Final GIS project

This map shows areas in which new hospitals could be built in Los Angeles county. I used various criteria to create this map. The criteria that is pertinent to this class was that the new hospital location had to be within 5 miles of a magnitude 5 quake that has occurred since 1812.

Landsat satellites used to track Yellowstone's geothermal activity

Geothermal energy is threatening Yellowstone National Park's geothermal features. There are over 10,000 hot springs, geysers, and fumaroles in the park. Drilling directly outside of the park could cause some of these features to cease to exist. To help study and monitor the parks features is Landsat data. The Landsat data is using both visible and heat sensitive portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Using this remote sensing technique, the monitoring will be using airborne reconnaissance circling the planet at over 400 miles above the surface. This new monitoring technique will be monitoring the heat given off by the thermal features. This data will provide scientists with an in depth look of the parks features and will cover a larger portion of the park than could just ground based monitoring forms. The data that has been collected so far has prompted scientists to launch a new Landsat satellite in early 2013 which will hopefully provide an even more in depth look at the parks features, including vegetation in addition to the thermal features. This technology is part of the developmental paradigm and will hopefully be proven to be a great monitoring tool and possibly great mitigation tool if there ever were to be an eruption from Yellowstone in the near future.

Satellite image on left, thermal image on right of the park.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111207175738.htm

California winds

Over the past week southern California has been experiencing winds of over 70 mph which is almost tropical storm strength. These winds are common this time of year in the state and are called the Santa Anna winds. Power outages have been common with over 300,000 people without power. Additionally, the winds have knocked over trees, caused small fires and  The region affected were the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino. These counties include the greater Los Angeles area. The areas with the highest winds were in the valleys between the San Beranadino Mountains and along the coast. Unfortunately, these winds are hard to predict sometimes so mitigation becomes harder for the Santa Anna winds. The pattern for these winds are very sporadic and infrequent.


Tree on top of a home in Southern California
http://abcnews.go.com/US/fierce-santa-ana-winds-hit-southern-california/story?id=15065048

Dust storms causing lung disease

    Large dust storms in Asia have been causing lung issues with the people of that region. High amounts of small particles around 2.5 micrometers have been found to have caused chronic lung disease in the populace. This was deduced by a Chinese scientist who analyzed data from hospital admissions. What he found was that the majority of admissions were respiratory related. Additionally the admissions generally took place just a few days after a large dust storm event. This research that is being done will hopefully result in the creation advanced warnings of potentially health-damaging effects. These warning systems will consist of national air quality indices and proactive alert services. This story relates to the behavioral paradigm and the developmental paradigm. By analyzing the behavior of people reacting to these dust storms has allowed for there to be more research into this hazard.



The cause of all of the dust storms
http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID38571/images/asian_dust_storm-accu.jpg
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111205170053.htm

New drought maps created for Texas

The record drought in Texas, the worst drought in more than 60 years is now shown by maps made by NASA. These maps which were created on November 29, 2011 show groundwater and the low groundwater is clearly visible over east Texas. Experts believe that even if the state receives lots of winter rains/snow the severely depressed aquifers will still need much more time to fully recharge. Two satellites, NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) are responsible for collecting the data for the maps. These satellites detect small changes in the planets gravity field, which is caused by the distribution of water. These maps will offer the general public a view that can only be obtained from satellites. The data collected by these satellites will also help water recourse managers and farmers allocate water accordingly, and will also allow the USGS to begin ground based surveys of the region. These maps are a part of both developmental and behavioral paradigms.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111130171100.htm

Tornado radar dish used to measure snow?

University of Utah meteorologists are using radar dishes mounted on vehicles to measure snow and rainfall in depth. The study area is in the Wasatch mountains near Salt Lake City. The dish is an X-band polametric dish that measures wind speeds in excess of 300mph. The dish broadcasts waves both vertically and horizontally, which is more powerful than the national weather services dishes. The dish can measure the size of raindrops and snowflakes in great detail and collect data in hard to reach areas. So far the truck mounted radar has measured 10 different winter storms as of October. This would be a part of the developmental paradigm, and I am very excited to see the future of this technology.



Radar image of lake effect snow from The Great Salt Lake

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111110094846.htm

Ozone from cracks in earth could help forecast quakes

Scientists have been trying to figure out easier, more efficient methods to forecast earthquakes for over 50 years. They might have found a new tool for their arsenal. The natural gas, ozone, which is a byproduct of electrical discharges into the air. Normally, ozone is discharged from lightning, however, now new findings show that ozone can be released from rocks breaking under immense pressures. Scientists have been drilling into different types of rocks and have discovered that different types of rocks produce different amounts of ozone. They have realized that rocks that have been under pressure prior to an earthquake will build up ozone from the high amounts of stress being put on them. Bedrock such as granite, basalt, and rhyolite were tested and produced some of the highest amounts of ozone gas. This latest discovery has scientists very excited, if rocks along faults under pressure produce amounts of ozone that are detectable, there is a high chance of much more accurate earthquake forecasting/predictions.


http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2011/11/earthquake-cracks-road-flickr-martinluff.jpg

Article:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111117154635.htm