Below are projects I have explored with ArcGIS Pro, Google Earth Engine, Python, and supplementary services like Google Earth Pro and Google My Maps in the past three years.
Re-assessment of Bald Head Woods Reserve following hurricane seasons in 2018 and 2019
Abstract: Maritime forests BHWR can undergo dramatic structural changes following hurricanes: strong winds can expand canopy openness and intense rainfall can facilitate extensive organic matter deposition or depletion. Increased canopy openness presents an opportunity for photophilic seedlings like Quercus spp. to germinate and add diversity to what seems to be a climax forest with an established overstory and understory. This project seeks to expand our understanding of past hurricane impacts on BHWR’s canopy openness as time went by, quantified through proxies such as canopy height and vegetation greenness.
Rhodes Arboretum (Memphis, TN)
As part of the 2021 Urban Forestry Fellowship Program, we updated the map of the Class IV arboretum at Rhodes College by re-recording the GPS coordinates of all trees across campus and correcting their metadata. The products were a Google My Maps as well as a georeferenced PDF.
Relationship between herbicide-resistant corn cultivation and abundance of common milkweeds and monarch butterflies in the American Corn Belt
Abstract: A USGS study found that 80% of the eastern monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) population has diminished over the last decade. Its food source, the common milkweed (Asclepiassyriaca) has become less abundant largely due to the widespread introduction of herbicide-resistant corn crops and the increased use of glyphosate and neonicotinoid herbicides in the American Corn Belt. Using the USGS Monarch Conservation Planning Tools, this project seeks to visualize this linear relationship and comment on the USGS 2020 goal of restoring the monarch population.
Nashville vs. Memphis: Urban heat islands
co-authored with Aaron Weist
Abstract: Urban heat islands are caused by dark impervious surfaces that increase the overall surface temperature, energy consumption, and pollution of a city. They are partially responsible for heat-related deaths and lower air and water quality. Their effects should be mitigated to help combat climate change. This project quantifies and tests if there is a relationship between the percent impervious surface and surface temperature in Nashville and Memphis, as well as compares their differences in urban and suburban temperatures.
Khanh Ton 