographics have begun to alter the characteristics of established neighborhoods. An increase in suburban growth has triggered a shift in the location and profitability of food establishments in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. Supermarket closures have garnered attention from public health officials who are concerned with the overall availability of fresh food throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. Unfortunately, there has been little research surrounding the quality of food sold at establishments in both the Tampa Bay region and abroad. Instead, many geographic studies have chosen to group both fresh and prepared food establishments into a singular category for analyses. While helpful for a generalized understanding of food access overall, these methods do little to convey access to fresh foods which are essential for a balanced diet. This study offers a different perspective from traditional food access studies by categorizing food stores into fresh and prepared categories. For each food category, the Cumulative Opportunity Measure (COM) was first applied to measure food accessibility at the census block group level; a descriptive analysis was then employed to examine the relations between food accessibility and socioeconomic variables. In order to provide a meaningful comparison, these same steps were taken to emulate the results of the combined model (fresh and prepared) that is often utilized in previous studies. Finally, a map displaying the COM ratio of fresh to prepared food by block group was created to highlight areas with disproportionately more fresh (or prepared) food opportunities. Results indicate that rural may be at a disadvantage with respect to fresh food accessibility. Also, a discrepancy between the fresh model and the prepared and combined models, in relation to female headed households, may indicate that food establishment classification has a significant effect on food accessibility. Overall, positive relationships were observed between factors relating to minority status, no GED, room occupancy, public assistance, limited English, poverty, and lack of vehicle ownership for the fresh, prepared, and combined food accessibility models. Finally, the ratio of fresh to prepared food establishments could explain why some populations exhibit higher rates of obesity even when in direct proximity to fresh food opportunities.

Science communication is a skill that can be strengthened with practice. Like any skill, it helps to know what you need to practice in order to get better at it. When presenting information to an audience, the skill of science communication comes into play as early as the first draft of a presentation. As you think about how you will tell your story to the audience, you likely consider including text on slides, images, graphs, maps, or even videos. However, it is crucial to remember that accessibility barriers are something we must often consciously work to rid our presentations of, in order to make sure we are telling the same story to everyone in the audience. How you present your research inherently determines the way in which your audience learns and engages with that information. If a presentation has many accessibility barriers, it can lead to an incomplete picture forming for members of your audience. For instance, if a member of your audience experiences colorblindness, they may not be able to get a full understanding of your charts, maps, or graphs depending on your color choices. Individuals that have difficulty with hearing may not be able to clearly perceive your take home messages without captions or clear points in easily readable fonts. Doing something small like enabling captions in your presentation can help more than just those that are hard of hearing follow along, but also audience members who use visual assistance with auditory processing or who do not have the same native language as the one in which you are presenting (Cooke et al., 2020). This project is going to dive into one of the examples from earlier: maps. Maps used in the scientific community for disseminating information to general audiences have historically been two dimensional, with some exceptions. However, thanks to the ease of access to rapidly evolving technology, turning the story of your spatiotemporal data into a 3D map with 360 visualization that tells a more powerful story to your audience is becoming more common. One use example of this is modeling projected sea level rise (SLR) in coastal communities, which will be the focus of this capstone. Capstone products: Included in zip file under Download Button: Capstone paper Accessibility Tips for Scientific Presentations.[PDF] Link: https://go.wm.edu/b6g7S5 360 Scene of Norfolk Sea Level Rise Projections.[3VR file] Norfolk_SLR_VIMS_CCRM_Data_360VR.3vr Link: https://go.wm.edu/j9mgFQ Link Only: 3D Map of Norfolk Sea Level Rise Projections:https://go.wm.edu/QdYPGq

The objective of this research is to look at fall freshmen enrollment data for East Tennessee State University and see if patterns in the enrollment exist. This paper focuses on fall freshmen enrollment during the years 1997, 2002, and 2007 at ETSU. Once the data were gathered, they were mapped and statistically analyzed using geographic information systems (GIS) and statistical analysis software. Many things were learned from the GIS maps created and statistical analysis. First, the maps showed that from 1997 to 2007, ETSU's enrollment became more consolidated in the East Tennessee region and moved westward into Middle and Western Tennessee. Second, the GIS maps visibly showed that most of the high schools locations were in close proximity to an interstate system. Third, when the statistical analysis was performed the factors "high school GPA" and "in-state tuition" were found to be significant to enrollment.

<p>In this study, the effect of HEVs on traffic related pollution was assessed in the Hamilton CMA. This thesis aimed to combine findings from these two fields in a traffic simulation procedure. By introducing the HEVs in incremental levels to the vehicle travel pattern of more than 700,000 people in the study area, changes occurring in traffic related pollution at different levels were modeled.</p> <p>The hypothetical HEV spatial distribution patterns models were derived through negative binomial regression modeling based on 2006 census data and 2008 vehicle registration data. The distribution of predetermined number of HEVs throughout the Hamilton CMA was completed through these models and results were used to modify input OD matrices for the TRAFFIC program. The link-based emissions were calculated in combination with traffic emission factors for HEV.</p> <p>The results indicated that converting 10% of the total fleet into HEVs was needed to make significant reductions to the HC and CO aggregate emissions in all five models. An important finding with the incremental HEV penetration levels was the approximately linear trend between the percent reduction in the traffic emissions and the percent of HEVs in the total fleet. This trend allows calculations of approximate traffic emission reduction expected with any HEV level. The results illustrating links with more than 10% reduction in traffic emissions indicated that HEV technology as an effective method in dealing with environmental concerns.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This study explores telecommuter travel behaviour by examining discretionary travel distance and mode choice. The study utilizes data obtained from the 2005 origin-destination survey conducted by TRANS, a joint transportation planning committee serving the National Capital Region of Canada. The study compares and explains the discretionary travel behavior of teleworkers relative to other population groups and identifies that the average teleworker travels 3 times farther than regular workers and 1.7 times farther than non-workers for discretionary purposes. Regression indicates that dependent children, vehicle accessibility, housing type, residential distance to the urban core, land-use mix, residence within a Greenbelt region and day of the week all positively affect travel distance. Conversely, age, proximity to shopping centers and inclement weather demonstrate significant negative effects. Then, through binary logistic regression, the study confirms that work status significantly influences mode choice. Similarly, the following predictor variables demonstrate a significant positive effect towards active mode choice: teleworker work status, larger household size, greater income, warmer temperature, closer proximity to shopping centers, apartment housing type, trips for recreational and restaurant purposes, taking subsequent trips in a day, and travel between 8:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. On the contrary, increased entropy, trips within the Greenbelt region, dependent children under 16 years old, increased vehicle accessibility and trips for transporting someone or for shopping purposes all reduce the probability of active travel mode choice.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

This project laid the groundwork for an Internet-delivered Public Participation Geographic Information System to facilitate exploration and discovery of the past communities of the Mammoth Cave Park area. The emergence of Internet Web 2.0 design along with distributed GIS services allows for anyone to interact with and add to the information found on central Internet sites. Historical geography often relies upon public participation from individuals outside the academic world to provide narrative descriptions, photographs and manuscripts of past places and events to augment information held by institutions and academia. A public-participation website for the Mammoth Cave Historic GIS (MCHGIS) created a central Internet location for dispersed and disparate data related to pre-park communities to be presented with a geographic context. The MCHGIS project allowed for visualization of the pre-park communities in unique ways and contributed new understandings of this pre-park area.

Nutrient inputs into the environment greatly impact urban ecosystems. Appropriate management strategies are needed to limit eutrophication of surface water bodies and contamination of groundwater. In many existing urban environments, retrofits or complete upgrades are needed for stormwater and/or wastewater infrastructure to manage nutrients. However, sustainable urban nutrient management requires comprehensive baseline data that is often not available. A Framework for Urban Nutrient (FUN) Management for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was developed to specifically address those areas with limited data access. Using spatial analysis in GIS, it links water quality, land use, and socio-demographics, thereby reducing data collection and field-based surveying efforts. It also presents preliminary results in a visually accessible format, potentially improving how data is shared and discussed amongst diverse stakeholders. This framework was applied to two case studies, one in Orange County Florida and one in Placencia, Belize. A stormwater pond index (SPI) was developed to evaluate 961 residential wet ponds in Orange County, Florida where data was available for land use and socio-demographic parameters, but limited for water quality. The SPI consisted of three categories (recreation, aesthetics, education) with a total of 13 indicators and provided a way to score the cultural and ecosystem services of 41 ponds based on available data. Using only three indicators (presence of a fence, Dissolved Oxygen (DO) < 4 mg/l, and water depth < 3 ft), 371 out of 961 stormwater ponds were assessed. Additional criteria based on socio-demographic information (distance to a school, population density, median household income under $50,000, percentage of population below the poverty line, and distance to parks) identified seven wet ponds as optimum for potential intervention to benefit residents and urban nutrient management purposes. For the second case study, a water quality analysis and impact assessment was performed for the Placencia peninsula and lagoon in Belize. This study had access to water quality data, but limited land use data and very limited socio-demographic data. Since May 2014, water quality samples have been taken from 56 locations and analyzed monthly. For this study, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Nitrate (NO3--N), Ammonia (NH3), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and 5-Day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Enterococci were selected to assess spatial and temporal variation of water quality in the groundwater on the peninsula as well as the surface water in lagoon, estuaries and along the coast. A spline interpolation of DO, Nitrate, BOD5, and COD for June 2016 indicated the concentration distribution of those parameters and areas of special concern. A spatial analysis was conducted that showed that Nitrate and Enterococci exceeded the effluent limits of Belize very frequently in the complete study area while the other parameters contributed to the identification of key areas of concern. As a high variability of concentrations over time was observed, a temporal analysis was conducted identifying a link between the water quality data and two temporal impact factors, rainfall and tourism. The two case studies showed the broad and flexible application of the FUN management for GIS and the great advantages the use of GIS offers to reduce costs and resources use.

The purpose of this capstone project is to tell a place-based story about an often forgotten part of campus: the Wash. Beginning as a likely Tongvan campsite, the Wash, after donation to Pomona College as “Blanchard Park” underwent a series of land-use changes. Originally, a designated green space, its present-day composition includes athletic fields, the organic farm and the historic remnant oak grove. Throughout time the value of the Wash changed with its differing caretakers and inhabitants. To bring attention to this evolving landscape and to inform more sustainable and equitable land use in the future, our project aims to acknowledge past narratives about this place, take stock of its present ecological significance and recommend best practices going forward. We accomplished this by putting together a history of the Wash using indigenous knowledge, archival information, biological surveys and GIS.