Graduate Projects

Zakim Abraham & Jason Schuster

Data was digitally developed to determine sanitary sewer locations, elevations, flow directions and parcels’ impervious areas during the summer of 2002 for the City of Rochester, Minnesota. The purpose of this project was to use these data and to develop and model a GIS template for the City of Rochester. This model was developed to model sewage flow in the event of future sanitary pipe emergencies. This model analyzes sanitary sewer pipe blockages to determine potentially impacted parcel(s) by the blockage. A second model was developed to facilitate planning in regards to storm water management. Storm water runoff was analyzed on a per parcel basis to predict rainfall runoff based on percentages of impervious surfaces. DOQQ photography was used to capture the impervious areas in parcels by onscreen digitizing. ArcMap 8.2 was used to analyze the data.

Travis J. Bare

This study explored the application of a geographic information system (GIS) to a land use and land cover (LULC) change detection analysis. Primary concern was given to changes in agricultural and developed land resulting from urban growth, although several land use categories were taken into consideration. Dane County, Wisconsin was the location for the study and the LULC raster data layers spanned three time periods including the 1970’s, 1992, and 2001. Objectives included the identification of areas of rapid urban growth and how this directly impacted the availability of agricultural land, nd the production of extrapolated values illustrating possible agriculturally impacted reas due to future urban growth.

Cole C. Belongie

Gray wolves are often difficult for biologists, forest planners, and wildlife managers to study and predict movements and habits. The controversy over wolves in the Midwest is growing with the delisting of the gray wolf from the Threatened and Endangered Species List. Growing populations of wolves have increased sightings and contact between humans and wolves. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a tool that can be utilized by planners and managers to identify wolf habitats and possible areas of human – wolf conflict. This study uses GIS to take information from written literature on wolf habitat and preferences of wolf locations and ranges in the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan and compare these to a model of wolf range suitability developed in this study. The model developed by this study utilizes four raster layers (landuse/land cover, road density, population density, and deer population density) classified to create suitability ranges. The model created indicates the presence of abundant suitable habitat in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Jay T. Berken

Shakopee Public Utilities (SPU) has been a publicly owned electric and water utility in Minnesota USA since 1902. Its electric service territory includes most of the City of Shakopee and some surrounding townships and a small portion of the City of Prior Lake. The City of Shakopee contains a main downtown district as well as residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural zones. SPU is a separate entity from the City of Shakopee with a commission appointed by the Shakopee City Council. As an electric utility, SPU does not generate its own power and purchases all of its electric power demands from outside sources. SPU has been receiving inquiries from developers of power generating wind turbines since energy independence and the worries of global warming have become more prevalent. This study is a macro comprehensive spatial analysis to determine the best placement of wind turbines in SPU’s electric territory by analyzing geographic data layers.

Timothy J.Boland

The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) is one of the most diverse and valuable ecosystems in the entire world. The UMR is considered a “multi-use” resource, meaning it is vital for wildlife, transportation, commerce, public utilities, and recreation. Prioritizing and balancing these uses can be a difficult challenge. A critical component to understanding and communicating knowledge about the UMR lies in defining aquatic habitat types. Backwater habitat areas, in particular, serve as one of the most valuable habitat types because they directly impact river flora and fauna and are crucial to maintaining river water quality. Currently, backwater aquatic habitat is identified and classified solely by visual photo-interpretation and historic geomorphology. As it becomes increasingly important to be able to protect and study backwater areas, and distinguish them from the flowing portions of the river, the need has arisen to more precisely locate these areas based on scientific data. Long-Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) data components from Pool 8 near Lacrosse, WI, are used to define backwater aquatic habitat areas based upon water chemistry. The main components of the LTRMP data chosen for analysis include: water current velocity, water temperature, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll a. In this study, backwater habitat locations are defined by creating acceptable criteria for each component and interpolating a surface based on the criteria. Newly defined extents for backwater habitat are then compared to current backwater habitat extents. This new approach to identifying and classifying these backwater habitat areas serves as an important decision-marking tool for river managers involved in a variety of projects such as habitat restoration and water quality standards testing.

Ryan R. Borman

This paper outlines the exploration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) being used by land surveying managers. Using ArcGIS 9.0 (ArcView), ArcCatalog, Autodesk Land Desktop and other mapping software, a survey identification application was created for Sunde Land Surveying, LLC. in Bloomington, MN. The goals of this project were to create a server based application that would give Sunde Land Surveying managers the ability to view and query information about past surveys, and secondly, to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency that is gained from having such an application.

Brian Boulmay & Jeff Bloomquist

Land use planning has become an increasingly complex and dynamic profession that depends on the working relations from all facets of society. Comprehensive planning provides an opportunity to state and develop these beliefs into general goals and policies for a coMMunity over a prescribed amount of time. Maintaining and continually updating these plans is an ongoing process in defining goals and aspirations with varying problem solving methodologies. Sorting through the varying agendas and ideas often falls on decision makers in a bureaucracy, who have to base their thoughts on their best judgement. These conclusions can be greatly enhanced using visual representations of the prescribed subject matter. Winona County’s Planning CoMMission has chosen to implement Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a basic tool that will assist them in updating the Current Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Using GIS provides an avenue to actively view data in a spatial context that will enhance their cognitive reasoning processes and make more sense than archaic textual facts and numbers. The pilot project was to include all steps from accessibility and cost of data to analysis and output of useful data that will be used in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan update process.

Todd Breiby

Land degradation and subsequent soil erosion and sedimentation play a significant role in impairing water resources within subwatersheds, watersheds and basins. Using conventional methods to assess soil erosion risk is expensive and time consuming. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), coupled with the use of an empirical model to assess risk, can identify and assess soil erosion potential and estimate the value of soil loss. The objectives of this project are to: 1) assess soil erosion risk within a Zumbro River subwatershed in southeastern Minnesota using GIS and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE), 2) comparatively analyze the use and scaling effect of STATSGO and SSURGO soil databases with RUSLE and 3) assess the sensitivity and scaling effect of estimated soil loss to model variables.

Mitchell Brinks

The eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis) was nearly eliminated during the mid 1900’s by habitat destruction, competition, and other human-related disturbances. However, the past few decades have seen an unprecedented resurgence in bluebird numbers thanks in a large part to the placement of bluebird nest boxes by concerned citizens. A study was conducted using geographic information system (GIS) technology to determine the optimal nest box locations for bluebirds in Minnesota by analyzing nest site selection in relation to the distance between nest boxes and elements of the landscape such as roads, buildings, water, trees, and other boxes. Thirty-five years worth of data of roughly 80 nest boxes from an existing study near Pierz, MN were provided by bluebird researchers Dave and Carol Fiedler of Buffalo, MN. Field work included marking the locations of the boxes with a global positioning system (GPS) as well as describing the landscape characteristics surrounding the box. Distances were measured using ortho-rectified aerial photographs with much of the display and analysis done using Arcview 3.2 and ArcGIS. Each of the bluebird competitors was analyzed separately and then combined to develop buffer distances for ideal bluebird box placement.

Cory Brose

Spatial distributions and densities of traffic collisions were defined through utilization of a Geographic Information System. Traffic Collision data for La Crosse, Wisconsin were acquired from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Database and spreadsheet programs were used to edit and standardize the traffic collision to index with 1995 Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) system files.

Derrick Chip Brown

Agricultural drain tile systems are a significant influence on the condition of wetlands and waterways. The influence of these systems is often difficult to determine since installation records are incomplete or were never kept. Using a modified decision class tree and raster analysis in ArcGIS, a model for predicting the location of land drained by subsurface systems was evaluated. The three-county study site in the agricultural region of central Minnesota provided an area of known drain tile systems so that the model predictions could be compared to locations of existing systems and drained land. The model criteria incorporated publically available data including agricultural land use data identified by the National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD) and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), soil characteristics obtained through the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO), and slope characteristics developed from the National Elevation Dataset (NED). Results indicate that with the best combination of criteria the model predictions correspond nearly 80% with the actual drain tile data. The potential to incorporate the influence of drain tile areas into land-use based assessments of wetland and waterway health is an important outcome of being able to identify land drained by artificial subsurface drainage features.

Steve Bruggeman

An analysis of the Rochester areas was conducted in order to understand which coMMunity wells were the most vulnerable to contamination from petroleum sources. Analysis involved the development of five modules: Leaksite Proximity to CoMMunity Wells, Groundwater Flow Direction, Pollution Sensitivity of Leaksite Locations, CoMMunity Well Characteristics, and Leaksite Conditions.

Ryan Budlong

An analysis of the Whitewater River Watershed in Southeastern Minnesota was performed to determine suitable locations for riparian habitat buffers. A model was created to determine subwatersheds most suitable for potential riparian habitat buffer sites. Three factors were used in determining the subwatershed ranking system for the potential buffer sites: proximity of row crops to streams and rivers, subwatershed slope, and proximity of feedlots to rivers and streams of the Whitewater River Watershed.

Aaron Buffington

This study takes a look at the values that Rochester's urban parks are given by the local coMMunities, and more specifically, the correlation between the urban parks and residential property value. A Geographic Information System (GIS) was implemented to show direct patterns and correlations between the city park system and residential property values.

Kimberly M. Cannon

This paper illustrates how Geographic Information Systems can be used to expand a pet food product into new market areas. A correlation analysis of pet feed in tons sold against demographic variables helped to identify a customer profile. Determining pet feed potential and estimated gross revenue was then estimated and analyzed spatially. The customer profile was then compared to areas higher in gross revenue to determine areas for Land O'Lakes Purina Feed, LLC to conduct further research to determine if these locations would be suitable for market expansion.

Christopher D. Cantrell

Emerging technologies allow antiquated emergency response coverage areas to be updated and improved upon. In Midland County the existing emergency response system has been in place for over ten years. Spatial technologies provide the means for analyzing current systems with anticipation of discovering areas of improvement. The current response coverages are not developed based on shortest distance to a location. Response coverages are developed according to township boundaries and in some cases multiple townships are one coverage area. Emergency response times are a measurable quantity; it is these times with which responding units work on improvement continuously. Through the use of geonetworking, response times are analyzed and modeled to develop an efficient and logical coverage for responding units based on spatial location.

Beth Collins

The Girl Scouts Northern Pine Council wanted to know how the number of girls enrolled as Scouts varied over time. They were also interested in relating zip codes to Service Units. Using ArcView and Bureau of Census data, this paper looks at one method to determine and map changes in the number of girls in Scouting and how zip code boundaries relate to Service Unit boundaries.

Karen Marie Cunningham

Site suitability modeling in Archaeology is useful for determining the environmental parameters for site placement, thereby exceeding chance or random factors. If one is able to predict which factors dictate a site’s placement, then the salient question is “Why did Prehistoric people choose a certain location? Which terrestrial qualities were considered most useful for placing a circle of stones necessary for holding a tipi in place?” After surveying the 32MZSWC site, located in McKenzie County, North Dakota, certain patterns began to emerge. Many stone circle sites were placed on valley floors close to water, gently sloping open terraces, and bluff tops. Mapping the distribution of environmental factors is a key to understanding the distribution of human activity patterns in the Prehistoric time period. These terrestrial variables can be quantified in a model that helps support a more robust determination of a site’s possible location thereby maximizing efficiency of resources in the surveying process.

Lynne DeHaan

Habitat use and selection was determined for radio-marked mallard broods on Pool 7 of the Upper Mississippi River for 1993 and 1994. Data were collected on a daily basis using standard telemetry techniques. Habitat use was determined using methods that consider telemetry error in estimating brood locations. Compositional analysis was used to determine habitat selection at two levels.

Nicole DeMotto

Using spatial statistics, hot spot analysis and overlay analysis property crime data for Winona, Minnesota was analyzed for spring 1996 and spring 1998. The intent was to examine the influence businesses with an On-Sale liquor license, also known as a bar or tavern, had on property crime. The results show an influence on property crime, however property crime may be a greater externality of university students than of bar patrons.

Kevin H. Donlon

A picture may be worth a thousand words but a map tells a story. It speaks to the viewer by exposing its many relationships. Its testimony is unquestioned making it a powerfully persuasive tool. This report will discuss how this tool will be used by a real estate company to improve its services, woo prospective clientele, and ultimately contribute to the company’s bottom line. A Geographic Information System (GIS) captures, analyzes, and displays data in a visual, spatial context. In essence, the product of a GIS is a map. Use of GIS technology is particularly fitting to the application of real estate practice considering that property is geospatial in nature, its associated attributes are plentiful, and the relevance of location is key. This paper describes how a large map was produced using GIS technology. The map depicts over 1,000 properties displaying the property owner’s last name, assessor’s parcel number, acreage, Williamson Act status, and it indicates which properties have been sold by Shane P. Donlon, Incorporated. The paper describes how GIS can use prior sales data to illustrate current market trends and create customized maps for market perception. The results will aid investors so that they may be well informed while contemplating expensive decisions.

Alexander Dubish

Determining the animal disposal site capacity of a county is extremely important, especially in the event of a catastrophic emergency. Emergency events can include natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or human induced disasters. This analysis investigates the ability to dispose of large animal carcasses such as cattle, hogs, or sheep by burial in Minnesota counties and compares the respective county livestock populations. An interpretation of county soil surveys was utilized to delineate potential animal disposal sites coupled with the livestock population data by county. GIS was used to control, manipulate, and interpret a significant amount of data for a statewide analysis. This analysis develops a framework for the mitigation, planning, and the siting of animal disposal sites in the event of catastrophic mortality of livestock in Minnesota counties.

John Ebert

Non-metallic mining has become a mandatory issue to be addressed by all counties, townships, and cities in Wisconsin. The initiation of this program began in the year 2000 and was designed to concentrate on pollution that was originating from non-metallic mining sites. The goal of the mandate was to set a series of guidelines, developed by the Regulatory Authority (Buffalo County), to which quarry operators must adhere. As part of mining program requirements, Buffalo County is developing a series of resource modeling efforts in hopes of protecting natural resources. Serving as a 'pilot program,' the non-metallic mining program offers Buffalo County the opportunity to develop an administrative GIS research/resource model that can be used for other programs and/or projects that will benefit from a comprehensive GIS - administrative approach to conserving natural resources and managing programs effectively.

Nathan Eide

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is one of the most important commercial tree species in northeastern Minnesota.  The Lake County Forestry department is interested in assessing the quality of aspen stands on tax forfeit land.  Knowing the quality of aspen is important for forest management decisions.  Using handheld computers, data from 2,231 plots was collected in stands labeled as aspen in the forest inventory.  Five categories of data from this inventory were interpolated into rasters using ArcGIS 9.x Spatial Analyst Extension.  Inverse Distance Weight (IDW), Spline, and Natural Neighbor with multiple combinations of parameters were all used to derive interpolations.  Each of these interpolated rasters was statistically compared with each other to find the most appropriate method of interpolation.  The IDW method using a power of 3 and a 140 m fixed radius was the most accurate.  The interpolated rasters for each data category were then reclassed based on an index scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most desirable trait for aspen.  The reclassed rasters were then added together to find the overall quality index.  Based on the results from this study, aspen quality increases with distance from Lake Superior.  No values greater than 23 out of 25 and no values less than 5 were generated.  GIS can successfully be used to analyze quaking aspen quality.  Lake County Forestry department now has an important tool to help decision-making processes.

Andrew Eischens

Surveying of clientele frequenting the Red Lobster restaurant in La Crosse , Wisconsin , was performed to identify key customer characteristics to aid in the determination of future restaurant placement. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses and investigation of existing Red Lobster markets' physical and demographic attributes, coupled with clientele surveys and demographic census data, led to the production of very specific and highly accurate maps. These maps portray areas containing characteristics matching various analysis criteria leading to a potentially successful future Red Lobster location.

Derek Erickson

Sustainable development is progress that maintains or enhances economic opportunity and coMMunity well-being while protecting and restoring the natural environment upon which people and economies depend... The Sustainable Development for Minnesota Lakes Project attempts to answer the question of what should lakes and their watersheds look like in the next two generations. The Sustainable Development project created an outline plan so that major local and public developments can be planned and prioritized and can be reproduced for other lakes and their surrounding watersheds.

Timothy Fox

Canopy Gaps in an Upper Mississippi River floodplain plot were measured as a part of a songbird nest-site selectivity study. Two methods of measuring floodplain forest canopy gaps were compared.

John Gabbert

This project seeks to discover a relationship between breast and prostate cancer incidence and organochlorine/dioxin exposure among Wisconsin residents of areas within the prevailing winds of an incinerator emissions plume. The French Island waste incinerator/biomass electrical generating facility in La Crosse, Wisconsin began burning both waste wood and refuse-derived fuels prior to 1990, its first full year doubling as a municipal waste incinerator. The plant's owner, Xcel Energy, was fined in 2002 by the Wisconsin Attorney General for excessive dioxin emissions on a number of occasions between 1995 and 2000. In a related matter, finalized in October, 2003, the USEPA found the facility in violation of the Clean Air Act for emissions of particulates, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen chloride. The plant, located in a region of Wisconsin popularly known as “God's Country,” has since improved its pollution control capabilities.

Adel Gilroy

One of the biggest problems in the farming industry is erosion on farmland from water and the transport of sediment into watersheds. This study compared the level of soil erosion by water on farmland of eight-digit hydrologic units between the years of 1992-1997, and whether or not the presence of acreage enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) affected soil loss levels within the study area. The Conservation Reserve Program is a program provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, to install conservation practices and assist private landowners with sustaining their land. A geographic information system (GIS) analysis using CRP and NRCS data, along with county, elevation and agricultural data, was conducted to determine factors contributing to differences in soil erosion levels for the state of Iowa from 1992-1997. For further analysis, two sections of various counties were chosen: one encompassed by an eight-digit hydrologic unit that showed a high level of erosion, and secondly, by a unit with a low erosion level.

Josephine Gitu

The demography of any region is constantly changing due to births, deaths, migration of people, etc. Winona County, Minnesota is no exception and is experiencing changes in the characteristics of its population. These include total population change, population density, race, ancestry, age structure, dependency ratio, sex composition, education and human resources, housing units, labor force, occupation, journey time to work, income and poverty. There was an increase in the population in Winona County from 1990 to 2000. There was also an increase in the population density of approximately three people per square mile. The majority of the population are of European ancestry and are White Caucasian. In terms of age, there was an increase in the number of people of employable age. The dependency ratio of the population declined and the population also attained higher education levels. The number of women is slightly greater than men. This paper illustrates some of the basic techniques used to describe and analyze census data using geographic information system (GIS) analysis techniques.

Corryne Goettsch & Heidi Voth

Analyses of physical boating capacity and beach use within pool 6 of the Upper Mississippi River were conducted to determine if the pool is being used beyond its capacity. Data from the Minnesota--Wisconsin Boundary Area CoMMission aerial surveys were obtained for several years between 1989 and 1997. Based on the counts of moving and beached craft it was possible to determine the number and types of craft utilizing the pool.

Michael J. Goodnature

Like many urbanized lakes within the Twin Cities metro (MN) area, the shoreline of Long Lake has been highly developed for residential use. The removal of natural shoreline vegetation during residential development has allowed surface runoff to enter the lake without being filtered. Shoreline restoration efforts on Long Lake have been proposed, and a field inventory assessment of the shoreline was based on three factors: land cover, slope, and soil erodibility. An assessment was completed and incorporated into a model to identify areas in most need of restoration. These three factors were ranked and added together to determine which areas had low, medium, or high potential for the ability to effectively filter chemicals and sediment from runoff before it entered the lake. The areas classified as high were defined as areas with little or no potential to filter runoff, and were considered ideal for future restoration projects. This paper illustrates how a Geographic Information System (GIS) was used to develop a model to locate high priority areas using the same three factors listed above using Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) ArcGIS software suite. The goal in developing this model was to determine its accuracy and efficiency such that the protocol could be used for future models to save field data collection time and money. A raster layer created from the GIS model compared favorably to the raster created from the field data derived model. However, when the land cover and slope factors used in the GIS model were compared separately, there were not enough samples from each dataset to create an accurate comparison. The GIS model saved time and resources, but additional data may be needed for a more precise model.

Matthew Gress

Park locations are an important part of any community. Parks contribute to the lives of individual residents in multiple ways. The distribution of parks promotes overall public health providing space for physical activity as well as social interaction. Park locations and park density vary across a city and the access to park areas is both hindered and aided by the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity. Census demographic data provide information on social, economic, and housing characteristics. Understanding where parks are located in the different parts of an urban area in relation to demographic data can be used to determine if a correlation exists between demographics and park space. In this study, a GIS analysis was undertaken in order to help understand spatial patterns contributing to a correlation between park space and people.

Brayton Grinnell

Identification of problematic areas of vandalism were analyzed within the city of Winona, Minnesota for 2001 and 2006. The intent of this study was to explore spatial and temporal analysis methods to study how the crime of vandalism has changed over the past several years. In addition, problematic areas of vandalism were identified within the city and various analysis methods were implemented to determine why vandalism may be occurring within certain geographical locations. From these analysis operations, police and other community members can make more informed decisions to help prevent the economic and social strain that vandalism causes within the city of Winona, Minnesota.

Joseph Guenther

Historically wetlands have been converted to agricultural production because of their native fertility and ability to hold moisture. Diverse opinions are increasingly expressed with regards to wetland policy, whether it is protection, development, or resource extraction...In this study Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis was used to assess the potential for restoration through reconnection of floodwater to the Zumbro River floodplain.

Julie Haddon

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Geological Survey are developing a factsheet for each of the coMMunity water supplies (CWS) in Illinois serving as a source of public water supply....My work during my internship was to help create a factsheet for the Decatur CWS in order to understand the watershed and its source water. I also chose to extend this analysis to focus on potential point sources of contamination and their relationship to the public water supply intakes.

Brian Hall

The purpose of this study was primarily to characterize and quantify selected aspects of known bald eagle winter night roost sites, and secondarily to use the results of the analysis as criteria for predicting potential future roost habitat. Five sites with known winter eagle use were studied. Forestry information for each site was collected. Roost sites were modeled in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to permit analysis of several spatial characteristics. Results of analyses were used as parameters in a model to predict additional areas suitable for eagle use.

Mark Hamernick

The home ranges and habitat selection of Blanding's turtles were examined at an area known as the Weaver Dunes, located in Wabasha County, Minnesota as part of an ecological survey of the species. 38 individual Blanding's turtles (23 females, 12 males, 3 juveniles) were radio monitored from April 15th, 1999 to April 1st, 2000 in an effort to better understand particular characteristics of the species' spatial behavior at this specific locale.

Andrew Hayden

Under the direction of the Arrowhead Regional Development CoMMission (ARDC), Duluth, Minnesota a study was conducted to help identify parcels near the Duluth International Airport that would be prime for iMMediate development. The study involved the collection and analysis of data utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The analysis of the data is to be used as a guide for development strategies for parcels near the Duluth International Airport. It is expected that the results of this analysis can be used as a tool in guiding the development of the Northern Development Area, which would be of great economic benefit for the Duluth International Airport, City of Duluth, City of Hermantown and the State of Minnesota. This analysis can also be of great benefit to perspective developers in their site selection process and could be easily modified to meet any specific objectives they may have.

David Haynes

This project outlines procedures and resources used on the construction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) susceptibility model. The PAH susceptibility is due to PAH loading from impervious surface features in the watershed. The susceptibility model determines areas in the watershed which contribute to PAH loading. These hotspots represent areas that should be closely monitored, as they have the greatest potential to detrimentally impact the aquatic life in the No-Name Creek Watershed. The model also looks to find potential PAH sinks or other abnormalities within the watershed boundaries.

Tracy Herrera

This paper analyzes the use of GIS as a tool to enhance decision-making regarding development in the LaBarque Creek Watershed, and the process by which important natural resource information can be made available to county planners who seek to identify critical areas for protection as development occurs. GIS was used to assemble and organize readily available data and to create secondary data needed for analysis and planning. Geospatial analysis was conducted using a ten-meter digital elevation model, soils, parcels, and community characteristics. Analysis enabled identification of critical habitats, erosion hazards, and biological connectivity. The results of this analysis permit Jefferson County Planning Department to identify key habitats and important landforms that will assist them in making decisions about development proposals. Furthermore, the LaBarque Creek Watershed Partnership can identify landowners to be targeted for education on habitat preservation or restoration. LaBarque Creek Watershed study results and GIS data will provide future land management and development decisions that impact the watershed. In addition, this GIS application can be used as a template for other watershed planning efforts throughout Jefferson County.

Dave Holmen & Blake Kowal

Analysis was conducted for forest change over time within the Lower Minnesota Watershed. Areas at high risk for erosion and 1977 forested areas were then compared. Finally these areas were associated with respect to soil type. Analyses were performed in EPPL7 using EPIC data layers.

Bonnie L. Horner

Population data is collected by the government and released in census spatial zones as aggregate counts. The key problem in using this valuable dataset is the need to reassign the data to other geographical areas when the geographical zonal systems are incompatible. Areal interpolation is used to dis-aggregate census data into areas or zones that are compatible and can be analyzed. In this project, two population distribution models are compared using areal interpolation. The two distribution models evaluated consist of simple areal weighting and a dasymetric-based approach. Simple areal weighting is used with 2000 census data in various zip code areas. The dasymetric approach uses the Hennepin County, MN parcels to redistribute the same 2000 census data. The analysis is conducted using a five mile radius around a new hospital site in Hennepin County, MN. The proposed output of this study concludes that dasymetric areal interpolation of population is more representative of actual density than simple areal weighting.

Jenelle Louise (Taylor) Hudok

This study analyzes a series of crimes committed by sexual offenders and a series committed by non-sexual offenders. Subjects chosen for the study were seven sexual offenders (Test Group) and twelve offenders with non-sexual crimes (Control Group). Test data were selected from the Minnesota Predatory Offender Registry. Control group data were randomly selected from data provided with the crime analysis software used in this study (CrimeStat III). Historical offense data from all offenders were analyzed using the Journey-to-Crime (JTC) function of CrimeStat III to predict the most likely location of residence based upon the location of offenses. The distance predicted was compared with the actual location of the residence of each offender. Data collected for each group was compared both visually and statistically to determine if there was a significant difference between the two groups.

Ryan Hughes

This research focused on whether or not demographic characteristics influence repeat violent offenses. Discussions occurred regarding the potential of the correlation between demographic values in census block groups of the City of Madison, Wisconsin and repeat violent offenses from January 2000 to November 2007. Statistical analysis, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and repeat violent offender profiles were created using demographic values from census block groups. In the process of creating these profiles, the use of a bivariate correlation matrix helped compare common themes with offense data and to find correlations between demographics and repeat violent offenses. Examination of the demographics showed statistically significant relationships between repeat violent offenses and 33 census demographic variables. Seven demographic variables were determined to be statistically significant.

Chad Ihrke

Olmsted County Solid Waste Division has chosen to develop a geologic data management system in hopes of better understanding subsurface conditions at the Kalmar Landfill. A pilot project has been initiated to organize and extrapolate data in the southern third of the landfill. This pilot project consists of two primary objectives: 1) develop a database management system for the existing and future boring logs, and 2) extrapolate the lithology data using geostatistics and interpolation methods to generate probable subsurface geologic conditions.

Steve Jakala

This paper documents the importance of GIS enabled air dispersion modeling for use in Emergency Management operations and outlines the steps taken to design and build a GIS enabled air dispersion modeling tool for ESRI’s ArcGIS software. The tool contains report generating functionality that has the ability to analyze the area affected by the plume and create a summary report on the people and resources that are in harms way. The paper also provides a sample case study on the analysis of an accidental chemical release scenario.

Jean Johnson

It is hypothesized that patients will seek care at a tertiary care center for an elective procedure requiring highly specialized care. Furthermore, patients with an emergent condition not requiring highly specialized care will seek care at the nearest hospital. This analysis suggests that there is a correlation between urgency and severity of condition and distance traveled for hospital inpatient services. A geographic information system was utilized to obtain a distance analysis based on zip code point files and straight-line distance. The sample group was 3326 patients. This sample included 2043 Mayo Clinic patients and 1283 Mercy Medical Center patients.

Carrie Jones

GIS is a very effective tool in completing many types of analysis and manipulation of data. For this reason, it seems very effective to use GIS in stormwater management utility projects. Projects that contain many variables such as cost, area, and credits can be extremely cumbersome to work with. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the benefits of using GIS related to stormwater utility assessment. Several methods of data capture and data manipulation will be explored. Examples of the data capture methods explained are the use of imagery to create digitized impervious areas and the use of GIS tools and queries to evaluate “what if” scenarios. Results of these methods are discussed through a pilot application for the City of Tampa, FL Stormwater Department.

Paul Kelly

To increase the understanding of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvensens) in the upper Mississippi River a radio telemetry study was conducted in Pools 4 through 10. Currently lake sturgeon are listed as a species of concern. GIS analysis of available data was performed to determine the spatial relationships that exist between lake sturgeon and their habitat.

Ryan Kiefer

GIS can be used in conjunction with ArcObjects to determine the maximum potential spill volume for points along a pipeline.  A customized ArcObjects program was created which allows a user to enter a pipeline route and a series of points or valves along the route, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) to provide the elevation, an interval at which to determine spill volumes and either a static diameter or a defined field for diameter between valves.  This tool provided a shapefile output that encapsulates the potential volume of oil spill at each interval along with graphs for each segment of pipeline and corresponding volumes at each interval point with the segment.  Using this tool, one can determine potential sites of sensitivity along a path and build a precursor to spill analysis modeling and high consequence area analysis.

Ross Kleiner

The validity of all geographic analysis is directly related to the accuracy of all geographic datasets representing real-world phenomena involved within a given study.  Spatial data of customers or test subjects are often obtained through address geocoding.  GIS users run the risk of producing unsatisfactory geocoding match rates due to discrepancies in the source data, reference data, or both datasets.  Research conducted in this project examined the improvements in geocoding match rates when combining two updated multiple road centerline datasets.  A Geographic Information System (GIS) geocoded records from source address datasets representing multiple test areas with two competing spatial reference datasets of road centerlines.  Comparative statistics between the two reference datasets were created for analysis.  Investigations of the geocoded output datasets revealed a projected improvement in match rates when combining the two road centerline datasets into a hybrid reference dataset.

Sam Klimoski

Creating a model of an existing, complex architectural structure like a theater can be a time consuming and difficult undertaking. Issues such as line of sight, accuracy, and time constraints can pose problems when creating such a model and, in turn, when plans for renovations are made from that model. These issues can be overcome and alleviated with the use of High Definition Survey (HDS) scanning, also referred to as 3D laser scanning.

Jeff Knopf

The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. With a membership of approximately 64,000 citizens, it maintains a large fleet of single-engine aircraft. A primary mission of the CAP is search and rescue. This study shows that GIS
can be used in a variety of ways to enhance CAP search and rescue missions. Results demonstrate increased accuracy in coordinate location and reduced expenditure of time. These directly translate into improvements in efficient utilization of resources and safety of personnel.

Beth Knudsen

Florence Township is situated 90 miles south of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area and is bordered on the east by the Mississippi River. Its steep topography and vegetative cover are typical of the southeast Minnesota bluffland landscape. Its desirable location and scenic appeal have led to increasing rates of housing development, higher traffic levels and changing demographics.
Florence Township developed a comprehensive plan in 2003 using natural resource based planning principals. Using ESRI ArcView and Spatial Analyst, suitability analyses were performed based on the goals of the plan.

Joan Koikai

Bioenergy has become an economically viable venture both on a subsistence level and on a vast commercial scale, allowing farmers, industries, and villages to attain energy independence. In Kenya, the government has formulated, published, and is now implementing a policy for wind, small hydro energy plants, and biofuels and biomass resource generated energy (MOE, 2008). This research project used siting analysis models to explore potential bioethanol processing plant locations that derive bioenergy from first-generation renewable energy sources from food crops in a province located in western Kenya. The potential economic viability of bioethanol production from crops in Nyanza province in western Kenya was assessed by identifying potential biofuel collection locations to explore future spatial distributions of biofuel sites along major road networks, major cities, and proximity of maize production areas and markets. The spatial distribution of economically viable biomass production was determined using a GIS-based sustainability management and site suitability model. The suitability model evaluated regions in Nyanza province with high maize productivity where potential bioethanol processing plants can be developed to improve economic sustainability of bioenergy.

Blake Kowal & Dave Holmen

Analysis was conducted for forest change over time within the Lower Minnesota Watershed. Areas at high risk for erosion and 1977 forested areas were then compared. Finally these areas were associated with respect to soil type. Analyses were performed in EPPL7 using EPIC data layers.

Andy Kruse

Analysis of potential market areas within the seven county Twin Cities metropolitan area was performed for Hydro Restoration Incorporated. The analysis consisted of two phases. The initial phase identified current customer demographic attributes. The second phase of the analysis used current customer demographic information to identify areas with similar demographic attributes within the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The areas identified by the second phase of the analysis will be used to make informed marketing decisions.

Derek Lee

The traditional archeological data recovery method utilizes 1-meter units and screens all matrix through ¼ inch mesh. Modern excavation techniques have begun to incorporate available GIS and survey technology to increase the amount of area surveyed while maintaining more precise provenience information in an effort to interpret community-wide spatial patterns. Typical clustering assessments rely heavily on visual interpretation of point data. However, the level of precision inherent to these datasets enables the quantification and delineation of nonrandom artifact distribution clusters through more statistical means. Flaking debris data from five piece-plotted archeological excavations was compiled to establish sampling accuracy as it pertains to this non-traditional excavation method. Flaking debris from archeological site 13DB497 was selected for in-depth analysis. Statistical procedures were employed to demonstrate both the clustered nature of the distribution as well as to delineate 5 primary clusters. Further interpretations were then conducted to illustrate a potentially significant cultural variation between the 5 clusters and the remaining portion of the excavation.

Michelle Lilly

Great River Bluffs State Park of Minnesota contains many bluff prairies, or goat prairies . . . Management practices have been implemented in the park to preserve these natural coMMunities. Aerial photography from nine years between 1936 and 1996 was used to determine bluff prairie boundaries for each year. The boundary sizes (in acres) were compared and combined with a database of management practices to perform analyses using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Travis Ludwig

The Chippewa National Forest has large expanses of land that are densely forested and largely uninhabited providing excellent habitat for Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentiles). The Chippewa National Forest is currently updating its forest management plan and one of the issues is the importance of goshawk habitat. The goshawk is a listed Sensitive Species in the Eastern Region for the U.S. Forest Service. This study used a geographic information system to assess which forest types are important as goshawk habitat. Since limited knowledge exists concerning goshawk habitat, three habitat estimations (minimal convex polygons, Kernel 95% and Forage Buffer) were used to determine which forest stands occur within goshawk utilization areas. While quaking aspen plays a vital role in goshawk habitat in the Chippewa National Forest, goshawks there are opportunistic and take advantage of many other forest types.

Robert Marros

This paper illustrates how a Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to visualize the spatial distribution of Starbuck's Coffee locations in Chicagoland. The location of Starbuck's Coffee was compared to the data available by census tract from the US Census Bureau. In particular, the income by census tract and location were considered. By visualizing and analyzing the spatial locations it is possible to determine areas that are underserved and determine areas that seem to have a predominant demographic that Starbucks Corporation prefers.

Melissa Mathis

The mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) is causing large problems in South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest. From 1996–2001, these destructive beetles killed more than half a million ponderosa pine trees in the northern and central parts of the forest. The dead trees are not only safety hazards but also increase the risk of wildland forest fires particularly near populated areas. A GIS was used in this project to examine the relationships between ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) stand characteristics and the occurrences of mountain pine beetle infestations. A study area was selected in a severely infested site to identify three forest factors mountain pine beetles prefer. These forest factors were used in a susceptibility model to identify other tree stands that may be vulnerable to mountain pine beetle outbreak in the Black Hills National Forest. According to the model, the tree stands in the Northern Hills Ranger District were found to be the most susceptible to mountain pine beetle infestation.

Mara May

Land cover/ land use maps provide valuable information to a variety of users. Accuracy assessments determine how useful these maps are to the user. A thematic accuracy assessment was designed and implemented for the vector-based 2001 land cover/ land use dataset for Pool 8 of the Upper Mississippi River... A stratified random sampling design was implemented based on the dominant land cover classes. Coordinates were generated for sample points using a random point generator for each stratum or land cover class . . . RecoMMendations for future assessments are made based upon the results of this study.

Jay S. Meehl

The number of displaced people in the world is increasing at an alarming rate. Whether it is civil war, flooding, earthquakes or racial genocide, any number of world events could strip people of their homeland, forcing them to search for shelter and assistance. Overburdened by the growing numbers, humanitarian agencies are looking towards GIS and other technology to assist in relief efforts for refugees and internally displaced populations. Although location based tools such as GIS have been implemented in varying capacities, can they be fully utilized for the registration, design, maintenance, and mapping of refugee camps? The focus of this research paper involves the creation of GIS based applications customized to reduce the technical constraints encountered by camp personnel as well as incorporate components specifically developed for humanitarian aid operations. The applications contain numerous tools to facilitate data collection, camp registration and addressing, demographic analysis, camp infrastructure design validation, and the publication of easily distributable camp maps.

Susan Miller

Soil erosion, due to intensive agricultural practices, has been and continues to be of significant concern in the Whitewater Watershed, a coldwater tributary of the Mississippi River, in southeastern Minnesota. Conservation efforts, in the form of best management practices (BMPs) have been underway for many years and a number of residents have enrolled in various government programs designed to reduce soil loss. However, the effectiveness of these programs is unknown... A model was created based on six criteria dealing with soil erodibility, landuse/landcover, land mass, intensity of current conservation program participation, density of hydrologic and biological sample sites and the potential impact conservation land practices would have on soil conservation.

Stephen J. Misterek

Government agencies have been tasked to prepare for a wide range of events when it comes to emergency preparation, planning, and response. Disaster planning, at its core, tends to deal with preparing a response to critical and complicated events with unknown situational variables, and unpredictable temporal and spatial constraints. A situation itself can come in the form of natural or manmade disasters that are intended and targeted events or accidental occurrences. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be an important tool for the purposes of mitigating damages incurred during disaster events by providing tools and data to be used in a response planning. But how can GIS be used to plan for the complexities and unknowns of a given situation? As GIS becomes ubiquitous in planning and managing events and responses to situations, how can GIS be implemented in a way that leverages the technology to its fullest potential. The intent of this study is to explore opportunities and challenges that are presented at local governmental levels for preparing a plan to deal with responses to an event using GIS as a tool for planning situational response mechanisms.

Kristin Moe

The changes in channel areas induced by impoundment of Navigation Pool 5 of the Upper Mississippi River are widely recognized. This study seeks to describe and quantify channel activity, determining effects on the pool following impoundment. Three study periods are introduced in which changes in channel areas are described. Lateral channel migration proved to be a minimal factor in the study. Migrations rates varied between 1.06 and 1.89 m/year and may not be accurate for the first period of study. In the period from 1890 to 1975, water areas increased by 269% throughout the pool. Such a tremendous increase can largely be attributed to dam closure. This period was followed by a time of noticeable channel abandonment. Backwater areas in the upper pool began filling in with sediment. The final period, 1989 to 2000, indicated a trend toward channel stabilization. Rates of channel creation were nearly equal to those of channel abandonment.

Michael Montemayor

This paper outlines the exploration of internet based mapping software for municipal government use. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and other mapping software, a land parcel management application was created for the City of Winona. The project’s goals were to first implement an intranet based parcel viewing and querying system that would allow city employees to obtain information about city parcel data. Second, to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of internet GIS access to city officials as a means to make city data available to the public.

Ryan Moore

Preparation of Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 34 (GASB 34) financial reports was completed for the City of Rochester, MN – Public Works Division (RPW) utilizing geographic information system (GIS) technology. The following infrastructure networks were analyzed: bridges, sanitary sewers, sidewalks, bike paths, storm ponds, storm sewers, streets, and traffic signals. RPW estimated the financial value of each asset at the time of installation. Having this financial value provided the baseline information needed for City of Rochester, MN – Finance Department (RF) to depreciate the value of each asset, a requirement of GASB 34. After all GASB 34 information was populated in the infrastructure networks, summary reports were generated and submitted to RF.

Fran Morrow

Everyday, millions of people worldwide call a friend, check email, send text messages, watch TV, download music, and surf the web over a wireless network. Regardless of cell phone carrier, each network is often subject to ridicule by end users due to poor coverage and lack of connectivity. Telephia, an independent market research firm for the wireless industry, seeks ways to improve network performance using Mobile Test. The Mobile Test division of Telephia creates drive routes, drives the route to measure network performance, and sends data back to the Telephia office team which then generates a report for the client. This paper demonstrates a mapping tool that was created and documented within the Mobile Test department to monitor a drive’s progression from start to finish in order to eliminate errors and omissions in data collection. Examples used for this paper are taken from the September 2005 Denver drive route. This mapping tool helps formulate more efficient drive routes, applies quality control in the field, and facilitates faster drive time analysis.

Khalid Mubarak

Data obtained from water samples collected from some 1,700 wells in Olmsted County were used to estimate the total mass of nitrate-nitrogen and chloride stored in the primary aquifer and to analyze the spatial distributions of these anions and their correlation with hydrogeologic factors and known land use classes. The study included separate analysis for each of the three water-bearing stratigraphic units making up the primary aquifer; these are the St. Peter sandstone (OSTP), the Prairie du Chien Group (OPDC), and the Jordan sandstone (CJDN). The hydrogeologic factors examined include aquifer position within the stratigraphic column, the presence or absence of Decorah-Platteville-Glenwood confining unit, the thickness of overlying surficial deposits, and the aquifer thickness. Cropland was the only land use examined on a subwatershed basis; cropland acreage is serving as a surrogate variable for nitrogen fertilizer use. All of these factors were analyzed using spatial and statistical methods.

Robert Mueller, Jr.

Currently emphasis on accurate and timely collection of fisheries data generates a need for investigation into advanced techniques in bathymetry, including recent refinements in Geographical Information Science (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS).  The study area for this project was the east basin of Lake Winona, a small Mississippi River floodplain lake in Winona, Minnesota USA.  Lake Winona was the site of recent dredging operations aimed at decreasing littoral zone areas to reduce plant growth and stunted fish populations.  To assess potential effectiveness of dredging operations, bathymetric data were collected with a Garmin depthfinder and GPS unit, and interpolation techniques to produce lake morphometric characteristics (splining, kriging, and inverse distance weighting) were compared within ESRI’s ArcMap 9.0.  All interpolation methods produced similar outputs for cross validation statistical comparisons, although kriging produced the best predictive output of actual bathymetric contouring for Lake Winona.  Calculation of morphometric characteristics from derived bathymetric information showed significant changes in Lake Winona compared to historic accounts.  Lake dredging was successful in reducing littoral zone areas by 30 percent and increasing lake volume by 28 percent, while increasing the mean depth by 60 percent (from 2.6 feet to 4.3 feet).  Habitat for stunted fish populations was substantially reduced.  Today, information from this project is being used to assess the feasibility of further bathymetric studies and to refine management approaches to improve the Lake Winona fishery.

Martin Murphy

Northeastern Iowa has seen dramatic landscape changes in the last 160 years. What was once a pristine forest and prairie landscape embedded in karst topography is now encased in intensified agriculture and urbanization. The result of our rush to convert these naturally sustained habitats of northeastern Iowa’s Yellow River Watershed into a “better life” and recent attempts to maximize profits with concentrations of land holdings and production methods is a degraded state of the environment, as reflected in water quality reports. A rapid procedural method for conservation measures using geographic information systems was developed by this research and tested on the Williams Creek Subwatershed. The results describe a subwatershed procedural methodology while indicating 179.2 acres of impervious cover and 5.4 acres of potential erodable slopes contained within a buffered Postville headwater stream. The procedures developed for this project can be modified and applied elsewhere to help target land conservation measures such as riparian buffers, erosion and sediment controls, as well as land treatments and other stewardship activities.

Lee Nelson

The Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, a district of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, is an area that experiences wildland fires. Changes in management practices have caused a post wildland fire revegetation project to be evaluated for effectiveness. Information from the project area was collected, the area was mapped and transects were surveyed to determine field conditions. Compiled information was compared and combined for analysis. Burn area compiled maps, aerial photography, elk and wild horse and burro populations, vegetation comparisons are presented with the aid of using Geographic Information Systems, to give land managers a concise report to help formulate decisions. An assessment of management practices, past and current, are presented to give land managers a scope for decision making. It appears that if current conditions continue, the revegetation project success will be compromised. Improvements in interagency coMMunication and cooperation are needed for successful implementation of this and future projects.

Greg Nichols

Winona , Minnesota was founded by a Mississippi river Steamboat captain in 1851. Winona is lodged between rolling limestone bluffs and the Mississippi river, once making it a focal point for lumber producers in the 1850’s. During this period Winona enjoyed that status of being the largest city in Minnesota. Winona is still thriving, but in different ways, it is now home to three institutions of higher education, technology driven businesses, and various industries. This study will demonstrate how a Geographic Information System (GIS) can be used to identify problematic intersections that exist within the city of Winona. This study will be comprised of three years (1999-2001) of traffic accident data. In addition this study will involve identifying key factors in the environment that may contribute to these occurrences.

John Maurice Nichols

Shakopee, Minnesota has undergone a significant transformation since 2000 due to rapid population growth and increased population density. Due to this rapid change there are several challenges for the city to overcome. Some of these challenges include providing services for their community and adapting to an increase in demographic diversity. Another significant factor affecting the city of Shakopee is the number of tourist attractions located within the city limits. These attractions include Valleyfair Amusement Park and Canterbury Park. This project analyzes how the tourist attractions have impacted crime trends in this rapidly expanding Twin Cities suburb in the years of 2002 and 2007. In addition, it will detail the number and the character of these crimes specifically related to these two business ventures giving the Shakopee Police Department a useful tool in preparing for and averting crime in the future. Overall, GIS proved to be an important vehicle to analyze the crime trends from the years 2002 and 2007. The study provides a general insight of when and where crime has taken place in the past, which ideally will give an insight for future crime. With the population of Shakopee and the popularity of the local attractions both rising at a consistent rate, the determination and prevention of future crime is a necessary step the local government and businesses must take in order to provide a safe atmosphere for residents and visiting patrons.

Justin Niebuhr

This paper examines the implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) in the targeting of a market and the sighting of office locations. The locations of current clients were compared to the office they used; client density maps were made for each office to help determine location client densities; and multiple buffer analysis was done in support of the density map.

Joshua Obrecht

Bird species are decreasing at alarming rates causing organizations, including the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to conduct long-term monitoring studies. In particular, grassland birds have decreased dramatically in the past few decades. Using data from the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, tests of species richness and diversity were performed to examine how avian species of concern, especially grassland predominant species, use grasslands of varying size during different times of the year. Data were obtained from point counts conducted between 1994 and 2003 and compared against grasslands found near each site. Significant relationships (P < 0.05) were seen between species richness of all birds as grassland area increased during spring and fall. When using only grassland birds, there was a significant relationship (P < 0.05) during spring and fall between species richness per count and grassland area. There was also a significant increase (P < 0.05) in species richness per count of grassland birds during spring and fall as the perimeter-to-area ratios of the grasslands increased. These results provide a basis for future studies of potential habitat changes within the refuge by biologists.

Kevin Thomas Olson

The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in predicting and estimating soil erosion and deposition loads has become more accurate as technology has advanced. The increased technological capabilities have further enabled researchers to expand and specialize modeling efforts to fit specific scenarios and/or model certain types of erosion processes. The expansion of technology has also extended into the various data sources that are commonly used in erosion modeling. One of the most important data parameters of erosion modeling is the digital elevation model (DEM) or digital terrain model (DTM). DEM data quality is measured by the cell size, with larger cell sizes indicating lower data quality and smaller cell sizes indicating higher data quality. Within the past several decades, the quality of DEMs has increased from 100’s of meters in cell size to sub-meter quality. The purpose for this research project is to provide an analysis of soil erosion estimates using LIDAR (2-meter resolution) elevation data compared to 30-meter resolution elevation data in the Trout Brook sub-watershed. The primary objective for this project will be investigated using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model, a transport capacity limited model, which predicts the spatial distribution of soil erosion and deposition rates for a steady state overland flow.

Olaniyi Oyebode

The Vermillion River Watershed is an important natural and economic resource for Dakota County, Minnesota due to its scenic beauty, water quality, and recreational opportunities. As the county continues to develop, the watershed is also undergoing rapid urbanization as a result of land use changes. Land use changes result from complex interactions of many factors including policy, management, economics, culture, human behavior, and the environment (Pedlowski, et al, 1993). Understanding land use change is critical since these anthropogenic processes can have broad impacts on the environment. This project illustrates how combining a geographic information system (GIS) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) can aid the understanding of land use change and the effects of watershed urbanization on stream flow characteristics. Historic land use maps and other spatial data layers (drivers) along with ANNs and stream gauge records to assess stream flow changes. During the period of 1990 – 2000, urban land use increased from 9% to 13% within the vermillion watershed. Assuming all driving factors remain the same, the urban land use will be 26% by year 2010. Between the period of 2000 and 2006, median and minimum daily discharges, total volume runoff and flood magnitude in the Vermillion River north creek subwatershed increased moderately.

Mark Pantaleo

Advanced Identification (ADID) wetlands are a special breed of wetlands. They are the ultimate offspring of the National Wetland Inventory (NWI), which was conducted, in the early eighties. In the late eighties the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Corps of Engineers (COE) designated certain wetlands in Lake County, IL. to possess special biological and hydrological functions. The question which I investigated was "are ADID wetlands in danger of losing these special designated functions?" The analysis procedures that were performed were new to Lake County. They involved utilizing land use and quarter section population data on a sub-watershed basis. This means that natural boundaries were used to perform analysis on political or straight boundaries... The results of this study are meant to act as an indicator of which ADID wetlands might need to be analyzed more closely.

Jesse Pearson

A site-location analysis was conducted using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to locate where future Kowalski’s Markets could be located in the seven county Twin Cities metropolitan area.  Kowalski’s Markets will here after be referred to as Kowalski’s.  Kowalski’s provided their preferred demographic information from their two most successful store locations of which the potential market analysis was based on.  A comparative analysis was completed between the final GIS analysis and the gravity model, where both site location analysis techniques were combined to provide results of the areas that have the highest market potential as well as site selection recommendations.  There were four recommended site locations and four future potential areas to build new Kowalski’s stores and expand their market.     

Nicole Chiara (Lynch) Peterson

Wastewater treatment is a very costly and very important part of a city’s day to day functions. Any instance in which a city is forced to replace a treatment plant or process more water than the plant has capacity for is extremely expensive. This study was conducted to analyze a current wastewater system to determine if it was functioning as efficiently as it should. This study also determined which specific structures in the wastewater system are problematic. This allowed for insight into a future rehabilitation plan to replace problematic structures before damage occurs that could cost a city and its citizens million of dollars.

Sam Pociask

The southern region of Iowa has long been an area that has provided viable habitat for bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). In recent years the number of bobwhite have declined dramatically. This has resulted in an increasing pressure to address the decline in bobwhite populations in Iowa. This study uses geographic information systems to determine changes in land use for 72 randomly selected sections in the southern 1/3 of Iowa. This study gains an understanding of how changing agricultural practices have altered the landscape in Iowa’s quail range. Aerial photography from the 1940s, 1960s and 1980s were used for this study. FRAGSTATS was used to analyze summary data from each year after conversion to grids.

Connie L. Pokorny

Groundwater is vital to the Barrington Area as it is the only feasible source of drinking water. The Barrington Area Council of Governments (BACOG) is a regional planning agency with jurisdiction over an approximately seventy-three square mile area, with its center located approximately thirty-five miles northwest of Chicago. It consists of seven suburban municipalities, and two townships. Population growth and development, recent droughts, declining quality and quantity of deep aquifer water, and the lack of other sources of water have increased the need for a greater understanding of the shallow aquifer. Regional maps of shallow aquifers in Illinois exist at the state-wide level, but are not as detailed as local government officials and planners would like. Existing maps show general trends in bedrock geology and drift thickness, but very little variation for regional planning purposes at the county and municipal level. Detailed subsurface maps can be very expensive and time consuming to create as they might require the drilling of new boreholes to generate more precise subsurface information. Using public water well records provided by the Illinois State Geological Survey and GIS, a method of data standardization was developed in order to make raw water well data more usable for map-making procedures. Once the data was classified, maps and a 3D model were created based on statistical averages of hydrologic conditions at over 24,000 points in the BACOG study area. The products developed with this method bridge the gap between the generalized regional state maps, and the current unavailability of more detailed subsurface maps. This method is useful to local governments since it provides a closer look at groundwater resources, and in a reasonable and relatively inexpensive time-frame.

Jon D. Popelars

Beavers have gone from nonexistent in most of the Midwest to reappearing in some of their historical ranges. This new surge in beaver population now requires re-analysis by many wildlife and fishery management organizations. The scale of the impact, because of the larger beaver population, and more importantly their dams, have on watersheds has only been studied in the last thirty years. During the 1980’s the Wisconsin DNR (WIDNR) conducted a large scale study in the Pemebonwon River. This study is touted by many scientists and the results from the study are cited in many planning practices. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used to further the study and its results. Updating the data collected into a database having spatial components will allow easier access to the data, incorporate new techniques in analysis, and allow visual results that the public can better understand. This study used the paper data from the Avery report and converted it into a database. The purpose of the database was to be queried and apply statistical tests. The second reason for including a GIS component was to allow the results from each point to be compared spatially, to see if additional understanding could be gained. The results involved looking at stream temperature, water conductivity, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and all were examined.

Jennifer Rand

As cities continue to grow, in both population and area, so does the increased use of our natural resources and open spaces.  Olmsted County is aware of this issue and concerned with development encroachment, exploitation of rare species and overuse of natural areas.  To address these issues, Olmsted County Park staff has proposed to establish another county park in its system.  Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to determine site suitability for the proposed location as well as to demonstrate GIS benefits for managing parkland.

Chad Richtman

The purpose of this research was to develop a viable method of determining volumetric flow in large rivers using equipment available to a field biologist or university program.  The study area was located on a side channel of the Upper Mississippi River near Trempealeau, Wisconsin.  Location, depth, and flow velocity data was gathered at various points throughout the study area.  This data were then downloaded into Geographic Information System (GIS) software for analysis.  Utilizing the tools built into the software, interpolations of depth and velocity data were performed.  These interpolations were used to calculate the volumetric flow on a cell-by-cell basis. By summing the volumetric flow through all cells, a total value was attained. 

Linder G. Ringo

Selecting a profitable location is the most important endeavor a business owner can invest in. Site selection suitability modeling determines the future of a business in vital areas of growth, expansion, and revenue. Entrepreneurs opt to analyze demographics and socioeconomic development of candidate locations to determine whether a proposed location will be a good choice or not. Businesses are continuing to become proactive in site selection analysis to eliminate or reduce long term losses. Business owners are targeting locations where potential customers are located by identifying those who will likely frequent a new business location. This project details necessary steps for conducting site selection analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to determine potential areas where one could establish a Dunn Bros Coffee house franchise. This analysis uses GIS for potential customer segmentation to identify a new Dunn Bros Coffee location in the Twin Cities Metro area. The project hypothesis is that successful client market area identification and segmentation have a significant positive impact on business growth, expansion, and revenue.

Marc Rogers

Fragmentation analysis of the Whitewater watershed, in southeast Minnessota, revealed 4 structural measures of grass-shrub habitat that were significant predictors of sensitive species population densities. Models were developed using simple linear regression and further refined to incorporate spatial autocorrelation using a Moran's test. Significant variables were divided into a five class ordinal model based on Jenks Optimization Method. Ordinal values were suMMed to determine an overall measure of subwatershed restoration potential. Results suggest that grass-shrub habitat should be restored in 0.6 ac patches equally dispersed about the landscape to optimize sensitive species densities.

Robert M. Rohland

Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS 9.x has limited image processing capabilities in the form of the Spatial Analyst Extension. Spatial Analyst contains a tool called the Maximum Likelihood (ML) classification tool, which can be used to derive a thematic map from an air photo or satellite image. Working with multispectral image data (such as a Landsat MSS or TM+) or with multitemporal image data (such as data obtained at multiple times during a growing season) it is possible to derive thematic maps with their associated legends. However, RGB and color IR air photos having only three layers often contain too little information for ML pixel classification to have an acceptable level of accuracy. The accuracy of classification can be improved by using context information in the form of texture measures. Custom texture filters have been designed for that purpose.

David D. Rokus

This research examines potential storm water recharge, infiltration, and runoff throughout Hadley Valley Watershed in Rochester, Minnesota. The three most influential properties of infiltration include: Land Use – based on percent impervious surface, Hydrologic Soils – based on permeability and porosity, and Percent Slope – derived from elevation points. These primary factors are selected, classified, and ranked according to their influence on infiltration and runoff. A geographic information system organizes these data layers and clips features to the watershed boundary using ArcGIS 9.1. The vector features are converted to grid and develop a Potential Infiltration Model through a weighted overlay process. This infiltration model identifies and maps current locations and levels of storm water recharge in the watershed. A second model is developed to locate possible storm water best management practices. Locations in proximity to wetlands, sinkholes, other BMP structures, and environmentally sensitive areas are restricted; areas within drinking management supply areas (DWSMA), and some clay soils require testing prior to construction. The BMP Model reveals optimal locations where infiltration ponds and trenches, dry wells, rain gardens, and vegetated swales may be implemented to increase infiltration. A Runoff Model intersects land use and soils and a comparative analysis of the Potential Infiltration Model is completed. Further analysis including: peak runoff rate, time to concentration, and average runoff coefficient are calculated using the intersection of the primary layers. This type of water resource management provides a base hydrological system with benefits for all people, businesses, and ecosystems.

Martha Roldan

The first concerted national effort to address soil erosion problems on private land began in 1933 with the establishment of the Soil Erosion Service. Coon Creek watershed in southwestern Wisconsin, with its dendritic network of creeks and steep slopes, was chosen as the site of the first national Demonstration Project... This study focuses on the reforestation of agricultural woodlots. Using a geographic information system (GIS), a spatial analysis of landcover change can help to understand forest regeneration.

Thomas Sandberg

Physician shortages are a looming national problem. The current landscape of physicians in Minnesota is one that varies by region and within counties.  Minnesota has several metropolitan areas that serve as bases for large provider concentrations and rural parts of the state where provider coverage is scant.  The state has enough physicians to adequately serve the needs of its population; however, there is a problem of distribution.  There is an assumption that paraprofessionals make up for some of the physician shortages, but the geographic extent is unknown.

Bill Sands

This paper describes a wetland assessment methodology used for the Norwood Young America watershed area in Carver County. The purpose of the assessment is to aid local government in their efforts to organize, prioritize, and manage wetland resources in a comprehensive manner. The assessment gathers initial information on the area's wetlands, evaluates a limited number of regionally and locally important wetland functions, and estimates the value of wetland functions.

Chris Scharenbroich

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) would like to be proactive in the development of Wildlife Management Area (WMA) Access Plans to assist with any potential disagreement that may result in different views of access to WMAs as well as to plan future access needs. A WMA access classification system was developed to help describe access on WMAs. A GIS model was developed to provide a means to develop a WMA access classification system through a path distance function.

Ben Schlawin

This study involved the analysis of ten years of graduates from Fox Valley Lutheran High School in Appleton, Wisconsin. The study focus was to determine how the spatial distribution of the graduates was affected by the relocation of the school campus. The spatial and statistical analyses performed on the data revealed no significant differences between the graduates from the two sites that could be attributed to the relocation.

Andrew J. Schmidt

Standardization of high voltage electric transmission line siting methodologies, by using GIS spatial analysis tools, has great potential in helping predict and defend new optimal route corridors. A standard methodology that incorporates multiple weighted perspectives of influence can aid in the route approval by the governmental and regulating permitting entities and the support of the affected public. Users of transmission line siting methodologies must fully understand, implement, and remain unbiased in the tools used to ensure results remain consistent, reliable, and defendable. Great River Energy (GRE) had a need for a tool to help in the decision making process of siting their transmission lines. Too often in the past, a transmission line route was chosen using expert judgment, and then if needed, a case to defend it for the permitting process was built. By utilizing the Electric Power Research Institute-Georgia Transmission Corporation (EPRI-GTC) Overhead Electric Transmission Line Siting Methodology and applying needed changes based on corporate guidelines, regional factors, and work process, an adapted GRE transmission-siting model was developed by this study. GRE will have a valuable tool to utilize in new transmission line projects to help in the transmission line siting process for attaining regulatory and public approval. The steps, analysis, and results to build and run the methodology are included in this paper and utilized on a potential transmission project.

Mike Schlecht

Analyses were conducted to determine various habitat preferences for secretive marshbird species including the Virginia rail, sora, least and American bittern within the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge.

Chuck Schoeneberger

Thunderstorms are affected by many factors and there are ongoing efforts to understand them. One of the factors that influences storm intensity is the boundary layer or ground. If you make assumptions and simplifications, you can examine and relate the effects of landforms to thunderstorm damage. The intent of this paper is to look at the known geospatial historical data from the National Weather Service's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) from 1950 through 2001. In this effort, these data were plotted, contoured, and then compared to landforms too look for relationships. The results showed relationship with tornado density and intensity to river valleys and hills, as surface moisture plays an important role in storm processes. Hail reports show no outstanding conclusions, and due to data acquition limitations, no hard conclusions can be found with straight-line wind events.

Jamie Schulz

Historic and current wetlands were used to determine potential wetland areas within Rice Lake State Park. The number of wetlands in the park, outside the park in the subwatershed basin (basin), and in the entire basin was tested to determine if there was a statistical difference in the wetland numbers between 1938 and 1998.

Jason Schuster & Zakim Abraham

Data was digitally developed to determine sanitary sewer locations, elevations, flow directions and parcels’ impervious areas during the suMMer of 2002 for the City of Rochester, Minnesota. The purpose of this project was to use these data and to develop and model a GIS template for the City of Rochester. This model was developed to model sewage flow in the event of future sanitary pipe emergencies. This model analyzes sanitary sewer pipe blockages to determine potentially impacted parcel(s) by the blockage. A second model was developed to facilitate planning in regards to storm water management. Storm water runoff was analyzed on a per parcel basis to predict rainfall runoff based on percentages of impervious surfaces. DOQQ photography was used to capture the impervious areas in parcels by onscreen digitizing. ArcMap 8.2 was used to analyze the data.

Amy Seitz

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service surveys submersed aquatic vegetation annually to measure American wild celery (Vallisneria americana ) population density and frequency of occurrence, in Lake Onalaska , Navigation Pool 7 of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. Since 1980, sampling continues to be conducted in August during peak vegetation growth along fixed transects. There has been significant change in density and frequency of occurrence since 1980. Statistically significant correlations have been found between American wild celery density and water depth. After a population decline in the late 1980’s American wild celery continues to recover.

Christy Shostal

In preparation of another catastrophic flood, like the one experienced in 1997, Red River Basin stakeholders expressed the necessity for better methods for providing flood warnings. Traditional flood forecast hydrographs generated by the National Weather Service can be difficult for the general public to interpret and potential flood inundation extent can be very difficult to visualize. In 2005, the International Water Institute and the National Weather Institute retained Houston Engineering, Inc. to develop a custom flood forecasting display tool for near real-time flood inundation mapping for the Fargo, North Dakota-Moorhead, Minnesota Metropolitan Area. This tool was to consist of two major components: 1) a custom desktop GIS tool to be run by the NWS staff during flood evens to perform flood inundation mapping; and 2) an interactive Internet Map Server (IMS) application to display the map products to the public. This project focuses solely on the development of the custom desktop GIS tool for near real-time flood inundation mapping. The Flood Wave (FLDWAV) unsteady state hydraulic model, developed by the NWS, was used to provide water surface elevation forecasts. ArcObjects and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), within ESRI’s ArcGIS, were the programming languages used to create the tool. The custom tool provides the public with an easy to understand spatial visualization of potential flood inundation.

Jonathan Sobiech

Analysis of non-native invasive species was completed for Ramsey County Parks and Recreation (RCPR). The study included three phases. The initial phase examined eleven different species that are troublesome species within the Ramsey County parks and open spaces. For each species, a fact sheet was created describing where the species originated, how it reproduces, where it is coMMonly found, criteria for levels of infestation, and potential control methods. The second phase was to create a data dictionary for the eleven species and three levels of severity associated with each. This information was imported into a Trimble GPS unit. Using this data, GPS locations were collected for each species. Levels of infestation were also noted at this time. Finally, this information was integrated into maps and tables for managing these invasive plants.

Katherine Spurr

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were used to examine the nesting behaviors of great blue herons ( Ardea herodias ) and great egrets ( Ardea alba ) in the Mertes Slough area of Pool 6, Upper Mississippi River . Nest trees and nests were located by canoe and locations recorded by use of global positioning system (GPS) technologies. Nesting trees and nests were plotted on a 1989 land cover use dataset for Pool 6 and analyzed spatially with Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI™) mapping software. Special attention was given to the explorations of nesting patterns in relation to a recreational canoe path that traverses through the rookery area. This study's findings suggest that the heronry is expanding over time and in the direction of the canoe path; however, herons and egrets show preference for nesting sites in areas 20-30, and 30-40 meters from the canoe path. Explanations are incomplete in explaining these nesting behaviors.

Nicole Stecker

Mass transit systems are becoming ever more popular in metropolitan cities. The light rail system is one of the more popular transit systems. The Twin Cities recently introduced their first light rail corridor, the Hiawatha Line, with continued expansion anticipated in the new future. Studies performed in other states with light rail systems show property value increase in the surrounding areas of the light rail and its’ stations. This research focuses on the Hiawatha Line and the coMMunities it serves to analyze changes in property values.

Kurt Swendson

Many GIS departments in organizations throughout the world have developed customized tools using an Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) proprietary language named Avenue.  Avenue is reaching the end of its life cycle, and will soon be unsupported. ESRI has moved on to new versions of its software, which is not backward compatible with Avenue. This project explores the various options available to GIS professionals in order to bring their customized tools up to date using the latest software.

CLICK BELOW to see the complete programming code utilized for this project. This link will direct you to a zip file that contains source code and project data referenced in the paper above.

Charles Teff

This paper examines the demographic make-up of census block groups with relation to the number of voters who used election day registration (EDR) in the 2000 general election in Anoka County, Minnesota. A demographic profile of EDR voters was developed via statistical analysis and geographic information science (GIS) applications. In order to build the demographic profiles, census demographic data at the block group level in Anoka County was compiled and compared to the EDR turnout in each block group using stepwise multiple linear regression analysis. The results of the statistical analysis were used to build a GIS model based on the demographic groups that were found to have a statistically significant relationship to EDR turnout. In all, 65 census demographic categories were analyzed, and in the end, six were found to be statistically significant enough to be used in the model.

Rahel Tekle

The characteristics and patterns of the Minnesota Family Investment Plan in Ramsey County municipalities and planning districts from December 1999 to February 2000 were analyzed by using statistical and geographical analysis methods. Population characteristics such as age, education, race-ethnicity, and family size were examined. The goal of this project was to identify MFIP patterns and give a holistic picture of MFIP. This will assist policy makers in implementing and improving various social and environmental issues as well as implement programs to conduct population transition from welfare to work in Ramsey County municipalities and planning districts.

Mary Temp

In 2003, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WiDNR) conducted 5 fisheries surveys on the Kickapoo River between the Kickapoo River headwaters and Wilton , Wisconsin . Habitat surveys were also conducted on 3 of the 5 survey stations. Fisheries and habitat surveys were conducted as a part of the WiDNR baseline monitoring program. The objectives of monitoring the Kickapoo River were: to classify the stream according to aquatic life potential, help determine why this section of stream may not be reaching biotic potential, determine if resource management activities could improve stream conditions, document physical and biological trends, and quantify land and water use factors impacting the stream (WiDNR, 2000).

Aaron Thielen

Distance from an origin to a destination has long been considered a major factor in determining degrees of accessibility.  For this reason, distance to Head Start sites for families in need of their services was examined.  Semcac, the Head Start grantee for seven counties in southeastern Minnesota, provided the addresses of Head Start applicants and participants from the past three years in Winona County.  These addresses were geocoded for analysis.  Distance to the nearest Head Start facility was determined using ESRI Network Analyst for the student origins.  Distance for block group centroids and student origin means were determined using the near distance function in ESRI ArcToolbox.  The summary statistics for these distance values were compared.  A kernel density layer was created using the student origins point features and was used to determine the location of a hypothetical Head Start facility.  The summary statistics describing distance were then compared for the two Head Start site and three site datasets to determine the validity of the hypothetical site location.  Census data and the student origins were used to create a linear regression model that could predict variability in participant and applicant distribution.  Block groups fitting this model were then examined.

James Thompson

West Nile Virus (WNV) is an infectious disease to which humans are susceptible after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Birds, horses, and other maMMals are also susceptible and constitute reservoirs of the disease. The disease was first detected in New York State in 1999. By 2002, the disease had spread across the United States to California and Washington State. To date, thousands of people have been infected and hundreds have died from the disease. The populations most at risk are individuals over 50 years of age. In the state of Minnesota, Hennepin County has reported the most cases of WNV. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS), this study combines census data, data on infected animals, and Hennepin County data, to create a model to determine where the most susceptible populations live relative to the location of positive indicators of WNV. This could facilitate educational outreach efforts by health agencies to target those most susceptible as to how they can lower their risk of infection.

Patrick Thorsell

While working for the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the United States Department of the Interior, an assignment was handed down to determine the feasibility of creating a decision support system that would allow minimally trained government workers to not only locate/plot the location of an offshore oil facility, but to determine if an offshore facility is covered by Oil Spill Financial Responsibility (OSFR) regulations. If it was determined to be feasible to create such a tool after analysis, the next step was to create such a tool using Environmental Systems Research Institute's (ESRI) ArcView software.

Tracy Trople

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to analyze volcanic hazards and risks related to a potential eruption at Mount Rainier, Washington. This project focuses on the Enumclaw - Buckley coMMunities. The possible affects of the hazards on these coMMunities were analyzed by examining critical facilities, social, economic, and environmental factors in relation to potential hazards. Finally mitigation opportunities were assessed to target future problems in planning.Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to analyze volcanic hazards and risks related to a potential eruption at Mount Rainier, Washington. This project focuses on the Enumclaw - Buckley coMMunities. The possible affects of the hazards on these coMMunities were analyzed by examining critical facilities, social, economic, and environmental factors in relation to potential hazards. Finally mitigation opportunities were assessed to target future problems in planning.

Wallis P. Turner

In March 2001, regulation of methadone maintenance treatment was transferred from the Food and Drug Administration to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  The purpose of this change was to increase treatment availability and improve treatment quality for the nearly one million active and recovering heroin addicts in this country.  This paper provides an innovative approach to policy evaluation.  Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), government officials can supplement basic quantitative and qualitative evaluation approaches with a tool that helps communicate research findings to stakeholders who are often external to the policy impact area. In addition to determining whether goals have been accomplished, this project provides an innovative model of GIS application to common social research activities.

Lane Urtel

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) was interested in determining if their current drainage basin classification for streams and rivers was the best option in identifying fish assemblage variation in Minnesota. In this study, the statewide database of 1200 stream and river sample sites were tested to verify if Omernik’s ecoregions, Ecological Classification System (ECS) sections, or the current drainage basins identified more fish assemblage variability. 248 reference sites were identified by intersections with specific drainage basins, ecoregions, or ECS sections and separated into five size classes based on the area of the watershed a sample site drains. Fish assemblages found at these sites were tested against each other using the Lance-Williams Dissimilarity measure, resulting in 94 dissimilarity matrices, based on the regional framework used for classification. From these matrices, variances of Lance-Williams scores were determined using one-way ANOVA. Only a moderate size class, classified by ECS sections, had fish assemblage variance that was not statistically significant (p = 0.425). All other frameworks displayed high amounts of variance in fish assemblages across all size classes (min p = 0.000, max p = 0.031). Similarity increased as size of the stream increased across all regional frameworks. Cluster analysis was run for each size class to isolate any groupings of sites based on regional framework. Based on the results of this study, variability in stream fish assemblages was independent of Omernik’s ecoregions, ECS sections, and drainage basins.

Heidi Voth & Corryne Goettsch

Analyses of physical boating capacity and beach use within pool 6 of the Upper Mississippi River were conducted to determine if the pool is being used beyond its capacity. Data from the Minnesota--Wisconsin Boundary Area CoMMission aerial surveys were obtained for several years between 1989 and 1997. Based on the counts of moving and beached craft it was possible to determine the number and types of craft utilizing the pool.

Alexander Webb

The scope of illegal dumping is a broad problem that affects many rural and urban coMMunities economically and environmentally... In an effort to investigate such sites throughout Olmsted County and work in a direction towards achieving the objectives set forth in the Rochester-Olmsted Planning Department (ROPD) Comprehensive Water Plan for dealing with uncontrolled waste disposal (Anonymous, 1990), a methodology has been developed to aid in inventorying and assessing unauthorized dumping activity. This paper discusses the processes and methodology that was developed in an attempt to gain better understanding and quantification of the relative risks posed by unauthorized dumps and to assist in determining the level of need for funding and abatement considerations.

Shawn Weick

Percent land cover as well as land cover type were compared using automated coverages of Lake Onalaska for the years 1975, 1989, and 1994. Lake Onalaska is a shallow (mean depth=1.3m), 2,800 ha impounded lake, which is a vital part of Navigational Pool 7 of the Upper Mississippi River.

Andrew J Williquett

Within the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), there are concerns about the rate of dock development and the associated impact on lakes and fish habitats.  This paper will discuss the elements of a project completed by the DNR that used a digitized GIS dock layer, which was compared to parcel data from a four-county study area (Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, and Hubbard counties) to estimate current and projected development on lakes within the study area.  The results of this project showed a relatively large impact on shoreline and littoral zone, which could have policy implications for regulatory agencies like the DNR. 

David Wilson

Bird count data for southeastern Minnesota were used to compare landscape metric values associated with the occurrence of species from two functional groups. Four forest interior dependent and four non-interior dependent species were assessed. Species included American redstart, Cerulean warbler, Least flycatcher, Woodthrush, Blue-winged warbler, Indigo bunting, Ruby-throated hummingbird, and Warbling vireo. Landscape metrics included: patch cohesion index, fractal dimension, aggregation index, total edge length, total core area, landscape context, distance to edge, distance to nearest road, distance to stream, and patch area. Landscape metrics were derived for a 3,090ha window (radius = 3,163 meters) around each census point to allow comparison with bird occurrence at a biologically relevant scale. Non-parametric Mann-Whitney comparisons were completed for each metric and pairwise species combination to test the hypothesis that interior specialists occur more frequently at sites in less fragmented, and more densely forested landscapes. Significant relationships between bird occurrence and some landscape metrics were supported by this study. Overall, patch cohesion index, aggregation index, and distance to road provided the most significant (α₍₁₎, p ≤  0.05) distinctions between rates of occurrence for different species. The results of this study indicate that appropriate landscape metrics can provide biologically relevant information about habitat distribution and the corresponding likelihood of species occurrence. Precise relationships are more difficult to quantify, and further study is needed to illuminate the generalized theory of landscape ecology, proposed by Gardner et al. (1987).

Lisa Worrell

High Ridge Tree Farm is a 108 acre, privately owned and managed wooded property located outside of Lewiston, MN. Existing within what is known as the Driftless Area, High Ridge Tree Farm is susceptible to soil loss from gullies that form from run-off on surrounding agricultural land. The unique topography, steep sided ridges, springs and vast number of coldwater streams make the Midwest’s Driftless Area an ecologically distinct and interesting zone. Because of the large size (24,000 square miles) of the Driftless Area and the varying abilities and funding for numerous management agencies, very few of the watersheds and streams are functioning properly within the region. Historic clearing of the land for agricultural purposes led to upland soils accumulating in the lower valleys which created shallower, warmer streams with steep, high banks. High Ridge Tree Farm, located in the heart of the Driftless Area, represents the importance of private land management in controlling erosion and restoring watershed health. Comprehensive analysis of the gully head erosion rates in the sub-watershed encompassing the High Ridge Tree Farm will locate areas of high concern for soil loss and identify conservation measures appropriate for curbing erosion.

 

Eric Wyffels

The following research was undertaken to provide information and data supporting an analysis of the impact Methamphetamine production and abuse is having on crime rates at county levels throughout the State of Minnesota. Thirty percent of methamphetamine abuse is currently produced in clandestine labs, which tripled in numbers from 2000 to 2003, and are generally discovered and seized in rural and semi-rural areas, more often than in urban areas. Providing GIS findings regarding historical Meth lab locations and patterns, this paper identifies potential “Hot Spots” and crime-troubled counties in hopes of mitigating negative effects of methamphetamine in the State. The Minnesota Methamphetamine Risk Model incorporates demographic census data (2000), changes in crime rates from 1999 to 2005, and selected high-risk crime areas to determine correlation between Methamphetamine and crime.

Michael T. Yarnes

The rise in white-tailed deer populations has created the potential for increased deer-vehicle collisions (DVCs) throughout the country. The goal of this study was to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify spatial relationships of DVC events in Winona County, MN. Two public DVC datasets were acquired from state and local law enforcement for use in this study. One was from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) and the other from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT). Each dataset contained DVC events recorded from 1995-2006. Linear referencing techniques and kernel density patterns were utilized to determine which roadways had higher DVC events and which portions of roadways had the highest deer densities. Seasonal effects were examined to investigate potential correlations between the volume of reported DVCs and deer seasons. Spatial patterns specified high density DVC areas along the Highway 61/14 roadway. Seasonal analysis of the possession permit dataset revealed the highest DVC volume occurred during the breeding season, while the unclaimed/unsalvageable report (UUR) dataset recorded the highest DVC volume during the fawning season. The spatial structure of high deer densities and seasonal trends in DVCs can assist in the targeting of “hot spots” for future DVC mitigation efforts.

Sallah Yaya

The South Branch of the Root River Watershed (SBRRW) is a part of the Root River Watershed, which drains into the Mississippi River. SBRRW houses the best trout streams in Southern Minnesota with more than 150,000 visitors per year enjoying the aesthetical landscape and natural beauty of the watershed and its tributaries. The total area of the watershed is about 72,980 hectares (180,337 acres). SBRRW land use is dominated by agricultural land, which occupies about 87% of the watershed. The goal of this research was to assess and quantify the sediment yields in SBRRW, and suggest some scenarios to reduce sediment and pollutant loadings. Furthermore, SBRRW has been on the Clean Water Act 303(d) list for impaired waters in the state for several years due to increasing rates of sediments, pollutants, and bacteria. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was utilized to predict the impact of land management practices on water, soils, land use, and management conditions over a long period of time. SWAT requires an enormous amount of input data such as topographical data, land use/land cover data, soils data, climate data, rainfall data, and land management practices. Additionally, three crop rotations were implemented: corn, soybeans, and alfalfa.  SWAT simulated the watershed hydrology process and upper land process for 25 years (1980 – 2005). Predicted sediment yields for each rotation were then compared to the current condition results. The study found that when alfalfa rotation was utilized with either corn or soybean rotations, the sediment yield was less than 0.5 ton/ha, while the corn rotation sediment yield was over two ton/ha, and the soybean sediment yield was 0.8 ton/ha. The SWAT model also showed that the potential sites for sediment loading were in the middle section of the watershed, which contributes more than 80% of the total sediment yield.

Andy Zaletel

Agricultural and livestock impacts are especially noticeable in the Whitewater River Watershed, where use of river banks and instream habitats for cattle grazing and watering has caused severe degradation of trout populations of the Whitewater River and its tributaries...This study evaluates livestock grazing impacts on trout populations in three stream sections with varying degrees of degradation within the Whitewater River system.

Todd Zielsdorf

GIS was used to analyze potential markets within the seven counties that make up the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A raster-based, weighted model along with demographic data were used to find the most ideal location(s) for marketing to potential and current customers, while simultaneously isolating the most optimal location to focus first marketing efforts. It was determined that high-earning families with children offer the most potential for expanding, or attracting customers to a multitude of banking products that include savings bonds, retirement accounts, college savings funds, regular savings accounts and certificates of deposit. This model can be adjusted and used in the future to find secondary locations for additional marketing efforts.