Eelgrass Distribution in the Great Bay Estuary and Piscataqua River for 2017

Eelgrass distribution in Great Bay, Little Bay, and the Piscataqua River Estuary was mapped from aerial photography acquired on August 24, 2017. The total area of eelgrass beds with 10% or greater cover and a polygon area equal to or greater than 100 square meters was 625.9 hectares or 1546.7 acres. Eelgrass polygons were coded for Assessment Zone location and the results reported for each zone. The largest concentration of eelgrass was found in Great Bay with lesser amounts in the vicinity of Portsmouth Harbor. The total area of eelgrass beds with 10% or greater cover and a polygon area equal to or greater than 100 square meters has decreased by 142 acres which is approximately an 8.5% decrease from the previous year

Global Atlas of Environmental Parameters for Chemical Fate and Transport Assessment

The report describes datasets forming an atlas of global landscape and climate parameters which were collected, homogenized and processed in order to provide input to a global model of chemical fate. The datasets can be used to parameterize the main land and ocean compartments usually considered in fate and transport models, and provide meaningful geographic patterns of the drivers of the environmental fate of contaminants. The maps were specifically designed to be used for a multimedia assessment of pollutant pathways in the environment (MAPPE Global), described in a companion report. The data can be downloaded from the JRC FATE Web sites http://fate.jrc.ec.europa.eu/JRC.DDG.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Towards a Soil Information System with quantified accuracy : a prototype for mapping continuous soil properties

This report describes the potential and functionality of software for spatial analysis, prediction and stochastic simulation of continuous soil properties using data from the Dutch Soil Information System (BIS). A geostatistical framework and R codes were developed. The geostatistical model of a soil property has a deterministic component representing the mean value within a soil category, and a stochastic component of standardized residuals. The standardized residuals are interpolated or simulated based on the simple kriging system. The software was tested in four case studies: exchangeable soil pH, clay content, organic matter content and Mean Spring Water table depth (MSW). It is concluded that the geostatistical framework and R codes developed in this study enable to predict values of continuous soil properties spatially, and to quantify the inaccuracy of these predictions. The inaccuracy of a spatial prediction at a certain location is quantified by the kriging variance, which can be interpreted as an indication of the uncertainty about the true value

Quantifying the Infilling of Mekong Floodplains in Cambodia using DEM Differencing

Global sand and gravel (aggregate) extraction is changing landscapes, with 29,375x106m3 to 36,875x106m3 globally mined each year (Steinberger et al, 2010). Rapid economic development in South East Asia has markedly driven demand for sand in the Mekong River basin (Hackney et al, 2019). The Mekong River, a convenient source of high-quality aggregate, is the main source of sediment in the region (Kondolf, 1994; Bravard et al, 2013). Aggregate is used in the burgeoning construction industry, reclamation projects, and infilling of land along the Mekong’s low-lying floodplains (Pierdet, 2008; Doyle, 2012; Mailhe et al, 2019). Questionnaire-based research found all countries that the Mekong flows through extracted material during 2010-11, of these Cambodia extracted the largest volume of at least 21x106m3yr-1 of Mekong River sediment (Bravard et al, 2013). However, the study timeframe was limited, and specific destinations of this sand were not mapped or quantified with field measurements. This research develops differencing methods that tie the datasets together to facilitate direct comparisons between the 2000 (NASADEM) and 2013 (TanDEM-X) global elevation DEMs, a promising new approach that could be applied globally. For the Cambodia study area over 183±18 x106 m3 of floodplain infill (FPI) occurred, identifying FPI the likely biggest demand for sand along the Cambodian Mekong River. Timing of FPI can be determined with annual high-resolution imagery, with peak infill activity occurring between 2010 and 2011. FPI volumes measured in this period were over 4±2x106m3 greater than estimates of sediment extraction from the Mekong during 2011 (Bravard et al, 2013). FPI decreases flood risk, bringing economic and social advantages to property owners in the basin (Pierdet, 2008). But rising demand for sand in the basin has caused local channel changes and a sediment deficit being supplied to the delta, causing delta retreat and flooding, which has displaced people (Orr et al, 2012; Jordan et al, 2019). The timing and enormous scale of FPI quantified in this paper can inform future frameworks and policies, and the novel techniques provide a pathway to expanding this research elsewhere

Habitat analysis of North American sand flies near veterans returning from leishmania-endemic war zones

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nearly 1300 cases of leishmaniasis have been identified in American military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The symptoms of this disease can range from a mild, self-limiting cutaneous infection to a deadly visceral infection and are not prevented by chemoprophylaxis or immunization. Effective treatments, however, are available. The disease-causing parasite is spread through the bite of the female sand fly. Although the disease occurs in both the Old World and the New World, the parasite species differ between the hemispheres. The large number of cases in military veterans has caused some concern that Old World, temperate-adapted parasite species could be introduced into the native sand fly populations of American military facilities where veterans of the current conflicts return following their deployments. This paper reports part of a larger study to analyze the risk of such an accidental importation. Four potential habitats on two large Army facilities in the Southeast United States were surveyed to determine relative sand fly density. The National Land Cover Map was used to provide sand fly density prediction maps by habitat.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sand fly density was significantly higher in deciduous forest and even higher at the interface between forest and open grassland. The evergreen forest and agricultural fields supported very low densities. On Fort Campbell, KY, the percentage of land covered by suitable habitat was very high. A sand fly density prediction map identified large tracts of land where infected individuals would be at higher risk of exposure to sand fly bites, resulting in an increased risk of introducing the parasite to a native insect population. On Fort Bragg, NC, however, commercial farming of long leaf pine reduced the percentage of the land covered in vegetation suitable for the support of sand flies. The risk of introducing an exotic <it>Leishmania spp</it>. on Fort Bragg, therefore, is considered to be much lower than on Fort Campbell.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A readily available land cover product can be used at the regional level to identify areas of sand fly habitat where human populations may be at higher risk of exposure. The sand fly density prediction maps can be used to direct further surveillance, insect control, or additional patient monitoring of potentially infected soldiers.</p

Greenhouse gas emissions from intra-national freight transport: Measurement and scenarios for greater sustainability in Spain

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions is a topic of major concern worldwide. Following previous articles which provide a methodology for estimating GHG emissions associated with international trade by transport mode at the world level, in this paper, we estimate an equivalent database of GHG emissions for inter-regional trade flows within a country (Spain). To this end, we built a new database of GHG emissions for origin-destination flows between Spanish provinces during 1995-2015. For each year, we combine industry-specific flows by four transport modes (road, train, ship and aircraft) with the corresponding GHG emissions factor for each mode in tons*km, drawn from the specialized literature. With this dataset of GHG emissions, we generate and analyze the temporal, sectoral and spatial pattern of Spanish inter-regional GHG flows. We then forecast emissions for 2016-2030 and consider how transport mode shifts might produce a more sustainable freight system within the country through the substitution of environmentally friendly alternatives (railway) for specific origin-destination-product flows in high-polluting modes (road).This paper was developed in the context of two research projects: (i) the C-intereg Project (www.c-intereg.es); (ii) The ECO2016-79650-P project from the Spanish Ministry of Economics and Innovatio

Land Suitability Analysis as Multi Criteria Decision Making to Support the Egyptian Urban Development

Sustainability in urban development is considered as a main concrete stone that effect directly the quality of life for its users. Land Suitability Analysis (LSA) using GIS as a multi criteria support tool reveals the best alternatives for the suitability of sustainable land development. Urban planners working under the umbrella of sustainability using recent technology should contribute their work directly to LSA. This paper aims to develop a new technique to be used by planner to reach best alternative for five main urban sectors (agriculture, Industry, Trade, Tourism, & Residential) using GIS as a multi criteria decision support tool (MCDS), accordingly choosing best city location will be accurately and analyzed upon LSA studies. LSA and MCDS are going to be applied on one survey unit map called Monof along Cairo – Alexandria Road. Results showed that different alternatives could be applied on the area of interest, and all of them are sustainable, but choosing the best deepened on the priority of querying the development sector. The paper suggests a pilot method for land development planning and choosing best city location that would be a guide for the governmental planning organization to support in taking right and analyzed planning decisions

Development of trade blocs in an era of globalization: Proximity still matters

This article describes the development of international trade blocs world wide from the 1950s till 2010. We updated the data on international trade flows and introduced a new trade bloc variable based on the intramax hierarchical clustering technique, which defines trade blocs on actual trade intensities and not - as was preciously done - by traditional geographic and political factors: such as the division into a triad of economic regions based on North America, the European Union and Japan. Nevertheless, the results of intramax hierarchical clustering indicate that actual trade flows are very much influenced by geographical and political factors; after all, proximity matters. To explain how mechanism of globalization changed trade patterns over the last half century and how - in the end - proximity is one of the most explanatory variables - we furthermore apply multivariate analysis with gravity-model based variables aims to explain which geographical, political and cultural factors do contribute to the (importance of) proximity in trade partners. In addition we also apply GIS to analyze patterns and proximity issues.

Using Geographical Information Systems to Investigate Spatial Patterns in Fossils of Tapirus polkenis from the Gray Fossil Site, Washington County, Tennessee

Discovered in 2000, the Gray Fossil Site provides a snapshot of the flora and fauna that lived during late Miocene to early Pliocene time in eastern Tennessee. These fossils occur in sediments consisting of fine-grained clays and sands of lacustrine origin, which were deposited after multiple sinkholes formed in the underlying Knox Group basement carbonates. Three-dimensional nearest neighbor analysis has been applied to fossils of Tapirus polkensis, characterizing the spatial patterns exhibited. These analyses determined the importance of taphonomic and depositional processes that occurred during the sites formation. Six characteristics were analyzed, four at the bone level including carnivore utilization, weathering, abrasion, and arthritis, and two at the specimen level, articulation and age class. Weathering, arthritis, and articulation, show clustered patterns indicating that the site had active predators, it consisted of many microenvironments, and deposition occurred in a passive setting. Although the current state of excavation makes any spatial analyses and taphonomic interpretations difficult, spatial analysis in both dimensions can be accomplished