Tammy E. Parece

Comparing Urban Impervious Surface Identification Using Landsat and High Resolution Aerial Photography

This paper evaluates accuracies of selected image classification strategies, as applied to Landsat imagery to assess urban impervious surfaces by comparing them to reference data manually delineated from high-resolution aerial photos. Our goal is to identify the most effective methods for delineating urban impervious surfaces using Landsat imagery, thereby guiding applications for selecting cost-effective delineation techniques. A high-resolution aerial photo was used to delineate impervious surfaces for selected census tracts for the City of Roanoke, Virginia. National Land Cover Database Impervious Surface data provided an overall accuracy benchmark at the city scale which was used to assess the Landsat classifications. Three different classification methods using three different band combinations provided overall accuracies in excess of 70% for the entire city. However, there were substantial variations in accuracy when the results were subdivided by census tract. No single classification method was found most effective across all census tracts; the best method for a specific tract depended on method, band combination, and physical characteristics of the area. These results highlight impacts of inherent local variability upon attempts to characterize physical structures of urban regions using a single metric, and the value of analysis at finer spatial scales.

A study of environmentally relevant behavior in university residence halls

Purpose – This paper aims to report on a study promoting energy conservation on Virginia Techs campus. It explores whether the behavior of students living in university residence halls would change when various electricity conservation strategies are introduced.Design/methodology/approach – Intervention strategies, including educational media, information, and voluntary resource‐conservation activities, were applied at varying levels of intensity across five study groups over two semesters in 2009. Additional questions explore whether one particular strategy would produce higher consumption reductions, and whether combining strategies would produce more consumption reductions than individual techniques.Findings – The findings revealed that on a campus where environmentally sustainability is foremost in the minds of students and administration, asking students to take action to reduce their consumption resulted in positive consumption reductions, even in the control group. Additive strategies did not prod...

Reedy Creek Cleanup: The Evolution of a University Geography Service-Learning Project

Abstract Service-learning courses within a university setting help students to better understand their roles as members of civil society. This article examines the evolution of an urban stream cleanup project that has been part of a world regions geography course for six years. After connecting course goals with the current best practice literature on student engagement and “greening of the curriculum,” the context of the cleanup is discussed, focusing on the physical geography of the urban stream and political and university perspectives that influence the environmental status of the stream. The article analyzes the successes and challenges of the project and identifies strategies that have evolved in order to enhance the success of the project. It closes with recommendations for using this as a model for generating service-learning courses at other universities.

Assessing Urban Landscape Variables’ Contributions to Microclimates

The well-known urban heat island (UHI) effect recognizes prevailing patterns of warmer urban temperatures relative to surrounding rural landscapes. Although UHIs are often visualized as single features, internal variations within urban landscapes create distinctive microclimates. Evaluating intraurban microclimate variability presents an opportunity to assess spatial dimensions of urban environments and identify locations that heat or cool faster than other locales. Our study employs mobile weather units and fixed weather stations to collect air temperatures across Roanoke, Virginia, USA, on selected dates over a two-year interval. Using this temperature data, together with six landscape variables, we interpolated (using Kriging and Random Forest) air temperatures across the city for each collection period. Our results estimated temperatures with small mean square errors (ranging from 0.03 to 0.14); landscape metrics explained between 60 and 91% of temperature variations (higher when the previous day’s average temperatures were included as a variable). For all days, similar spatial patterns appeared for cooler and warmer areas in mornings, with distinctive patterns as landscapes warmed during the day and over successive days. Our results revealed that the most potent landscape variables vary according to season and time of day. Our analysis contributes new dimensions and new levels of spatial and temporal detail to urban microclimate research.

Land Use/Land Cover Monitoring and Geospatial Technologies: An Overview

Accurate and detailed land use and land cover information forms an important resource for hydrologic analysis; remote sensing forms a critical resource for acquiring and analyzing broad-scale land use information. Although aerial photography is an important resource for land use information, it was the availability of multispectral satellite data beginning in 1972 that significantly advanced the ability of remote sensing researchers to systematically monitor and evaluate land use/land cover changes and their impacts on water quality and quantity. In that context, practitioners developed classification schemes specifically tailored for use with remotely sensed imagery and for systematic assessment of land use change. Since then, land observation technologies have evolved to allow extensive and intricate land use monitoring techniques, and now, in the twenty-first century, include the use of lasers for 3-D analyses and unmanned aerial systems. Such technologies have enabled land use assessment to contribute not only to its original focus in urban and regional planning but to a broad range of environmental and social issues. This chapter provides an overview of remote sensing, its technological evolution, and remote sensing applications in land use and land cover mapping and monitoring, with a focus upon implications for watershed assessment and management.

Reducing Carbon Footprint of Water Consumption: A Case Study of Water Conservation at a University Campus

This chapter reports on a study to promote environmentally relevant behavior on a university campus. Ten residence halls at Virginia Tech were included in the study, and the project employed five different strategies, each with a different number of prompting strategies to determine which approach was most effective at influencing reductions in water use. Consumption reductions were observed in most of the residence halls participating in the study, but no one strategy was more effective than another. Even though reductions were not achieved in all residence halls, overall water consumption was reduced by 11.6%. Reducing the consumption of water also resulted in the reduction of energy used to treat and transport the water from the University’s water source – the New River. Therefore, the energy savings achieved resulted in a reduction of the University’s carbon footprint.

Sustainable Water Management in Urban Environments

Today, more than half of the world’s population is living in cities that are often centres of production, prosperity and development, but when it comes to handling water in urban areas, a number of challenges exist related to providing safe and efficient solutions to urban water issues. Challenges urban water managers face include flooding and extreme weather events, which will increase in severity because of climate change. Cities located in coastal and delta areas already face the risk of increased flooding and other extreme events, which climate change will further aggravate. In Denmark, the Ministry of the Environment envisages that a sea level rise of 0.7 m on average will lead to increased flooding similar to a 400-year event taking place every 1–2 years; thus, cities must do their utmost to improve climate change resilience. Introducing integrated urban water management (IUWM) as a concept for planning to improve water management by linking different elements such as spatial planning, stormwater management and urban environment provides a more holistic input to planning. In this chapter, we examine definitions of IUWM and global experiences. Furthermore, we look at experienced barriers to moving towards more integrated water management and a number of solutions in order to overcome the barriers to integrated approaches. Finally, we describe how solutions based on innovative and integrated approaches are efficient and contribute to improved water management even though not every single element of urban water management can be a part of integrated solutions.

Advances in Watershed Science and Assessment

This volume offers concepts, methods and case studies of innovative and evolving technologies in the area of watershed assessment. Topics discussed include: (1) Development and applications of geospatial, satellite imagery and remote sensing technologies for land monitoring; (2) Development and applications of satellite imagery for monitoring inland water quality; (3) Development and applications of water sensor technologies for real-time monitoring of water quantity and quality; and (4) Advances in biological monitoring and microbial source tracking technologies.This book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers involved in watershed science and environmental studies. Equally, it will serve as a valuable guide to experts in government agencies who are concerned with water-availability and water-quality issues, and engineers and other professionals involved in the design of land- and water-monitoring systems.

Strategically Siting Urban Agriculture: A Socioeconomic Analysis of Roanoke, Virginia

Food insecurity is a major concern in the United States, particularly in high-poverty areas and among households with children. Urban agriculture helps address food insecurity and promote recreation, aesthetics, biodiversity, and other benefits. This article reports a socioeconomic evaluation of ten different variables, including in situ analysis of healthy, nutritious food options, of a small, intensely urbanized city to identify neighborhoods that would benefit from urban agriculture. We produced a hierarchy of locations (using census block groups), from least to greatest socioeconomic need, for new urban agriculture sites. Our results found that one block group qualified in all ten variables and two-thirds demonstrated a need in at least half of the variables. The majority of these block groups were distributed within the middle of the city.

Identifying Urban Watershed Boundaries and Area, Fairfax County, Virginia

Abstract Urban hydrology differs from that of natural environments, and thus urban watersheds require innovative evaluation techniques. Typical geospatial evaluation of urban hydrology begins with identification of water flow and watershed boundaries. This study identifies steps to delineate a highly urbanized watershed in Fairfax County, Virginia. Using standard techniques for natural watersheds and one-meter2 resolution lidar, watershed and flow accumulation raster datasets were derived. Then, modifications encountered within urban landscapes i.e., impervious surfaces, stormwater inlets, pipes, and retention ponds along with high-resolution aerial photos and lidarderived contour lines were integrated into the analysis. Regions redirecting water flow from stream channels and areas redirecting water flow into the stream channels were identified. These areas were removed or added, reducing the area by almost 17 percent, and the watershed boundary was significantly altered. This analysis illustrates the significance of the distinctive characteristics of the urban landscape in accurate delineations of urban watersheds.