GIS Spatial Model Research Articles

Developing regional locational guidance for wave and tidal energy in the Shetland Islands

Marine renewables offer potential economic and environmental benefits, however there is a need to ensure that the growth of this emergent industry considers existing features and users of the marine environment. There is a clear role for marine spatial planning to guide its future development. The Shetland Regional Locational Guidance is a sensitivity led approach to identifying the suitability of areas around the Shetland Islands for renewable energy development and associated shore based infrastructure, and is an example of integrated coastal zone management. Working closely with local stakeholders was key to this process, which incorporates economic, environmental, social and cultural uses into one constraint model; constraint levels are set by local and societal values, rather than monetary equivalences. It has been successfully translated into policy within the Shetland Islands׳ Marine Spatial Plan, which will form supplementary guidance to the Shetland Islands Council׳s forthcoming Local Development Plan. The policy integrates with GIS data without requiring the creation of ‘zones’, as was requested by local stakeholders, and allows for updating of the GIS spatial model without requiring changes to the policy wording.

Mapping stone: using GIS spatial modelling to predict lithic source zones

We present a new approach to predicting the location of sources of flakeable stone using GIS modelling of raw material proportions obtained from site assemblage data. This approach offers a valuable tool for locating potential source areas and investigating past lithic provisioning and landuse when abundant site assemblage data is available but precise source locations are unknown. Using published and grey literature on raw material composition for 84 sites, we generate a model of varying raw material concentrations for the Moreton Region of Southeast Queensland, Australia, and test our predicted source locations against known prehistoric quarries, geology maps and ground truthing of two key predicted areas with distinctive raw materials. Our results suggest distinct source areas are identifiable, suggesting that primary outcrops are more important sources of stone in this region than large streams and rivers.

流域库坝工程开发的生物多样性敏感度分区

流域生态敏感性是流域生态系统遇到干扰时产生生态失衡与生态环境问题的难易程度和可能性大小，生物多样性是其影响最为重要的生态因子。主要考虑物种丰富度、珍稀程度、濒危程度、保护等级和生态系统类型等生物多样性敏感因子，借助GIS强大的空间数据采集和建模分析能力，在专家打分求取敏感因子权重基础上，通过空间模型计算生物多样性敏感度综合得分。基于二级流域综合得分最大值，采用ARCGIS自然间断点法实现敏感度分区，结果表明：极敏感区域主要分布在长江区的岷沱江、金沙江石鼓以下、金沙江石鼓以上、宜宾至宜昌、嘉陵江流域，珠江区的郁江、红柳河和西江流域，西南诸河区的澜沧江、红河和怒江及伊洛瓦底江流域，黄河区的龙羊峡以上流域等，这些区域水生生物特有种和受威胁物种丰度大，国家级自然保护区密集，是陆地生物多样性最丰富的地区。不敏感区域主要分布在松花江区除第二松花江以外流域，西北诸河区的塔里木盆地荒漠、古尔班通古特荒漠、中亚西亚内陆河、塔里木河干流等荒漠区，松花江区低温高寒，具有大森林、大草原、大湿地、大农田和大水域的特点，库坝工程对其生物多样性产生影响的可能性较小，西北诸河的荒漠区生境严酷，生物多样性贫乏，也不具备修建大型水库的条件，生物多样性敏感度也较低。其它区域介于二者之间，因其所处的生态系统类型、物种丰富度、珍稀程度、濒危程度和保护等级不一样，生物多样性敏感度各异。对流域库坝工程产生的生物多样性敏感度进行辨识，可为未来流域水资源合理和适度开发提供科学依据。;Ecological sensitivity refers to the reflection degree of the ecosystem to human activities and natural environment's changes; it explains the accessibility and possibility of the effect of regional ecological environment. Watershed ecological sensitivity is the degree of difficulty and possibility of ecological imbalance and environmental problems when the ecosystem encountered interference. Biodiversity is the most important ecological factor that can be affected by the Watershed ecological sensitivity. By considering the main biodiversity sensitive factors such as ecosystem types, species richness, rarity, endangered and protected level, this paper identified the ecological effects possibility of watershed dam and reservoir projects. By means of GIS technology's powerful and spatial data acquisition, processing and modeling analysis capabilities, the biodiversity sensitivity index was calculated based on the weights of the expert's score. Sensitivity partition was achieved in accordance with the principle of ARCGIS natural breaks methodology based on the secondary basin area maximum integrated sensitivity index. The results show that the most sensitive areas are mainly located at Min Tuo Jiang, Jinsha river Shigu downstream, Jinsha river Shigu upstream, Yibin to Yichang and Jialing River of Yangtze River region; Yujiang, Hongliuhe and Xijiang of Pearl River region; Lancang River, Red River, Nujiang and Irrawaddy River of Southwestern rivers region; Longyangxia's upstream of Yellow River region. These areas which have rich kinds of endemic aquatic species, threatened species and intensive national nature reserve, are the most abundant biodiversity areas. Insensitive areas are mainly at Songhua river region except the second Songhua river area, Tarim basin desert, Gurbantunggut desert, central & western Asian inland river and Mainstream of the Tarim River in Northwestern rivers region. The characteristics of Songhua river region are low temperature, forestclimate steppe climate, wet, big farmland and waters climate, and the engineering reservoirs are less likely to affect biodiversity. The desert areas in the Northwestern rivers region have harsh ecological and poor biodiversity enviroment, also an insufficient condition of building a large reservoir with a low biodiversity sensitivity.The sensitivity of other areas is between the two areas that mentioned above, different sensitivity of biodiversity depends on its ecosystem types, species richness, rarity, endangered and protected level. The main area in Songhua river region is insensitive area, which occupies 91.92% of total area. Liaohe area is mainly less sensitive area and sensitive area, the percentages are 52.83% and 47.17% respectively. The main area of Yellow river region is sensitive area, and Longyangxia to Lanzhou is more sensitive area. The main area of Yangtze River region and Pearl River region is the most sensitive area, the proportion percentage is 50.47% and 50.46% respectively. The more sensitive area of southeastern rivers region is 70.70% of the whole area. The most sensitive area in Southwestrn rivers has 46.57% of the Southwestern rivers area, and the sensitive area in Southwestern rivers is 53.43%. Qinghai Lake river system of the Northwestern rivers region is more sensitive area, the oasis on the edge of the desert and the piedmont area is sensitive area. It can be used to provide a scientific prove of reasonable and suitable development for the river water resource in the future by recognizing the biodiversity's susceptibility causing by reservoir engineering.

Analyzing the multi-mechanism of regional inequality in China

This paper advances the multi-mechanism framework, integrates the GIS technology and spatial panel data models for analyzing regional inequality mechanism. Applying this integrated methodology, we investigate China’s regional inequality at the county level using a comprehensive panel dataset that includes socioeconomic, environmental, locational, policy and GIS data from 1992 to 2010. The results show that Chinese regional inequality at the county level has a non-stationary dynamic structure, mirroring global inequality and spatial autocorrelation. In addition, the spatial panel data models analysis reveals the relative influence of explanatory variables. The impact of essential productive factors on regional development is gradually fading. Industrialization and decentralization play the most important role. The influence of marketization on regional development is not clear. The expansion of urban built-up areas has exerted a strong influence on the uneven regional development. Policy and transportation factor plays an indispensable role in regional inequality. The analysis additionally recognizes that socioeconomic factors play a dominant role, beyond policy and location factors. The role of environmental factors appears to be masked. This paper suggests that more attention needs to be paid to micro-inequality to coordinate inter-county and intra-county inequality under the pressure of rapid industrialization, urbanization and modernization of agriculture. Given the pattern of economic development, deepening balanced development reforms, optimizing and upgrading the industrial structure might be effective ways to develop a more coordinated regional development structure in China at the county level.

Earthquake Damage Prediction System of Buildings Group Based on Damage Factors Method

In view of our country needs to improve the ability of city earthquake disaster prevention, the paper proposes the earthquake damage prediction method of buildings group based on damage factors method. The system establishes the earthquake damage prediction of spatial database. Based on the earthquake damage factors method and the application of the GIS spatial analysis model, we predict earthquake disaster loss of city buildings and realized the Langfang city earthquake disaster prediction system. The realization of this system provides strong technical support for improving the ability of Langfang earthquake disaster prevention.

UAVRS Technique Applied to Emergency Response Management of Geological Hazard at Mountainous Area

Unmanned aerial vehicle remote sensing (UAVRS) technique was applied to emergency monitor Cocktail Mountain landslip geological hazard in Wulong county of Chongqing. The paper analyzes methods of accessing and processing digital image data in mountainous area and its application to emergency response management of geological hazard. The conclusion shows that UAVRS can access quickly high-precision remote sensing digital map and supply newly and explicit data for emergency decision. Combing with GIS spatial analyst modeling, UAVRS can assess high-speed hazard and provide base of allocating relief supplies. UAVRS integrating GIS can bring up potential and secondary disaster points for guaranteeing safety of personnel and property. UAVRS can also provide hazard information timely and exactly for pacifying the public to avoid panic. So UAVRS technique can provide technical support for emergency response management of geological hazard.

Hydrogeochemical Attributes and GIS Spatial Modeling in Determining Areas for Horizontal Expansion of Development Projects in East Uweinat, Egypt

Hydrogeochemical Attributes and GIS Spatial Modeling in Determining Areas for Horizontal Expansion of Development Projects in East Uweinat, Egypt

Quantitative versus Qualitative Geospatial Data in Spatial Modelling and Decision Making

In general, geospatial data can be divided into two formats, raster and vector formats. A raster consists of a matrix of cells where each cell contains a value representing quantitative information, such as temperature, vegetation intensity, land use/cover, elevation, etc. A vector data consists of points, lines and polygons representing location or distance or area of landscape features in graphical forms. Many raster data are derived from remote sensing techniques using sophisticated sensors by quantitative approach and many vector data are generated from GIS processes by qualitative approach. Among them, land use/cover data is frequently used in many GIS analyses and spatial modeling processes. However, proper use of quantitative and qualitative geospatial data is important in spatial modeling and decision making. In this article, we discuss common geospatial data formats, their origins and proper use in spatial modelling and decision making processes.

A GIS-Aided Assessment of the Health Hazards of Cadmium in Farm Soils in Central Taiwan

A geostatistical method was developed to examine the correlation, or lack of it, between the levels of cadmium (Cd) detected in farm soils and those detected in the human specimens collected from residents around the contaminated areas in Changhua County where cadmium contamination of staple rice has been documented. We used the Taiwan EPA environment data in 2002 and human data which were generated by the National Health Research Institutes during 2003–2005. Kriging interpolation methods were used to determine soil Cd concentrations. A Zonal statistical function was performed to assess the individual exposure. Soil Cd levels and tissue Cd levels in residents were analyzed for contamination hotspots and other areas to determine correlation between the two variables. Three Cd contamination hotspots were identified, in which no correlation was found between soil Cd levels and tissue Cd levels in residents. Our results demonstrate how GIS spatial modeling technique can be used to estimate distribution of pollutants in an area using a limited number of data points. Results indicated no association between the soil contamination and the exposure of residents to Cd, suggesting that both the soils and the residents are receptors of Cd as a pollutant from as yet unidentified sources.

The contribution of rice agriculture and livestock pastoralism to prehistoric methane levels

We review the origins and dispersal of rice in Asia based on a data base of 443 archaeobotanical reports. Evidence is considered in terms of quality, and especially whether there are data indicating the mode of cultivation, in flooded (‘paddy’ or ‘wet’) or non-flooded (‘dry’) fields. At present it appears that early rice cultivation in the Yangtze region and southern China was based on wet, paddy-field systems from early on, before 4000 bc, whereas early rice in northern India and Thailand was predominantly dry rice at 2000 bc, with a transition to flooded rice documented for India at c. 1000 bc. On the basis of these data we have developed a GIS spatial model of the spread of rice and the growth of land area under paddy rice. This is then compared with a review of the spread of ungulate livestock (cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goat) throughout the Old World. After the initial dispersal through Europe and around the Mediterranean (7000–4000 bc), the major period of livestock expansion is after 3000 bc, into the Sub-Saharan savannas, through monsoonal India and into central China. Further expansion, to southern Africa and Southeast Asia dates mostly after 1000 bc. Based on these two data sets we provide a quantitative model of the land area under irrigated rice, and its likely methane output, through the mid to late Holocene, for comparison to a more preliminary estimate of the expansion of methane-producing livestock. Both data sets are congruent with an anthropogenic source of later Holocene methane after 3000 bc, although it may be that increase in methane input from livestock was most significant in the 3000–1000 bc period, whereas rice paddies become an increasingly significant source especially after 2000 bc.

Study on Space Model of Urban Expansion

With GIS spatial application model, from the angles of space developing and changing, explore the motion and change rules of urban development in the process of urbanization, and improve scientific nature and accuracy of forecast. To analyze the characteristics and their driving forces of changes in urban construction land and urban expansion space, first we have explored space model of urban expansion theoretically, then made some research combining the examples of urban spatial and temporal changes in Luoyang City. Study the laws of urban expansion from the angles of temporal and spatial variation with GIS space analysis model, thereby explore the internal mechanism of urban spatial variation, which can be provided with better research efficiency.

Peri-Urban Transformations in Agricultural Landscapes of Perugia, Italy

Urban fringes represent very complex landscapes because of their proximity and mutual dependency with cities and rural areas. These landscapes may be considered as transition entities characterized by fuzzy boundaries. An uncontrolled development of urban sprawl and land use changes in these areas may deter- mine negative impacts on all natural, economic and social components. Thus, urban fringes assume a key-role in modern landscape analysis, planning and management. Landscape analysis of these interfaces, as this study shows, can be effectively supported by GIS spatial modelling. The Settlement Density Index (SDI), developed through GIS spatial analysis techniques, expresses punctually the territorial gradients generated by the presence of settlements and allows the identification of the urban fringes in the two periods under invest-tigation. These areas are then characterized and analyzed quantitatively using detailed land use data. The comparison of the diachronic information highlights the transformations of peri-urban landscapes that appear mainly related to the modifications of spatial configuration of urban areas and to the changes of agricultural systems.

Landscape pattern analysis of plankton in northern South China Sea

Based on the data from survey on fishery resources and their habitat environment in the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of South China Sea conducted during 1997～2002 and sponsored by the state program of special marine survey(HY126-02),we analyzed the landscape pattern of plankton in northern South China Sea(NSCS) by using GIS spatial analysis model and mapping techniques.Results show that high plankton biomass areas patch along coastal waters,and the seasonal variation of their landscape pattern changes with monsoon and coastal monsoon flow.Furthermore,the areas generally enclose in several important upwelling areas and traditional fishing grounds in northern South China Sea coast.

Land use dynamics in Lhasa area, Tibetan Plateau

Land use change is the result of the interplay between socioeconomic, institutional and environmental factors, and has important impacts on the functioning of socioeconomic and environmental systems with important tradeoffs for sustainability, food security, biodiversity and the vulnerability of people and ecosystems to global change impacts. Based on the results of the First Land Use Survey in Tibet Autonomous Region carried out in the late 1980s, land use map of Lhasa area in 1990 was compiled for the main agricultural area in Lhasa valley using aerial photos obtained in April, May and October 1991 and Landsat imagery in the late 1980s and 1991 as remotely sensed data sources. Using these remotely sensed data, the land use status of Lhasa area in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2000 were mapped through updating annual changes of cultivated land, artificial forest, grass planting, grassland restoration, and residential area and so on. Land use map for Lhasa area in 2007 was made using ALOS AVNIR-2 composite images acquired on October 24 and December 26, 2007 through updating changes of main land use types. According to land use status of Lhasa area in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2007, the spatial and temporal land use dynamics in Lhasa area from 1990 to 2007 are further analyzed using GIS spatial models in this paper.

Remote Sensing and Geospatial Technological Applications for Site-specific Management of Fruit and Nut Crops: A Review

Site-specific crop management (SSCM) is one facet of precision agriculture which is helping increase production with minimal input. It has enhanced the cost-benefit scenario in crop production. Even though the SSCM is very widely used in row crop agriculture like corn, wheat, rice, soybean, etc. it has very little application in cash crops like fruit and nut. The main goal of this review paper was to conduct a comprehensive review of advanced technologies, including geospatial technologies, used in site-specific management of fruit and nut crops. The review explores various remote sensing data from different platforms like satellite, LIDAR, aerial, and field imaging. The study analyzes the use of satellite sensors, such as Quickbird, Landsat, SPOT, and IRS imagery as well as hyperspectral narrow-band remote sensing data in study of fruit and nut crops in blueberry, citrus, peach, apple, etc. The study also explores other geospatial technologies such as GPS, GIS spatial modeling, advanced image processing techniques, and information technology for suitability study, orchard delineation, and classification accuracy assessment. The study also provides an example of a geospatial model developed in ArcGIS ModelBuilder to automate the blueberry production suitability analysis. The GIS spatial model is developed using various crop characteristics such as chilling hours, soil permeability, drainage, and pH, and land cover to determine the best sites for growing blueberry in Georgia, U.S. The study also provides a list of spectral reflectance curves developed for some fruit and nut crops, blueberry, crowberry, redblush citrus, orange, prickly pear, and peach. The study also explains these curves in detail to help researchers choose the image platform, sensor, and spectrum wavelength for various fruit and nut crops SSCM.

Estimation of ancient and future shoreline positions in the vicinity of Olkiluoto, an island on the western coast of Finland: The difference between Grid and TIN based GIS-approaches

The rise of GIS data and spatial modelling techniques has brought new insights into shore displacement and palaeogeographical studies during recent years. The aim of this study was to compare the capabilities of a raster data and map algebra based technique with those of a vector data triangulated irregular network (TIN) based technique in the reconstruction of ancient and future shoreline positions in the vicinity of Olkiluoto, an island on the rapidly uplifting western coast of Finland. The first two models were carried out using a raster subtraction technique, with grid cell sizes of 200-m and 30-m, and a third model utilised a TIN intersection technique where the shoreline is derived from the intersection of the TIN representing the modern topography and the TIN representing the water plane of the reconstructed phase. The results show that the raster based technique has limited capability in recognition of important landscape features common to glacially sculptured coastal areas subject to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), whereas the TIN-intersection technique provides more detailed information about the shoreline features. Comparison of the results reveals that the advantage of the TIN-intersection technique is more obvious the finer the scale is. Novel spatial modelling techniques improve the reconstructions of palaeolandscapes and shoreline positions of different time periods.

Mapping Urban Land Cover Using QuickBird NDVI and GIS Spatial Modeling for Runoff Coefficient Determination

This research presents an integration of remote sensing and GIS for determining the runoff coefficient (C) recommended by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Water Pollution Control Federation in 1969. The C is a runoff index used as an input parameter in the most commonly used procedure: the rational method for storm-water runoff calculation in small urban watersheds for storm drainage design and analysis. The objective of this study was to evaluate 8-bit and 16-bit QuickBird (QB) NDVI satellite imagery using an unsupervised classification and the ISODATA algorithm to map impervious area and open space used for the determination of C in GIS spatial modeling. The research hypothesis was that mapping impervious area and open space using high spatial resolution NDVI satellite imagery, generated using the ISODATA algorithm, was an efficient and effective information extraction approach for accurately estimating spatial representative C values. The overall classification accuracies of the six QB NDVI thematic maps produced were similar, about 92 percent. In order to assess the utility of high spatial resolution satellite imagery and to validate the composite runoff index geographic model developed by Thanapura in 2005 and 2006, the C values were calculated in GIS spatial modeling and compared to the industry standard C. Finally, the hypothesis was accepted that the finer resolution image and mapping approach used in this study allowed for better discrimination of land-cover and thus a more accurate representative C estimation.

GIS spatial modeling of river flow and precipitation in the Oak Ridges Moraine area, Ontario

The spatial pattern of storm runoff volume is of interest in many environmental concerns and storm runoff is an important component in the hydrologic cycle because of its relationship to issues such as flooding and water quality. The isolation of the groundwater component allows the net effect of meteorology to stream flow rate. Hence, the time lag for the stream in respond to the precipitation event depends mainly on the physical and hydrological characteristics of the drainage basins such as land use, topography and geometry of the drainage basins. This paper uses different types of statistical and GIS techniques in an attempt to relate the meteorological data to the hydrological data, showing the spatial pattern of different respond time for different watersheds in Oak Ridges Moraine Area in the southern part of Ontario, Canada. The results were then related to the different physical properties of the watersheds delineated by GIS software.

GIS spatial modeling of river flow and precipitation in the Oak Ridges Moraine area, Ontario

The spatial pattern of storm runoff volume is of interest in many environmental concerns and storm runoff is an important component in the hydrologic cycle because of its relationship to issues such as flooding and water quality. The isolation of the groundwater component allows the net effect of meteorology to stream flow rate. Hence, the time lag for the stream in respond to the precipitation event depends mainly on the physical and hydrological characteristics of the drainage basins such as land use, topography and geometry of the drainage basins. This paper uses different types of statistical and GIS techniques in an attempt to relate the meteorological data to the hydrological data, showing the spatial pattern of different respond time for different watersheds in Oak Ridges Moraine Area in the southern part of Ontario, Canada. The results were then related to the different physical properties of the watersheds delineated by GIS software.

Towards GIS Mapping and Spatial Modelling of Archaeological Sites in the Southeast Queensland Bioregion

<p>In the early 1980s a strategic approach to the description, assessment and management of cultural heritage places using biogeographical boundaries was developed in Queensland. A recent refinement correlates sites on the Environmental Protection Agency's Indigenous Sites Database with environmental variables for the Moreton Basin Province of the Southeast Queensland Bioregion. Archaeological sites in the province are correlated with distance to water, elevation and particular geological and vegetation types. These correlations may reflect either real relationships or biases in the data. Preliminary correlative models developed are not considered substitutes for further inventory surveys and ongoing model refinement. The development of such models is considered useful in providing initial understanding of site distribution patterns.</p>