<p>Effects of functioning transportation infrastructure are receiving more and more environmental and social concern nowadays. Nevertheless, preliminary corridor plans are usually developed on the basis of technical and economic criteria exclusively. By the time of environmental impact assessment (EIA), which succeeds, relocation is practically impossible and only preventative measures can be applied.</p><p>This paper proposes a GIS-based method of delimiting motorway corridor and integrating social, environmental and economic factors into the early stages of planning. Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) techniques are used to assess all possible alternatives. GIS-held weighted shortest path algorithm enables to locate the corridor. The evaluation criteria are exemplary. They include nature conservation, buildings, forests and agricultural resources, and soils. Resulting evaluation surface is divided into a grid of cells, which are assigned suitability scores derived from all evaluation criteria. Subsequently, a set of adjacent cells connecting two pre-specified points is traced by the least-cost path algorithm. The best alternative has a lowest total value of suitability scores.</p><p>As a result, the proposed motorway corridor is routed from origin to destination. It is afterwards compared with an alternative derived by traditional planning procedures. Concluding remarks are that the location criteria need to be adjusted to meet construction</p><p>requirements as well as analysis process to be automated. Nevertheless, the geographic information system and the embedded shortest path algorithm proved to be well suited for preliminary corridor location analysis. Future research directions are sketched.</p>

<p>Waste management is a global environmental issue which concerns about a very significant problem in today’s world. There is a considerable amount of disposal of waste without proper segregation which has lead to both economic and environment sufferings. It is still practiced in many cities. There is a tremendous amount of loss in terms of environmental degradation, health hazards and economic descend due to direct disposal of waste. It is better to segregate the waste at the initial stages where it is generated, rather than going for a later option which is inconvenient and expensive. There has to be appropriate planning for proper waste management by means of analysis of the waste situation of the area.</p><p>This paper would deal with, how Geographical Information System can be used as a decision support tool for planning waste management. A model is designed for the case study area in an Indian city for the purpose of planning waste management. The suggestions for amendments in the system through GIS based model would reduce the waste management workload to some extent and exhibit remedies for some of the SWM problems in the case study area. The waste management issues are considered to solve some of the present situation problems like proper allocation and relocation of waste bins, check for unsuitability and proximity convenience due to waste bin to the users, proposal of recyclable waste bins for the required areas and future suggestions. The model will be implemented on the Aurangabad city’s case study area data for the analysis and the results will suggest some modification in the existing system which is expected to reduce the waste management workload to a certain extent.</p>

<p>Products are displayed in a shelf to market and sell to the public. It creates an interest and attracts people towards it. Likewise, any country or city can showcase itself by using Web over the internet which will attract the tourists from around the world. This example can be used for the city of Hyderabad. Hyderabad has truly become an international city and there are many multinational companies establishing themselves. It is rapidly becoming a hot spot for tourists from around the world because of its exotic locations and facilities provided by the government. The city has been famous for historical monuments and culture, but in the recent years it has developed into a world class IT destination for many multinational IT companies and due to this it has attained world recognition on the global scenario. The time is to reap the benefits of this image and promote the city’s tourist sector by globally marketing the tourist attractions, facilities and services in an innovative and better way so that tourists from around the world visit the city and thereby contribute to the country’s economy with the foreign currency.</p><p>This research deals with developing a Web-based GIS application that can promote the city’s tourist activities and also provide the users with an innovative way to access the spatial content of the city. GIS content forms the core component of this application as it provides the users with the spatial information about the place that is very close to reality. It supports the human tendency of “What you see is what you believe” by displaying the spatial information on the map. The application has been developed with the latest mapping server technology provided by Environmental Science Research Institute’s ArcIMS 9.1. This server software provides simple and easy methods to launch a Web-based GIS application over the Internet.</p>

Several studies in high-latitude catchments have demonstrated the importance of near-stream riparian zones as hydrogeochemical hotspots with a substantial influence on stream chemistry. An adequate representation of the spatial variability of riparian-zone processes and characteristics is the key for modeling spatio-temporal variations of stream-water quality. This thesis contributes to current knowledge by refining landscape-analysis techniques to describe riparian zones and by introducing a conceptual framework to quantify solute exports from riparian zones. The utility of the suggested concepts is evaluated based on an extensive set of hydrometric and chemical data comprising measurements of streamflow, groundwater levels, soil-water chemistry and stream chemistry. Standard routines to analyze digital elevation models that are offered by current geographical information systems have been of very limited use for deriving hydrologically meaningful terrain indices for riparian zones. A model-based approach for hydrological landscape analysis is outlined, which, by explicitly simulating groundwater levels, allows better predictions of saturated areas compared to standard routines. Moreover, a novel algorithm is presented for distinguishing between left and right stream sides, which is a fundamental prerequisite for characterizing riparian zones through landscape analysis. The new algorithm was used to derive terrain indices from a high-resolution LiDAR digital elevation model. By combining these terrain indices with detailed hydrogeochemical measurements from a riparian observatory, it was possible to upscale the measured attributes and to subsequently characterize the variation of total organic-carbon exports from riparian zones in a boreal catchment in Northern Sweden. Riparian zones were recognized as highly heterogeneous landscape elements. Organic-rich riparian zones were found to be hotspots influencing temporal trends in stream-water organic carbon while spatial variations of organic carbon in streams were attributed to the arrangement of organic-poor and organic-rich riparian zones along the streams. These insights were integrated into a parsimonious modeling approach. An analytical solution of the model equations is presented, which provides a physical basis for commonly used power-law streamflow-load relations. / At the time of doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: In press; Paper 4: Manuscript. / Swedish Research Council (VR, grant no. 2005-4289)

Waste management is a global environmental issue which concerns about a very significant problem in today’s world. There is a considerable amount of disposal of waste without proper segregation which has lead to both economic and environment sufferings. It is still practiced in many cities. There is a tremendous amount of loss in terms of environmental degradation, health hazards and economic descend due to direct disposal of waste. It is better to segregate the waste at the initial stages where it is generated, rather than going for a later option which is inconvenient and expensive. There has to be appropriate planning for proper waste management by means of analysis of the waste situation of the area. This paper would deal with, how Geographical Information System can be used as a decision support tool for planning waste management. A model is designed for the case study area in an Indian city for the purpose of planning waste management. The suggestions for amendments in the system through GIS based model would reduce the waste management workload to some extent and exhibit remedies for some of the SWM problems in the case study area. The waste management issues are considered to solve some of the present situation problems like proper allocation and relocation of waste bins, check for unsuitability and proximity convenience due to waste bin to the users, proposal of recyclable waste bins for the required areas and future suggestions. The model will be implemented on the Aurangabad city’s case study area data for the analysis and the results will suggest some modification in the existing system which is expected to reduce the waste management workload to a certain extent.

Vulnerability to weather-related hazards is a considerable humanitarian, economic and environmental concern for cities, especially in developing countries. However, there is a limited understanding of urban vulnerability and its specific implications. This study assesses the spatio-temporal vulnerability caused by climatic and societal change in Chile’s key coastal urban areas. In this urban vulnerability assessment, both regional and local approaches were undertaken, the former to give a broad sense of the possible futures that these cities face and the latter to explore, using all available and reliable data, how climatic and societal change affected one of these metropolitan areas. For the time points 2025, 2055 and 2085, the regional assessment shows that vulnerability is likely to vary across different scenarios and time frames. A significant future increase in exposure to hazards is mainly moderated, to a greater or lesser extent, by an increase in the adaptive capacity of the cities in question. Cities in central and southern Chile are more vulnerable. The local assessment provides a detailed evaluation of recent past vulnerabilities in the Concepción Metropolitan Area (CMA). In the local assessment, an urban indicator framework was first designed and then employed to explore changes in exposure and sensitivity of areas within CMA and the general ability of the urban system to adapt to different hazards. Five weather-related hazards were explored: coastal flooding, fluvial flooding, water scarcity, heat stress and wildfire, using a flexible methodology based on spatial fuzzy modelling with geographic information systems. Hazard-specific vulnerability and overall vulnerability indices were created. The local assessment results indicate a high vulnerability in the CMA that decreased slightly between 1992 and 2002. The combined socio-economic factors of sensitivity and adaptive capacity influenced the index more than the biophysical factors of exposure. Changes in age structure and economic growth had a greater influence on vulnerability that other variables. Overall vulnerability varied across municipalities and hazards, with wildfires and water scarcity influencing overall vulnerability the most. Fuzzy modelling enabled realism and flexibility in the standardization and aggregation of indicators with different attributes. It permitted the exploration of the individual and aggregate influence of the indicators that comprise the indices. ArcGIS software favoured transparency and simplicity in the aggregation of multiple entry criteria, facilitating spatial representation through maps, which can help identify indicators, components and hazards or combinations thereof that influence municipal vulnerability. The results can be used to improve and promote dialogue among policy-makers and stakeholders regarding the prioritization of resources for urban development in ways that can reduce vulnerability to climate change.

Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) är en teknik för att samla in data om terräng. Genom att använda dessa data kan man skapa olika terrängmodeller. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur olika procentuella reduceringar av ursprungsdata påverkar kvalitén hos genererade höjdmodeller i form av Triangular Irregular Network (TIN). Detta görs genom att med hjälp av statistiska metoder göra jämförelser mellan punkter i den genererade TIN modellen och motsvarande punkter i det ursprungliga LIDAR punktmolnet. Studien visar att, beroende på noggrannhetskrav och topografi, en så liten andel som 5 % av punkterna kan vara tillräckligt, samt att noggrannhetsförbättring vid användning av mer än 50 % av ursprungsdata inte kan motivera den ökade arbetsbelastningen för datahantering.

Products are displayed in a shelf to market and sell to the public. It creates an interest and attracts people towards it. Likewise, any country or city can showcase itself by using Web over the internet which will attract the tourists from around the world. This example can be used for the city of Hyderabad. Hyderabad has truly become an international city and there are many multinational companies establishing themselves. It is rapidly becoming a hot spot for tourists from around the world because of its exotic locations and facilities provided by the government. The city has been famous for historical monuments and culture, but in the recent years it has developed into a world class IT destination for many multinational IT companies and due to this it has attained world recognition on the global scenario. The time is to reap the benefits of this image and promote the city’s tourist sector by globally marketing the tourist attractions, facilities and services in an innovative and better way so that tourists from around the world visit the city and thereby contribute to the country’s economy with the foreign currency. This research deals with developing a Web-based GIS application that can promote the city’s tourist activities and also provide the users with an innovative way to access the spatial content of the city. GIS content forms the core component of this application as it provides the users with the spatial information about the place that is very close to reality. It supports the human tendency of “What you see is what you believe” by displaying the spatial information on the map. The application has been developed with the latest mapping server technology provided by Environmental Science Research Institute’s ArcIMS 9.1. This server software provides simple and easy methods to launch a Web-based GIS application over the Internet.

This thesis deals relationship between geographical information systems and decision support systems. Its objective is to verify hypothesis, if it is possible to consider geographical information systems as decision support systems. Opening chapter attends to explanation what is GIS and its usage in practise. Second part is engaged in definition of decision support systems. There are some examples from practise, which help us confirm or refuse the hypothesis, in the last chapter.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / The seaweed Gracilaria gracilis has been shown in previous studies to have potential for mariculture along the West Coast of South Africa. However, the selection of suitable sites is crucial for the success of a farming enterprise. The variables important in the success or sustainability of suspended raft culture, and the environmental factors influencing these variables, were identified through a literature review. A suitable site was defined as a site with surface water temperature of between 10 and 17 "C, water depth of between 2 and 10 m below surface, and wave heights of less than 4 m. Data and information about these factors were obtained from sources such as the Sea Fisheries Research Institute, the SADCO database, the CSIR and from volunteers in St Helena Bay. The objectives of this study were to convert available data into formats that could be used in a Geographical Information System (GIS), and to predict suitable and available sites for suspended cultivation of Gracilaria gracilis in Saldanha Bay, Langebaan Lagoon and St. Helena Bay. Data were converted to digital format and data layers created. Each data layer represented suitable and unsuitable areas. Areas with existing mariculture, harbours, ship traffic zones and other uses were excluded to determine the real available areas. The Saldanha Bay-Langebaan lagoon system and St Helena Bay, have sites that show potential for suspended cultivation of G. eracilis. The total sizes of the areas selected as suitable are 975.4 ha in Saldanha Bay and 474.8 ha in St. Helena Bay. Some sites predicted as suitable are located in areas known to be subject to conditions not suitable for seaweed mariculture, and led to the conclusion that the accuracy of input data or method of analysis must be improved.