Date of Award

10-31-2011

Document Type

Masters Capstone Project

Degree Name

M.S. in Geographic Information Science

Organizational Unit

College of Natural Science and Mathematics, Geography and the Environment

First Advisor

Steven R. Hick

Second Advisor

Andrew Goetz

Keywords

Reclaimed coal-mine areas, Vegetation growth, Topsoil distribution

Abstract

A necessary precursor to ensure proper vegetation growth on reclaimed coal-mine areas is even distribution of topsoil. This capstone discusses development of surface models to describe the accurate determination and visualization of the distribution of topsoil. Prediction surfaces from topsoil-depth point samples were created using the surface interpolation methods, Inverse Distance Weighted and Kriging. The validity and accuracy of each method was assessed to determine the best method to evaluate actual topsoil distribution at a coal mining site. The model can be utilized by non- spatially trained personnel working in the mining arena as an aid in assessing how appropriately the topsoil has been distributed over newly reclaimed mine areas.

Copyright Date

10-31-2011

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Janine Ferarese

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

61 pgs

File Size

1.3 MB

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