Spatial Modeling of Residential Crowding in Alexandria Governorate, Egypt: A Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) Technique

Despite growing research for residential crowding effects on housing market and public health perspectives, relatively little attention has been paid to explore and model spatial patterns of residential crowding over space. This paper focuses upon analyzing the spatial relationships between residential crowding and socio-demographic variables in Alexandria neighborhoods, Egypt. Global and local geo-statistical techniques were employed within GIS-based platform to identify spatial?variations of residential crowding determinates. The global ordinary least squares (OLS) model?assumes homogeneity of relationships between response variable and explanatory variables?across the study area. Consequently, it fails to account for heterogeneity of spatial relationships. Local model known as a geographically weighted regression (GWR) was also employed using the same?response variable and explanatory variables to capture spatial non-stationary of residential?crowding. A comparison of the outputs of both models indicated that OLS explained 74 percent of?residential crowding variations while GWR model explained 79 percent. The GWR improvedstrength of the model and provided a better goodness of fit than OLS. In addition, the findings of this analysis revealed that residential crowding was significantly associated with different structural measures particularly social characteristics of household such as higher education and illiteracy. Similarly, population size of neighborhood and number of dwelling rooms were found to have direct impacts on residential crowding rate. The spatial relationship of these measures distinctly varies over the study area.

Landfill Siting Evaluation Using GIS and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Method: A Case Study: Dammam Municipal Solid Waste Landfill

Waste landfills are a prominent global issue that does not concern a country without the other because of its long-term effects especially in the environmental aspect. As these pose an environmental threat to water, air and soil;and directly affect human life and health. Accordingly, this research uses the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approaches to assess the location of the municipal solid waste dump in Dammam, which was established in (2000AD) twenty years ago, due to the lack of recent studies assessing the current status of the landfill and whether it is in a suitable location and keeps pace with the population and urbanization increase in the region. For this purpose, the researchers are using the tools and techniques of GIS to evaluate eight criteria on the study area. The required standards were directed to the landfill site and transformed into maps that represent the most important economic, social, environmental, geological, geomorphological and Public Acceptance standards. These standards have been processed using the tools of spatial and statistical analyses. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is implemented in geographical information system for building the suitable cartographic model, and thus allowed to determine the suitable degree of Dammam municipal solid waste landfill site in light of the study criteria. The study concluded that the current landfill site achieves a good degree of suitability, as it achieved 63% measured against the quality standards set by the study, and that the current landfill site conforms to most of the criteria in this study to a good degree. But it violates two standards, which are distance from wells standard and distance between landfill and the center of waste generation standard.

A GIS-Based Geological Model for Assessing the Reserves of Phosphate in the Tozeur-Nefta Field, Southern Tunisia

The Gafsa phosphate basin is the most significant mining region in Tunisia with more than 8 million tons of natural phosphate extracted annually. Both the economic and industrial developments of Tunisia rely heavily on Phosphate deposit and this holds true as long as appropriate estimation of the reserves is undertaken. The aim of this study is to geostatistically explore the phosphate spatial distribution and geological reserve in the Tozeur-Nafta area (part of Gafsa phosphate basin) in Southwestern of Tunisia through sixty boreholes that had been randomly drilled. Optimal unbiased geostatistical tools of ArcGIS-Geostatistical analysts have been used to investigate the quantification of spatial arrangement through outlining the most optimum variogram model. The phosphate-thickness kriged map has shown a spatial distribution of phosphate in the southern of Tunisia. The variants of phosphate thickness in the kriged map reveal there is a rise of phosphate deposits towards the east. Two East-West and North-South correlations were applied using RockWorks16 software which provides visual correlation for phosphate thickness distribution throughout the Tozeur-Nafta region. The East-West correlation confirms that phosphate layer thickness increased towards the East direction, the North-South correlation shows that phosphate thickness in the northeastern limb of the Tozeur-Nafta anticline is more pronounced than in the southeastern limb. Phosphate reserves were estimated using the Ordinary Kriging Method (OKM) at 325.432661 Million tons. The results of this research indicate that the area under study shows much promise as a prospective target for investment in the local raw materials.

Spatial Assessment of Water Quantity Stress in Sultanate of Oman Provinces: A GIS Based Analysis of Water Resources Variability

Water quantity planning and management require understanding of spatial variations of water catchment availability. Several environmental indicators are associated with water quantity such as flood occurrence, drought severity, seasonal supply and groundwater stress. Analyzing water stress at national geographic scale is crucial to detect and explore geographic shortage of water resources at national scale. In this study, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) techniques were employed to analyze the spatial variations of water scarcity across Sultanate of Oman provinces. For this main objective, various spatial and attribute datasets were prepared. Many variables were selected based on their importance and correlation with water quantity. GIS overlay function then was used to produce maps for each water indicator. This was followed by employing raster zonal statistics to aggregate the values of each catchment area within each province. The findings of this analysis indicated that significant spatial variation was found among Omani provinces in terms of water quantity stress and its determinants. The most important factors affecting the water quantity stress were drought severity and flood occurrence. Furthermore, physical risk of water quantity was higher in Mascut and Dhofar provinces while it was moderate in Al-Batinah, A’Dakhiliyah and Al-Wusta. Lower risk of water quantity was observed in A’Sharqiyah, Masandam, and A’Dhahriah provinces. Thus, in order to mitigate the impacts of water scarcity on agriculture, cultivation and domestic usages, policy makers in water sector should include spatial strategies for water resource maintain and allocation.

Creation of the Gravimetric Network and Determination of the GEOÏD in the Mediterranean Basin (Region-Tunisia)

The determination of geoid models with great precision (centimeter) was always at the center of interest in geodesy research [1] [2]. One of the most used methods to calculate the geoid model is the method called Remove-Compute-Restore (R-C-R). This method applies the stokes’ integral formula by the use of short, medium and long wavelength information via the three main stages R-C-R. The GravSoft software implemented by [3] was used for this study. Geodetic heights, a digital terrain model (SRTM) and leveled GPS points were used as inputs. The geoid modeling was carried out on the North region of Tunisia (Grand Tunis and Bizerte) on an area of 83 × 83 km. The accuracy of the quasi-geoid provisional reached 3.1 cm.

Spatial Analysis of Traffic Accidents in the City of Medina Using GIS

The general objective of this research is to determine how to use the spatial analysis of traffic accidents in Medina Menorah City through geographic information systems. This research aimed to identify, locate and define the sites where traffic accidents are concentrated and determine the need to apply specific safety standards to reduce accidents and identify their causes thereof. This current research applied the analytical descriptive approach for its relevance with this specific research. This research collected traffic accidents data from the Ministry of the Interior, Department of General Traffic. That data captured the hotspots accidents in Medina Menorah City. Some of the most important results of the study are as follows: many roads were selected as High Accident Location HAL, such as Central Ring Roads, King Faisal bin Abdul-Aziz Road, Prince Abdul Majid bin Abdul-Aziz Road, and King Abdulla bin Abdel-Aziz Road. The high-speed roads are heavily linked to the massive increase of traffic accident rates, and the increase in the street section length led to the soaring number of total accidents. The study recommended performing more studies and different highway safety studies to identify and locate accident patterns on road networks. Due to the fact that the accidents concentration is intensely focused on Medina City center and Prophet’s Mosque, it is a must to increase the number of public transportations to and from Prophet’s Mosque, particularly during the Hajj period, because of the fact that the visitors of Prophet’s Mosque is on the increase during the said period. This study can be applied in other cities because knowing the locations of traffic crash hotspots can provide us with valuable insights into the causes of accidents and this knowledge helps decision-makers to better assess the risk associated with accidents.

Conception and Implementation of Geographical Database for Cultural Heritage Management—Case of Historical Jeddah, KSA

Saudi Arabia is attempting to develop a long-term tourism business that respects Islamic ideals, heritage, and traditions. In accordance with the “Vision of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2030”, significant emphasis has been placed on developing and promoting cultural tourism as a result of the Kingdom’s very valuable civilizational and cultural heritage, in addition to entertainment and improving the quality of life. The city of Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s second capital, and the district known as “Al-Balad”, which is located in the city’s core, is a historical neighborhood known for its old structures and multi-story houses. Since 1947, the historical monuments in the Al-Balad region have faced major and challenging issues as a result of neglect and a failure to maintain them. To protect this historical architectural heritage, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated Jeddah’s historic area as a World Heritage Site. The purpose of this research is to identify historical sites in the city of Al-Balad using existing maps, field surveys, and the design and creation of a spatial database that can be used with geographic information systems (GIS). By combining the results of the spatial database and photographic surveys with the history of Old Jeddah, an application was created and made available to users and those interested in the Internet that can be used through mobile devices (mobile phones and tablets) to introduce the historical area of Jeddah and promote tourism in Old Jeddah.

Urban Sprawl in Wadi Goss Watershed (Jeddah City/Western Saudi Arabia) and Its Impact on Vulnerability and Flood Hazards

Today, climate change imposes enormous challenges on a global scale. The interactions of the balances between the need for development, population growth, massive urbanization generate a negative impact on the presence of these climate changes. One of the direct consequences of these changes is the phenomenon of flash floods, a phenomenon that hit the city of Jeddah (city located in west of Saudi Arabia) twice, one in 2009 and the other in 2011, causing significant human and material damage. Floods are considered as a direct result of the combination of extreme weather and hydrological phenomena;in most cases, the magnitude of these floods is magnified by anthropogenic factors, which increases the risk. According to the risk triangle, risk is defined as a probabilistic function that depends on three essential elements: exposure, vulnerability and hazard. If any of these three elements undergo growth the risk also does so and vice versa. Exposure and vulnerability will depend on the presence of human activities in the study area. This study is conducted on the Wadi Goss watershed as it was one of the most violent basins during the 2009 and 2011 floods. Indeed, we present in this study the extent of the urban extension in the Wadi Goss watershed, since 1984 to days and this by the using Landsat images. Given the nature of the study area, we present a method based on the calculation of various indices followed by a classification operation in order to define the urbanized zones inside the Wadi Goss watershed and then estimate the urban sprawl inside the watershed. We also present in this paper, the characteristics of the watershed as well as the evolution of the urbanized areas exposed to the phenomenon of floods and their contribution to the changes of the hydrological behavior of the basin, and to increase the evolution of the risk of the floods. We have shown through this study that the urban footprint has increased from 90 hectares in 1985 to 850 hectares in 2015. This urban footprint represents 12% of the total area of the watershed. Most of the urban evolution was operated on the wadi area with a concentration in the western part of the basin and especially at its outlet.

A GIS-Based Decision Support System for Reducing Air Ambulance Response Times: A Case Study on Public Schools in Jeddah City

In injuries reducing ambulance response time (time from injury to hospital arrival) is an important factor for saving people’s lives. Helicopter emergency medical services can reduce out-of-hospital transport times because of their high speed and their ability to travel in straight paths?unlike ground ambulance which are restricted to road network paths, as well as the ability toaccess rural or remote area injuries that are difficult to reach by ground ambulance. GIS technology aids air ambulance movement planning to reduce out-of-hospital response time based on mathematical and geographic models to support decision making which is necessary from out-of-hospital care providers. The goal of this study is to use GIS to develop an efficient DSS to outline where air ambulance can reduce response times, by using spatial analysis tools to create Euclidean distance and direction zones around receiving hospitals. The study concludes that GIS technology can be used to develop an efficient DSS to outline where air ambulance can reduce response times, by creating surfaces of Euclidean allocation, direction, and distance that can be used to improve initial response times for the civil defense air rescue and air ambulance services.

Updating Traditional 1/50,000 Topographic Maps Using Crowd-Sourced Geodata and Free Sources Satellite Images

This paper addresses how open geodata and crowd-sourced geodata, and the open geoportals might be integrated with the mainstream surveying and mapping practices to update traditional topomaps quickly and inexpensively, that might be otherwise impossible to do it due to economic and logistic situations. The abundant geographic data on the internet could be used to update topographic maps while avoiding the time-consuming nature of the traditional method. To be able to use them, it is necessary to measure and quantify the quality of these data, as well as to verify their credibility, in order to incorporate them into official topographic maps. The proposed approach takes advantage of neocartography, and it’s not about further developing a new approaches, but looking differently at how data is collected, assembled controlled and been used for updating topomaps. At the beginning, the methodology used about how open geodata and crowd-sourced geodata involved in collecting, simplifying, generalizing, controlling and generating useful cartographic information that complement traditional and conventional counterparts is presented. This methodology was applied on a 1/50,000 topomap located in the north of Jeddah city (western region of Saudi Arabia), and we have demonstrated that by using this type of data, it is possible to update topographic maps quickly and at a lower cost while maintaining cartographic precision and accuracy standards.

Geomorphologic Domination on Urban Sprawl of Southern Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Using Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR)

This study tests the southern part of the Riyadh City growth domination by the Early Quaternary-Holocene trans-tensional Central Arabian graben system reactivation and the subsequent dissolution-induced collapses and karstification. This study utilizes Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DinSAR) to examine the morphology of arid landscape, south of Riyadh. Eight Single Look Complex (SLC) amplitude images are calibrated, filtered, georeferenced and orthorectified at a resolution of 20 meters, and compared with one another by producing 17 diachronic images of the pairs at different intervals (1996, 2003-2005, 2008). The diachronic SAR intensity imageries suggest a downthrown displacement reaching 600 m and eastward tilting at the bottoms of the grabens. Also, the structurally-controlled valleys are developing an eastward-running drainage system towards the oasis of Al-Kharj and capturing an older hydrologic system. Moreover, a 12-year period (1996-2008) of the SAR data was obtained to examine the average annual rate of southern Riyadh’s urban sprawl, which is estimated at approximately 390 metres/year over the 12 years and constrained by geomorphological features towards the deformed area. DInSAR imageries show the primary results obtained from the 26 May 2004 and 31 Jan. 2005 pair of images, merged with 30 m resolution DEM-SRTM data for the arid region south of Riyadh to eliminate the influence of topography. DInSAR is applied in this study for its ability to detect small displacements at the centimetre scale (1/2 wavelength). Although the DInSAR’s coherence and phase imageries suggest a fairly stable region since the last tectonic and subsequent geomorphic events, erosional and artificial changes are observed, bounded within the valleys and depressions, primarily due to aeolian and fluvial processes and agriculture. It is highly recommended to preserve the area for sustainability and economy.

Evaluation of Solar Energy Potential for the Red Sea Project, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

There has been extreme utilization of petroleum derivatives in recent decades for the generation of electrical vitality, which is contaminating nature in a regularly expanding approach to respond to the exponential demand for electrical power. In light of the essential vision of Saudi Arabia’s government towards the fractional change of reliance on oil as a national wellspring of economy, there is consideration for dependence on resources available inside the country, especially the potentials of renewable sources as alternatives. Saudi Arabia appreciates its geographical advantage inside the sun-belt zone, which has the most impressive sun-situated radiation total on earth. It is a correlative ideal position to consider interest in this valuable asset, through which it can achieve its vision by virtue of its promising whole deal prospects. This study highlights an approach for creating sunlight-based maps that examines the intensity of sun-radiation and its viability to deliver power. The system is to record the measures of sunlight radiation from several allocated data acquisition sites over the study area and balance them with the standard count, and later, make a sun-map in light of the yield. Likewise, the study will register the rate of energy from sun-situated radiation for the area and make preliminary proposals for the achievement of this test.

Detecting and Distinguishing Ophiolite Rocks via Multispectral Remote Sensing in Bi’r Umq, Southeast Al Madinah Al Munawarrah, Saudi Arabia

The objective of this work is to show the contribution of multispectral remote sensing data to detect and distinguish the ophiolite rocks of Bi’r Umq and their geologic setting, southeast of Al Madinah Al Munawarrah in Saudi Arabia. This work includes detailed fieldwork lab studies, as well as processing operations, were performed on The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER 2006, 2007) and Satellite Pour L’Observation de la Terre SPOT 5 (2005) images of the study region. Among the processing techniques applied are band ratio, histogram stretching, the combination of spectral bands, image fusion. The techniques used permitted a clearly show that the ultramafic rocks are distinct from other rock units and contain important economic minerals. This research also illustrates the tectonic parameters and that the remains of the oceanic crust are exposed and juxtaposed to the rocks of the continental crust of the Arabian Shield. The results of the spatial data processing revealed a good positive concordance with the results of the field investigations.

Spatial analysis of public health facilities in Riyadh Governorate,Saudi Arabia:a GIS-based study to assess geographic variations of service provision and accessibility

Much attention has been given to address public health policy in Saudi Arabia,particularly for the management,quality,and coverage issues.However,assessment of spatial patterns,distribution,and provision of public health services has been neglected.This paper analyzes the availability and accessibility of public health facilities across Riyadh Governorate,Saudi Arabia at the subnational level.Spatial and attribute data of public health facilities potentially have been analyzed using GIS to produce accurate measure of accessibility.The spatial pattern of service distribution was examined using average nearest neighbor.Distances from demand points(populations)to providers(facilities)were calculated for each district using near analysis.In addition,the ratios of public health facility to population were calculated to identify underserved and overserved areas.The findings clearly indicate that the spatial pattern of the distribution of public health facilities was significantly clustered(p value<0.001)with Z-score of–10.9.Several districts within the central parts of the governorate were identified as having a higher density of facilities,while most of districts that are located in the marginal parts exhibit very low density of health facilities.Overall,there was a considerable variation in the average distance from district centroids to health facilities.Substantially,less than half of the population(45.4%)living in 61 districts has access to public health facility within less than 1-km distance.In contrast,the greatest increase in distances was observed for 6%of population living in 38 districts.People that live in such districts need to travel long distances for public health care.The output of this analysis can assist policy-makers and authorities of Riyadh Governorate in planning public health delivery.

Analytical Hierarchy (AHP) Process Method for Environmental Hazard Mapping for Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia

The city of Jeddah, the second major city in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), was severely damaged on November 25, 2009. A deadly and costly flash flood, which can be exacerbated in arid environments, occurred when more than 90 millimetres (3.5 inches) of rain fell in just four hours. A national disaster was declared. This extreme disaster has been a catalyst for attempts to advance our understanding of flash flood events and how to appropriately respond to their destructive nature. One-hundred and twenty people were killed, around 350 others were reported missing and approximately four billion Saudi riyals (one billion US dollars) of damage was caused. Considered to be one of the great of Saudi’s cities, Jeddah is the economic capital of the country. It is the largest coastal town on the west coast, with a population of about 5.1 million and an estimated area of 5460 square kilometres. Based on its rapid urbanisation and population growth, a function of a multitude of parameters, a multi-criterion analysis using AHP and GIS was performed to comprehensively evaluate the environmental quality of the different municipal wards affected by Jeddah’s flash floods. This research presents an analysis of the different factors that caused these flash flood events. The results indicate that the causes of these floods are related to a number of factors that significantly contribute to the worsening of flood disasters.

Mapping Road Traffic Crashes in Sfax Governorate (Tunisia)

Sfax is one of the Tunisian governorates with a large number of road accidents, injuries and fatalities every year. This study aimed to analyze and map traffic accidents in this governorate. We analyzed the spatial distribution of accidents, their distribution by cause, by type of road, by size of traffic, by months of the year and days of the week. Accidents were correlated with several variables such as population numbers and densities, motorization rate, length and structure of the road network, and the amount of traffic. On the cartographic level, we have built a database, through which we have produced a series of thematic maps to argue this analysis. Through cartographic production, we also aimed to help road users, decision-makers and researchers in this area and in the field of transport. This work showed that Sfax occupies, among the other Tunisian governorates, an advanced position in gravity. Various human, climatic and technical factors explained this situation, of which human factors were the most important, and contributed to almost 90% of accidents. The current situation of accidents in Sfax requires a series of measures and actions to alleviate and mitigate the gravity of this phenomenon.