Multi-scale characterization and simulation of near-shore environment using Open source GIS technology

Dr. Helena Mitasova

Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences North Carolina State University Raleigh NC
email: hmitaso@unity.ncsu.edu

Advisor:R.S. Harmon, ARO

Objective

Coastal field measurements and models involve processing, analysis and visualization of large volumes of georeferenced data, often in different computational environments and formats. To fully support the use of GIS in coastal research and management, besides the GIS should have capabilities for:

storing, processing and analyzing large spatio-temporal data sets,
visualization of dynamic surfaces, volumes, and sites along with the standard GIS data
multi-scale data representation and processing.

The goal of the proposed research is to investigate the potential of emerging multidimensional GIS to bring a new level of effectiveness and understanding into near-shore environment characterization and modeling. It will focus on evaluation, enhancement and application of OPEN source GIS methods and tools in the following areas:

multivariate interpolation and geometrical and geospatial analysis of near-shore sedimentary structures, and geomorphology
GIS support for multiscale simulation of transport and fate of suspended substances multidimensional
dynamic cartography for visualization of measured data, interpolated surfaces and volumes as well as results of simulations together with standard GIS layers.