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,...