Host: Paul Rich, Environmental Geology and Spatial Analysis (EES-9) Contact Paul Rich (pmr@lanl.gov) if you wish to meet with the speaker during the day to discuss ideas for collaboration.

NOTES: Biography: Tom McTighe recently joined GISLab (EES-9) as a technician working in GIS Services, where he provides GIS support for various projects. He previously was employed by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign as a GIS Specialist for the College of Veterinary Medicine. Tom received his B.A. in Geography from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2000. His current interests are in GIS and GIScience in the implementation of proprietary and open-source GIS for desktop and enterprise-level data processing and management. Past projects include developing a habitat suitability map for Ixodes scapularis (Lyme disease vector) for the eastern U.S., implementing a data-delivery repository for West Nile Virus monitoring, and analysis of stream channel migration in the Illinois River watershed. Current projects at LANL (carbon, water, and homeland security applications) involve development of geospatial tools for open-source and proprietary GIS, geodatabase maintenance and webmastering.

Please join us to meet Tom and welcome him to LANL.

Note: We plan to have an ongoing GIS Colloquium, with seminars every 2-4 weeks, typically held on Tuesdays at 2-3pm, with time for additional discussion from 3-3:30pm. We welcome your input as we plan future GIS seminars.

Directions to Quantum Room: Go past P-Division office (to your left as you enter the west wing in Bldg 40), turn right on the next corridor, walk half way down, room on the right. If you prefer, come by GISLab a little before 2:30 and one of us can walk down with you.

Abstract: Abstract 1: "GIS and Emerging Infectious Diseases" West Nile Virus (WNV) was first identified in the United States in samples from infected birds, humans, mosquitoes and horses in and around New York City during the fall of 1999. Since 1999, the West Nile virus has most probably become established as an enzootic virus with annual occurrence of human cases. During the summer of 2002, WNV became established in Illinois, particularly in the Chicago and East St. Louis areas. The 2002 outbreak was notable as "the largest arboviral meningoencephalitis (ME) epidemic documented in the western hemisphere and the largest reported West Nile ME epidemic" [CDC] up to that point in time. The GIS and Spatial Analysis Lab at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) was tasked by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) to amass a repository of WNV incidence. Case locations were recorded for WNV-positive mosquito pools, avian necropsy cases, equine cases and human hospitalizations. The resultant datasets were parsed and agglomerated into a geospatial database through address location and delivered through secure HTTP and internet mapping service engines.

Abstract 2: "GIS Analysis of Stream Planform Dynamics" Stream-channel change in meandering rivers occurs both through the natural operation of fluvial processes under relatively constant environmental conditions (e.g. migration of meanders) and in response to changes in environmental conditions, especially those produced by human alteration of watersheds (e.g. urbanization) and stream channels (e.g. channelization). Knowledge of the magnitudes, rates and mechanisms of stream-channel change is critical for assessing the extent to which human effects have contributed to this change. Our pilot study demonstrated the value of GIS-based analysis, using historical aerial photography for characterizing spatio-temporal changes in meandering rivers of Illinois and for associating these changes with human activities. This analysis provided a valuable tool for assessing human-induced changes in stream channels and the relation of these changes to background rates of change associated with lateral migration of meanders. It yielded relatively rapid, reasonably accurate assessments appropriate for reconnaissance projects.