NC
State faculty and staff participate in a wide
variety of GIS research and outreach activities
- a brief overview of some of these projects
is presented below, with links for obtaining
more information.
Digital
Library Initiatives, NCSU
Libraries
Center
for Earth Observation
Curriculum
& Instruction: College of Education
Outreach
Programs and Projects
Design
Research & Extension Program: College of
Design
Marine,
Earth &Atmospheric Sciences: College of
Physical & Mathematical Sciences
Office
of Academic Affairs: College of Natural Resources
Boys
and Girls Club of Wake County - GIS Project
Parks,
Recreation & Tourism Management: College of
Natural Resources
Population
Health & Pathobiology: College of Veterinary
Medicine
The
Effect of Bridges and Road Runoff on Freshwater
Mussel Populations
Public
Administration Program:
College of Humanities and
Social Sciences
Geographic
Information Systems for Small to Medium Law
Enforcement Jurisdictions
SCI-LINK
Environmental Education Programs: College of
Education
K-12
Teacher Training
Soil
Science, Crop Science, and Biological and Agricultural
Engineering: College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences
Digital
Library Initiatives, NCSU
Libraries
Data
Preservation Project
The
Library of Congress and the North Carolina
State University Libraries entered into a
cooperative agreement to complete a $1.044
million project through the National Digital
Information Infrastructure and Preservation
Program on September 30, 2004. The NCSU Libraries
is partnering with the North Carolina Center
for Geographic Information and Analysis on
a three-year project to collect and preserve
at-risk digital geospatial data resources
from state and local government agencies.
Although this effort will focus solely on
North Carolina, it is expected to serve as
a demonstration project for other states.
The geospatial resources targeted include
digitized maps, geographic information systems
data sets, and remote sensing data resources
such as digital aerial photography created
by state and local agencies for use in tax
assessment, transportation planning, hazard
analysis, health planning, political redistricting,
homeland security, and utilities management.
Center
for Earth Observation
Remote
Sensing and GIS Approaches to Fire Fuel Modeling
in the Southeastern US
The President’s National Fire Plan is
concerned that fuel loads are reaching hazardous
levels that can lead to widespread catastrophic
wildfires in forest ecosystems and the forest/urban
interface. Land managers need tools to enable
them to classify, estimate, and monitor fuel
loading, and to predict wildfire risk and
behavior based on inputs of fuel, weather,
and topography for a specific location. Working
with personnel from the Forest Service, the
National Park Service, and NC Division of
Forest Resources we developed protocols for
mapping fire fuel loads using digital aerial
photography, satellite remote sensing, vegetation
maps, and field data.
Principal Investigator: Hugh Devine.
An
Early Warning System for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
in the Southern Appalachians
Hemlock
forests throughout eastern North America are
currently threatened by the hemlock woolly
adelgid (HWA). If the pest continues to spread
at its current rate, it will rapidly invade
the remainder of the southern Appalachian
region. HWA attack is almost always fatal
and has already virtually eliminated the Hemlock
population in the Shenandoah National Park.
HWA could potentially entirely remove these
ecologically important trees from the whole
region if preventive measures are not developed
and deployed in a timely manner.
We developed a new approach to data fusion
that allowed the combined use a multiple remote
sensing data sources (Landsat TM , ASTER,
etc.) and combined this with the development
of a suite of decision rules involving topography,
geology, and other factors to predict HWA
infestation with reasonable accuracy. Using
this discriminate approach, we described a
new hemlock mapping protocol that can be scaled
to the entire region. We then developed a
predictive model of HWA risk that can be used
to prioritize control measures.
Principal Investigator: Hugh Devine
Habitat
Change Analysis Using Landsat TM
The
North Carolina Sandhills Conservation Partnership
is developing a conservation strategy for
the red-cockaded woodpecker, the longleaf
pine forests, and the other ecosystems and
biota of the Sandhills in North Carolina.
The plan emphasizes the conservation, restoration,
and management of key land parcels within
the mosaic of existing land uses embedded
in the Sandhills longleaf pine ecosystem.
To assist with this effort, we used regional
(multispectral) image data to map vegetation
changes significant to wildlife management
objectives. Site specific (hyperspectral)
image data were used in discriminating pine
forest types, which provide key habitat for
wildlife species of concern.
Principal Investigator: Hugh Devine
Improved
Urban Forest Management via GIS
As
North Carolina and the Southeast have become
more urbanized, the need for better understanding
of the Urban Forest environment has become
a major issue. Local governments are spending
very significant portions of their budgets
trying to maintain healthy street tree and
green space ecosystems with very little information
on tree inventory, management costs, and environmental
impact. In addition, most of these same governments
have invested heavily in Geographic Information
Systems primarily to assist with their tax
parcel management and emergency dispatch systems.
Therefore a very promising opportunity to
develop and deploy detailed urban tree inventory
and modeling systems exists with the potential
to dramatically impact the immediate course
of urban forest planning and management. Working
with other NC State University departments
we have developed a prototype urban forest
GIS program based on high-resolution digital
orthophotography, integrated GPS and PDA technologies,
customized GIS software, and wireless Internet
access.
Principal Investigator: Hugh Devine.
Curriculum
& Instruction: College of Education
Outreach
Programs and Projects
The
Walnut
Creek Educational Wetland Park is a cooperative
project with the NC
State Natural Learning Lab, six Wake County
middle and high schools, and The Partners
for Environmental Justice. This project is
an interdisciplinary study that is using GIS
to help plan an environmental education park.
In
the Ligon
History Project, high school students
used GIS models of Southeast Raleigh in the
1800s, 1950, 1960, 1970, and today to tell
the story of change over time. Oral Histories
of the African American perspective of life
during Ligon High School's pre- and Civil
Rights era, 1953-1971, written by Ligon students,
were the focus of the project. This project
brought together many partners including the
Ligon alumni, NC State Department of Curriculum
and Instruction, Raleigh GIS, NC Depaptment
of Environment and Natural Resources, NC Division
of Archives and History, NC Division of Forest
Resources, and the US Forest Service.
Design
Research & Extension Program: College of
Design
Visual
Sensitivity Mapping of Blue Ridge Parkway
Viewsheds
This
project uses new mapping techniques to identify
visible lands and their degree of visual exposure
with respect to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Results
are used to help prioritize surrounding lands
for scenic conservation and to promote responsible
land planning and design in critical scenic
areas.
Principal Investigators: John Fels, James
Tomlinson, and Michael Holmes
Techniques
to Restore Shellfish Resources in Jumping
Run Creek
This
project is a watershed-based effort to investigate
urban planning and design techniques that
can be implemented to restore watershed hydrology
and reduce shellfish closures.
Principal Investigators: Nancy White, Dan
Line, Bill Kirby Smith, Lu Garrigan, and JD
Potts
Marine,
Earth & Atmospheric Sciences: College of
Physical & Mathematical Sciences
GeoInformation
Science and Environmental Modeling
Marine,
Earth & Atmospherice Sciences Department
faculty are involved in a variety of geoinformation
science and environmental modeling research.
Projects focus on:
National
Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program
Under
this program, detailed geologic mapping is
being conducted in three rapidly growing regions
in North Carolina to help address growth-related
issues such as waste disposal siting, groundwater
conservation and development, and infrastructure
planning.
Office
of Academic Affairs: College of Natural Resources
Boys
and Girls Club of Wake County - GIS Project
The
goal of this collaborative project with the
Boys and Girls Club of Wake County is to use
GIS to engage students in an exciting technology
and to encourage them to pursue higher education.
High School students are introduced to to
the fundamentals of GIS and to the urban environmental
analysis software, CityGreen. Our aim is to
extend this collaborative project to all five
Wake County Boys and Girls Clubs.
Project Coordinator: Kris Fowler.
Parks,
Recreation & Tourism Management: College of
Natural Resources
Recreation
Resources Service: Assisting Communities with
Park Planning
In partnership with the NC Division of Parks
and Recreation, the NC State University Department
of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management
Recreation Resources Service (RRS) uses GIS
to provide technical, park planning assistance
to local governments throughout the state.
GIS technology is instrumental in assisting
with the establishment of and site planning
for new parks.
Analysis
of the North Carolina Golf Industry
Over
the last ten years, golf course development
has increased in North Carolina by more than
25 %, with 12 golf courses opening since 1989.
The golf industry creates jobs, increases
real estate values, and brings out-of-state
revenue to local comunities. We worked with
the Marketing Committee of the North Carolina
Golf Alliance to establish a specialized GIS
database to enhance their marketing efforts.
This project yielded an award-winning undergraduate
GIS research paper. Principal Investigator:
Gene
Brothers.
Population
Health & Pathobiology: College of Veterinary
Medicine
The
Effect of Bridges and Road Runoff on Freshwater
Mussel Populations in the Upper Neuse River
Basin of North Carolina
North
American freshwater ecosystems support the
largest diversity of freshwater mussel species
on the planet. However, more than 70% of
freshwater mussel species are endangered,
threatened, or of special concern. One of
several studies conducted by the Aquatic
Animal Epidemiology and Conservation Gnomics
Laboratory, this project used GIS to
examine the potential relationship between
land-use, stream characteristics, bridge
and road attributes, and chemical contaminants
with freshwater mussel health, abundance,
and diversity.
Sponsor: NC Department of Transportation
Principal Investigator: Jay Levine
Public
Administration Program:
College of Humanities and
Social Sciences
Geographic
Information Systems for Small to Medium Law
Enforcement Jurisdictions: Strategies and
Effective Practices
Geographic
information systems (GIS) are increasingly
recognized within the law enforcement community
as an effective new tool for analyzing crime
patterns, allocating enforcement resources,
and supporting strategic planning. On the
other hand, actual use of this tool has proven
illusive . A booklet produced as part of this
study outlines obstacles, opportunities, and
action steps relevant to the implementation
of GIS in law enforcement agencies of small
to medium size jurisdictions.
Principal Investigator:
G. David Garson.
SCI-LINK
Environmental Education Programs: College of
Education
K-12
Teacher Training
The innovative SCI-LINK Program brings leading
scientists together with leading educators
to translate the results of current scientific
research into teaching content and practices.
One of the program's key objectives
is to help middle and junior/senior high school
teachers develop the knowledge and skills
needed to utilize the extraordinary resources
of environmental research in science education.
Participants in SCI-LINK professional
development institutes and workshops create
classroom applications focused on contemporary
science topics--acid rain, ozone depletion,
carbon dioxide, global warming, global environmental
change, etc.--using GIS and other computing
tools.
Program Director: Harriett Stubbs
Soil
Science, Crop Science, and Biological and Agricultural
Engineering: College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences
Remote
Sensing and Precision Technologies to Optimize
Nitrogen Management and Water Quality
Ground-
and surface water nitrogen contamination from
southeastern Coastal Plain agriculture is
a regulatory and social issue threatening
regional crop production. In an effort to
improve crop production efficiency and water
quality, a group of scientist with North Carolina
State University's Departments of Soil Science
and Crop Science was recently awarded a four-year
grant to study "Remote Sensing and Precision
Technologies to Optimize Nitrogen Management
and Water Quality".
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Principal Investigator: Jeff White
Geospatial
and Precision Technologies Regional Education
Initiative
The
adoption of geospatial and precision technologies
requires adequately trained agricultural professionals
and natural resource managers that can collect,
display, and analyze spatial data. Knowledge
of GPS, remote sensing, variable input application,
and GIS are essential to be successful. The
Department of Soil Science, in cooperation
with the Departments of Crop Science and Biological
and Agricultural Engineering, will develop
and deliver effective, science-based education
through the recently funded Geospatial and
Precision Technologies Regional Education
Initiative.
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Initiative
for Future Agriculture and Food Systems.
Principal Investigator: David Crouse.
