Environmental Impact Assessment of Transportation Projects

221 Pages·2015·4.15 MB·English

Florida State University Libraries
Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School
2005
Environmental Impact Assessment of
Transportation Projects: An Analysis Using
an Integrated GIS, Remote Sensing, and
Spatial Modeling Approach
Mohamed Anwar El-Gafy
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
PROJECTS: AN ANALYSIS USING AN INTEGRATED GIS, REMOTE
SENSING, AND SPATIAL MODELING APPROACH

By

MOHAMED ANWAR EL-GAFY

A Dissertation submitted to the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Awarded:
Spring Semester, 2005
The members of the Committee approve the Dissertation of Mohamed Anwar El-
Gafy defended on March 25, 2005.

________________________

Yassir A. AbdelRazig
Professor Directing Dissertation

________________________

Douglas A. Zahn
Outside Committee Member

________________________

John O. Sobanjo
Committee Member

________________________

Renatus N. Mussa
Committee Member

Approved:

___________________________________________________________
C. J. Chen, Dean, College of Engineering, Florida State University

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named
committee members.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Yassir
A. AbdelRazig, for his guidance, support and patience during this study.
Without his moral and financial support this research would not have been
possible. I would also like to thank Dr. Doug Zahn for his unconditional
support and valuable advice throughout my stay at Florida State University. I
would also like to thank all other members of my committee: Dr. John
Sobanjo and Dr. Renatus Mussa for their valuable advice and help.

I would also express my sincere appreciation to Mr. Peter McGilvray(Florida
Department of Transportation) for providing with the data required for this
research. I am also thankful to Mr. Louis Reis (Florida Department of
Transportation) and Alexis Thomas (GeoPlan Center) for their valuable
support.

My thanks also go to Mr. Shawn Lewers for his continuous assistance with
GIS and Remote Sensing.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables ............................................................................................ VII
List of Figures ............................................................................................ IX
Abstract ............................................................................................ XI
Chapter 1 Introduction.................................................................................... 1
1.1. Introduction............................................................................... 1
1.2. Statement of the Problem......................................................... 2
1.3. Dissertation Objectives............................................................. 4
1.4. Research Methodology............................................................. 5
1.4.1. Problem Identification............................................................... 5
1.4.2. Formulation Phase.................................................................... 7
1.4.3. Framework Completion Phase.................................................. 7
1.5. Dissertation Structure............................................................... 8
Chapter 2 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)...................................... 9
2.1. Definition of EIA........................................................................ 9
2.2. EIA History................................................................................ 10
2.3. The Environmental Impact Assessment Process...................... 11
2.3.1. Process Participants................................................................. 11
2.3.2. Overall Process ........................................................................ 12
2.3.3. Streamlining the EIA Process................................................... 15
2.4. Environmental Impact Assessment Methods............................ 16
2.5. Emerging Technologies for EIA................................................ 21
2.5.1. Integrating of Geographic Information System (GIS) and EIA.. 21
2.5.2. Integrating of Remote Sensing (RS) and EIA........................... 23
Chapter 3 GIS, Remote Sensing, and Their Integrated Approach ................. 25
3.1. Introduction ..................................................................................... 25
3.2. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) ................................... 25
3.2.1. Definitions of Geographic Information Systems........................ 25
3.2.2. GIS Data Characteristics.......................................................... 28
3.2.2.1. Spatial Data......................................................................... 28
3.2.2.2. Attribute Data ...................................................................... 29
3.3. Remote Sensing System.......................................................... 30
3.3.1. Definitions of Remote Sensing.................................................. 30
3.3.2. Remote Sensing Characteristics............................................... 31

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3.3.3. Image Preprocessing................................................................ 31
3.4. Integration of Remote Sensing and GIS................................... 32
3.4.1. Prospective on the Integration.................................................. 32
3.4.2. The Needs for the Integration................................................... 33
3.4.3. Levels of Integration ................................................................. 34
3.4.4. Applications of the Integration................................................... 35
3.4.4.1. GIS as a Tool for Remotely Sensed Image Processing....... 37
3.4.4.2. Remotely Sensed Data as an Information Source to GIS.... 38
3.4.5. Current Impediments to the Integration ................................... 39
3.4.5.1. Conceptual Impediments..................................................... 40
3.4.5.2. Technical Impediments........................................................ 40
Chapter 4 Digital Image Processing............................................................... 43
4.1. Introduction............................................................................... 43
4.2. Image Rectification and Restoration......................................... 44
4.2.1. Geometric Correction................................................................ 44
4.2.2. Radiometric Correction............................................................. 47
4.2.3. Noise Removal ......................................................................... 49
4.3. Image Classification.................................................................. 50
4.3.1. Supervised Classification.......................................................... 52
4.3.1.1. Minimum-Distance- to-Means Classifier.............................. 54
4.3.1.2. Mahalanobis Classifier ........................................................ 55
4.3.1.3. Gaussian Maximum Likelihood Classifier............................ 55
4.3.2. Unsupervised Classification...................................................... 55
4.4. Hybrid Classification................................................................. 57
4.5. Image Classification in an Integrated GIS/RS Environment...... 58
4.6. Classification Accuracy Assessment......................................... 59
4.6.1. Number of Training Pixels Required......................................... 61
4.6.2. Number of Test Pixels Required............................................... 61
Chapter 5 The Hybrid Framework.................................................................. 63
5.1. Introduction............................................................................... 63
5.2. Systems Used........................................................................... 64
5.3. The Hybrid Decision Support Framework................................. 65
5.4. Problem Structuring.................................................................. 67
5.5. Data Analysis............................................................................ 69
5.5.1. Data Bank & System Retrievals................................................ 69
5.5.2. GIS Module............................................................................... 69
5.5.3. Acquiring Satellite Images........................................................ 70
5.5.4. Image Processing Module........................................................ 71
5.5.4.1. Image Rectification and Restoration.................................... 71
5.5.4.2. Image Classification............................................................ 72
5.4.5. Accuracy Assessment............................................................... 73

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5.6. Criteria Weighting Module......................................................... 73
5.7. Environmental vulnerability grade map..................................... 75
5.8. Distribution maps of road impact extent.................................... 75
5.9. Selection of the best Alternative ............................................... 76
Chapter 6 Framework Application.................................................................. 78
6.1. Introduction............................................................................... 78
6.2. Description of the study area.................................................... 79
6.3. Problem Structuring.................................................................. 81
6.4. Data Analysis............................................................................ 83
6.4.1. Data Bank & System Retrieval.................................................. 83
6.4.2. GIS Module............................................................................... 85
6.4.3. Acquiring Satellite Images........................................................ 87
6.4.4. Image Processing Module........................................................ 88
6.4.4.1. Image Rectification & Restoration....................................... 88
6.4.4.2. Image Classification............................................................ 90
6.4.4.3. Accuracy Assessment......................................................... 97
6.5. Criteria Weight Module............................................................. 99
6.6. Environmental Vulnerability grade Map.................................... 101
6.7. Selection of the Best Alternative............................................... 108
6.8. Exploring the results................................................................. 110
6.9. Other Case Studies ................................................................. 111
6.9.1. Willoughby Boulevard Project................................................... 111
6.9.1. SR 87 Extension Project .......................................................... 113

Chapter 7 Conclusions and Recommendations............................................. 115
7.1. Summary of the research.......................................................... 115
7.2. Research Contribution.............................................................. 115
7.3. Limitations................................................................................. 117
7.4. Recommendation for Future work............................................. 117
APPENDICES ............................................................................................ 120
A Appendix A ............................................................................... 120
B Appendix B ............................................................................... 185

REFERENCES ............................................................................................ 191

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ............................................................................ 203

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Differences between Raster and Vector Models................... 29

Table 3.2: Levels of Remote Sensing-GIS integration ........................... 36

Table 6.1: The Selected Assessment Factors for the Proposed Project 82

Table 6.2: The Degree of Environmental Protection of Each Option...... 83

Table 6.3: The Importance of the Criteria ............................................. 83

Table 6.4: List of Data Layers Required................................................. 84

Table 6.5: The Anderson Land Use and Land Cover Classification
System for Use with Remote Sensor Data............................................. 92

Table 6.6: the Pair-wise Comparisons Matrix......................................... 100

Table 6.7: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Population Density................ 102

Table 6.8: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Historical and Archeological Sites 102

Table 6.9: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Land Cover/ Land Use.......... 102

Table 6.10: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Surface Aquifer Systems..... 103

Table 6.11: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Foundation Type................. 103

Table 6.12: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Ecological Model Results.... 103

Table 6.13: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Wetland Classification......... 105

Table 6.14: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Flood Insurance Rate.......... 105

Table 6.15: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Wild Life Zones................... 105

Table 6.16: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Special Outstanding Water. 106

Table 6.17: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Military Land........................ 106

Table 6.18: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Crestview............................ 110

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Table 6.19: Criteria Vulnerability Score for Willoughby Boulevard......... 111

Table 6.20: Criteria Vulnerability Score for SR 87 Extension................. 113

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 Research Methodologies ...................................................... 6

Figure 2.1: Diagram Showing the Steps and Players in a "typical"
Environmental Review Process.............................................................. 14

Figure 3.1: Main Concepts of a GIS ...................................................... 26

Figure 3.2: Vector and Raster Data Formats.......................................... 28

Figure 4.1: Matrix of Geometrically Correct Output Pixels
Superimposed on Matrix of Original, Distorted Input Pixels ................... 46

Figure 4.2: The Moving Window Concept .............................................. 51

Figure 4.3: Typical Noise Correction Algorithm Employing a 3x3 Pixel
Neighborhood .................................................................................... 51

Figure 4.4: Basic Steps in Supervised Classification ............................. 53

Figure 4.5: Minimum Distance to Means Classification Strategy............ 54

Figure 4.6: Equiprobability Contours Defined by a Maximum
Likelihood Classifier............................................................................... 56

Figure 4.7: Confusion Matrix Sample..................................................... 60

Figure 5.1: General Architecture of the proposed Framework................ 66

Figure 5.2: Formulation of Environmental Factors into a Decision-Tree. 68

Figure 5.3: The Classification Process of the Satellite Images............... 72

Figure 5.4: The Concept of Combining the Criteria Vulnerability Maps
and The Criteria Related Weights to Develop the Environmental
Vulnerability Map.................................................................................... 76

Figure 6.1: Crestview Bypass a Project Location Map .......................... 80

Figure 6.2: System Structure for the Crest View Bypass Case.............. 81

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