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Various Departments and Research Centers at UCSB are using GIS to address
a variety of problems. Some geologists, for example, are studying the
movement of crustal plates. Biologists are working with geographers to
study environmental issues. A sociologist has used GIS to map inequality
in the Los Angeles garment industry. A sampling of the research centers
and departments are listed here, with links to a description of some of
the research:
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Multidisciplinary Research Centers
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Departments and Schools
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Multidisciplinary Research Centers - The
Details |
| Alexandria
Digital Library (ADL) and the Alexandria
Digital Earth Prototype (ADEPT) |
ADL, under its first four years of funding, has constructed an
operational digital library, which provides users with internet
access to growing collections of geographic information.
ADEPT is a comprehensive follow-on to ADL. ADEPT aims to use
the digital earth metaphor for organizing, using, and presenting
information at all levels of spatial and temporal resolution.
| Example: James Frew, Ph.D. (Geography, ICESS,
ESM, and ADEPT) uses GIS as a display/analysis environment
to evaluate the effectiveness of data management and digital
library strategies and services. |
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| Biogeography
Lab |
The Biogeography Lab was established for basic and applied research
on the ecology, distribution and conservation status of species
and ecosystems with the aid of geographic information systems
and remote sensing.
Examples:
Chris Pyke, with advisor Frank Davis,
Ph.D., uses GIS in the development and implementation of GIS
data models for ecological research.
Co-Directors Frank Davis, Ph.D., and David Stoms, Ph.D.,
use GIS in conservation planning, fire history analysis, vegetation
mapping and analysis of vegetation-environment relationships. |
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| Center
for Spatially Integrated Social Science (CSISS) |
The CSISS mission recognizes the growing significance of space,
spatiality, location, and place in social science research. It
seeks to develop unrestricted access to tools, techniques and
perspectives that will advance the spatial analytic capabilities
of researchers throughout the social sciences.
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| Coal
Oil Point Natural Reserve (COPNR) |
COPNR consists of 117 acres located on the West Campus of UCSB.
The reserve was established in 1970 to protect a vulnerable and
valuable section of coastal dunes. Because of its close proximity
to the main campus, the Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve provides
a unique and accessible research and teaching resource for faculty
and students from UCSB and other institutions.
Example:
Christina Sandoval, Ph.D., Director
of COPNR, Wayne Ferren, Ph.D. and Dave Court use GIS to map
the resources at the Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve. GIS is
also used in field trips to the Reserve. |
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| Institute
for Computational Earth Systems Science (ICESS) |
ICESS provides an environment in which Earth and computer science
are strongly coupled. Our focus is on research and graduate education
in Earth sciences, with emphasis on processes governing the environmental
optics of the Earth.
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| Institute
for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Research (ISBER) |
For more than two decades, ISBER has sponsored research in the
social sciences and humanities. It not only administers a diverse
and growing number of contracts and grants, but actively provides
support for developing new research efforts. One of ISBER's principal
objectives is to promote research which is focused on global issues.
Example:
Richard Appelbaum, Ph.D.,
Director of ISBER, has used GIS to map garment factory locations,
by ethnicity of owner, in Los Angeles; and to map trade flows. |
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| Map
and Imagery Laboratory (MIL) |
The Map and Imagery Laboratory, located in the UCSB Library,
is an interdisciplinary information facility. Among MIL's more
notable holdings are:
- Multispectral Landsat I and II original transparencies
- NASA/Ames U-2 Earth resource data, both digital and film from
1960's to present
- Teledyne-Fairchild film library of original aerial negatives
from 1927 to 1984
- World coverage of topographic and science mapping from 1900
to present
- Digital elevation models and vector databases
- Hundreds of CD and tape datasets of Earth and planetary bodies.
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| Marine
Science Institute (MSI) |
MSI is the focus for marine, coastal zone, and freshwater research;
marine policy studies; and educational outreach in marine science.
Research at MSI spans 14 disciplines.
| See SNARL for sample research. |
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| MesoAmerican
Research Center (MARC) |
The MesoAmerican Research Center, funded through ISBER, represents
an interdisciplinary group of social science researchers who work
in the greater Mesoamerican arena, primarily Mexico, Guatemala,
and Belize. The strongest research commitment is to focus on interdisciplinary
and collaborative research in the region.
Example:
Anabel Ford, Ph.D., Director
of MARC, and Keith Clarke, Ph.D. of the Geography Department,
use GIS for data collection in the field, integration of the
data at other scales, and managing and analyzing spatial temporal
data from the El Pilar Maya site. |
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| National
Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) |
NCEAS provides a technologically advanced environment in which
visiting and resident researchers will carry out collaborative
projects on major fundamental and applied problems in ecology.
Much of the work at the Center will revolve around large and diverse
data sets using state-of-the-art computing and electronic information
facilities which will build on the University's existing strength
in GIS.
Example:
Dave Roberts, Ph.D. is
at NCEAS on sabbatical from Utah State University. Dr. Roberts,
and Dr. Niklaus Zimmermann, WSL/Switzerland, use GIS in two
areas: (1) spatially
explicit simulation modelling. They use GIS to prepare
the input data, constrain the spatial processes, and to portray
the simulation outputs, generally using Arc/Info and PV-Wave,
and (2) statistical modelling of the distribution of species
on landscapes, using primarily S-Plus and Arc/Grid. |
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| National
Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) |
NCGIA is a consortium comprised of the University of California
at Santa Barbara, the State University of New York at Buffalo,
and the University of Maine with funding from the National Science
Foundation. Researchers affiliated with the NCGIA conduct basic
research in geographic analysis using GIS. Completed and current
research initiatives include:
- accuracy of spatial databases
- languages of spatial relations
- multiple representations
- use and value of geographic information
- large spatial databases
- spatial decision support systems
- visualization of spatial data quality
- formalizing cartographic knowledge
- institutions sharing geographic information
- spatio-temporal reasoning in GIS
- integration of remote sensing and GIS
- user interfaces for GIS
- GIS and spatial analysis
- multiple roles for GIS in US global change research
- law, information policy and spatial databases
- collaborative spatial decision-making.
The Center also has completed several major GIS education projects,
including The
NCGIA Core Curriculum in GIS and the New
NCGIA Core Curriculum in GIS.
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| Research
Unit on Spatial Cognition and Choice (RUSCC) |
RUSCC's purpose is to encourage multi-disciplinary research on
spatial behavior. It includes programs such as the Remote Infrared
Auditory Signage and Navigation Without Sight.
Example:
Sarah Battersby, with
advisor Reg Golledge, Ph.D., is examining what, if any, spatial
abilities are necessary for successful use of GIS operations,
specifically overlay operations. |
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| Sierra
Nevada Aquatic Research Lab (SNARL) |
SNARL is a component of the Valentine Eastern Sierra Reserve.
The site has a unique series of natural and manmade experimental
stream channels for fishery and hydrologic studies. The reserve
is a center for research on the high Sierra Nevada, Mono Lake,
and the Upper Owens Valley.
Example:
Roland A. Knapp, Ph.D.
uses GIS in his ecological research for data visualization
and habitat modeling. |
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Departments and Schools - The Details
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| Anthropology
and Archaeology |
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Examples of GIS research in the Anthropology
Department:
Nathan Craig, with Napoleon Chagnon,
Ph.D. uses GIS in concert with space borne remotely sensed
data to study Yanomamo
settlement patterns in southern Venezuela.
Nathan Craig, with Mark Aldenderfer, Ph.D. is also using
GIS to construct and maintain a database of excavations at
an Archaic archaeological site named Jiskairumoko
located in the southern Titicaca Basin of Peru.
Elizabeth Klarich and Nathan Craig use GIS to organize surface
mapping and geophysical survey at the Formative archaeological
site of Pukara
in southern Peru.
Michael Jochim, Ph.D., Susan Harris, and Harry Starr (with
Lynn Fisher, Ph.D. of the University of Illinois, Springfield)
use GIS to record, integrate, and analyze environmental and
archaeological information for a study region in SW Germany.
The goal is to study changing land use and settlement during
a period of major environmental changes from the Palaeolithic
to the Neolithic.
Anthropologists Barbara Herr Harthorn, Ph.D. and Susan Stonich,
Ph.D., with geographers Oliver Chadwick, Ph.D. and Mike Goodchild,
Ph.D., are constructing a GIS of health and illness in a Santa
Barbara County community along the agricultural-urban interface.
Project includes a PPGIS component to enhance community participation
in a regulatory investigation of environmental health in the
community.
Katharina Schreiber, Ph.D. is in the process of entering the
data from two regional archaeological surveys undertaken in
Peru into GIS data bases. These will then be used to map out
changes in settlement locations through time in each region. |
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| Computer
Science |
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| Donald
Bren School of Environmental Science and Management (ESM) |
The Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
combines scientific study with instruction in policy management
and focuses on the assessment of environmental problems today
and in the future.
| Examples: Trent Biggs, with advisor
Tom Dunne, Ph.D., is researching the effect of regional development
on stream chemistry in the Amazon Bason -- separating the
effects of deforestation, intensive agriculture, and urbanization.
This involves integrating several data sources (census, soils,
Landsat, and stream network) using GIS.
Mingjie Chen and Arturo Keller, Ph.D. develop models which
output dynamic chemical loads as a function of land-use changes
in a watershed. The frame is based on a GIS.
Mel Willis and Arturo Keller, Ph.D. are creating a database
for regional air dispersion model to assess community risk
from exposure to hazardous air contaminants.
James Frew, Ph.D.
uses GIS as a display/analysis environment to evaluate the
effectiveness of data management and digital library strategies
and services. |
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| Ecology,
Evolution and Marine Biology (EEMB) |
Degrees and research through EEMB cross a number of disciplines
including aquatic biology, ecology and evolution, physiology,
zoology, molecular, cellular, and developmental biology.
| See COPNR for sample research. |
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| Electrical
and Computer Engineering (ECE) |
In the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (ECE),
GIS related research is directed toward developing image processing
algorithms. In particular, research projects have focused on:
- non-linear image processing to enhance the quality of images
- multisensor image registration and fusion
- the use of wavelets for image data storage, browsing, and
content based retrieval.
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| Geography
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The Geography Department at UCSB focuses on the measurement,
representation and modeling of geographic processes. The three
areas of concentration in the department -- earth system science,
human-environment relations and modeling, measurement and computation
-- all provide fertile areas for the exploration of the GIS tools
and theories.
| Examples: Jiefeng Zhou, with advisor
Michael Goodchild, Ph.D., is using GIS for spatial data management,
spatial database, and analysis.
Michael Jennings, with advisor Frank Davis, Ph.D., uses GIS
to uncover general ecological and biogeographical principles
of the occurrence, configuration, composition, and processes
of floristically defined dominant vegetation types by using
very large data sets of field plot records (~25,000), a 500m
grid of daily meteorological data covering two decades, and
detailed morphological traits of each plant species (>2,500),
over a large region (~70,000,000h). [attach image here]
Melissa Kelly, with advisor Keith Clarke, Ph.D., uses GIS
with the Clarke Urban Growth Model. Land use transition probabilities
generated from historical aerial photography will be used
to project land use changes into the future as urban growth
transforms the Santa Barbara South Coast.
Nicholas Matzke and advisor Dar Roberts, Ph.D. are working
on assessing the usefulness of low-resolution nighttime fire
maps of Madagascar made with the DMSP-OLS sensor, using
multidate high-resolution Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper
images. ArcView is used to display and query raster images.
[attach image here]
Doug Fischer and advisor Richard Church, Ph.D. are using
GIS in biodiversity reserve site selection.
Anthropologists Barbara Herr Harthorn, Ph.D. and Susan Stonich,
Ph.D., with geographers Oliver Chadwick, Ph.D. and Mike Goodchild,
Ph.D., are constructing a GIS of health and illness in a Santa
Barbara County community along the agricultural-urban interface.
Project includes a PPGIS component to enhance community participation
in a regulatory investigation of environmental health in the
community.
See other work described under Biogeography
Lab, ICESS, RUSCC,
and NCGIA. |
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| Geology |
| Examples of GIS research in the Geology Department:
Nate Onderdonk, Art Sylvester, Ph.D., and Bruce Luyendyk,
Ph.D., use GIS to synthesize and analyze structural, paleomagnetic,
topographic, seismological, and stratigraphic data in my investigation
of boundaries of rotated crustal blocks in southern California.
Timothy Tierney, Ed Keller, Ph.D., Tanya Atwater, Ph.D.,
and Art Sylvester, Ph.D. use GIS to correlate bedrock geology
to landscape features. |
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| Sociology |
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