GIS for Environmental Modeling

Course Description
This is an intermediate level GIS course designed for senior undergraduate students and graduate students at all levels. Students are expected to have basic knowledge of GIS through either completing an introductory level GIS course or having entry level work experiences with GIS. The course emphasizes GIS applications for environmental modeling, which is loosely defined as any projects that contain environmental elements. The course has a lecture and a lab component. The lecture will focus on Methodology Design by introducing a series of GIS methods and their intended use in order to help students select appropriate GIS methods for a project. These topics are covered under the following sections: Basic GIS Methods, Testing and Validating GIS methods, and integrating GIS with environmental models. The hands-on labs will focus on learning GIS tools in order to implement a GIS project. Advanced topics in GIS research will also be introduced. The course should benefit students specialized in environment, natural resources, and any disciplines that are concerned with environmental issues.

GIS Project
Students are expected to complete a project that uses GIS to address an environmental issue. The topical area is flexible. Titles of past students' project are listed at the end of this page to provide a reference. Projects related to students' potential thesis or dissertation, current job or RA duties, and students' personal interests are strongly encouraged. Towards the end of the semester, students are expected to report their projects through a classroom presentation and a written project report.

Literature Review
As part of the project report, graduate students are required to develop a literature review and submit it by the 10th week of the semester.

Labs
A series of laboratory exercises will provide students with hands-on experience in GIS application. ArcGIS will be the primary GIS software for the labs. The exercises are designed to support many aspects of environmental modeling and offer students with opportunities to practice the following techniques: spatial data entry and editing, spatial file management and map making, attribute data manipulation and transition, overlay and buffering analysis, topographic analysis, grid modeling, and 3-D display.

Textbook
No required textbooks.

Prerequisite
Intro to GIS such as Geog 506/481 or the equivalent, basic statistics, or the consent of the instructor.

Grading

	Under	Grad
Project Report	60%	*40%
Literature Review		20%
Lab assignments	30%	30%
Classroom involvement	10%	10%
Total	100%	100%

 * The 40% is the project report excluding the literature review.
Note that no "incomplete" will be granted for this course.

Tentative Schedule
    I. Basic GIS Methods
    1/15  Introduction
    1/17  Environmental modeling and environmental models
             Past student projects (2006)
             Past student projects (2005)
             Past student projects (2004)
    1/22  GIS modeling
    1/24  GIS data sources
    1/29  Basic GIS modeling - suitability index
    1/31  GIS functions for suitability index
    2/  7  Raster operations

II. Testing and Validating GIS methods
    2/12  Basic testing methods
    2/14  Basic testing methods
    2/19  Basic testing methods
    2/21  Validating GIS models
    2/26  Testing relevancy of GIS layers
    2/28  Weighting GIS layers
    3/  4  Weighting GIS layers
    3/  6  Weighting GIS layers
    3/10-14 Spring Break
   
III. Integrating GIS with Environmental Models
    3/18  Project report development
    3/20  Integration of GIS and environmental models
    3/25  Advanced topics
    3/27  Spatial interpolation
    4/  1  Guest Speakers, Ecology and Environment, Inc.
    4/  3  Guest Speaker, John Whitney, USDA-NRCS
    4/  8, 10, 22 Presentations  
    4/24  Conclusion

The schedule and topics may change based on students' research interests
and potential guest speakers' schedule.

Recommended Data Sources
http://cugir.mannlib.cornell.edu/
http://www.nysgis.state.ny.us/
http://seamless.usgs.gov/
http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/

State level data: NYSDEC regulated facilities, inactive hazardous waste sites,
        transportation, boundaries, hydrography.
County level data: roads, hydrography, railroads, block groups, census tracks,
        minor civil divisions, boundaries, hydrography.

Past Project Titles

Risk assessment of high chloride concentrations from road salt use in Monroe
County, New York
Nathan Carter

A prehistoric archaeological site prediction model for the Town of Clarence,
Erie County, New York
Tanya Catignani

Analysis of toxic waste facilities in the City of Buffalo
Kellie Davis

Bus-dependent population analysis for Buffalo, New York
Federico Rodriguez Gutierrez

Model of Chaffee landfill expansion: Sardinia, Erie County, New York
Kevin Hanny

A spatially explicit individual based model for epidemic transmission among
heterogeneous communities
Yuxia Huang

Locating potential wetlands in Tonawanda and Ellicott Creek watersheds
Risa Ikeya

Redevelopment of LTV - find suitable location for jog/bike path
Chong Woon Kuan

Economic ventures in the Adirondack Park
Jeanne Lecces

DEM uncertainty propogation in conversion to differnt spatial data types for
kriging interpolation using a bayesian network model
Jonghoon Lee

Population growth vs. accessibility of infrastructures
Yi-Yu Li

Simplified approach to public health planning: An analysis of hospital locations
in Erie County
Hsia-wei Lin

Three dimensional model of the western desert of Egypt
Daniel Milewski and Eileen Ballerstein

Land subsidence: A study of the Amherst area
Jake Needle

Modeling soil samples in Buffalo, NY through GIS analysis
Angela Paolucci

Evaluation of the potential sources for primary succession after radical changes
in the landscape resulting from volcanic activity
Gabriel legorreta Paulin

A GIS based archaeological sensitivity model for the siege of Fort Levis
Michael Roets

Using GIS for greenway suitability analysis
Brian Slack

GIS-based watershed classification and rating in the Lake George Park
Kate Stoutenburg

Toxic waste sites in Erie County: environmental racism?
Seth Triggs

A comparative analysis of interpolating methodology used in volcanic tephra
depositional extent
Amy Webb

GIS and suitability analysis - Site suitability for created wetlands,
Clarence, NY
Kerrie Widmer

Town of Clarence Greenprint
Chris Woodside

Recommended Journals/Magazines
International Journal of Geographical Information Science
Journal of Geographical Systems
Transactions in GIS
Computers, Environment and Urban Systems
Cartography and Geographic Information Systems
Computers and Geosciences
GIScience and Remote Sensing
Geoinformatica

GEOWorld
GeoSpatial Solutions
Directions www.directionsmag.com

Reading Materials

* Highly recommended

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 1988-

Proceedings, GIS/LIS'  1989-1998

Goodchild, M.F., B.O. Parks, and L.T. Steyaert, 1993. Environmental
Modeling with GIS, Oxford, New York, p488.

Goodchild, M.F., B.O. Parks, L.T. Steyaert, C. Johnson, D. Maidment, M.
Crane, and S. Glendinning, 1993. GIS and  Environmental Modeling: Progress
and Research Issues, GIS World, Inc., Fort Collins, CO, p486.

NCGIA, 1996. Third International Conference/Workshop on Integrating
Geographic Information Systems and Environmental Modeling.
www.ncgia.ucsb.edu.

Basic GIS Methods
McAllister, D.M., 1990. Evaluation in Environmental Planning. MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA, p308.

McHarg, I.L., 1969. Design with Nature. Doubleday/Natural History Press,
New York.

*McMaster, R.B., 1988. Modeling community vulnerability to hazardous
materials using geographic information systems. Proceedings, Third
International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, 143-156. Reprinted in
Peuquet, D.J., and D.F. Marble, ed. 1990. Introductory Readings in
Geographic Information Systems. Taylor and Francis, London, 183-194.

Jensen, J.R., S. Narumalani, O.Weatherbee, K.S. Morris, and H.E. Mackey,
1992. Predictive modeling of Cattail and Waterlily distribution in a South
Carolina reservoir. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing,
58(11):1561-1568.

*Krist, F.J., and D. G. Brown, 1994. GIS modeling of paleo-Indian period
Caribu migrations and viewsheds in Northern Lower Michigan.
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 60(9): 1129-1137.

Testing and Validating GIS models
Barber, G. M., 1988. Elementary Statistics for Geographers. The Guilford
Press, New York, pp513.

Clark, W.A.V., 1986. Statistics Methods for Geographers. John Wiley and
Sons, Inc. New York, pp518.

#Davis, J.C., 1986. Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. 2nd Ed. John
Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York, pp646.

*Breininger, D.R., M.J. Provancha, and R.B. Smith, 1991. Mapping Florida
Scrub Jay habitat for purposes of land-use management. Photogrammetric
Engineering and Remote Sensing, 57(11):1467-1474.

Lowell, K.E., and J.H. Astroth, 1989. Vegetative succession and controlled
fire in a glades ecosystem, a geographic information system approach.
International Journal of Geographical Information Systems, 3(1):69-81.

*Agee, J.K., S.C.F. Stitt, M. Nyquist, and R. Root, 1989. A geographic
analysis of historical Grizzly Bear sightings in the North Cascades.
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 55(11):1637-1642.

Herr, A.M. and L.P. Queen, 1993. Crane habitat evaluation using GIS and
remote sensing. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing,
59(10):1531-1538.

*Sophocleous, M., 1992. Groundwater recharge estimation and
regionalization: the Great Bend Prairie of central Kansas and its recharge
statistics. Journal of Hydrology, 137:113-140.

Johnston, K.M., 1992. Using statistical regression analysis to build three
prototype GIS wildlife models. Proceedings, GIS/LIS'92, 374-386.

*Pereira, J.M.C., and R.M. Itami, 1991. GIS-based habitat modeling using
logistic multiple regression: a study of the Mt. Graham Red Squirrel.
Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 57(11):1475-1486.

Lowell, K, 1991. Utilizing discriminant function analysis with a
geographical information system to model ecological succession spatially.
International Journal of Geographical Information Systems, 5(2):175-191.

Integrating GIS with Environmental Models
Wheeler, D.J., 1993. Linking environmental models with geographic
information systems for global change research. Photogrammetric
Engineering and Remote Sensing, 59(10):1497-1501.

Maidment, D.R., 1993. GIS and hydrologic modelling. in Environmental
Modelling with GIS, Goodchild, M.F., B.O. Parks, and L.T. Steyaert (ed.)
Oxford University Press, New York, 147-167.

*Zack, J.A. and R.A. Minnich, 1991. Integration of geographic information
systems with a diagnostic wind field model for fire management. Forest
Science, 37(2): 560-573.

Taher, S.A. and J.W. Labadie, 1996. Optimal design of water-distribution
network with GIS. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management,
122(4): 301-311.

Abel, D.J., Kilby, P.J. & Davis, J.R. (1994) The systems integration
problem. International Journal of Geographical Information Systems,
8(1):1-12.

Chou, H.-C. and Ding, Y. (1992) Methodology of integrating spatial
analysis/modeling and GIS. Proceedings, 5th International Symposium on
Spatial Data handling, Charleston, South Carolina, 514-523.

Nyerges, T. (1993) Understanding the scope of GIS: its relationship to
environmental modelling. in Environmental Modelling with GIS, Goodchild,
M.F., B.O. Parks, & L.T. Steyaert (ed.) Oxford University Press, New York,
75-93.

Mark, D.M, and M.D. Gould, 1991. Interacting with geographic information :
a commentary. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing,
57(11):1427-1430.

Harris, J., S. Gupta, G. Woodside, and N. Ziemba, 1993. Integrated use of
a GIS and three-dimensional, finite-element model: San Gabriel Basin
Groundwater flow analyses. in Goodchild, M.F., B.O. parks, and L.T.
Steyaert (ed.), 1993. Environmental Modeling with GIS, Oxford, New York,
168-172.

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