The use of remote sensing imagery for monitoring recovery in the aftermath of a natural disaster: the Hurricane Katrina Case

Although Recovery is often defined as the less studied and documented phase of the Emergency Management Cycle, a wide literature is available for describing characteristics and sub-phases of this process. Previous works do not allow to gain an overall perspective because of a lack of systematic consistent monitoring of recovery utilizing advanced technologies such as remote sensing and GIS technologies. Taking into consideration the key role of Remote Sensing in Response and Damage Assessment, this thesis is aimed to verify the appropriateness of such advanced monitoring techniques to detect recovery advancements over time, with close attention to the main characteristics of the study event: Hurricane Katrina storm surge. Based on multi-source, multi-sensor and multi-temporal data, the post-Katrina recovery was analysed using both a qualitative and a quantitative approach. The first phase was dedicated to the investigation of the relation between urban types, damage and recovery state, referring to geographical and technological parameters. Damage and recovery scales were proposed to review critical observations on remarkable surge- induced effects on various typologies of structures, analyzed at a per-building level. This wide-ranging investigation allowed a new understanding of the distinctive features of the recovery process. A quantitative analysis was employed to develop methodological procedures suited to recognize and monitor distribution, timing and characteristics of recovery activities in the study area. Promising results, gained by applying supervised classification algorithms to detect localization and distribution of blue tarp, have proved that this methodology may help the analyst in the detection and monitoring of recovery activities in areas that have been affected by medium damage. The study found that Mahalanobis Distance was the classifier which provided the most accurate results, in localising blue roofs with 93.7% of blue roof classified correctly and a producer accuracy of 70%. It was seen to be the classifier least sensitive to spectral signature alteration. The application of the dissimilarity textural classification to satellite imagery has demonstrated the suitability of this technique for the detection of debris distribution and for the monitoring of demolition and reconstruction activities in the study area. Linking these geographically extensive techniques with expert per-building interpretation of advanced-technology ground surveys provides a multi-faceted view of the physical recovery process. Remote sensing and GIS technologies combined to advanced ground survey approach provides extremely valuable capability in Recovery activities monitoring and may constitute a technical basis to lead aid organization and local government in the Recovery management.

Clean water in the classroom : understanding the importance of water quality

This study’s objective was to answer three research questions related to students’ knowledge and attitudes about water quality and availability issues. It is important to understand what knowledge students have about environmental problems such as these, because today’s students will become the problem solvers of the future. If environmental problems, such as those related to water quality, are ever going to be solved, students must be environmentally literate. Several methods of data collection were used. Surveys were given to both Bolivian and Jackson High School students in order to comparison their initial knowledge and attitudes about water quality issues. To study the effects of instruction, a unit of instruction about water quality issues was then taught to the Jackson High School students to see what impact it would have on their knowledge. In addition, the learning of two different groups of Jackson High School students was compared—one group of general education students and a second group of students that were learning in an inclusion classroom and included special education students and struggling learners form the general education population. Student and teacher journals, a unit test, and postsurvey responses were included in the data set. Results suggested that when comparing Bolivian students and Jackson High School students, Jackson High School students were more knowledgeable concerning clean water infrastructure and its importance, despite the fact that these issues were less relevant to their lives than for their Bolivian counterparts. Although overall, the data suggested that all the Jackson High students showed evidence that the instruction impacted their knowledge, the advanced Biology students appeared to show stronger gains than their peers in an inclusion classroom.

Water quality : Western Fish Toxicology Station and western Oregon rivers /

Mode of access: Internet.

Automated In Situ Water Quality Sensor Workshop, February 14-16, 1978 : [proceedings] /

Mode of access: Internet.

Livestock grazing management and water quality protection : (state of the art reference document) /

Mode of access: Internet.

Water quality in the middle Great Lakes : results of the 1985 USEPA survey of Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan /

Mode of access: Internet.

Forest chemicals and water quality.

Mode of access: Internet.

Trends in selected water-quality characteristics, Powder River and tributaries, Montana and Wyoming, water years 1968-88 and 1975-88 /

Mode of access: Internet.

Conservation districts and 208 water quality management ... /

Mode of access: Internet.

Ambient water quality criteria for dichloropropane and dichloropropene /

Mode of access: Internet.

Legal and institutional approaches to water quality management planning and implementation /

Includes bibliographies.

Water-quality assessment of Francis E. Walter reservoir, Luzerne and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania /

"June 1983."

Water quality in the Sugar Creek basin, Bloomington and Normal, Illinois /

Prepared in cooperation with Bloomington and Normal Sanitary District.

Water-quality assessment of White River between Lake Sequoyah and Beaver Reservoir, Washington County, Arkansas /

Mode of access: Internet.

Results of a reconnaissance water-quality sampling program of the Ogallala aquifer in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas /

Bibliography: p. 7.