Concepción González-García

Analysis of seasonal variations in the quality of water in a reservoir using GIS techniques

Abstract This paper analyzes the seasonal behavior of water quality in the reservoir of Rio Hondo (Sali-Dulce river basin, Argentina) using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) interpolation techniques. Due to its geographical location, the water of this lake is influenced by human activities from the upper basin, such as agricultural development, urban and industrial wastewater discharges which vary in intensity depending on the season. In this study the techniques of interpolation IDW (Inverse Distance Weight) and Kriging were applied to values of a water quality index named ICA2. The integrated tool Geostatistics Analyst in ArcGIS 9.2 software was used to check if it is possible to get a proper ICA2 spatial interpolation with the employed methods and which of them would be the best technique to estimate the quality of water. With the observed and interpolated values of ICA2 index, a series of maps were obtained that allow us to conclude that both methods are valid for estimating trends in water quality...

Diseño de un cuestionario para evaluar conocimientos básicos de estadística de estudiantes del último curso de ingeniería

The design of a questionnaire to assess knowledge of basic statistics for engineering students is presented. The original questionnaire included a large number of items grouped by subjects. This questionnaire was submitted to a panel of experts, consisting of nine teachers of Applied Statistics from different engineering majors belonging to iberoamerican universities. This group of experts evaluated the questions and provided valuable information to prepare the final questionnaire. The final questionnaire proposed includes 20 questions divided in four subjects: descriptive statistics, sampling, hypothesis test and general linear model. These subjects are similar to other studies found in the literature on evaluation of knowledge of basic statistical concepts.

Análisis de competencias en el Grado de Ingeniería Forestal para su adaptación al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior

In this work generic and specific skills that students of Forest Engineering degrees must obtain in the framework of the European Higher Education Space in Spain are established. Based on the concept of Forest Engineering, Spanish legislation and the recommendations of associations of European and Latin American engineers, ten generic and fourteen specific skills were selected. The results were validated by qualitative research technique of natural group discussion. The materials to develop these skills were grouped into basic, fundamentals of engineering and agroforestry science. The study shows that agroforestry sciences require practical training to acquire specific skills in Forest Engineering.

Cooperative learning in Forestry Engineering with NIPPE Descartes software

This work describes the methodology, procedure, and results obtained from the application of an education co‐operative learning experience with NIPPE Descartes software in a specific task. Students in the second year of a degree course in Forestry Engineering at the Madrid Polytechnic University were invited to take part in a peer‐learning experience. The students were organized in pairs and asked to complete an optional task in one of the modules in the subject of Mechanics. This experience took place between 2006 and 2011. The results were compared with the previous period between 2003 and 2006 in which this task was not required. The students were surveyed to assess their degree of satisfaction and the contribution of the experience to the learning of the subject. This methodology was observed to substantially reduce the percentage of students who do not show up for their evaluation exams, and the percentage of pass and fail marks also reveals significant differences. Additionally, of the students who performed the task, the number who passed in the ordinary examination period increased nearly 30% points compared to those who did not. It is worth noting that 43% of the students participating in the experience rated the activity as a fairly or very positive in terms of contributing to learning the subject.

Obtención de valores unitarios mediante el método de árboles-tipo para la tasación del arbolado urbano: aplicación en Santiago del Estero (Argentina) y Madrid (España)

Este trabajo ofrece una herramienta para valorar el arbolado urbano, cumpliendo dos requisitos basicos de gestion publica: reduccion de costes y sencillez de aplicacion. Para ello se presenta una metodologia basada en tecnicas de analisis estadistico multivariante que permite determinar arboles-tipo en zonas con arbolado urbano que representen y agrupen simultaneamente especies y caracteristicas dasometricas homogeneas. Se han analizado dos poblaciones diferentes: el centro urbano de Santiago del Estero (Argentina) y el Arboreto de la Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros de Montes, de la Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, campus Moncloa (Espana). La metodologia clasifico de forma automatica los arboles en tres grupos mediante analisis discriminante. En cada grupo se selecciona la especie mas frecuente, que para el caso de Santiago del Estero, fueron Citrus auriantum, Tabebuia impetiginosa y Tipuana tipu, mientras que en Madrid fueron el Ligustrum japonicum, Platanus x hybrida y Populus alba var. bolleana. Se determinaron los arboles-tipo, uno de cada grupo, para cada espacio verde, representativos del conjunto de arboles urbanos. Se calculo el valor economico de los tres arboles tipo, para cada zona, mediante el metodo de capitalizacion. Su valor unitario corresponde al valor de tasacion de dicho ejemplar por unidad de tamano. El precio por unidad de tamano se puede aplicar a cualquier arbol urbano de su mismo grupo, permitiendo un calculo rapido de su valor economico basico, con bajo coste y aplicable a la mayoria de formulas de valoracion. La metodologia descrita permite simplificar el calculo del valor economico del arbolado urbano situado en distintas localizaciones.