Current and Previous Projects

Current/Recent

For states of Montana, North Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin classified counties and census tract centroids as urban (Competitive Bid Areas), rural (not in a CBA and not containing an acute care hospital), or not urban or rural using data from medicare.gov and US Census Bureau
Geocoded hospital and HME supplier locations based on data from medicare.gov
Carried out GIS network analysis to calculate travel distances
Summarized socio-demographic attributes of census tract by state and within classifications
Commissioned by VGM Inc., Waterloo, IA and work completed December 2015
Report

For states of Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Utah lassified counties and census tract centroids as urban (Competitive Bid Areas), rural (not in a CBA and not containing an acute care hospital), or not urban or rural using data from medicare.gov and US Census Bureau
Geocoded hospital and HME supplier locations based on data from medicare.gov
Carried out GIS network analysis to calculate travel distances
Summarized socio-demographic attributes of census tract by state and within classifications
Commissioned by VGM Inc., Waterloo, IA and work completed Summer 2015
Assessment report

With funding from the Iowa Economic Development Authority's Iowa Energy Office the GeoTREE Center is carrying out solar radiation analysis using LiDAR topographic data and ArcGIS-based solar radiation tools
The results will be a statewide set of modeled monthly solar radiation potential data and a web mapping application to present the results publicly
Project Duration: July 2015 - June 2016

With funding from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship the GeotREE Center is continuing development and improvement of a GIS extension for working with a commonly used urban watershed modeling software called WinSLAMM
The project also will include carrying out numerous pilot demostration applications of the ArcSLAMM-WinSLAMM modeling system
Finally, the GeoTREE Center will provide several workshops around the state to make potential users aware of ArcSLAMM
Project Duration: July 2015 - June 2016

Demonstrate utility of using LiDAR data in an urban WinSLAMM modeling effort in Dry Run and Catfish Creek watersheds (impaired waterways)
Develop an ArcGIS extension to aid in more efficient WinSLAMM modeling techniques for small to moderate sized watersheds
Duration: July, 2011 – August 31, 2013
Funding Agency: Iowa Water Center / USGS

Investigate spatio-temporal patterns of tick distributions and Lyme disease incidence in Iowa for the last two decades in relation to socio-ecological drivers
Funded under UNI Capacity Building Grant
March - July 2013
Collaboration with Iowa State University Medical Entomology Laboratory

Geocoding and spatial database development for Iowa STEM programs
Web mapping application development
Application available at http://bit.ly/Nw4x5b
Collaboration with Northeast Hub at UNI (http://www.iowastem.gov/northeast-iowa-stem-region)

Ongoing assistance with Dr. Catherine Zeman on GIS database development and spatial analysis regarding an environmental health related project in Black Hawk County

Ongoing assistance with Dr. Jeff Tamplin and Dr. Peter Berendzen on GIS database development and spatial analysis regarding their ecological research dealing with turtle and fish species in Iowa.

A Web-based LiDAR dissemination and analysis
Duration: 2008 - 2009 (Continued support for web dissemination platform)
Funding Agency: Iowa Department of Transportation and Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Website: Home

This project included a themal flyover conducted on Nov. 18 and 19, 2010 in Cedar Falls, IA.
Processing of themal images and development of a web mapping application
Used by Cedar Falls Utilities to identify homes and businesses with high potential for energy savings
http://www.cfu.net/save-energy/thermal-flyover-details.aspx
http://geotree2.geog.uni.edu:8090/Thermal_map/default.aspx
Department of Energy/ Iowa Department of Energy Independence
09/2009 – 08/2014
Collaborators: Cedar Falls Utilities, Rochester Institute of Technology

Carry out research into spatio-temporal drivers of West Nile virus incidence in the United States at various scales
Development of spatio-temporal modeling techniques for predicting West Nile virus incidence in the United States
Funding from DOD-National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
Duration: 08/2009 – 10/2012
Collaborators include Iowa State University Medical Entomology and Purdue Terrestrial Observatory

Investigating spatial relationship between adult energy balance-related behaviors (nutrition and activity behaviors) and the built and natural environment in Iowa.
UNI Seed Grant
04/2011 – 09/2011

Hyperspectral Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems Tools to Assess Water Quality in Coastal Areas and Shallow Inland Lakes
Determine feasibility of using hyperspectral imagery to assess water quality in Clear Lake in north central Iowa
Duration: May 1, 2005 - April 30, 2008
Funding Agency: Iowa Space Consortium and Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Website: Home

A flyover of UNI campus to produce thermal images for the entire campus
Processing of thermal imagery for use by UNI Facilities Planning to identify potential efficiency improvementsnd
Funding: NASA
March 2006 - December 2008
Collaborators: Cedar Falls Utilities and UNI Facilities Planning

The goal of the project was to develop and validate a watershed management spatial decision support system
Test system on Dry Run Creek watershed
http://geotree2.geog.uni.edu/webwmpi/
September 2006-December 2008
Funding: NASA

Development of Digital Image Classification Taught Using Web-Based Interactive Learning
August 1, 2007 - July 30, 2008
Funding Agency: AmericaView and USGS
Collaborators: Virginia Tech
Website: Home