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Publication John Snow Cholera Map as Rectified Raster Data, Water Pump Location Data, Deaths by Building Data(University of Libraries GIS (Lib)Guide, 2013-01-31) Houser, RhondaJohn Snow’s investigation of cholera in 1850s London used analysis techniques that would now likely entail use of geographic information systems (GIS), as well as laying the foundation for modern epidemiology. Snow’s analysis demonstrates the power of maps and the underlying information, to visualize and solve complicated problems. Cholera spread to the British Isles in the early 1830s and was a scourge to humans for fifty years more. The disease is horrific, causing the body to lose fluids quickly, the blood to thicken, and killing half of those afflicted in several days. Cholera spread quickly due to poor sanitation practices and misconceptions about its causes. Today we know that the disease is caused by a bacteria and it is usually spread through contaminated drinking water. In 1854, a London physician named John Snow was living in the Soho District. London was experiencing its second cholera epidemic and Snow had been exposed to many infected patients. He showed no signs of cholera and for this and other reasons, did not uphold the common belief that the disease was passed by air. In early September, deaths from cholera increased drastically in Soho and Snow commenced his investigation into the quandary of cholera in the streets of his neighborhood. Data can be read in GIS software such as ArcGIS or Quantum GIS, or online mapping tool such as ArcExplorer, GeoCommons, etc.Publication Parameterization of Urban Characteristics for Global Climate Modeling(2011-10-31) Jackson, Trisha L.The data presented here are part of a global dataset developed specifically for use in climate models to simulate urban climates for specific regions of the globe. Article abstract: To help understand potential effects of urbanization on climates of varying scales and effects of climate change on urban populations, urbanization must be included in global climate models (GCMs). To properly capture the spatial variability in urban areas, GCMs require global databases of urban extent and characteristics. This article describes methods and characteristics used to create a data set that can be utilized to simulate urban systems on a global scale within GCMs. The data set represents three main categories of urban properties: spatial extent, urban morphology, and thermal and radiative properties of building materials. Spatial extent of urban areas is derived from a population density data set and calibrated within thirty-three regions of similar physical and social characteristics. For each region, four classes of urbanization are identified and linked to a set of typical building morphology, thermal, and radiative characteristics. In addition, urban extent is simulated back in time to 1750 based on national historical population and urbanization trends. A sample set of simulations shows that the urban characteristics do change urban heat island outcomes. In general the simulations show greater urban heat islands with increasing latitude, in agreement with observations. [Supplemental material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Annals of the Association of American Geographers for the following free supplemental resource: (1) a table of the Global Data Set of Urban and Building Properties © 2007–2009.]Publication Building Footprints (Shapefile) of University of Kansas, Lawrence Campus(2011-02-18T20:22:22Z) Houser, RhondaData layer geneated with Intention to have basic building dataset for data analysis and generation of maps, for Lawrence Campus of the University of Kansas. Building outlines were digitized using ArcMap in ca. 2007 from aerial photograph to create polygon vector file as shapefile. Attributes include building name.Publication Is there reduction in disease and predispersal seed predation at the border of a host plant’s range? - field and herbarium studies of Carex blanda(Blackwell Publishing, 2007) Alexander, Helen M.1. Small, isolated populations at species’ borders have been postulated to be less likely to have specialist pathogens and predators. Field and herbarium surveys were thus used to determine if two pathogens (a smut and a rust) and a predispersal seed predator were less common at the western range limit of the forest sedge Carex blanda in Kansas, USA. 2. Host plant size, reproduction, and density did not decline at the western border of the range. In fact, plants at two western sites had unusually large size and seed production. 3. Host populations at the edge of the range were more likely to be disease-free or lack the predispersal seed predator. Where the smut, seed predator, and rust were found, the proportion of infected or infested plants was not related to longitude, latitude, or percent forest cover. 4. More of the peripheral populations lacked the smut than the rust, as expected given the more localised nature of smut spore dispersal and the limited period when smut infection can occur. 5. In the adjacent, more highly forested state of Missouri, there were no geographic patterns in the incidence of the smut or seed predator in herbarium data. 6. The smut and rust increased in frequency over the 129 year span of herbarium collections. 7. Although field and herbarium distributional data were not identical (for example, smut infection was found much farther west in the field than in the herbarium data), the qualitative agreement between the two datasets suggests herbarium data can be used more broadly for studies of natural enemy distributions. 8. Limited dispersal by pathogens and seed predators is probably the reason why small, isolated western populations were less likely to have natural enemies. Peripheral host populations may thus have different ecological and evolutionary trajectories compared to more central populations. This conclusion, as well as the considerable variation among peripheral populations, is relevant to geographical studies of coevolution and to research on climatic effects on plants inhabiting ecotonal regions.Publication Mapping your data: Integrating data into a GIS(Environmental Systems Research Institute, 2006-12-12) Houser, RhondaIn this intermediate-level GIS investigation, students will learn about tools and techniques for integrating data having spatial attributes into a geographic information system (GIS). ArcGIS allows users to visualize data organized by geography or having latitude/longitude coordinates, i.e. originating with a Global Positioning System or in tabular (spreadsheet) format. Mapped data can then be examined geographically and combined with other spatial data. The investigation is also suitable for University-level students and others in that environment with novice or intermediate GIS skills. The lesson uses street, store location, parks, schools, and Census data for small region in Kansas, USA.Publication Finding GIS data: Land cover and land use in Kansas(Environmental Systems Research Institute, 2006-12-08) Houser, RhondaIn this GIS investigation, students will learn about ‘real-world GIS’ by working through the process of identifying, accessing, manipulating and using spatial data, at the state and local / county scale. This lesson highlights websites for freely available spatial data, and provides tips on digging for data, and downloading and converting various file types. This lesson will be helpful for anyone using GIS data or beginning a GIS project, and especially for those using data from different sources, and those interested in land use and population analysis.