Current Search:  Department of Geosciences (x) » Forbes, Dolores J. (x)

View All Items

  • CSV Spreadsheet
(1 - 2 of 2)
Generating space-time hypotheses in complex social-ecological systems
Title
Generating space-time hypotheses in complex social-ecological systems.
Creator
Forbes, Dolores J., Xie, Zhixiao, Florida Atlantic University, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Geosciences
Abstract/Description
As ecosystems degrade globally, ecosystem services that support life are increasingly threatened. Indications of degradation are occurring in the Northern Indian River Lagoon (IRL) estuary in east central Florida. Factors associated with ecosystem degradation are complex, including climate and land use change. Ecosystem research needs identified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) include the need to: consider the social with the physical; account for dynamism and change; account for...
Show moreAs ecosystems degrade globally, ecosystem services that support life are increasingly threatened. Indications of degradation are occurring in the Northern Indian River Lagoon (IRL) estuary in east central Florida. Factors associated with ecosystem degradation are complex, including climate and land use change. Ecosystem research needs identified by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) include the need to: consider the social with the physical; account for dynamism and change; account for complexity; address issues of scale; and focus on ecosystem structure and process. Ecosystems are complex, self-organizing, multi-equilibrial, non-linear, middle-number systems that exist in multiple stable states. Results found are relative to the observation and the frame of analysis, requiring multi-scaled analytical techniques. This study addresses the identified ecosystem research needs and the complexity of the associated factors given these additional constraints. Relativity is addressed through univariate analysis of dissolved oxygen as a measure of the general health of the Northern IRL. Multiple spatial levels are employed to associate social process scales with physical process scales as basin, sub-basins, and watersheds. Scan statistics return extreme value clusters in space-time. Wavelet transforms decompose time-scales of cyclical data using varying window sizes to locate change in process scales in space over time. Wavelet transform comparative methods cluster temporal process scales across space. Combined these methods describe the space-time structure of process scales in a complex ecosystem relative to the variable examined, where the highly localized results allow for connection to unexamined variables.
Show less
Date Issued
2014
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004284
Subject Headings
Environmental sciences -- Mathematical models, Indian River (Fla. : Lagoon) -- Environmental aspects, Marine ecosystem management -- Florida -- Indian River (Lagoon), Sustainable development, Wavelets (Mathematics)
Format
Document (PDF)
Statistical correlation between economic activity and DMSP-OLS night light images in Florida
Title
Statistical correlation between economic activity and DMSP-OLS night light images in Florida.
Creator
Forbes, Dolores J., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Geosciences
Abstract/Description
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Optical Line Scan (OLS) instruments collect data from an altitude of approximately 830km above the surface of the Earth. The night light data from these instruments has been shown to correlate by lit area with national level Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and to correlate with GDP at the State level by total radiance value. Very strong correlation is found between the night light data at a new, larger scale, the Metropolitan Statistical Area ...
Show moreThe Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Optical Line Scan (OLS) instruments collect data from an altitude of approximately 830km above the surface of the Earth. The night light data from these instruments has been shown to correlate by lit area with national level Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and to correlate with GDP at the State level by total radiance value. Very strong correlation is found between the night light data at a new, larger scale, the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) within the state of Florida. Additional statistical analysis was performed to determine which industries within each MSA explain the greatest amount of variance in the night light data. Industrial variables exhibited strong multi-collinearity. It is therefore impossible to determine which industries explain the greatest variance in the night light image data.
Show less
Date Issued
2011
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3175019
Subject Headings
Earth, Rendering (Computer graphics), Urban ecology (Sociology), Sustainable development
Format
Document (PDF)