Spatial Data Infrastructure in India: Status, Governance Challenges, and Strategies for Effective Functioning

The paper describes the status of the national spatial data infrastructure (NSDI), spatial data infrastructure (SDI) of India in terms of its vision, data formats, metadata, various standards (metadata standard, exchange standard, and application protocol), network framework, macro- policies, data- pricing and dissemination policies, copyrights, and clearinghouse issues. It identifies the challenges of governance and proposes a framework for governance. It presents technical, financial, and a detailed account of institutional and policy-level challenges and describes the missing link between the National Map Policy (NMP) and NSDI. The paper presents strategies for effective functioning of NSDI using a strategic management model. A SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis is undertaken to assess the internal and external environments of the geographic information (GI) industry in the context of NSDI in India. A possible strategic direction for the GI industry in India in terms of shared vision, better inter-governmental relations, co-production, and collaboration is suggested. The paper describes the strategic plans using the SWOT matrix, which are strength-opportunity strategies, weakness-opportunity strategies, strength-threat strategies, and weakness-threat strategies. Finally, the paper suggests a research agenda for the effective functioning of SDI in a developing country. The governance framework and strategies presented here will be useful for the effective functioning of SDI in developing economies in general and of NSDI in India in particular

GMES-service for assessing and monitoring subsidence hazards in coastal lowland areas around Europe. SubCoast D3.5.1

This document is version two of the user requirements for SubCoast work package 3.5, it is SubCoast deliverable 3.5.1. Work package 3.5 aims to provide a European integrated GIS product on subsidence and relative sea level rise. The first step of this process was to contact the European Environment Agency as the main user to discover their user requirements. This document presents these requirments, the outline methodology that will be used to carry out the integration and the datasets that will be used. In outline the main user requirements of the EEA are: 1. Gridded approach using an Inspire compliant grid 2. The grid would hold data on: a. Likely rate of subsidence b. RSLR c. Impact (Vulnerability) d. Certainty (confidence map) e. Contribution of ground motion to RSLR f. A measure of certainty in the data provided g. Metadata 3. Spatial Coverage - Ideally entire coastline of all 37 member states a. Spatial resolution - 1km 4. Provide a measure of the degree of contribution of ground motion to RSLR The European integration will be based around a GIS methodology. Datasets will be integrated and interpreted to provide information on data vlues above. The main value being a likelyhood of Subsidence. This product will initially be developed at it’s lowest level of detail for the London area. BGS have a wealth of data for london this will enable this less detialed product to be validated and also enable the generation of a more detailed product usig the best data availible. One the methodology has been developed it will be pushed out to other areas of the ewuropean coastline. The initial input data that have been reviewed for their suitability for the European integration are listed below. Thesea re the datasets that have European wide availibility, It is expected that more detailed datasets will be used in areas where they are avaiilble. 1. Terrafirma Data 2. One Geology 3. One Geology Europe 4. Population Density (Geoland2) 5. The Urban Atlas (Geoland2) 6. Elevation Data a. SRTM b. GDEM c. GTOPO 30 d. NextMap Europe 7. MyOceans Sea Level Data 8. Storm Surge Locations 9. European Environment Agencya. Elevation breakdown 1km b. Corine Land Cover 2000 (CLC2000) coastline c. Sediment Discharges d. Shoreline e. Maritime Boundaries f. Hydrodynamics and Sea Level Rise g. Geomorphology, Geology, Erosion Trends and Coastal Defence Works h. Corine land cover 1990 i. Five metre elevation contour line 10. FutureCoas

Green Stormwater Infrastructure Assessments in Santa Clara County, CA: An In-Situ Analysis of Select Bioretention Projects

Stormwater runoff, defined as rainwater that flows over impervious surfaces, is both an under-harnessed groundwater resource and the leading contributor to water body impairments due to the number of pollutants it can transport. One widely successful strategy to capture and treat stormwater runoff is to implement Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI): engineered green spaces to enhance the overall environmental quality of an urban landscape. GSI projects, particularly bioretention systems, capture and treat stormwater runoff through infiltration and plant absorption before it reaches receiving bodies of water. In order to operate efficiently, GSI systems require specific maintenance procedures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance and maintenance processes of approximately fifty bioretention areas in Santa Clara County. The bioretention areas in this study were evaluated by observing current site conditions and measuring infiltration rates, as well as conducting interviews of municipal and facilities staff to determine the processes and challenges for GSI design, inspection, and maintenance. The results of this study showed that 26% of sites fell within the acceptable range of 5 to 10 inches per hour. Additionally, larger site designs and California native perennial bunch grasses were positively associated with acceptable infiltration rates. This research will help contribute to future GSI design and maintenance considerations for local municipal and facilities staff, such as the use of larger bioretention ponds over smaller designs, and planting more bunch grass vegetation

Volcanic Activity: Processing of Observation and Remote Sensing Data (VAPOR)

The World Bank makes a very clear distinction between disasters and natural phenomena. Natural phenomena are events like volcanic eruptions. A disaster only occurs when the ability of the community to cope with natural phenomenon has been surpassed, causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses. By these definitions, volcanic eruptions do not have to lead to disasters. On November 13, 1985, the second most deadly eruption of the twentieth century occurred in Colombia. Within a few hours of the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, 23,000 people were dead because no infrastructure existed to respond to such an emergency. Six years later, the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines was the largest volcanic eruption in the 21st century to affect a heavily populated area. Because the volcano was monitored, early warning of the eruption was provided and thousands of lives were saved. Despite these improvements, some communities still face danger from volcanic events and volcano-monitoring systems still require further development. There remain clear gaps in monitoring technologies, in data sharing, and in early warning and hazard tracking systems. A global volcano-monitoring framework such as the VIDA framework can contribute to filling these gaps. VIDA stands for “VAPOR Integrated Data-sharing and Analysis” and is also the Catalan and Spanish word for ‘life’. The ultimate goal for this project is to help save the lives of people threatened by volcanic hazards, while protecting infrastructure and contributing to decision support mechanisms in disaster risk management scenarios

Patterns of intersex prevalence, vitellogenin, and reproductive condition in two commercially harvested fish along a pollution gradient in the Illinois River complex

The Illinois River in Illinois is characterized by a pollution gradient originating from highly urbanized and industrialized upstream sources that contain elevated levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Controlled exposures of fish to EDCs in laboratory have produced increased feminization of male gonadal tissue in fish (i.e. intersex condition), elevated levels of the blood lipoprotein vitellogenin (VTG), and decreased reproduction. However, assessments of the prevalence and distribution of VTG and intersex in wild fish populations are necessary and few have been performed on the Illinois River. Such field studies may provide insight into both the extent of exposure of fish to EDCs and whether there are species-specific differences in response to this exposure. Long-term data suggests that common carp populations are declining in the Illinois River while the age structure of channel catfish has shifted to primarily older fish. This study assessed gonadosomatic index (GSI), liver somatic index (LSI), intersex condition, elevated VTG levels, and fecundity indices in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) along a pollution gradient in the Illinois River, Illinois from the headwaters to the confluence with the Mississippi River. Common carp and channel catfish were collected along a downstream gradient of sites in the Illinois River from River Kilometer 32 to 446. Microscopic analysis of thin sections of male gonadal tissue were assessed for prevalence of intersex (oocytes in testicular tissue) in both species. In addition, I utilized a carp-specific Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to contrast carp blood plasma VTG between fish caught at Upper and Lower Illinois River watershed sites. I found evidence of intersex condition in male testes from both fish species and VTG induction in male common carp, however rates of intersex were low compared to other fish species and did not vary spatially. Male carp VTG levels were not different among sites and averaged 6.7 ug/mL across all sites. This level of VTG is near or below method detection limits and low in comparison to levels in females, which had blood concentrations in the <100 ug/mL range. I also investigated whether landscape and point-source pollution factors were related to patterns of reproductive health in common carp and channel catfish. Reproductive condition was indexed using LSI, GSI, total fecundity and relative fecundity. An Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) modeling approach was used to identify the most influential landscape and point-source pollution-related variables. The AICc modeling produced only one candidate model in which a single health attribute, male GSI in common carp, was affected by temperature and proportion of urbanization and wetland land uses in the tributaries immediately upstream of sampling sites. These results suggest that the other select landscape attributes considered (distance of the site downstream from Chicago, adjacent land use, local point-source pollution load, and site environmental variables) had little demonstrable effect on the reproductive condition of common carp and channel catfish between locations. Reproductive metrics in fish from the heavily urbanized upper and highly agricultural lower basin sites were compared to fish collected from a disconnected, restored floodplain wetland preserve. Common carp from the Emiquon Preserve had both smaller gonads and smaller, fewer eggs at a given body length than carp from the Upper Illinois or Lower Illinois River sites. The fecundity and GSI of channel catfish did not differ between Upper River and Lower River locations. The LSI was elevated in male common carp from the Upper River and both genders of channel catfish from the Upper River locations. This study provided a baseline assessment of intersex, vitellogenin, and reproduction in two commercially important species. While many studies have examined common carp in the lab and aquaculture environments for signs of endocrine disruption, little has been documented for either wild populations of carp or channel catfish. The declining population trends for these two important Illinois River fishes and the physiological differences between species necessitates continued investigation of endocrine disruption. Contrary to the results from the examination of other select species in this river system, I found little evidence of endocrine disruption in common carp and catfish. Because this result is in strong contrast to other species in this system and elsewhere in the North America, it is essential to continue to monitor the reproductive health of these species as well as others in the Illinois River to determine the potential long-term consequences of EDCs

Using Schematic-Based and Cognitive Strategy Instruction to Improve Math Word Problem Solving for Students with Math Difficulties

For students with math difficulties (MD), math word problem solving is especially challenging. The purpose of this study was to examine a math word problem solving strategy, bar model drawing, to support students with MD. The study extended previous research that suggested that schematic-based instruction (SBI) training delivered within an explicit instruction framework can be effective in teaching various math skills related to word problem solving. As a more generic schema approach, bar model drawing may serve as an effective form of SBI that can be developed across word problems. Moreover, the bar model approach has the potential to enhance students\u27 awareness of cognitive strategies through paraphrasing, visualizing, hypothesizing about problem solutions, and checking work, all of which are explicitly taught through the use of the bar-model drawing protocol. A multiple-baseline design replicated across groups was used to evaluate the effects of the intervention of bar model drawing on student performance on math world problem solving. Student performance was investigated in terms of increased accurate use of cognitive strategies and overall accuracy of math word problem solving. Both of these dependent variables increased and remained stable throughout intervention, and remained high during the maintenance phase of the research. Pre and posttesting results were also favorable. Participants reported high social validity for the intervention. However, the results of the research also yielded some surprises and raised some questions. Conclusions drawn from the data include a discussion of the implications for action and recommendations for further research. Limitations of the study are also discussed

Teens understanding of the indicators of the tendency to abuse alcohol: Focus group discussions

Alcohol abuse has become an epidemic in the modern world. The increase in this social problem has brought with it many consequences which everyone in society has to deal with. Unfortunately, the anguish of abuse has also spread through the world of teens. Are there indicators which portend the tendency for teens to abuse alcohol? Quantified research has revealed several of those indicators. Are we helping teens understand what those indicators are? Are teens accepting and learning about those indicators that they might be protected from the harsh consequences? This study begins to help society understand that efforts are being made to educate teens in regard to the indicators of alcohol abuse, though the efforts are diverse and sporadic. This study also finds that teens do not understand what those indicators are

Exploring How We Teach: Lived Experiences, Lessons, and Research about Graduate Instructors by Graduate Instructors

This book combines the knowledge of 30 graduate student instructors sharing about how they teach and how they’ve learned how to teach