El Niflo and La Nifia are oceanographic and atmospheric phenomena that have been
catalogued for well over a centuly. In El Nifio years, Peru's otherwise thy west coast is
subjected to torrential rainfall. Higher ocean temperatures off the coast are deemed the
culprit. Attempts to quantify this began in the...
One of the most pressing concerns in the Geographic Information Science community is the distribution of spatial datasets over the Internet. Two projects of the Department of Geosciences at Oregon State University are in the process of distributing data. The Oregon Coast Geospatial Clearinghouse was implemented with the goal of...
Ecoregions are regions of relative homogeneity with respect to specific
ecosystem variables (Bailey 1976; Omernik 1995). There has been an increasing
awareness that effective management of environmental resources must be undertaken
with an ecosystem perspective (Omernik, 1995). Ecoregions serve as a spatial
framework for assessing, managing, and monitoring ecosystems that...
Geographical data and information are virtually unlimited in their
quantity and are oftentimes scattered throughout a multitude of locations and stored
in various formats on a wide variety of platforms. The Oregon Coast Geospatial
Clearinghouse (OCGC) is a web-based central repository for metadata (data about
data) corresponding to collected data...
Spatialization is an innovative way to expand searching capabilities for a
marine/coastal reference database by using a metaphorical map framework to establish
a sense of place for non-spatial information. Spatializing the Catalogue of Oregon
Marine and Coastal Information (COMC1), a coastal reference database, enables the
marine and coastal resource community...
An Internet Map Server (IMS) web site was constructed with the goal of
helping middle- through high-school students learn about ocean processes. This IMS was
developed in conjunction with the activities of the Science & Math Investigative
Learning Experience (SMILE) program, and for eventual use with the Oregon Coastal
Atlas,...
Dramatic declines in many species of demersal fishes off the West Coast have resulted in the designation of nine commercially important species as being overfished. While the causes of those declines are not clearly understood, the fact remains that a paucity of life history and abundance data exists for many...
Google Earth has given internet users the power of a virtual globe at their fingertips. It is
a free, easy to use tool that avoids the need for technical training, and uses a simple,
intuitive interface. For this reason, Google Earth appeals to general and more specialized
users. This project...
In recent times, public policy debates in the United States have been very contentious and dysfunctional. To help improve this situation, a multi-discipline research effort was conducted to look at "solution papers" as a form of public participation. Specifically, the roles of objectivity and mutual respectfulness were under consideration. Foundational...
This thesis deals with the archaeological investigations of an 1897-1898 gold rush
structure in the town of Dyea, Alaska. Little is known about this structure (Feature 96) from the historical records. A three year project was conducted to investigate Feature 96 in order to determine the function of the structure,...
The development of new technologies in science is a balance between existence and use. There are three versions of this duality – something is built and users come, something is built and users don’t come, and, finally, potential users show up but the ballpark has not yet been built. In...
Abstract Watershed-scale fate/transport modeling of contaminants is a tool that scientists and land managers can use to assess pesticide contamination to stream systems. The Catchment Modeling Framework (CMF) is a catchment-scale fate/transport modeling tool. It was developed to help scientists and land managers assess the effects of possible land-use decisions...
This study delineates and characterizes the distribution of montane meadows in the Willamette National Forest, identifies encroachment patterns in relation to topographic features and proximity to trees in the Chucksney-Grasshopper meadow complex, and examines tree species and age distributions in relation to distance from forest edges or isolated tree clusters...
The Arc Marine data model is a generalized template to guide the implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) projects in the marine environment. Arc Marine developed out of a collaborative process involving research and industry shareholders in coastal and marine research. This template models and attempts to standardize common marine...
The EPA’s Western Ecology Division (WED) had been accumulating geographic information system (GIS) data files for up to 20 years. There was no index or catalog for these files; locating data became more difficult over time. More that 4 Tb of data existed on numerous disk volumes in hundreds of...
In recent years confinement requirements for concrete columns have increased in seismic regions. Steel jackets are one way to confine reinforced concrete columns. The increased confinement provides additional strength and ductility for the columns during seismic events. For reinforced concrete columns with steel jackets, there are different section properties in...
Conventional soil maps represent a valuable source of information about soil
characteristics, however they are subjective, very expensive, and time-consuming to
prepare. Also, they do not include explicit information about the conceptual mental
model used in developing them nor information about their accuracy, in addition to the
error associated with...
Situated off the west coast of Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand, Phu Quoc archipelago and its waters are well-known for their rich natural resources, especially the bounty of fishery resources. Under increasing pressure from the growing population, fishing, and tourism development, there is a strong need to formulate an...
The purpose of this work is to broaden the theoretical foundations of interpolation of spatial data, by showing how ideas and methods from information theory and signal processing are applicable to the the work of geographers. Attention is drawn to the distinction between what we study and how we represent...
Overfishing of our national marine resources has degraded some of the most productive fishing regions in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, most notably the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. These regions may have shifted from productive trophic regimes to a less than optimal state therefore reducing fishers’ catches and associated...