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Reconstruction of a tornado disaster employing remote sensing techniques: a case study of the 1999 Moore, Oklahoma tornado

Description

Remote sensing has demonstrated to be an instrumental tool in monitoring land changes as a result of anthropogenic change or natural disasters. Most disaster studies have focused on large-scale events with few analyzing small-scale disasters such as tornadoes. These studies have only provided a damage assessment perspective with the continued…

Remote sensing has demonstrated to be an instrumental tool in monitoring land changes as a result of anthropogenic change or natural disasters. Most disaster studies have focused on large-scale events with few analyzing small-scale disasters such as tornadoes. These studies have only provided a damage assessment perspective with the continued need to assess reconstruction. This study attempts to fill that void by examining recovery from the 1999 Moore, Oklahoma Tornado utilizing Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery. Recovery was assessed for 2000, 2001 and 2002 using spectral enhancements (vegetative and urban indices and a combination of the two), a recovery index and different statistical thresholds. Classification accuracy assessments were performed to determine the precision of recovery and select the best results. This analysis proved that medium resolution imagery could be used in conjunction with geospatial techniques to capture recovery. The new indices, Shortwave Infrared Index (SWIRI) and Coupled Vegetation and Urban Index (CVUI), developed for disaster management, were the most effective at discerning reconstruction using the 1.5 standard deviation threshold. Recovery rates for F-scale damages revealed that the most incredibly damaged areas associated with an F5 rating were the slowest to recover, while the lesser damaged areas associated with F1-F3 ratings were the quickest to rebuild. These findings were consistent for 2000, 2001 and 2002 also exposing that complete recovery was never attained in any of the F-scale damage zones by 2002. This study illustrates the significance the biophysical impact has on recovery as well as the effectiveness of using medium resolution imagery such as Landsat in future research.

ContributorsWagner, Melissa A (Author) / Cerveny, Randall S. (Thesis advisor) / Myint, Soe W. (Thesis advisor) / Wentz, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2011

Inspiring Young Learners in Arizona Through Sustainability and Reptile Conservation Education

Description

This 15-week long course is designed to introduce students, specifically in Arizona, to basic sustainability and conservation principles in the context of local reptile wildlife. Throughout the course, the students work on identifying the problem, creating visions for the desired future, and finally developing a strategy to help with reptile…

This 15-week long course is designed to introduce students, specifically in Arizona, to basic sustainability and conservation principles in the context of local reptile wildlife. Throughout the course, the students work on identifying the problem, creating visions for the desired future, and finally developing a strategy to help with reptile species survival in the valley. Research shows that animals in the classroom have led to improved academic success for students. Thus, through creating this course I was able to combine conservation and sustainability curriculum with real-life animals whose survival is directly being affected in the valley. My hope is that this course will help students identify a newfound passion and call to action to protect native wildlife. The more awareness and actionable knowledge which can be brought to students in Arizona about challenges to species survival the more likely we are to see a change in the future and a stronger sense of urgency for protecting wildlife. In order to accomplish these goals, the curriculum was developed to begin with basic concepts of species needs such as food and shelter and basic principles of sustainability. As the course progresses the students analyze current challenges reptile wildlife faces, like urban sprawl, and explore options to address these challenges. The course concludes with a pilot pitch where students present their solution projects to the school.

ContributorsGoethe, Emma Rae (Author) / Brundiers, Katja (Thesis director) / Bouges, Olivia (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05

Exploring the Spatial Networks of Sustainable Agritourism in the Municipalities of Utuado, Ciales, Florida, and Jayuya, Puerto Rico

Description

As climate change continues to escalate natural hazards around the globe, certain communities feel the impacts of these disasters more so than others. After Hurricane Maria devastated communities in 2017, Puerto Rico struggled to respond to the needs of its citizens, particularly those in rural areas. Many of the regions…

As climate change continues to escalate natural hazards around the globe, certain communities feel the impacts of these disasters more so than others. After Hurricane Maria devastated communities in 2017, Puerto Rico struggled to respond to the needs of its citizens, particularly those in rural areas. Many of the regions affected did not have resilient community structures in place to be able to withstand the systemic ripple effects of the hurricane. However, various community endeavors have developed post-Hurricane Maria to foster community collaboration and resiliency, including the development of agricultural tourism, otherwise known as agritourism. <br/>Although agritourism has begun to develop in rural regions of Puerto Rico, including the municipalities of Utuado, Ciales, Florida, and Jayuya, a systems-understanding is lacking of the current agritourism situation in the region and its related capacities, limitations, and opportunities of agritourism. To address this gap, a spatially explicit understanding and map of the underlying tourism infrastructure is needed to support the development of sustainable agritourism in Utuado, Jayuya, Ciales, and Florida municipalities in Puerto Rico. <br/>This report spatially represents the current state of tourism opportunities in the region as a result of asking “What are the spatial networks of gastronomy, accommodations, farms, and attractions that support the development of agritourism in Utuado, Jayuya, Ciales and Florida municipalities in Puerto Rico?” Three steps lead to the spatial representation starting with developing a comprehensive inventory. Second, we visualize the spatial map through Google Maps. Lastly, we explore the larger context of the report through an ArcGIS Storymap. The inventory will help with better understanding the number and variety of tourism resources available. The spatial visualization will help with understanding the distribution of resources and explore potential connections between resources and what relationships could be fostered in the future. Lastly, the ArcGIS Storymap will serve as a framework for outlining the future development of the SARE project. Overall, this report outlines the spatial maps of tourism resources and provides a tool to be used by community partners, tourists, and project partners.

ContributorsCretors, Kasey Ann (Author) / Brundiers, Katja (Thesis director) / Holladay, Patrick (Committee member) / Lazaro, Pablo Mendez (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2021-05

Assessment of environmental change in the Near Eastern Bronze Age

Description

This dissertation research investigates both spatial and temporal aspects of Bronze Age land use and land cover in the Eastern Mediterranean using botanical macrofossils of charcoal and charred seeds as sources of proxy data. Comparisons through time and over space using seed and charcoal densities, seed to charcoal ratios, and…

This dissertation research investigates both spatial and temporal aspects of Bronze Age land use and land cover in the Eastern Mediterranean using botanical macrofossils of charcoal and charred seeds as sources of proxy data. Comparisons through time and over space using seed and charcoal densities, seed to charcoal ratios, and seed and charcoal identifications provide a comprehensive view of island vs. mainland vegetative trajectories through the critical 1000 year time period from 2500 BC to 1500 BC of both climatic fluctuation and significant anthropogenic forces. This research focuses particularly on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus during this crucial interface of climatic and human impacts on the landscape. Macrobotanical data often are interpreted locally in reference to a specific site, whereas this research draws spatial comparisons between contemporaneous archaeological sites as well as temporal comparisons between non-contemporaneous sites. This larger perspective is particularly crucial on Cyprus, where field scientists commonly assume that botanical macrofossils are poorly preserved, thus unnecessarily limiting their use as an interpretive proxy. These data reveal very minor anthropogenic landscape changes on the island of Cyprus compared to those associated with contemporaneous mainland sites. These data also reveal that climatic forces influenced land use decisions on the mainland sites, and provides crucial evidence pertaining to the rise of early anthropogenic landscapes and urbanized civilization.

ContributorsKlinge, JoAnna M (Author) / Fall, Patricia L. (Thesis advisor) / Falconer, Steven E. (Committee member) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Committee member) / Pigg, Kathleen B (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2013

The 500hPa wintertime Pacific ridge: characteristics of position and intensity and its influence on Southwest U.S. precipitation

Description

The characteristics of the wintertime 500hPa height surface, the level of non-divergence and used for identifying/observing synoptic-scale features (ridges and troughs), and their impact on precipitation are of significance to forecasters, natural resource managers and planners across the southwestern United States. For this study, I evaluated the location of the…

The characteristics of the wintertime 500hPa height surface, the level of non-divergence and used for identifying/observing synoptic-scale features (ridges and troughs), and their impact on precipitation are of significance to forecasters, natural resource managers and planners across the southwestern United States. For this study, I evaluated the location of the 500hPa mean Pacific ridge axis over the winter for the period of 1948/49 to 2011/12 and derived the mean ridge axis in terms of location (longitude) and intensity (geopotential meters) from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis dataset. After deriving a mean ridge axis climatology and analyzing its behavior over time, I correlated mean location and intensity values to observed wintertime precipitation in select U.S. Climate Divisions in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico. This resulted in two findings. First specific to the 500hPa ridge behavior, the ridge has been moving eastward and also has been intensifying through time. Second, results involving correlation tests between mean ridge location and intensity indicate precipitation across the selected Southwest Climate Divisions are strongly related to mean ridge intensity slightly more than ridge location. The relationships between mean ridge axis and observed precipitation also are negative, indicating an increase of one of the ridge parameters (i.e. continued eastward movement or intensification) lead to drier winter seasons across the Southwest. Increased understanding of relationships between upper-level ridging and observed wintertime precipitation aids in natural resource planning for an already arid region that relies heavily on winter precipitation.

ContributorsNolte, Jessica Marie (Author) / Cerveny, Randall S. (Thesis advisor) / Selover, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2013

Natural desert and human controlled landscapes: remote sensing of LULC response to drought

Description

Droughts are a common phenomenon of the arid South-west USA climate. Despite water limitations, the region has been substantially transformed by agriculture and urbanization. The water requirements to support these human activities along with the projected increase in droughts intensity and frequency challenge long term sustainability and water security, thus…

Droughts are a common phenomenon of the arid South-west USA climate. Despite water limitations, the region has been substantially transformed by agriculture and urbanization. The water requirements to support these human activities along with the projected increase in droughts intensity and frequency challenge long term sustainability and water security, thus the need to spatially and temporally characterize land use/land cover response to drought and quantify water consumption is crucial. This dissertation evaluates changes in `undisturbed' desert vegetation in response to water availability to characterize climate-driven variability. A new model coupling phenology and spectral unmixing was applied to Landsat time series (1987-2010) in order to derive fractional cover (FC) maps of annuals, perennials, and evergreen vegetation. Results show that annuals FC is controlled by short term water availability and antecedent soil moisture. Perennials FC follow wet-dry multi-year regime shifts, while evergreen is completely decoupled from short term changes in water availability. Trend analysis suggests that different processes operate at the local scale. Regionally, evergreen cover increased while perennials and annuals cover decreased. Subsequently, urban land cover was compared with its surrounding desert. A distinct signal of rain use efficiency and aridity index was documented from remote sensing and a soil-water-balance model. It was estimated that a total of 295 mm of water input is needed to sustain current greenness. Finally, an energy balance model was developed to spatio-temporally estimate evapotranspiration (ET) as a proxy for water consumption, and evaluate land use/land cover types in response to drought. Agricultural fields show an average ET of 9.3 mm/day with no significant difference between drought and wet conditions, implying similar level of water usage regardless of climatic conditions. Xeric neighborhoods show significant variability between dry and wet conditions, while mesic neighborhoods retain high ET of 400-500 mm during drought due to irrigation. Considering the potentially limited water availability, land use/land cover changes due to population increases, and the threat of a warming and drying climate, maintaining large water-consuming, irrigated landscapes challenges sustainable practices of water conservation and the need to provide amenities of this desert area for enhancing quality of life.

ContributorsKaplan, Shai (Author) / Myint, Soe Win (Thesis advisor) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Committee member) / Georgescu, Matei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2014

Heat-related morbidity and thermal comfort: a comparison study of Phoenix and Chicago

Description

I present the results of studies from two historically separate fields of research: heat related illness and human thermal comfort adaptation. My research objectives were: (a) to analyze the relationships between climate and heat related morbidity in Phoenix, Arizona and Chicago, Illinois; (b) explore possible linkages of human thermal comfort…

I present the results of studies from two historically separate fields of research: heat related illness and human thermal comfort adaptation. My research objectives were: (a) to analyze the relationships between climate and heat related morbidity in Phoenix, Arizona and Chicago, Illinois; (b) explore possible linkages of human thermal comfort adaptation to heat-related illness; and (c) show possible benefits of collaboration between the two fields of research. Previous climate and mortality studies discovered regional patterns in summertime mortality in North America: lower in hot, southern cities compared to more temperate cities. I examined heat related emergency (911) dispatches from these two geographically and climatically different cities. I analyzed with local weather conditions with 911 dispatches identified by responders as "heat" related from 2001 to 2006 in Phoenix and 2003 through 2006 in Chicago. Both cities experienced a rapid rise in heat-related dispatches with increasing temperature and heat index, but at higher thresholds in Phoenix. Overall, Phoenix had almost two and half times more heat-related dispatches than Chicago. However, Phoenix did not experience the large spikes of heat-related dispatches that occurred in Chicago. These findings suggest a resilience to heat-related illness that may be linked to acclimatization in Phoenix. I also present results from a survey based outdoor human thermal comfort field study in Phoenix to assess levels of local acclimatization. Previous research in outdoor human thermal comfort in hot humid and temperate climates used similar survey-based methodologies and found higher levels of thermal comfort (adaptation to heat) that in warmer climates than in cooler climates. The study presented in this dissertation found outdoor thermal comfort thresholds and heat tolerance levels in Phoenix were higher than previous studies from temperate climates more similar to Chicago. These differences were then compared to the differences in weather conditions associated with heat-related dispatches. The higher comfort thresholds in Phoenix were similar in scale to the climate differences associated with the upsurge in heat-related dispatches in Phoenix and Chicago. This suggests a link between heat related illness and acclimatization, and illustrates potential for collaboration in research between the two fields.

ContributorsHartz, Donna (Author) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Thesis advisor) / Heisler, Gordon (Committee member) / Cerveny, Randal (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2012

Climatological isentropic analysis: identifying patterns associated with tornado occurrences across the United States

Description

Isentropic analysis is a type of analysis that is based on using the concept of potential temperatures, the adiabatically established temperature at 1000 hPa. In the 1930s and 1940s this type of analysis proved to be valuable in indicating areas of increased moisture content and locations experiencing flow up or…

Isentropic analysis is a type of analysis that is based on using the concept of potential temperatures, the adiabatically established temperature at 1000 hPa. In the 1930s and 1940s this type of analysis proved to be valuable in indicating areas of increased moisture content and locations experiencing flow up or down adiabatic surfaces. However, in the early 1950s, this type of analysis faded out of use and not until the twenty-first century have some researchers started once again to examine the usefulness of isentropic analysis. One aspect in which isentropic analysis could be practical, based on prior research, is in severe weather situations, due to its ability to easily show adiabatic motion and moisture. As a result, I analyzed monthly climatological isentropic surfaces to identify distinct patterns associated with tornado occurrences for specific regions and months across the contiguous United States. I collected tornado reports from 1974 through 2009 to create tornado regions for each month across the contiguous United States and corresponding upper air data for the same time period. I then separated these upper air data into tornado and non-tornado days for specific regions and conducted synoptic and statistical analyses to establish differences between the two. Finally, I compared those results with analyses of individual case studies for each defined region using independent data from 2009 through 2010. On tornado days distinct patterns can be identified on the isentropic surface: (1) the average isentropic surface lowered on tornado days indicating a trough across the region, (2) a corresponding increase in moisture content occurred across the tornado region, and (3) wind shifted in such a manner to produce flow up the isentropic trough indicating uplift. When comparing the climatological results with the case studies, the isentropic pattern for the case studies in general was more pronounced compared to the climatological pattern; however, this would be expected as when creating the average the pattern/conditions will be smoothed. These findings begin to bridge the large gap in literature, show the usefulness of isentropic analysis in monthly and daily use and serve as catalysts to create a finer resolution database in isentropic coordinates.

ContributorsPace, Matthew Brandon (Author) / Cerveny, Randall S. (Thesis advisor) / Selover, Nancy J (Committee member) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2012

Quantifying percent-cover in Prescott National Forest, Arizona through the integration of Landsat imagery, vegetation Indices, and spatial transformations

Description

Accurate characterization of forest canopy cover from satellite imagery hinges on the development of a model that considers the level of detail achieved by field methods. With the improved precision of both optical sensors and various spatial techniques, models built to extract forest structure attributes have become increasingly robust, yet…

Accurate characterization of forest canopy cover from satellite imagery hinges on the development of a model that considers the level of detail achieved by field methods. With the improved precision of both optical sensors and various spatial techniques, models built to extract forest structure attributes have become increasingly robust, yet many still fail to address some of the most important characteristics of a forest stand's intricate make-up. The objective of this study, therefore, was to address canopy cover from the ground, up. To assess canopy cover in the field, a vertical densitometer was used to acquire a total of 2,160 percent-cover readings from 30 randomly located triangular plots within a 6.94 km2 study area in the central highlands of the Bradshaw Ranger District, Prescott National Forest, Arizona. Categorized by species with the largest overall percentage of cover observations (Pinus ponderosa, Populus tremuloides, and Quercus gambelii), three datasets were created to assess the predictability of coniferous, deciduous, and mixed (coniferous and deciduous) canopies. Landsat-TM 5 imagery was processed using six spectral enhancement algorithms (PCA, TCT, NDVI, EVI, RVI, SAVI) and three local windows (3x3, 5x5, 7x7) to extract and assess the various ways in which these data were expressed in the imagery, and from those expressions, develop a model that predicted percent-cover for the entire study area. Generally, modeled cover estimates exceeded actual cover, over predicting percent-cover by a margin of 9-13%. Models predicted percent-cover more accurately when treated with a 3x3 local window than those treated with 5x5 and 7x7 local windows. In addition, the performance of models defined by the principal components of three vegetation indices (NDVI, EVI, RVI) were superior to those defined by the principal components of all four (NDVI, EVI, RVI, SAVI), as well as the principal and tasseled cap components of all multispectral bands (bands 123457). Models designed to predict mixed and coniferous percent-cover were more accurate than deciduous models.

ContributorsSchirmang, Tracy Lynn (Author) / Myint, Soe W (Thesis advisor) / Fall, Patricia L. (Thesis advisor) / Brazel, Anthony J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2012

Documenting the Development of ASU's Green Bin Program

Description

My project is an examination of the process ASU Tempe campus took to institute an organics collection program. Working from a sustainability science perspective I demonstrate the structural and logistical barriers faced during program creation and expansion. My examination lead to the creation of a manual designed as a tool…

My project is an examination of the process ASU Tempe campus took to institute an organics collection program. Working from a sustainability science perspective I demonstrate the structural and logistical barriers faced during program creation and expansion. My examination lead to the creation of a manual designed as a tool for other organizations in which I document ASU's process and provide information on key steps and procedures necessary to implement a unique organics collection program.

ContributorsSchumacher, Katherine Marie (Author) / Schoon, Michael (Thesis director) / Brundiers, Katja (Committee member) / Levine, Alana (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)

Created2013-05