A place for place: Modelling and analysing platial representations

This editorial presents a special collection of papers addressing the concept of place and its use in geographical information science (GIScience). The concept of place is a topic of increasing interest among GIScience scholars. First attempts to formalise platial information have been made and it is increasingly held that user‐generated data sets in particular are often more platial than spatial in nature. At the same time, and especially when compared to geometric spatial concepts, the concept of place is ambiguous, complex and difficult to capture in formal and analytical terms, suggesting the need for interdisciplinary approaches. This collection presents articles covering a wide range of place‐related aspects, including both conceptual and more applied contributions. In the present editorial we summarise these and comment on their individual contributions, and hope that the readership of Transactions in GIS will find the special collection inspiring and informative.     

Exploring fishing dependence in gulf coast communities

Two unrelated data sources (quantitative secondary data and qualitative primary data) and mixed methodologies (statistical analysis and ethnography) are used to define the concept of, and develop indicators for, fishing dependence. Techniques for integrating differing data sources are developed. Comparisons of the qualitative rankings with the quantitative rankings were, overall, positive and statistically significant. The process used thus confirmed that the indicators were reliable measures for fishing dependence. In terms of external validity and triangulation, the process used was more rigorous than using ethnography “after-the-fact” to ground-truth the quantitative indicators.     

New Perspectives on the Use of GPS and GIS to Support a Highway Performance Study

In recent decades, rapid growth of travel volume has resulted in a significant increase in traffic congestion, accidents, environmental pollution and energy consumption. Accurate traffic data are drastically needed for effective evaluation of traffic systems in order to alleviate the impacts of increasing travel volume of the quality of life and economic development of urban areas. This article provides a discussion on a data acquisition methodology for highway traffic pattern recognition and congestion analysis by integrating data from the global positioning system (GPS) with a geographic information system (GIS). The GPS technology is a powerful tool in capturing continuous positioning and timing information, whereas the GIS is capable of storing, managing, manipulating, analyzing and displaying the acquired spatial information. Compared to previous studies, the effective integration of the two technologies allows for traffic analysis to be conducted at a finer resolution. The proposed method is illustrated with a case study on multiple major highway segments in Columbus, Ohio.     

The DEEP2 galaxy redshift survey: evolution of the colour–density relation at 0.4 < z < 1.35

Using a sample of 19 464 galaxies drawn from the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey, we study the relationship between galaxy colour and environment at  0.4 < z < 1.35  . We find that the fraction of galaxies on the red sequence depends strongly on local environment out to   z > 1  , being larger in regions of greater galaxy density. At all epochs probed, we also find a small population of red, morphologically early-type galaxies residing in regions of low measured overdensity. The observed correlations between the red fraction and local overdensity are highly significant, with the trend at   z > 1  detected at a greater than 5σ level. Over the entire redshift regime studied, we find that the colour–density relation evolves continuously, with red galaxies more strongly favouring overdense regions at low z relative to their red-sequence counterparts at high redshift. At   z ≳ 1.3  , the red fraction only weakly correlates with overdensity, implying that any colour dependence to the clustering of  ∼ L *  galaxies at that epoch must be small. Our findings add weight to existing evidence that the build-up of galaxies on the red sequence has occurred preferentially in overdense environments (i.e. galaxy groups) at   z ≲ 1.5  . Furthermore, we identify the epoch  ( z ∼ 2)  at which typical  ∼ L *  galaxies began quenching and moved on to the red sequence in significant number. The strength of the observed evolutionary trends at  0 < z < 1.35  suggests that the correlations observed locally, such as the morphology–density and colour–density relations, are the result of environment-driven mechanisms (i.e. 'nurture') and do not appear to have been imprinted (by 'nature') upon the galaxy population during their epoch of formation.     

Antithetic fault linkages in a deep water fold and thrust belt

Deep water fold and thrust belts consist of both forethrusts and backthrusts that can link along strike to form continuous folds in the overburden. The interaction of faults of opposing dip are termed ‘antithetic thrust fault linkages’ and share the common feature of a switch in vergence of overlying hangingwall anticlines. Using three-dimensional seismic data, on the toe-of-slope of the Niger Delta, linkages are classified into three distinct structural styles. This preliminary classification is based on the vertical extent of faulting within a transfer zones relative to the branch line of the antithetic faults. The stratigraphic level of the lateral tip of the fault, the shape of lateral tip region of a fault plane and the stratal deformation within the transfer zones is also distinctive in each type of fault linkage. A Type 1 linkage comprises faults that overlap exclusively above the level of the branch line. A ‘pop-up’ structure forms within the transfer zone with sediments below remaining planar. The lower tip lines of faults climb stratigraphically towards the linkage zone creating asymmetric, upward-tapering lateral tip regions. In Type 2 linkages fault overlap occurs lower than the level of the branch line such that lateral fault tips are located within the footwall of the counterpart fault. Faulting is thus limited to the deeper section within the transfer zone and creates unfaulted, symmetric, bell-shaped folds in the overburden. Upper tip lines of faults lose elevation within the transfer zone creating asymmetric, downwards-tapering lateral tip regions. In Type 3 linkages both faults continue above and below the branch line within the transfer zone resulting in cross-cutting fault relationships. Horizon continuity across the folds, through the transfer zones, varies significantly with depth and with the type of fault intersection.     

The GPSTk: an open source GPS toolkit

Applied Research Laboratories, The University of Texas at Austin (ARL:UT) has established a cross platform open source software project called the GPSTk or the GPS Toolkit. The GPSTk consists of a library and collection of applications that support GPS research, analysis, and development. The code is released under the terms of the Lesser GNU Public License. The GPSTk supports a broad range of functionality. This includes reading and writing observations in standard formats, such as RINEX, BINEX, and SP3, ephemeris evaluation, position determination, receiver autonomous integrity monitoring (RAIM), atmospheric delay modeling, cycle slip detection and correction, and P-code generation. The GPSTk provides the core set of functionality that is used for GPS research and development at ARL:UT. ARL:UT has been involved with satellite navigation since Transit (the precursor to GPS) in the 1960s and is currently conducting research in a wide variety of GPS-related fields, including precise surveys, monitor station networks, and ionospheric studies. The GPSTk is a community-wide resource for all users of GPS and GNSS technology. Participation is welcomed in all areas including: bug reports, new algorithms, suggestions for improvement, and contributions of additional functionality or applications. ARL:UT continually improves the library, shepherds community participation, and is committed to the project’s development and maintenance. The GPS Toolbox is a column dedicated to highlighting algorithms and source code utilized by GPS Engineers and scientists. If you have an interesting program or software package you would like to share with our readers, please pass it along; e-mail it to us at gps-toolbox@ngs.noaa.gov. To comment on any of the source code discussed here, or to download source code, visit our website at . This column is edited by Stephen Hilla, National Geodetic Survey, NOAA, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Mike Craymer, Geodetic Survey Division, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.     

Atomic oxygen transport in the thermosphere

The photodissociation of oxygen in the lower thermosphere is evaluated to obtain its global average value and the hemispheric imbalance. The observed concentrations of atomic oxygen do not reflect this imbalance in production due to the effect of seasonal wind patterns redistributing the atomic oxygen. The wind system necessary to compensate for the imbalance in solar thermal input into the lower thermosphere is found to transport an amount of atomic oxygen sufficient to compensate for the hemispheric imbalance in production. Ionospheric data indicate a winter enhancement in atomic oxygen concentration; to produce this, a higher degree of oxygen dissociation than that normally accepted (i.e. higher than an atomic to molecular oxygen ratio of unity at 120 km) is needed. The concept that the concentrations of atomic oxygen observed over the winter polar region are maintained by transport from lower latitudes requires that eddy diffusion coefficients derived from vertical transport at low latitudes (ignoring horizontal transport) be reduced by about 25 per cent.     

Water Quality Co-Effects of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in U.S. Agriculture

This study develops first-order estimates of water quality co-effects of terrestrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emission offset strategies in U.S. agriculture by linking a national level agricultural sector model (ASMGHG) to a national level water quality model (NWPCAM). The simulated policy scenario considers GHG mitigation incentive payments of $25 and $50 per tonne, carbon equivalent to landowners for reducing emissions or enhancing the sequestration of GHG through agricultural and land-use practices. ASMGHG projects that these GHG price incentives could induce widespread conversion of agricultural to forested lands, along with alteration of tillage practices, crop mix on land remaining in agriculture, and livestock management. This study focuses on changes in cropland use and management. The results indicate that through agricultural cropland about 60 to 70 million tonnes of carbon equivalent (MMTCE) emissions can be mitigated annually in the U.S. These responses also lead to a 2% increase in aggregate national water quality, with substantial variation across regions. Such GHG mitigation activities are found to reduce annual nitrogen loadings into the Gulf of Mexico by up to one half of the reduction goals established by the national Watershed Nutrient Task Force for addressing the hypoxia problem.     

Inverse methods for estimating primary input signals from time-averaged isotope profiles

Mammalian teeth are invaluable archives of ancient seasonality because they record along their growth axes an isotopic record of temporal change in environment, plant diet, and animal behavior. A major problem with the intra-tooth method is that intra-tooth isotope profiles can be extremely time-averaged compared to the actual pattern of isotopic variation experienced by the animal during tooth formation. This time-averaging is a result of the temporal and spatial characteristics of amelogenesis (tooth enamel formation), and also results from laboratory sampling. This paper develops and evaluates an inverse method for reconstructing original input signals from time-averaged intra-tooth isotope profiles. The method requires that the temporal and spatial patterns of amelogenesis are known for the specific tooth and uses a minimum length solution of the linear system Am = d, where d is the measured isotopic profile, A is a matrix describing temporal and spatial averaging during amelogenesis and sampling, and m is the input vector that is sought. Accuracy is dependent on several factors, including the total measurement error and the isotopic structure of the measured profile. The method is shown to accurately reconstruct known input signals for synthetic tooth enamel profiles and the known input signal for a rabbit that underwent controlled dietary changes. Application to carbon isotope profiles of modern hippopotamus canines reveals detailed dietary histories that are not apparent from the measured data alone. Inverse methods show promise as an effective means of dealing with the time-averaging problem in studies of intra-tooth isotopic variation.