An emerging priority in marine noise pollution research is identifying marine "acoustic refugia" where noise levels are relatively low and good-quality habitat is available to acoustically sensitive species. The endangered Southern Resident population of killer whales (Orcinus orca) that inhabits the transboundary Salish Sea in Canada and the USA are affected by noise pollution. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial multicriteria evaluation (MCE) methods have been used to operationalize suitability analysis in ecology and conservation for site selection problems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResidential segregation into spatial neighborhoods and boroughs is a well-known spatial dynamic process that characterise complex urban environments. Existing models of segregation, including the pioneering Schelling ones, often do not consider all the factors that can contribute to this process. Segregation as well as aggregation emerges from local interactions among individuals, and is rooted in the complexity of social, economic and environmental interactions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Health Geogr
August 2009
Background: The propagation of communicable diseases through a population is an inherent spatial and temporal process of great importance for modern society. For this reason a spatially explicit epidemiologic model of infectious disease is proposed for a greater understanding of the disease's spatial diffusion through a network of human contacts.
Objective: The objective of this study is to develop an agent-based modelling approach the integrates geographic information systems (GIS) to simulate the spread of a communicable disease in an urban environment, as a result of individuals' interactions in a geospatial context.