Embedded Files
16. Measuring accessibility of public transit system in the La Crosse-Onalaska WI-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area - Ryan Kilmer and Ethan Fenelon (Spring, Fall 2020, Spring 2021)
16. Measuring accessibility of public transit system in the La Crosse-Onalaska WI-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area - Ryan Kilmer and Ethan Fenelon (Spring, Fall 2020, Spring 2021)
15. Developing Interactive Webmap for Himalayan Database using Leaflet - Sydney Graff (Fall 2019, Spring 2020)
15. Developing Interactive Webmap for Himalayan Database using Leaflet - Sydney Graff (Fall 2019, Spring 2020)
14. Detecting purple loosestrife from drone imagery using deep learning classification - Ethan Lucas (Fall 2019, Spring 2020)
14. Detecting purple loosestrife from drone imagery using deep learning classification - Ethan Lucas (Fall 2019, Spring 2020)
13. Interactive map and geodatabase development for UWL campus - Matthew Peck (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
13. Interactive map and geodatabase development for UWL campus - Matthew Peck (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
12. Mapping Slums of Mumbai in India using Machine Learning - Bo Kim (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
12. Mapping Slums of Mumbai in India using Machine Learning - Bo Kim (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
11. Developing a Social Deprivation Index for Use in Socially Equitable Planning - Max Molls (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
11. Developing a Social Deprivation Index for Use in Socially Equitable Planning - Max Molls (Fall 2018, Spring 2019)
10. Analyzing relationship between Violent Crime and Socio-Economic Characteristics in Chicago and Milwaukee (2005 - 2016) - Mitchel Larson and Jenna DeShaney (Fall 2017, Spring 2018)
10. Analyzing relationship between Violent Crime and Socio-Economic Characteristics in Chicago and Milwaukee (2005 - 2016) - Mitchel Larson and Jenna DeShaney (Fall 2017, Spring 2018)
The project aimed to analyze the spatio-temporal pattern of violent crime and its relationship with socio-demographic structure of the neighborhood in big metropolitan cities. The objectives of the study are: (i) to understand the spatio-temporal pattern of crime and compare between Chicago and Milwaukee; (ii) to evaluate the relationship between spatial pattern of violent crime and socio-economic characteristics in both the cities. The study used robbery and aggravated assault from 2005 to 2016 for both the cities of Chicago and Milwaukee. Understanding the relationship between crime events and socio-economic structure of a neighborhood can add insight to policy planning, which aims at social and community level development in major urban areas.
9. Mapping Obesity in Denver, CO - Jeff Meckstroth (Fall 2017, Spring 2018)
9. Mapping Obesity in Denver, CO - Jeff Meckstroth (Fall 2017, Spring 2018)
Obesity, especially child obesity, is a major issue in the United States which affects millions of American citizens. Determining the correct factors that influence this major health issue is important to fight this ongoing battle with the disease. ‘Food Deserts’ have become almost coterminous with areas of high obesity, being highly influenced by the quality of food people are consuming in their everyday diets. Thus this study aims to understand the relationship between food quality, socio-economic structure, and high obesity rates in urban the urban area of Denver. Denver is located in the U.S. state of Colorado, which is home to the lowest obesity rates in the country. This study uses spatial data of urban amenities, and socio-economic data from American Community Survey to conduct spatial analysis by implementing a Geographically Weighted Regression. A spatial approach on this issue supports a different method to the topic compared to looking at statistics in a spreadsheet. By combining these statistics with spatial data allows for more precise analysis. The outcome of this project helps to explain factors defining food deserts and high obesity rates. Denver is Colorado’s largest city, so utilizing this as a study area will help provide insight into whether or not the same factors are at play in this urban area, as the ones at play in traditional studies. Understanding such a phenomenon will hopefully give a better understanding on what types of steps can be taken to counteract the obesity phenomenon moving forward.
8. Mapping Mountaineering Fatalities in Himalaya, Nepal - Evan Weis (Fall 2015, Spring 2016)
8. Mapping Mountaineering Fatalities in Himalaya, Nepal - Evan Weis (Fall 2015, Spring 2016)
Following the commercialization of the mountaineering industry in the Himalaya in 1970, the allure of the peaks and popularity of the sport has increased steadily from approximately 200 ascents per year in 1970 to almost 1700 ascents in 2009. The rise in activity has been consequently followed by a rise in climbing fatalities. Mount Everest’s annual summits combined with the dangers of mountaineering has resulted in over 180 deaths between 1970 and 2015. There is a growing need to document mountaineering fatalities for use in historical, geographical, and commercial applications. ' The Himalaya by the Numbers' written by Richard Salisbury and Elizabeth Hawley has enumerated the activity and patterns for all seven of Nepal’s mountaineering regions. The huge work accomplished by Salisbury and Hawley has aided in the understanding for both the scientific and mountaineering communities. However, the information compiled by Salisbury and Hawley is organized in data tables and charts, yet a great database to be visualized in form of webmap. The aim of this project is not only to visualize the mountaineering fatalities during Everest expeditions from 1950 to 2015, but also to provide information visually to climbing enthusiasts. To achieve the aforementioned objectives, first the 'Himalaya by Numbers' database was converted into a geospatial database of total mountaineering fatalities from 1950 to 2015 by every Himalayan peak, and secondly developing a webmap using ArcGIS online for visualization. The visualization only shows fatalities for Mt. Everest expeditions, and has information about: nationality, age, sex, season & year, altitude of death, climbing route, cause of death and name of the climber. Selective display can be visualized by using the aforementioned information as a filter. The route information used here was gathered from different Himalayan mountaineering websites, and the location of the fatalities are best guessed location based on altitude, route and narrative in the database. The project has been presented at the UWL Undergraduate Research Symposium and University of Wisconsin System Undergraduate Research Presentation. The poster presented can be found here. For the webmap, please follow this link here.
7. Crime Analysis in Milwaukee, WI- Benjamin Lamb (Summer 2015)
7. Crime Analysis in Milwaukee, WI- Benjamin Lamb (Summer 2015)
Spatio-Temporal analyses can aid in the identification of crime trends and patterns. Milwaukee, being a major city within the United States of America, is home to the four violent crimes, which are labeled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These crimes consist of homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. In this study we used spatio-temporal analyses to identify patterns of each crime to fulfill 3 objectives: (i) identify when crime is occurring, (ii) identify where crime is occurring, (iii) help law enforcement, public officials, and the general public recognize patterns with areas of high crime rates.
6. Bike Accessibility in La Crosse, WI - Dylan Hamel (Spring 2015)
6. Bike Accessibility in La Crosse, WI - Dylan Hamel (Spring 2015)
Biking is an efficient, environmentally friendly, cheap and healthy way to travel, so it is one of the most popular and common modes of transportation among students and faculty for a major part of the year. The objective of this research is two fold, first the present status of bike accessibility within the city of La Crosse will be reviewed, and second, it will analyze the future potential for improvement. Primary research will be conducted using geospatial data and tools in ArcGIS along with knowledge gained from existing literature on the bike friendly cities in US, and online surveys with the focus group of UW-L. Socio-demographic and origin-destination survey data paired with road connectivity will show the true value and assessment of La Crosse's bike accessibility. The outcomes of this study are expected to provide a fresh spatial perspective on use of bikes as a popular mode of alternative transportation. The results will be disseminated via journal publication and oral presentation at a national conference. The final products along with the research paper will hopefully also be shared with the city planning officials, local bicycle association, and local scholars.
The work has been awarded Undergraduate Research Grant in Fall 2014 ($2000). It was presented at 'Bikeways and bikesharing' (Sponsored by Transportation Geography Specialty Group)the Annual Meeting of Association of American Geographers 2015 in Chicago, and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Undergraduate Research Celebration in April 2015. The methodology workflow and some maps are presented below:
5. Geospatial Analysis of Violent Crime events in Chicago, IL - Matthew Drummond (Spring 2015)
5. Geospatial Analysis of Violent Crime events in Chicago, IL - Matthew Drummond (Spring 2015)
Chicago is a large city that suffers from thousands of violent crime every year. Violent crime is defined as homicide, aggravated assault, rape, and robbery. I decided to study violent crime in Chicago because I am interested in why violent crimes occurs within cities. I am curious to know if violent crime is random or if there is a pattern. I also wanted to see if there was any correlation between socioeconomic factors and violent crime. My objective was to understand the spatial pattern of violent crime in Chicago, the change in pattern or intensity of violent crime in Chicago over the past 10 years. Some maps produced in the project are provided below:
4. The Importance of Considering Local Geography, Ecology, and Culture in Remediation of Lake Superior Barrels and Other Legacy Pollutants - Susan Smith (Spring 2015)
4. The Importance of Considering Local Geography, Ecology, and Culture in Remediation of Lake Superior Barrels and Other Legacy Pollutants - Susan Smith (Spring 2015)
Inadequate, or nonexistent, environmental policies of the past continue to impact the present in the form of legacy pollution. This is a very diverse class of pollutants, but includes several industrially produced chemicals that have been banned from the United States after they have been discovered to persist in the environment and harm living organisms. These chemicals cycle through ecosystems, increasing in concentration and potential for harm over time. As they are discovered, often in the remnants of industrial waste dumping grounds, legacy pollutants continue to raise public concerns about how to mitigate environmental hazards without causing further damage to the ecosystem. One such ecosystem is found near the North Shore of Lake Superior, where over 1,400 55-gallon barrels of munitions waste from the 1950’s and 1960’s were secretly dumped and left in the lake by the U.S. Army (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 2008). These barrels represent a challenge to the community to decide what to do next. In order to determine this, the risks to both the human and natural environments must be carefully considered. The first steps in a risk assessment are to determine what contaminants are present, what living organisms are most exposed to the contaminants, and what that means for the health of the region. Evaluating and attempting to mitigate the risks posed by the Lake Superior barrels and other legacy pollutants therefore requires a comprehensive understanding of how culture and the environment interact. The objectives of this current project were to determine which species are most at risk of contamination, and to provide this and other information pertaining to the risks of the barrels in an interactive web map format. The intention of the web map is to share multi-disciplinary information with a wide audience, which will inform them of the issues and provoke further inquiry into the risks posed by the barrels. An interactive map using ArcGIS Online is produced to develop an online freely accessible repository and for disseminating the information. The map is accessible here: http://arcg.is/1JKHOTx.
3. Land Cover/Use Analysis and Modeling of a Coastal Megacity in Bangladesh - Arthur Brueske (Summer, Fall 2014)
3. Land Cover/Use Analysis and Modeling of a Coastal Megacity in Bangladesh - Arthur Brueske (Summer, Fall 2014)
The purpose of this research has been the production and evaluation of high-resolution, accurately detailed land cover/use (LCU) classification maps. In addition, primary analysis involved multi-temporal LCU maps derived from satellite imagery to evaluate both quantity of change in the region as well as the qualitative nature of the change. Specifically, two satellite image datasets were collected from the NASA Landsat-5 TM satellite platform for a study area encompassing a 170 X 185 km scene of the Dhaka megacity region in central Bangladesh. This research included tasks such as pre-processing of satellite imagery and the use of a supervised classifier (Random Forest). These LCU maps and analyses are important tools for furthering understanding of the socio-environmental interactions that take place in rapidly urbanizing, as well as environmentally vulnerable eco-regions such as Dhaka (Dewan 2009). These regional-scale maps are also useful in an area of the developing world where such geographic data are sparse and can contribute to future predictions of LCU change to implement better policies to confront challenges such as population pressures, industrialization and conservation of one of the world’s largest, still-uninterrupted natural mangrove ecosystems: the Sundarbans. The land use maps thus produced were used in Geomod land use change model to predict future urban growth. Some graphics from the project are provided below. The results were presented the UWL Undergraduate Student Research Celebration Summer 2014.
2. Mapping spatio-temporal patterns of liquor law violation citations during Oktoberfest in college town of La Crosse, WI - Gargi Chaudhuri, Steven Oxley, Scott Wenzlaff (Summer 2013)
2. Mapping spatio-temporal patterns of liquor law violation citations during Oktoberfest in college town of La Crosse, WI - Gargi Chaudhuri, Steven Oxley, Scott Wenzlaff (Summer 2013)
Annual events like Oktoberfest, Mardi Gras, Halloween are very popular among young crowds, especially in college towns, because a major part of the celebration consists of alcohol consumption. Binge drinking during such celebrations results in alcohol related crime, assaults, vandalism and even fatal accidents. Yet, in crime studies, little research has been conducted to investigate the impact of such events on dynamics of crime and underage drinking in the local communities. The present study aims to analyze the influence of Oktoberfest on the changes in spatio-temporal pattern of underage drinking in college town of La Crosse in southwest Wisconsin. The study uses 5 years (2008 - 2012) of liquor law citation records and GIS techniques to explore the spatio-temporal pattern of underage drinking during the week of Oktoberfest and a week before and after the festival. Analysis was conducted using grid thematic maps show that the local celebration of Oktoberfest creates a perfect ambiance for overindulgence of alcohol among the majority of the underage youths of the city, resulting in an increasing number of fatal of accidents, alcohol related crimes and public nuisance. Knowledge gained from results of grid-thematic mapping was used to create a multi-criteria analysis that helped to identify a probability surface for high concentration of liquor-law violation and thus underage drinking in certain parts of the town. Validation of the resultant map shows that 85% - 97% of the citation location in last 5 years falls within the high probability zone delineated by our map. This type of mapping approach can be very useful to the local law enforcement officials and volunteered watch groups to provide focused deployment of intervention measures and increased vigilance to restrict alcohol consumption underage youths and prevent associated crime and accidents.
- 3D Mapping of UWL campus buildings - Eric Smits (Fall 2013)
For my independent study I will be helping create a three dimensional map of the UWL campus. Primarily I will be using Google Sketch to create each individual building on campus with as much detail as possible. This, combined with data and contributions from other geography students, will create a complete 3D and interactive map of campus that will be available to everyone, but geared toward prospective students who may not be able to come for a tour or are simply curious about the campus.
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