Earth Observations in Social Science Research for Management of Natural Resources and the Environment: Identifying the Contribution of the U.S. Land Remote Sensing (Landsat) Program

This paper surveys and describes the peer-reviewed social science literature in which data from the U.S. land remote sensing program, Landsat, inform public policy in managing natural resources and the environment. The Landsat program has provided the longest collection of observations of Earth from the vantage point of space. The paper differentiates two classes of research: methodology exploring how to use the data (for example, designing and testing algorithms or verifying the accuracy of the data) and applications of data to decisionmaking or policy implementation in managing land, air quality, water, and other natural and environmental resources. Selection of the studies uses social science-oriented bibliographic search indices and expands results of previous surveys that target only researchers specializing in remote sensing or photogrammetry. The usefulness of Landsat as a basis for informing public investment in the Landsat program will be underestimated if this body of research goes unrecognized.natural resources policy, environmental policy, Landsat, social science, environmental management

Vulnerability Assessment of Urban and Peri-Urban Areas in Dhaka: Exploring Ecosystem Service Loss

Rapid unplanned development, a primary cause of urban change, endangers ecosystems greatly. Quantifying ecosystem services helps portray the declining ecological functions caused by the urban land cover change. Dhaka, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, exerts little effort toward sustainability; affecting both the inner city and the outer periphery (peri-urban area) called extend Dhaka (5 km buffer from the city\u27s border). This study examines Dhaka\u27s urban growth impact on ecosystem service values (ESV) from 2004-2020 and projects these impacts to 2050, considering three scenarios: business as usual (BAU), conservation, and development. We employed Landsat images, different image classification techniques, the CA-Markov model for future simulation, and the global value coefficient for ESV. The research shows water bodies and tree covering change forecasting up to 2050. Due to fast urban growth in the expanding Dhaka city during 2004-2020, the total ESV declined (a decrease ESV of 211.92 million US dollars). If this pattern continues, the ESV will further drop $ 156 million by 2050. Consequently, ESV loss will be severe in outlying extended Dhaka city, and among the three forecasted scenarios, the development will lose most of its ESV. This study also suggests that for every one percent increase in total GDP, approximately 2 million dollars of ecosystem service loss results. In addition, significant changes in ecological functions, such as waste treatment, raw materials, habitat/ refugia, and water supply, caused the ESV to decline most. This concludes that appropriate planning and regulations to safeguard natural ecosystems will avoid future deterioration

Triennial Report: 2012-2014

Triennial Report Purpose [Page] 3 Geographical Information Science Center of Excellence [Page] 5 SDSU Faculty [Page] 6 EROS Faculty [Page] 13 Research Professors [Page] 19 Postdoctoral Fellows [Page] 24 GSE Ph.D Program [Page] 36 Ph.D. Fellowships [Page] 37 Ph.D. Students [Page] 38 Recent Ph.D. Graduates [Page] 46 Masters Students [Page] 56 Previous Ph.D. Students [Page] 58 Center Scholars Program [Page] 59 Research Staff [Page] 60 Administrative and Information Technology Staff [Page] 62 Computer Resources [Page] 66 Research Funding [Page] 67 Glancing Back, Looking Forward [Page] 68 Appendix I Alumni Faculty and Staff Appendix II Cool Faculty Research and Locations Appendix III Non-Academic Fun Things To Do Appendix IV Publications 2012-2014 Appendix V Directory Appendix VI GIScCE Birthplace Map Appendix VII How To Get To The GIScC

Linking Climate Change and Socio-economic Impact for Long-term Urban Growth in Three Mega-cities

Urbanization has become a global trend under the impact of population growth, socio-economic development, and globalization. However, the interactions between climate change and urban growth in the context of economic geography are unclear due to missing links in between the recent planning megacities. This study aims to conduct a multi-temporal change analysis of land use and land cover in New York City, City of London, and Beijing using a cellular automata-based Markov chain model collaborating with fuzzy set theory and multi-criteria evaluation to predict the city\u27s future land use changes for 2030 and 2050 under the background of climate change. To determine future natural forcing impacts on land use in these megacities, the study highlighted the need for integrating spatiotemporal modeling analyses, such as Statistical Downscale Modeling (SDSM) driven by climate change, and geospatial intelligence techniques, such as remote sensing and geographical information system, in support of urban growth assessment. These SDSM findings along with current land use policies and socio-economic impact were included as either factors or constraints in a cellular automata-based Markov Chain model to simulate and predict land use changes in megacities for 2030 and 2050. Urban expansion is expected in these megacities given the assumption of stationarity in urban growth process, although climate change impacts the land use changes and management. More land use protection should be addressed in order to alleviate the impact of climate change

Development of a High-Resolution Land Cover Dataset to Support Integrated Water Resources Planning and Management in Northern Utah

Integrated planning and management approaches, including bioregional planning and integrated water resources planning, are comprehensive strategies that strive to balance the sustainability of natural resources and the integrity of ecosystem processes with human development and activities. Implementation of integrated plans and programs remains complicated. However, geospatial technologies, such as geographic information systems and remote sensing, can significantly enhance planning and management processes. Through a United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 Wetland Program Development Grant, a high-resolution land cover dataset, with a primary emphasis on mapping and quantifying impervious surfaces, was developed for three watershed sub-basins in northern Utah - Lower Bear-Malad, Lower Weber, and Jordan - to support integrated water resources planning and management. This high-resolution land cover dataset can serve as an indicator of cumulative stress from urbanization; it can support the development of ecologically relevant metrics that can be integrated into watershed health and wetland condition assessments; it can provide general assessments of watershed condition; and it can support the identification of sites in need of restoration and protection

Urban Wetlands: A Review on Ecological and Cultural Values

Wetlands are a critical part of natural environments that offer a wide range of ecosystem services. In urban areas, wetlands contribute to the livability of cities through improving the water quality, carbon sequestration, providing habitats for wildlife species, reducing the effects of urban heat islands, and creating recreation opportunities. However, maintaining wetlands in urban areas faces many challenges, such as the reduction of hydrological functions, changed water regimes due to barriers, contamination by wastewater, habitat loss due to land-use change, and loss of biodiversity due to the entry of alien species. In this article, we review the theoretical background of wetlands in urban areas through the existing studies in the literature. We provide knowledge on urban wetlands and highlight the benefits of these wetlands in urban areas. These benefits include sustainability, biodiversity, urban heat islands, social perception, and recreation values. We also summarize the objectives, methodologies, and findings of the reviewed articles in five tables. In addition, we summarize the critical research gaps addressed in the reviewed articles. Our review study addresses the research gaps by performing a rigorous analysis to identify significant open research challenges, showing the path toward future research in the field. We further discuss and highlight the role of policymakers and stakeholders in preserving wetlands and finally present our conclusions

Urban Wetlands: A Review on Ecological and Cultural Values

Wetlands are a critical part of natural environments that offer a wide range of ecosystem services. In urban areas, wetlands contribute to the livability of cities through improving the water quality, carbon sequestration, providing habitats for wildlife species, reducing the effects of urban heat islands, and creating recreation opportunities. However, maintaining wetlands in urban areas faces many challenges, such as the reduction of hydrological functions, changed water regimes due to barriers, contamination by wastewater, habitat loss due to land-use change, and loss of biodiversity due to the entry of alien species. In this article, we review the theoretical background of wetlands in urban areas through the existing studies in the literature. We provide knowledge on urban wetlands and highlight the benefits of these wetlands in urban areas. These benefits include sustainability, biodiversity, urban heat islands, social perception, and recreation values. We also summarize the objectives, methodologies, and findings of the reviewed articles in five tables. In addition, we summarize the critical research gaps addressed in the reviewed articles. Our review study addresses the research gaps by performing a rigorous analysis to identify significant open research challenges, showing the path toward future research in the field. We further discuss and highlight the role of policymakers and stakeholders in preserving wetlands and finally present our conclusions

Triennial Report: 2006-2008

Triennial Report Purpose [Page] 2 The Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence [Page] 4 Three Years in Review [Page] 5 SDSU Faculty [Page] 6-11 EROS Faculty [Page] 12-16 Post-Doctoral Researchers [Page] 17-26 GSE Ph.D. program [Page] 27 Ph.D. Students [Page] 28-39 Center Scholars Program [Page] 40 Masters Students [Page] 41 Geospatial Analysts [Page] 42 Administrative Staff [Page] 43 Center Alumni [Page] 44 Research Funding [Page] 45-46 Ph.D. Student Scholarship Grants [Page] 47 Computing Resources [Page] 48 Looking Forward [Page] 49 Appendix I Faculty publications 2006-2008 [Page] 50-58 Appendix II Cool faculty research and locations [Page] 60-65 Appendix III GIScCE birthplace map [Page] 66 Appendix IV Telephone and email contact information [Page] 67-68 Appendix V How to get to the GIScCE [Page] 6

Procjena korištenja zemljišta i preobrazbe zemljišnog pokrova i urbane dinamike koristeći viševremenske satelitske podatke

Assessment of Land use and land cover (LULC) transformations at different spatial levels is crucial in several areas, including protection of the environment, resource utilization, planning and sustainability. The present work is an attempt to carry out a detailed study of LULC transformations and to analyze urban areas in Srinagar city (India) using multi-temporal Landsat satellite data for the year 1995 to 2019. Seven different LULC classes were delineated for the selected periods by a supervised method using maximum likelihood classifier algorithm in ERDAS Imagine 14. The findings indicate that over the specified periods substantial changes have occurred in terms of LULC. Overall seven categories were identified and, throughout studies, three trends of LULC change were observed (1) continuous expansion of the area under the class of built-up, barren, horticulture (2) agriculture, water and marshy class are continuously decreasing (3) increase (1995–2010) and decrease (2010–2019) in forest classes between two periods. During the study period, in built-up (+), horticulture (+), agriculture (–) water (–) and marshes (–) most significant changes have been observed, referencing to change in percentage within each class, the maximum variability was observed in built-up (148.07%), horticulture (40.87%), marshes (–58.37%), water (–22%) and agriculture (–35.38%). For quantitative assessment changes Land Consumption Rate (LCR) and Land Absorption Coefficient (LAC) were introduced. The overall research scenario shows that the LULC transition in the city is very evident. The rapid change of LULC in the ecologically sensitive Srinagar city is driven mainly by anthropogenic sources and has a negative environmental influence.Procjena korištenja zemljišta i preobrazbe zemljišnog pokrova (LULC) na različitim prostornim razinama važna je u nekoliko područja uključujući zaštitu okoliša, iskorištavanje prirodnih izvora, planiranje i održivost. U ovom radu pokušava se provesti detaljna studija LULC preobrazbi i analizirati urbana područja u gradu Srinagar (Indija) koristeći viševremenske satelitske podatke Landsat za razdoblje od 1995. do 2019. godine. Iscrtano je sedam različitih LULC klasa za odabrano razdoblje uz pomoć nadzirane metode koristeći algoritam klasifikatora najveće vjerojatnosti u ERDAS Imagine 14. Rezultati ukazuju na to da su se u određenim razdobljima dogodile znatne promjene u smislu LULC-a. Svih sedam kategorija je identificirano te su kroz studije promatrana tri trenda izmjene LULC-a (1) stalno širenje područja u klasi izgrađenosti, neplodnosti, hortikulture (2) poljoprivreda, vode i močvarno tlo se stalno smanjuju (3) porast (1995–2010) i smanjenje (2010–2019) u klasi šuma između dva razdoblja. Tijekom razdoblja provođenja studije, u klasi izgrađenosti (+), hortikulture (+), poljoprivrede (–) voda (–) i močvarnog tla (–) opažene su najznačajnije promjene izražene u postocima unutar svake klase, najveća varijabilnost je uočena u klasi izgrađenosti (148,07%), hortikulture (40,87%), močvarnog tla (–58,37%), vode (–22%) i poljoprivrede (–35,38%). U svrhu kvantitativne procjene promjena uvedene su stopa korištenja zemljišta (LCR) i koeficijent apsorpcije zemljišta (LAC). Sveukupan istraživački scenarij pokazuje da je LULC tranzicija u gradu vrlo očita. Brze izmjene LULC-a u ekološki osjetljivom gradu Srinagaru vođene su uglavnom antropogenim izvorima te imaju negativan utjecaj na okoliš