Student Learning in an Introductory GIS Course: Using a Project‐Based Approach

Introductory courses in Geographic Information Science (GIS) expose students to the concepts and practices necessary for future academic and professional use of GIS tools. Traditional GIS courses balance lectures in the theories of GIS with pre‐built and pre‐packaged lab activities to learn the practices of GIS. This article presents a case study of an experimental introductory course in which students conducted novel, independent project‐based group research under the supervision of graduate or advanced undergraduate students enrolled in the course, culminating in a class presentation and publication quality paper. Surveys and interviews indicated that students reacted more positively to project‐based group research than to traditional activities. Students felt the projects better prepared them for ‘real world’ applications of GIS, and recommend project‐based group research in other GIS coursework. Additionally, our findings indicate that students appreciate interactions with peers of varying skill levels and experiences, as these broaden their capabilities to work with other GIS users.     

Modeling preferential flow in reactive barriers: implications for performance and design

Reactive barriers are passive and in situ ground water treatment systems. Heterogeneities in hydraulic conductivity (K) within the aquifer-reactive barrier system will result in higher flux rates, and reduced residence times, through portions of the barrier. These spatial variations in residence time will affect the treatment capacity of the barrier. A numerical flow model was used to evaluate the effects of spatial variations in K on preferential flow through barriers. The simulations indicate that the impact of heterogeneities in K will be a function of their location and distribution; the more localized the high K zone, the greater the preferential flow. The geometry of the reactive barrier will also strongly influence flow distribution. Aquifer heterogeneities will produce greater preferential flow in thinner barriers compared to thicker barriers. If the barrier K is heterogeneous, greater preferential flow will occur in thicker barriers. The K of the barrier will affect the flow distribution; decreasing the K of the barrier can result in more even distribution of flow. Results indicate that less variable flow will be attained utilizing thicker, homogeneous barriers. The addition of homogeneous zones to thinner barriers will be effective at redistributing flow only if installed immediately adjacent to both the up- and downgradient faces of the barrier.     

Spaceborne gravitational field determination by means of locally supported wavelets

In space-borne gravitational field determination, two challenges are inherent. First, the continuation of the data down to the surface of the Earth is an ill-posed problem, requiring therefore regularization techniques. Second huge data sets result requiring efficient numerical methods. In this paper, we show how locally supported wavelets on the sphere can be developed by means of a spherical version of the so-called up function. By construction, the corresponding scaling functions and wavelets are infinitely smooth, so that they can be used for regularization purposes. In particular, we show how the ill-posed pseudo-differential equations coming from satellite missions can be regularized by efficient numerical schemes using locally supported wavelets. These methods seem in particular to be interesting for regional gravity field modelling.     

Internet teaching foundation for the Remote Sensing Core Curriculum program

The Remote Sensing Core Curriculum (RSCC) was initiated in 1993 to meet the demands for a college-level set of resources to enhance the quality of education across national and international campuses. The American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing adopted the RSCC in 1996 to sustain support of this educational initiative for its membership and collegiate community. A series of volumes, containing lectures, exercises, and data, is being created by expert contributors to address the different technical fields of remote sensing. The RSCC program is designed to operate on the Internet taking full advantage of the World Wide Web (WWW) technology for distance learning. The issues of curriculum development related to the educational setting, with demands on faculty, students, and facilities, is considered to understand the new paradigms for WW-influenced computer-aided learning. The WWW is shown to be especially appropriate for facilitating remote sensing education with requirements for addressing image data sets and multimedia learning tools. The RSCC is located at http://www.umbc.edu/rscc     

From GPS and GLONASS via EGNOS to Galileo – Positioning and Navigation in the Third Millennium

Positioning and navigation – as are presently possible with the American Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS system – is briefly reviewed. Deficiencies, which have led to augmentations like the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS), are outlined. Europe's decision to get involved in the definition and possible set-up of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) of the second generation (GNSS-2), called Galileo, is discussed in detail as well as the GPS modernization program that might take place during the sample phase. Finally, some brief thoughts on the benefit of GNSS-2 for geodesy and surveying are given. ? 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

MoisturEC: A New R Program for Moisture Content Estimation from Electrical Conductivity Data

Noninvasive geophysical estimation of soil moisture has potential to improve understanding of flow in the unsaturated zone for problems involving agricultural management, aquifer recharge, and optimization of landfill design and operations. In principle, several geophysical techniques (e.g., electrical resistivity, electromagnetic induction, and nuclear magnetic resonance) offer insight into soil moisture, but data‐analysis tools are needed to “translate” geophysical results into estimates of soil moisture, consistent with (1) the uncertainty of this translation and (2) direct measurements of moisture. Although geostatistical frameworks exist for this purpose, straightforward and user‐friendly tools are required to fully capitalize on the potential of geophysical information for soil‐moisture estimation. Here, we present MoisturEC, a simple R program with a graphical user interface to convert measurements or images of electrical conductivity (EC) to soil moisture. Input includes EC values, point moisture estimates, and definition of either Archie parameters (based on experimental or literature values) or empirical data of moisture vs. EC. The program produces two‐ and three‐dimensional images of moisture based on available EC and direct measurements of moisture, interpolating between measurement locations using a Tikhonov regularization approach.     

Acid mine drainage at Cerro Rico de Potosí I: unabated high-strength discharges reflect a five century legacy of mining

Intensive mining and processing of Ag, Sn, Pb and Zn ores have occurred in various locations within and around the city of Potosí, Bolivia since 1545. Surface and subsurface waters, stream sediments and soils are contaminated with various ecotoxic metals in the headwaters of the economically vital, yet highly impacted, upper Rio Pilcomayo watershed. Previous studies have documented downstream trace metal contamination, however, not addressed specific sources. The AMD discharges identified in this study help link downstream pollution to primary origins. The majority of AMD would be considered high-strength due to metal concentrations and acidity orders of magnitude greater than typical AMD. Discharges from both operating and abandoned portals as well as tailings-related deposits displayed a high degree of heterogeneity with total metal concentrations ranging from 0.11 to 7480, <0.022 to 889, <0.0006 to 65.3, <0.001 to 310, 0.12 to 72,100, 0.3 to 402, <0.012 to 34.8, and 0.24 to 19,600 mg/L of Al, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn, respectively. Net acidity and pH ranged from −10 to 246,000 mg/L as CaCO₃ equivalent and 0.90–6.94 standard units, respectively. Data were gathered during two sampling events centered around the most extreme periods of the dry and wet seasons of one water-year. Loadings to local streams were marginally greater for most metals in the wet season. If observed loadings are historically representative, Cerro Rico AMD has contributed thousands of tonnes of ecotoxic metals to the upper Rio Pilcomayo over the last five centuries. Metal and hydrogen ion concentrations in the majority of AMD sampled were several orders of magnitude above discharge limits set by the Bolivian government, yet no action has historically or contemporarily been taken.