A parallel algorithm for coverage optimization on multi-core architectures

Location siting is an important part of service provision, with much potential to impact operational efficiency, safety, security, system reliability, etc. A class of location models seeks to optimize coverage of demand for service that is continuously distributed across space. Decision-making and planning contexts include police/fire resource allocation for a community, siting cellular towers to support cell phone signal transmission, locating emergency warning sirens to alert the public of severe weather and other related dangers, and many others as well. When facilities can be sited anywhere in continuous space to provide coverage to an entire region, this is a very computationally challenging problem to solve because potential demand for service is everywhere and there are an infinite number of potential facility sites to consider. This article develops a new parallel solution approach for this location coverage optimization problem through an iterative bounding scheme on multi-core architectures. The developed approach is applied to site emergency warning sirens in Dublin, Ohio, and fire stations in Elk Grove, California. Results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach, enabling real-time analysis and planning. This work illustrates that the integration of cyberinfrastructure can significantly improve computational efficiency in solving challenging spatial optimization problems, fitting the themes of this special issue: cyberinfrastructure, GIS, and spatial optimization.     

Impact of irrigated agriculture on groundwater-recharge salinity: a major sustainability concern in semi-arid regions

Intensive irrigated agriculture substantially modifies the hydrological cycle and often has major environmental impacts. The article focuses upon a specific concern—the tendency for progressive long-term increases in the salinity of groundwater recharge derived from irrigated permeable soils and replenishment of unconfined aquifers in more arid regions. This process has received only scant attention in the water-resource literature and has not been considered by agricultural science. This work makes an original contribution by analysing, from scientific principles, how the salinisation of groundwater recharge arises and identifies the factors affecting its severity. If not proactively managed, the process eventually will impact irrigation waterwell salinity, the productivity of agriculture itself, and can even lead to land abandonment. The types of management measure required for mitigation are discussed through three detailed case histories of areas with high-value groundwater-irrigated agriculture (in Spain, Argentina and Pakistan), which provide a long-term perspective on the evolution of the problem over various decades.     

Depositional setting,provenance, and tectonic-volcanic setting of Eocene–Recent deep-sea sediments of the oceanic Izu–Bonin forearc,northwest Pacific (IODP Expedition 352)

New biostratigraphical, geochemical, and magnetic evidence is synthesized with IODP Expedition 352 shipboard results to understand the sedimentary and tectono-magmatic development of the Izu–Bonin outer forearc region. The oceanic basement of the Izu–Bonin forearc was created by supra-subduction zone seafloor spreading during early Eocene (c. 50–51 Ma). Seafloor spreading created an irregular seafloor topography on which talus locally accumulated. Oxide-rich sediments accumulated above the igneous basement by mixing of hydrothermal and pelagic sediment. Basaltic volcanism was followed by a hiatus of up to 15 million years as a result of topographic isolation or sediment bypassing. Variably tuffaceous deep-sea sediments were deposited during Oligocene to early Miocene and from mid-Miocene to Pleistocene. The sediments ponded into extensional fault-controlled basins, whereas condensed sediments accumulated on a local basement high. Oligocene nannofossil ooze accumulated together with felsic tuff that was mainly derived from the nearby Izu–Bonin arc. Accumulation of radiolarian-bearing mud, silty clay, and hydrogenous metal oxides beneath the carbonate compensation depth (CCD) characterized the early Miocene, followed by middle Miocene–Pleistocene increased carbonate preservation, deepened CCD and tephra input from both the oceanic Izu–Bonin arc and the continental margin Honshu arc. The Izu–Bonin forearc basement formed in a near-equatorial setting, with late Mesozoic arc remnants to the west. Subduction-initiation magmatism is likely to have taken place near a pre-existing continent–oceanic crust boundary. The Izu–Bonin arc migrated northward and clockwise to collide with Honshu by early Miocene, strongly influencing regional sedimentation.     

SensePlace3: a geovisual framework to analyze place–time–attribute information in social media

SensePlace3 (SP3) is a geovisual analytics framework and web application that supports overview + detail analysis of social media, focusing on extracting meaningful information from the Twitterverse. SP3 leverages social media related to crisis events. It differs from most existing systems by enabling an analyst to obtain place-relevant information from tweets that have implicit as well as explicit geography. Specifically, SP3 includes not just the ability to utilize the explicit geography of geolocated tweets but also analyze implicit geography by recognizing and geolocating references in both tweet text, which indicates locations tweeted about, and in Twitter profiles, which indicates locations affiliated with users. Key features of SP3 reported here include flexible search and filtering capabilities to support information foraging; an ingest, processing, and indexing pipeline that produces near real-time access for big streaming data; and a novel strategy for implementing a web-based multi-view visual interface with dynamic linking of entities across views. The SP3 system architecture was designed to support crisis management applications, but its design flexibility makes it easily adaptable to other domains. We also report on a user study that provided input to SP3 interface design and suggests next steps for effective spatiotemporal analytics using social media sources.     

GIS professional development for teachers: lessons learned from high-needs schools

University faculty partners from the Departments of Geography and Instruction and Teacher Education at a large, public university collaborated with K-12 teachers and the leadership of a rural school district in order to investigate the crosscutting content of science, mathematics, and geography through the integration of web-based GIS technologies. The project explored the critical connections among technology, pedagogy, and content with a particular emphasis on developing technology-enhanced, inquiry-based lessons in which the teachers and their students used GIS technologies to analyze, visualize, and present data in real-world contexts. The findings highlight the importance of well-structured professional development that builds community, integrates diverse content and pedagogical expertise, provides feedback and coaching, and is of sufficient duration to effect change.     

Brittleness index predictions from Lower Barnett Shale well-log data applying an optimized data matching algorithm at various sampling densities

The capability of accurately predicting mineralogical brittleness index(BI)from basic suites of well logs is desir-able as it provides a useful indicator of the fracability of tight formations.Measuring mineralogical components in rocks is expensive and time consuming.However,the basic well log curves are not well correlated with BI so correlation-based,machine-learning methods are not able to derive highly accurate BI predictions using such data.A correlation-free,optimized data-matching algorithm is configured to predict BI on a supervised basis from well log and core data available from two published wells in the Lower Barnett Shale Formation(Texas).This transparent open box(TOB)algorithm matches data records by calculating the sum of squared errors be-tween their variables and selecting the best matches as those with the minimum squared errors.It then applies optimizers to adjust weights applied to individual variable errors to minimize the root mean square error(RMSE)between calculated and predicted(BI).The prediction accuracy achieved by TOB using just five well logs(Gr,pb,Ns,Rs,Dt)to predict BI is dependent on the density of data records sampled.At a sampling density of about one sample per 0.5 ft BI is predicted with RMSE～0.056 and R2～0.790.At a sampling density of about one sample per 0.1 ft BI is predicted with RMSE～0.008 and R2～0.995.Adding a stratigraphic height index as an additional(sixth)input variable method improves BI prediction accuracy to RMSE～0.003 and R2～0.999 for the two wells with only 1 record in 10,000 yielding a BI prediction error of＞±0.1.The model has the potential to be applied in an unsupervised basis to predict BI from basic well log data in surrounding wells lacking mineralogical measure-ments but with similar lithofacies and burial histories.The method could also be extended to predict elastic rock properties in and seismic attributes from wells and seismic data to improve the precision of brittleness index and fracability mapping spatially.     

New instrument for measuring water discharge by the salt dilution method

The instantaneous salt dilution method for water discharge measurements in open channels has been improved by the development of a new instrument measuring conductivity. The salt method consists of two parts: the calibration and the actual measurement in the stream. The calibration aims to calculate the linear relationship between electrical conductivity and salt concentration at various degrees of dilution in a salt solution. The original undiluted solution is injected into the water of a stream and the conductivity is measured downstream from the injection site. When measuring, the new instrument integrates the conductivity over time. From the value obtained on the instrument's display, the water discharge can easily be calculated on a hand-PC in the field. The instrument has eliminated the subsequent calculation work formerly necessary. It has increased the accuracy of the method and also reduced the need for field personnel during measurements.