University of Redlands
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Cal Tech Tectonics Applications
While at the California Institute of Technology, prominent tectonics research scientist Nadine McQuarrie contracted the Redlands Institute to build a tectonics displacement modeling application.
The Arc GIS application assisted in the iterative polygon movement steps. The Redlands Institute provided a customized Arc Map document with tools for:
1) creating new polygon datasets for a series of time changes
2) calculating displacement values for polygons that are moved manually.
Project Duration: June 2002 – March 2003
Sample results (JPEG)
Data Catalog & Exploration Environment, Kyoto University
The Research Center for Disaster Reduction Systems (DRS) at Kyoto National University has developed an impressive research framework for the investigation and development of advanced concepts and methods for disaster management in Japan and internationally.
The organization recognizes the importance of information management to the disaster management issue, and is working to develop an extended Research Support Information Infrastructure (RSII) capability.
DRS contracted support from the Redlands Institute to assist in assessing the existing situation and recommending a system design and implementation strategy for developing this capacity within DRS over time.
This project included the implementation of a universal media catalog, data management and data exploration environment.
Project Duration: March– December 2003
Desert Tortoise Habitat Model
Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) populations are declining in the Western Mojave Desert. Land managers and desert tortoise scientists are tasked with formulating responses to this decline by recommending policies and carrying out actions that would lead to species recovery.
Their responses must be grounded in science. Yet there are gaps, both in knowledge and data, that pose a challenge to specifying the causes of the species’ decline and to identifying the most appropriate polices and actions that would recover the species.
A process that helps managers and scientists to identify knowledge and data gaps, both topically and geographically, benefits the tortoise recovery effort by facilitating linkages between scientific research and the information needs of those who formulate policy and carry out actions designed to bring about species recovery.
The Redlands Institute Desert Tortoise Project is using Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) to assist scientists and managers in understanding the interrelationships, uncertainty, and relative influence of scientific knowledge on modeling desert tortoise habitat.
EMDS consists of three components: a knowledge base, a landscape assessment, and a decision analysis system.
The knowledge base is a hierarch l model acting as a conceptual map of desert tortoise knowledge and data. It is constructed through a collaborative process involving a combination of traditional research and knowledge model ng workshops with experts in the desert tortoise community.
The EMDS landscape assessment uses Geographic Information Systems(GIS) tools to perform spatial analysis based on inputs from the knowledge base.
The landscape assessment functions both as a traditional habitat model, and as a tool for analyzing the influence and importance of missing data and knowledge on understanding desert tortoise habitat
Poster of detailed modeling and spatial analysis of the desert tortoise habitat. (JPEG), (PDF)
Technical paper describing the habitat potential. (PDF)
Desert Tortoise Translocation Analysis
An unknown number of desert tortoises (gopherus agassizzii) occupy what will eventually become expanded training grounds for the United States Army in the vicinity of Ft. Irwin National Training Center.
To mitigate the effects of this expansion on desert tortoise populations, tortoises will be moved from these areas to selected sites in the West Mojave.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) was asked to lead a study to identify these sites and to monitor the effects of the translocation on both the moved and host tortoise populations.
The Redlands Institute was asked to join the USGS led team to develop GIS models that would help the clients to identify potential translocation sites under a variety of what-if type scenarios. The work was prepared through partnership between the USGS Southwestern Field Office, the Redlands Institute of the University of Redlands and the University of Nevada, Reno. The clients for this project are the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Geospatially Referenced Information Portal (GRIP)
As part of the GRIP project the Desert Tortoise Project (DTP) needs to spatially reference a variety of resource types. Resources can be spatially referenced in many ways and there are a number of questions that need to be explored and evaluated.
For example, we need to evaluate how to handle changing location names, duplicate location names, changing footprints, precision of the location (point, bounding box, polygon, multipart), alternate location names, unnamed locations, ambiguously named locations, approximate locations, spatial uncertainty, direct spatial references (no place name), and associating a variety of physical feature types with the locations (city, valley, road, etc.).
Grazing Viewer
The Desert Tortoise Project (DTP) is interested in exploring sheep grazing in the Mojave Desert and its impact on tortoise forage and habitat. A previous master's student began work on this topic, but much is left to be explored. The master's student's work revealed how sheep grazing is managed, how land is allotted for sheep grazing, and where the sheep actually graze in a pilot study area.
Future work might address other areas in the Mojave as well as how grazing influences vegetation, both in terms of biomass available for consumption by tortoises and the condition of the vegetation overstory, which normally provides some protection to tortoises in burrows.
Similarly to the sheep grazing needs, the DTP is also interested in the same sort of analysis on cattle grazing in the Mojave and its impact on tortoise forage and habitat. Cattle graze in a different style than sheep.
ITAM Enterprise GIS
The purpose of this project is to assist Integrated Training Area Management (ITAM) in achieving their Enterprise Geographic Information Systems (GIS) goals.
The Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance (LRAM) section has been given the highest priority from ITAM.
The LRAM team needs an application to help them build and maintain their spatial and attribute data. This application will manage a project site throughout its lifetime, allowing the user to query and modify attributes of the project, link digital photos and documents to the project, and create reports.
