Monthly Archives: May 2009
The Remote and Wild Side of Maine
A long weekend in the Maine woods is a certain way to “take a load off”, as we say here in Maine. It has the stress release equivalent of a total body massage, incorporating all of the senses and leaves you feeling refreshed in mind and body.Years ago, before fibromyalgia claimed my body, I used to fly-fish on wild rivers and hike up mountains but now I leave the high adventure to my husband and I have learned to slow down and experience each blessing as it comes. It’s hard not to spot them in the untamed forests in Baxter State Park in the central part of Maine. The water in the numerous streams is crystal clear and ice cold. It lacks the metallic mineral smell that most brooks seem to have, maybe because the water rushes so fast down numerous waterfalls to reach the river. Warning signs to boil the Read more…
Disaster Management Practices Using Arcgis, Arcims, Arcsde and Sql
IntroductionEmergency management is a dynamic process. Emergency preparedness for disaster management is the process of preparing, mitigating, responding, and recovering from any emergency situation. Individuals and organizations responsible for emergency management use different tools to save lives reduce human suffering and preserve economic assets before, during and after any catastrophic event. But nowadays, correct and timely information is a critical part of any successful emergency management program. The unique tool for emergency purpose is a web enabled Geographic Information System (GIS), which could provide accurate and timely information.Generally, disasters are characterized by the scope of an emergency. An emergency becomes a disaster when it exceeds the capability of the local resources to manage it. Disaster is an event “… meeting at least one of the following criteria: kills 10 or more persons; affects 100 or more persons; leads to a declaration of state of emergency; or leads to call for Read more…
Biodiversity and its conservation
BIODIVERSITY AND ITS CONSERVATION By Dr. Ashok Kumar Panigrahi.IntroductionThe word ‘biodiversity’ is a contraction of the term, ‘natural biological diversity’. Biodiversity refers to the range of variations or differentiations among same set of living entities. The term biodiversity is commonly used to describe the numbers, variety and variability of living organisms at the species level. Actually it is synonym of ‘Life on Earth’. It is estimated that there are about 50 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms with 35 thousand plants having medicinal properties, great bulk of it forming food of one another, species differing in physical & chemical characteristics. Plant diversity: is important to animals, herbivores and man, because, it meets the metabolic necessity of the trophic levels with the nutritional values of its fruits and seeds through dietary phytochemicals, primary and secondary.Primary phyto chemicals such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats are necessary for energy production Read more…
The Uses of Oil and Gas GIS for the Energy Sector
For many years, scientists in different fields of studies used GIS or geographic information systems successfully to create different kinds of geospatial datasets. In the energy sector, the utilization of GIS contributed greatly in improving the efficiency of exploration and distribution of energy. For example, oil and gas GIS have been used to create structured and historical maps to pinpoint exact locations of gas basins and oil deposits. Gas pipeline GIS on the other hand have been used by energy companies to improve distribution services from the production facilities to the consumers. In North America alone, there are more than 150 gas pipelines for the distribution of crude oil. These pipelines run for several hundred miles underground spanning across the 48 states of the United States including the gas pipelines in Canada and Mexico. An energy distribution company therefore faces an extreme dilemma in identifying its oil and gas pipelines Read more…
Methodology for Assessment of Natural Hazard Vulnerability in U.s. Coastal Zone Using Remote Sensing
INTRODUCTIONCoastal zone is defined as “the coastal waters (including the lands therein and thereunder) and the adjacent shorelands (including the waters therein and thereunder), strongly influenced by each other and in proximity to the shorelines of the several coastal states, and includes islands, transitional and intertidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands, and beaches.” Coastal locations were some of the first settled in the country, and have always accounted for a major percentage of the overall population. They were the primary centers for transportation, tourism, recreation, commercial fishing, and other industry. This coastal zone remains a crucial segment of the nation’s overall economy. A variety of natural hazards regularly threaten this coastal zone. Severe meteorological events such as hurricanes, tropical cyclones, and nor’easters are particularly harsh on coastal areas, often resulting in damages from high winds, storm surge, flooding, and shoreline erosion. Tsunamis, whose destructive force is characterized by potentially devastating flood Read more…
Understanding the Basics of Energy and Pipeline GIS
Energy resources are normally sourced offshore and abroad. Essential fuels and energy needs of end consumers and major industries are normally transported over the sea through ships and tankers. When transporting the energy needs of consumers over land, the pipelines play a highly critical role. That is why energy companies need reliable and accurate mapping information to get valuable insights about these pipelines. Such information are now available through modern energy GIS and pipeline GIS. So what are pipeline GIS and energy GIS? For starters, pipeline and energy GIS are based on geographic information systems technologies. The geographic information systems are computer applications that are capable of integrating different map information on a single database. Such applications are very useful for generating instant geographic data for easy retrieval by users. It can also display different views and different categories of data and information based on your particular needs. The level Read more…
