GIS Used to Provide Hydrological, Climatological Information
…from the Winter 2009/2010 issue of ArcNews…
From the snow-packed peaks in Grand Teton National Park to the harsh, dry plains of the Red Desert, Wyoming is truly a land of climate extremes. As the fifth driest state in the United States, Wyoming is constantly threatened by drought. Since 1999, much of Wyoming has been gripped by moderate to severe drought, prompting the state to take careful account of its water resources. To help meet those demands, the Water Resources Data System (WRDS) at the University of Wyoming provides both hydrological and climatological information to the public and to federal, state, and local agencies. WRDS offers extensive current and historical spatial data with related attribute information. With so much of the water data in Wyoming linked to spatial attributes, WRDS has taken steps to disseminate all this data via the Internet to water managers, legislators, and stakeholders across the state.
WRDS has long been a library and data repository for Wyoming water- and climate-related information. WRDS is often tasked with the creation of maps for various water plans around the state, and this is accomplished using different GIS applications. WRDS has taken advantage of the University of Wyoming’s ESRI University Site License and made available water and climate data using customized ArcIMS services. Publishing this type of data via customized ArcIMS applications allows numerous water stakeholders to examine how different areas of the state are developing and using existing water and to determine where in the state those resources may be most sensitive to changes in climate, shifts in demand, and increasing human populations.
American Water Resources Association 2010 Summer Specialty Conference: GIS & Water Resources VI, 29 – 31 March 2010, Orlando, Florida
Session 4: Hydrologic Modeling I. Monday, 29 March, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Lorri Peltz-Lewis, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Sacramento, CA (co-author: Richard Easterbrook)
“The Department of the Interior’s National Interagency Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams conduct analysis of fire effects using aerial and ground reconnaissance methods within the fire areas with the goal of stabilizing the fragile condition of the land to protect life, property, water quality, and ecosystems. Vegetation loss exposes soil to erosion, which could increase runoff and causing flooding. Previous tools developed for the BAER Team hydrologists automated the process of predicting post-wildfire watershed runoff using ArcGIS ModelBuilder utilizing tools within the ArcToolbox. The tools created predict pre- and post-wildfire watershed runoff for a selected rain event are being updated using ArcGIS 9.4 capabilities and updated algorithms.”
Vermont Electric Power Company, Mobile GIS Application Serves Both Office and Field Operations
…from the Winter 2009/2010 issue of ArcNews…
The Vermont Electric Power Company’s (VELCO) 688 miles of high-voltage electric transmission lines and 12,000 acres of rights-of-way share space with a wide and colorful variety of plant life. There are ferns, azaleas, holly, laurels, blackberry bushes, cedars, maples, and oak trees—more than 75 different types of vegetation. All of it needs to be managed, and any vegetation that exceeds a mature height of 12 feet needs to be removed.
VELCO developed an innovative vegetation management program that is saving the company hours of work, assisting in compliance, and significantly improving accuracy of treatment on its rights-of-way. Located in Rutland, Vermont, VELCO was formed in 1956 when local utilities joined forces to create the nation’s first statewide, transmission-only company in order to share access to clean hydroelectric power and maintain the state’s transmission grid.
Annals of GIS, Volume 15, Issue 2 December 2009 , pages 127 – 140
Shing Lin; Yongmei Lu
“This paper reports on the investigation of the spatial patterns and variations of adverse health effects of ozone pollution on childhood respiratory diseases in Houston, Texas. The study period is June to September of 2001. No significant global relationship exists between ozone pollution and prevalence of childhood respiratory diseases. However, geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis reveals spatially varied adverse health effect. With the guidance from GWR results, the association between ozone pollution and childhood respiratory disease prevalence is proved to be significant in three sub-regions. Moreover, spatial regression analysis suggests the presence of spatial dependence of the prevalence of childhood respiratory diseases.
“The spatial variation of the relationship between ozone pollution and childhood respiratory disease prevalence indicates health effects of confounding or intervening factors. The spatial dependency of disease prevalence is related to both the spatial patterns of pollution and those of confounding factors. The findings call for future investigation to examine the factors that might be working together with or against ozone pollution when health effects are concerned. For health practice and management, a set of neighborhood-specific policy, practice, and resource allocation strategies need to be developed to minimize the adverse health effects of ozone pollution.”