The purpose of this study is to evaluate and to compare the results of bivariate statistical analysis conducted with three different data sets in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) based landslide susceptibility mapping applied to the Devrek region. The data sets are created from the seed cells of crowns and flanks, only crowns, and only flanks of the landslides by using 10 different parameters of the study area. To increase the data dependency of the analysis, all parameter maps are classified into equal frequency classes based directly on the percentile divisions of each seed cells data set. The resultant maps of the landslide susceptibility analysis indicate that all data sets produce acceptable results. In each seed cell data set analysis, elevation, lithology, slope, aspect and drainage density parameters are found to be the most contributing factors in landslide occurrences. The results of the three data sets are compared by Seed Cell Area Index (SCAI). This comparison shows that the crowns data set produces the most accurate and successful landslide susceptibility map of the study area.

Disputats. Rheinische Friedrick-Wilhelms-Universität, 2001.

There are 34 state-supported historic sites that are managed by the Texas Historical Commission (THC) and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). These sites have been acquired over the years with various justifications and acquisition histories and are not a planned system of historic sites. With the rapidly changing demographics in Texas, it is clear that new strategies need to be developed so that these sites better represent the history of all Texans. The thesis investigation begins with a history of diversity initiatives within the preservation movement. Next, I present an innovative method for identifying potential areas of focus for diversity initiatives at state historic sites using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). I developed a spatial analysis methodology to quantify the level of diversity of the web content of each of the 34 state historic sites. Each historic site’s web site was then ranked according to its relevance to four ethnic groups: African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans. Additionally, I generated population maps, descriptive maps, and analytical maps in order to understand how historic sites interact with the surrounding population. Finally, I present a set of strategies for existing state historic sites that will provide greater diversity in interpretative techniques and promotion. The goal of the GIS-based spatial analysis and the subsequent development of strategies aimed at targeted sites is to broaden the appeal of historic sites to a more diverse audience. / text

Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο αναπτύσσονται οι έννοιες Γεωδαισία, Γεωδαιτικό ή τοπογραφικό δίκτυο, τα είδη των δικτύων, τα προβολικά συστήματα, τα διεθνή και τα ελληνικά γεωδαιτικά συστήματα αναφοράς καθώς και η μεταξύ τους μαθηματική σχέση. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο αναφέρονται ο ορισμός και τα είδη του Γεωγραφικού Συστήματος Πληροφοριών, τα δομικά του στοιχεία, η οργάνωσή του, οι εφαρμογές και δυνατότητές του. Επίσης ιδιαίτερη έμφαση δίνεται στη διασύνδεση του Γ.Σ.Π με την ευρυζωνικότητα, γεγονός το οποίο αναδεικνύει την σημαντικότητα ύπαρξης των GIS(Γ.Σ.Π). Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο αναλύεται το πρόγραμμα που χρησιμοποιήθηκε στην υλοποίηση, δηλαδή το Quantum GIS, ενώ ακολουθούν οι ψηφιακοί χάρτες καθώς και οι αναλυτικές αναφορές σχεδιασμού τους, οι οποίοι κατασκευάστηκαν με χρήση του QGIS. Η παραπάνω ανάλυση αναφέρεται στους δήμους Πύργου, Αμαλιάδος, Πάτρας, Ρίου, Αιγίου, Αγρινίου, Ναυπλίου και Μεσολογγίου. Στο τέταρτο κεφάλαιο αναπτύσσονται δύο αλγόριθμοι εφαρμογής: ένας για την ανίχνευση του περικλειόμενου τριγώνου(με κορυφές ασύρματα κέντρα) δοθέντος συγκεκριμένου σημείου και ένας για την εύρεση της διαδρομής από δοθέν σημείο έως τον πλησιέστερο κόμβο ενός δικτύου οπτικών ινών. Στο πέμπτο κεφάλαιο παρουσιάζονται τα συμπεράσματα της διπλωματικής εργασίας και ακολουθεί η βιβλιογραφία που χρησιμοποιήθηκε. / -

The Homol'ovi region of northeastern Arizona was home to a dense prehistoric population with strong, archaeologically-visible ties to the Hopi Mesas. As an ancestral Hopi residential area, this region is an important part of the Hopi cultural landscape utilized contemporarily by Hopi people for religious and resource procurement purposes. However, while previous research indicates that the Cottonwood Wash drainage formed an important component of the Homol'ovi landscape, the archaeology of the wash and its adjacent uplands is poorly understood. This research adopts a two-pronged approach to assessing the efficacy of GIS analysis for interpreting the spatial distribution of archaeological sites within the Homol'ovi landscape. The deductive approach draws on principles of cultural landscape theory to construct a descriptive model of dimensions of Hopi land use on the basis of ethnographic documentation and Hopi traditional history. This model is applied to a database composed of survey data collected from the Cottonwood Wash vicinity and data from the Homol'ovi Research Program's survey of Homolovi State Park. The model is then operationalized through GIS analysis of site distributions, and the efficacy of the model for predicting the location of different types of prehistoric land use is evaluated. The second, inductive, approach examines site distribution relative to patterns of visibility and movement in the Homol'ovi region and identifies areas for the refinement of spatial data associated with shrines and petroglyphs in the region. On the basis of this two-pronged approach, a research strategy iteratively incorporating deductive and inductive analyses, coupled with the use of participatory approaches, is recommended for future research.

New district heating systems in Toronto have the potential for significant financial and environmental gains. Through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and the data required to estimate heating loads, heat maps were generated on a building-by-building basis for over 4400 buildings at nine different intersections in Toronto. School locations and planned construction maps were used to enhance the data and demonstrate the benefit of considering factors beyond finance and the environment. Out of the intersections studied, Yonge and Eglinton; Yonge and Sheppard; and Yonge and Empress held the largest heating loads. Individual building data allowed for plant locations to be suggested based on their proportional distance to the highest loads. GIS allowed for the visualization of the vast quantity of data. The opportunities for improvement include increasing the availability of location-based data and the application of the methodology to other areas of infrastructure planning and decision making.

New district heating systems in Toronto have the potential for significant financial and environmental gains. Through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and the data required to estimate heating loads, heat maps were generated on a building-by-building basis for over 4400 buildings at nine different intersections in Toronto. School locations and planned construction maps were used to enhance the data and demonstrate the benefit of considering factors beyond finance and the environment. Out of the intersections studied, Yonge and Eglinton; Yonge and Sheppard; and Yonge and Empress held the largest heating loads. Individual building data allowed for plant locations to be suggested based on their proportional distance to the highest loads. GIS allowed for the visualization of the vast quantity of data. The opportunities for improvement include increasing the availability of location-based data and the application of the methodology to other areas of infrastructure planning and decision making.

The objective of this work is to develop a Bayesian Network (BN) model to produce environmental risk maps for oil and gas site developments and to demonstrate the model’s scalability from a point to a collection of points. To reach this objective, a benchmark BN model was formulated as a “proof of concept” using Aquifers, Ecoregions and Land Use / Land Cover maps as local and independent input variables. This model was then used to evaluate the probabilistic geographical distribution of the Environmental Sensibility of Oil and Gas (O&G) developments for a given study area. A Risk index associated with the development of O&G operation activities based on the spatial environmental sensibility was also mapped. To facilitate the Risk assessment, these input variables (maps) were discretized into three hazard levels: high, moderate and low. A Geographical Information System (GIS) platform was used (ESRI ArcMap 10), to gather, modify and display the data for the analysis. Once the variables were defined and the hazard data was included on feature classes (layer shapefile format), Python 2.6 software was used as the computational platform to calculate the probabilistic state of all the Bayesian Network’s variables. This allowed to define Risk scenarios both on prognostic and diagnostic analysis and to measure the impact of changes or interventions in terms of uncertainty. The resulting Python – ESRI ArcMap computational script was called “BN+GIS, which populated maps describing the spatial variability of the states of the Environmental Sensibility and of the corresponding Risk index. The latter in particular, represents a tool for decision makers to choose the most suitable location for placing a drilling rig, since it integrates three fundamental environmental variables. Also, results show that is possible to back propagate the information from the Environmental Sensibility to define the inherent triggering scenarios (hazard variables). A case of study is presented to illustrate the applicability of the proposed methodology on a specific geographical setting. The Barnett Shale was chosen as a benchmark study area because sufficient information on this region was available, and the importance that it holds on the latest developments of unconventional plays in the country. The main contribution of this work relies in combining Bayesian Networks and GIS to define environmental Risk scenarios that can facilitate decision-making for O&G stakeholders such as land owners, industry operators, regulators and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), before and during the development of a given site.

In public safety, geography plays a significant role. One of the most important front-line elements of public safety is an efficient emergency transport and care system. The capacity to access and process information rapidly and organize resources where needed can be critically important in an emergency situation. Information about the locality of an event or a disaster is often vital in knowing how to respond. A significant operation in handling emergency situations is the routing of ambulances to incident sites and then to the closest appropriate hospitals. One of the important steps to survival in an emergency is quick response time. The aim of this thesis study is to build an immediate, rapid and efficient emergency medical transport system prototype, called Ambulance Routing Service Application Prototype (ARSAP), to be used in Middle East Technical University (METU) Emergency Service, Ankara, Turkey. In the study, geographical information systems (GIS) technology is used in assisting the development and implementation of an emergency medical service (EMS) response system. In this prototype, while choosing a proper facility, the available quantity of beds, respiratory equipments and doctors in a hospital&#039 / s intensive care room and the best traffic routes to the hospital in hand are also considered. The ARSAP is expected to shorten the commuting time and hence to reduce the damage to the patient to the lowest level and allow the ambulance staff to perform their task better. The results generated using the ARSAP are validated and analyzed by comparing with currently practiced emergency call paths data collected with the help of METU Emergency Service ambulance drivers.

This thesis is structured around the analysis of a model that describes the Cantonment, the Civil Lines, the Sadr Bazar and part of the Native City of the Western Indian settlement of Poona in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.