Master of Science / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Dale E. Schinstock / The goal of this research is to develop methods and tools for generating flight plans for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). A method of generating flight plans is needed to describe data collection missions, such as taking aerial photographs. The flight plans are two-dimensional and exist in a plane a fixed distance above the Earth. Since the flight areas are typically small, the Earth's curvature is not accounted for in flight plan generation. Designed to completely cover a specified field area, the plans consist of a series of line and arc segments and are described in a format that is recognized by the Piccolo autopilot used by the Kansas State University Autonomous Vehicle Systems (AVS) Lab. Grids are designed to cover the field area, and turn maneuvers are designed to ensure efficient flight plans. The flight plan generation process is broken into several parts. Once a field area is defined, path lines covering this area are calculated. Optimal turn maneuvers are calculated to smoothly connect the path lines in a continuous flight plan. Two methods of determining path line order are discussed. One method flies the lines in the order that they are arranged spatially; the other method decides line order by calculating the shortest turn maneuver to another path line. After the flight plan is generated, a text file is created in a format that is readable for the autopilot. In order to easily generate flight plans, a graphical user interface (GUI) has been created. This GUI allows a user to easily generate a flight plan without modifying any code. The flight plan generation software is used to build example flight plans for this thesis. These flight plans were flown with an UAV and test results are presented.

Master of Arts / Geography / Marcellus M. Caldas / As concerns increase over climate change, energy independence, and higher fuel prices, Brazilian sugarcane ethanol is seen as a part of a clean energy future. Brazilian sugarcane ethanol was developed with a long history of government support, and with the introduction of the flex fueled car in 2003, demand rose dramatically. These factors have helped sugarcane expand beyond its traditional regions of Brazil into the Cerrado. More recently however, private capital from both domestic and foreign companies have started investing in Brazilian agriculture and these investments have helped fuel the sugarcane expansion into the Cerrado in the last 15 years. Over 22 sugarcane mills have been constructed in the Brazilian state of Goiás, located in the heart of the Cerrado. The increased investments driving the expansion of sugarcane into the Cerrado brings numerous questions regarding its environmental and social impacts. Thus, the goal of this thesis is to understand how the structural organization of the sugarcane ethanol mills’ affects development at a municipality level in the state of Goiás, Brazil. More specifically, this thesis has two objectives; to evaluate the effects of the sugarcane mills’ influence on land use and land cover change in these municipalities; and to compare how domestic owned mills, foreign owned mills, and jointly owned mills affect socioeconomic development on the municipalities. Three municipalities were analyzed, Edéia, Caçu, and Quirinópolis. Results showed that land use and land cover change varied by municipality. The majority of Edéia’s sugarcane expansion came from lands already in agricultural use. On the other hand, Caçu’s and Quirinópolis’s sugarcane expansion came from pasture lands. However, throughout all the municipalities, sugarcane expansion over native vegetation was small. All three municipalities increased their socioeconomic development levels over the past 20 years as reported on the Human Development Index. In addition, urban survey responses revealed that the residents of Edéia perceived the sugarcane mill had made their lives better than respondents in either Quirinópolis or Caçu. However, this analysis covers only a brief period of time, and future analysis of these, and other municipalities that host sugarcane mills throughout the Cerrado will be needed.

Master of Science / Department of Clinical Sciences / Robert L. Larson / Bradley J. White / We performed research that investigated the ability of three dimensional accelerometers to classify cattle behavior and also describe the circadian patterns within that behavior. The first of three studies (validation study) tested a decision tree classification system and its ability to describe behaviors of lying, standing, and walking. Classification accuracies for lying, standing, and walking behaviors were 99.2%, 98.0%, and 67.8% respectively, with walking behavior having significantly lower accuracy (P<0.01). This study also tested the accuracy of classifying the above behaviors using different device reporting intervals, or epochs. Reporting intervals of 3, 5, and 10 seconds (s) were evaluated in their ability to describe cattle behaviors of lying, standing, and walking. Classification accuracies for the 3s, 5s, and 10s reporting interval were 98.1%, 97.7%, and 85.4% respectively, with no difference in classification accuracy of the 3s and 5s epochs (P=0.73) while the 10s epoch exhibited significantly lower overall accuracy (P<0.01). This validated accelerometer monitoring system was then implemented in two studies (Winter 2007 and Spring 2008) where the devices were used to describe behavior patterns of beef calves in a drylot production setting. Lying behavior of the cattle was analyzed and found to be significantly associated (P<0.001) with hour of the day. Calves in these studies spent most (> 55%) of the nighttime hours (2000 to 0400) involved in lying behavior and spent the least percentage of time lying (<30%) during periods of time where feed was presented at the bunk (0700 and 1700). Mean lying time was also associated with trial day (P<0.01) and most trial days (67.5%) calves spending between 45% and 55% of time lying. Variation of lying behavior was found between individuals (range 29% to 66%); however, consistency in lying behavior was found within individual calves across study periods. The accelerometer monitoring system studies presented here provide evidence these devices have utility in recording behaviors (lying, standing, and walking) of individual beef calves raised in typical production settings.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreation Resources / Dale J. Bremer / Jack Fry / Increasing water scarcity may result in greater irrigation restrictions for turfgrass. Drought tolerance and recovery of Kentucky bluegrasses (Poa. pratensis L.) (KBG) were evaluated during and after 88 and 60 day dry downs in 2010 and 2011, respectively, under a rainout shelter. Changes in green coverage were evaluated with digital images. Green coverage declined slowest during dry downs and increased fastest during recoveries in the cultivar ‘Apollo’, indicating it had superior drought tolerance. Electrolyte leakage, photosynthesis, and leaf water potential were evaluated in 7 KBG cultivars during and after the dry downs. Soil moisture at 5 and 20 cm was measured. There were generally no differences in physiological parameters among cultivars during or after dry down. The highest reduction in soil moisture at 5 and 20 cm was in Apollo, suggesting it had a better developed root system for mining water from the profile during drought. Weed prevention and turfgrass establishment of ‘Legacy’ buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides [Nutt.] Engelm.) and ‘Chisholm’ zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) grown on turf reinforcement mats (TRM) was evaluated. ‘Chisholm’ zoysiagrass stolons grew under the TRM; as such, use of TRM for this cultivar is not practical. Buffalograss had 90% or greater coverage when established on TRM in 2010 and 65% or greater coverage in 2011; coverage was similar to that in oxadiazon-treated plots at the end of each year. ‘Legacy’ buffalograss plugs were established on TRM over plastic for 3 weeks, stored in TRM under tree shade for 7, 14, or 21 days, and evaluated for establishment after storage. In 2010, plugs on mats stored for 7 days had similar coverage to the control, but in 2011 displayed similar coverage to plugs stored on TRM for 14 or 21 day treatments. Green leaf are index (LAI) is an important indicator of turfgrass performance, but its measurement is time consuming and destructive. Measurements using hyperspectral radiometry were compared with destructive measurements of LAI. Results suggest spectral radiometry has potential to accurately predict LAI. The robustness of prediction models varied over the growing season. Finding one model to predict LAI across and entire growing season still seems unrealistic.

Master of Science / Department of Geography / Douglas Goodin / Hyperspectral data has been widely used for estimates of canopy biochemical content over the past decades. Most of these studies were conducted in forests or crops with relatively uniform canopies. Feasibility of the use of hyperspectral analysis in heterogeneous canopies with diverse plant species and canopy structures remains uncertain. Spectral data at the canopy level, with mixed background noise, canopy biochemical and biophysical properties create more problems in spectral analysis than that at the leaf level. Complications of heterogeneous canopies make biochemical retrieval through remote sensing even more difficult due to more uneven spatial distribution of biochemical constituents. The objective of my research was to map canopy nitrogen content in tallgrass prairie with mixed canopies by means of hyperspectral data from in-situ and airborne measurements. Research efforts were divided into three steps: (1) the green leaf area index (LAI) retrieval, given LAI is an important parameter in scaling nitrogen content from leaves to canopies; (2) canopy nitrogen modeling from analysis of in-situ hyperspectral data; and (3) canopy nitrogen mapping based on aerial hyperspectral imagery. Research results revealed that a fine chlorophyll absorption feature in the green-yellow region at wavelengths of 562 – 600 nm was sensitive to canopy nitrogen status. Specific spectral features from the normalized spectral data by the first derivative or continuum removal in this narrow spectral region could be selected by multivariate regression for nitrogen modeling. The optimal nitrogen models with high predictive accuracy measured as low values of root-mean-square error (RMSE) were applied to the aerial hyperspectral imagery for canopy nitrogen mapping during the growth seasons from May to September. These maps would be of great value in studies on the interactions between canopy vegetation quality and grazing patterns of large herbivores in tallgrass prairie.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / J. M. Shawn Hutchinson / Time series of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data from satellite spectral measurements can be used to characterize and quantify changes in vegetation phenology and explore the role of natural and anthropogenic activities in causing those changes. Several programs and methods exist to process phenometric data from remotely-sensed imagery, including TIMESAT, which extracts seasonality parameters from time-series image data by fitting a smooth function to the series. This smoothing function, however, is dependent upon user-defined input parameter settings which have an unknown amount of influence in shaping the final phenometric estimates. To test this, a sensitivity analysis was conducted using MODIS maximum value composite NDVI time-series data acquired for Fort Riley, Kansas during the period 2001-2012. The phenometric data generated from the different input setting files were compared against that from a base scenario using Pearson and Lin’s Concordance Correlation Analyses. Findings show that small changes to parameter settings results in insignificant differences in phenometric estimates, with the exception of end of season data and growing season length. Next, a time-series analysis of the same MODIS NDVI data for Fort Riley and nearby Konza Prairie Biological Station (KPBS) was conducted to determine if significant differences existed in selected vegetation phenometrics. Phenometrics of interest were estimated using TIMESAT and based on a Savitzky-Golay filter with parameter settings found optimal in the previous study. The phenometrics start of season, end of season, length of season, maximum value, and small seasonal integral were compared using Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) and showed significant differences existed for all phenometrics in the comparison of Fort Riley training areas and KPBS, as well as low- versus high-training intensity areas within Fort Riley. Fort Riley and high-intensity training areas have earlier dates for the start and end of the growing season, shorter growing season lengths, lower maximum NDVI values, and lower small seasonal integrals compared to KPBS and low-intensity training areas, respectively. Evidence was found that establishes a link between military land uses and/or land management practices and observed phenometric differences.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Geography / Kevin P. Price / A major strategy in response to rapid degradation and loss of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands has been the construction of siphon diversion projects. The diversions are designed to reintroduce nutrient enriched freshwater from the Mississippi River into wetland ecosystems to combat saltwater intrusion and stimulate marsh growth. The lack of consensus regarding the effects of river diversions on nutrient enrichment of wetland ecosystems is coupled with major concerns about eutrophication. Locating, assessing, and monitoring eutrophic marsh vegetation represent major challenges to understanding the impacts of freshwater diversions. As a result, this study was undertaken to investigate the feasibility of modeling eutrophication vulnerability of a coastal Louisiana marsh receiving turbid Mississippi River water. The major objective was to integrate remotely sensed data with field measurements of vegetation biophysical characteristics and historical ecosystem survey data to delineate landscape patterns suggestive of vulnerability to eutrophication. The initial step in accomplishing this goal was to model the spatial distribution of freshwater impacts using satellite image-based turbidity frequency data associated with siphon diversion operation. Secondly, satellite and spectroradiometer band combinations and vegetation indices optimal for modeling marsh biophysical characteristics related to nutrient enrichment were identified. Finally, satellite image data were successfully integrated with measures of historical and concurrent marsh biophysical characteristics to model the spatial distribution of eutrophication vulnerability and to elucidate the impacts of freshwater diversions.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / J. M. Shawn Hutchinson / Windbreaks are a valuable resource in conserving soils and providing crop protection in western Kansas and other Great Plains states. Currently, Kansas has neither an up-to-date inventory of windbreak locations nor an assessment of their condition. The objective of this study is to develop remote sensing and geographic information system methods that rapidly identify and assess the condition of windbreaks in Ford County, Kansas. Ford County serves as a pilot study area for method development with the intent of transferring those methods to other counties/regions in Kansas and the Great Plains. A remote sensing technique known as object-based classification was used to classify windbreaks using color aerial photography acquired through the 2008 National Agricultural Imagery Program. Object-based classification works by segmenting imagery where areas with similar spectral, shape, and textural properties are grouped into vectors (i.e., objects) that are later used as the basis for image classification. Using this technique, 355 windbreaks, totaling nearly 1,012 acres (410 hectares), were identified in Ford County. When compared to a spatial data set of confirmed windbreak locations generated via a heads-up digitizing process, the location of windbreaks identified using object-based classification results agreed approximately 81% of the time. Mean textural and spectral values were then combined and used to place identified windbreaks into three condition categories (good, fair, and poor) using a manual classification approach. Analysis showed the area of windbreaks in good condition to be 170 hectares, with the remaining 171 hectares of windbreaks falling in the fair or poor classes. Methods detailed in this study proved successful at rapidly identifying windbreak location and for providing useful condition class results for windbreak renovation and restoration planning.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / David R. Steward / The Ogallala Aquifer is a supply of water for several municipalities in western Kansas, as well as an irrigation source for local farmers. Since the 1950’s, when the aquifer started to be pumped for irrigation, the region has seen steady declines of the groundwater table. These declines have reduced stream flow in the Arkansas and Cimarrron Rivers, and caused a redistribution of riparian phreatophytes. This thesis studies this redistribution of phreatophytes, and develops statistical relationships relating a phreatophyte’s location to depth to groundwater, increase in depth to groundwater, distance from a stream or river, and hydrologic soil group. Remote sensing was used to determine tree locations on predevelopment and post-development aerial photography. These locations were mapped using ArcGIS, and ArcAEM was used to model groundwater flow in six riparian regions taking root uptake into account. It was found that once the depth to groundwater becomes greater than about 3 m, tree population will decrease as depth to water increases. Trees were located within 700 m of the river. Areas with a dense tree population (>10% tree cover) occurred where the average depth to water ranged from 0.24-1.4 m. Areas with moderate tree density (5-10% tree cover) corresponded to an average depth to water ranging from 2.1-19 m. Areas with a low tree density (<5% tree cover) corresponded to an average depth to water ranging from 11-28 m. It was found that phreatophytes have a high likelihood of growing on hydrologic soil group A and a low likelihood of growing on hydrologic soil group B. The number of trees located on hydrologic soil group D was what would be statistically expected if tree location were independent of soil type. It was also found that tree locations could be used as an indicator of good hydraulic connectivity between surface water and groundwater. This information can be used to help guide future installation of monitoring networks and expand research projects from central Kansas to western Kansas.

Master of Science / Department of Geography / Douglas G. Goodin / Volyn Oblast in Western Ukraine has experienced substantial land use/land cover change over the last 25 years as a result of a change in political systems. Remote sensing provides a framework to quantify this change without extensive field work or historical land cover records. In this study, land change is quantified utilizing a post-classification change detection technique comparing Landsat imagery from 1986-2011(Post-Soviet era began 1991). A variety of remote sensing classification methods are explored to take advantage of spectral and spatial variation within this complex study area, and a hybrid scheme is ultimately utilized. Land cover from the CORINE classification scheme is then converted to the EUNIS habitat classification scheme to analyze how land cover change has affected habitat fragmentation. I found large scale agricultural abandonment, increases in forested areas, shifts towards smaller scale farming practices, shifts towards mixed forest structures, and increases in fragmentation of both forest and agricultural habitat types. These changes could have several positive and negative on biodiversity, ecosystems, and human well-being.