Statistics for Spatial Data.

Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers

Geological atlas of western and central Europe

Ecologists, biogeographers, and paleobotanists have long thought that climate and soils controlled the distribution of ecosystems, with the role of fire getting only limited appreciation. Here we review evidence from different disciplines demonstrating that wildfire appeared concomitant with the origin of terrestrial plants and played an important role throughout the history of life. The importance of fire has waxed and waned in association with changes in climate and paleoatmospheric conditions. Well before the emergence of humans on Earth, fire played a key role in the origins of plant adaptations as well as in the distribution of ecosystems. Humans initiated a new stage in ecosystem fire, using it to make the Earth more suited to their lifestyle. However, as human populations have expanded their use of fire, their actions have come to dominate some ecosystems and change natural processes in ways that threaten the sustainability of some landscapes.

/pdf/a-burning-story-the-role-of-fire-in-the-history-of-life-2dlbto4ejw.pdf

A burning story: The role of fire in the history of life

Recent developments in the direct-current geoelectrical imaging method

Contemporaneous spatial sampling at scenes of crime: Advantages and disadvantages

Maximising trace soil evidence: an improved recovery method developed during investigation of a $26 million bank robbery.

. Monitoring glacier fluctuations provides insights into changing glacial environments and recent climate change. The availability of satellite imagery offers the opportunity to view these changes for remote and inaccessible regions. Gaining an understanding of the ongoing changes in such regions is vital if a complete picture of glacial fluctuations globally is to be established. Here, satellite imagery (Landsat 7, 8 and ASTER) is used to conduct a multi-annual remote sensing survey of glacier fluctuations on the Kamchatka Peninsula (eastern Russia) over the 2000–2014 period. Glacier margins were digitised manually and reveal that, in 2000, the peninsula was occupied by 673 glaciers, with a total glacier surface area of 775.7 ± 27.9 km2. By 2014, the number of glaciers had increased to 738 (reflecting the fragmentation of larger glaciers), but their surface area had decreased to 592.9 ± 20.4 km2. This represents a  ∼  24 % decline in total glacier surface area between 2000 and 2014 and a notable acceleration in the rate of area loss since the late 20th century. Analysis of possible controls indicates that these glacier fluctuations were likely governed by variations in climate (particularly rising summer temperatures), though the response of individual glaciers was modulated by other (non-climatic) factors, principally glacier size, local shading and debris cover.

/pdf/rapid-glacial-retreat-on-the-kamchatka-peninsula-during-the-3evmio52ar.pdf

Rapid glacial retreat on the Kamchatka Peninsula during the early 21stcentury

Burial grounds are commonly surveyed and searched by both police/humanitarian search teams and archaeologists. One aspect of an efficient search is to establish areas free of recent internments to allow the concentration of assets in suspect terrain. While 100% surety in locating remains can never be achieved, the deployment of a red, amber green (RAG) system for assessment has proven invaluable to our surveys. The RAG system is based on a desktop study (including burial ground records), visual inspection (mounding, collapses) and use of geophysics (in this case, ground penetrating radar or GPR) for a multi-proxy assessment that provides search authorities an assessment of the state of inhumations and a level of legal backup for decisions they make on excavation or not (‘exit strategy’). The system is flexible and will be built upon as research continues.

/pdf/a-rag-system-for-the-management-forensic-and-archaeological-40lf25qxra.pdf

A RAG System for the Management Forensic and Archaeological Searches of Burial Grounds

Geographical information systems (GIS), recognised as instrumental in the documentation, mapping and analysis of spatial crime data, can provide a framework for the integration and analysis of spatial data whether remotely generated on a regional scale, ground surveyed or sampled on a local scale at a crime scene. In this paper a missing person homicide case study is discussed to illustrate the role of spatial thinking in search methodologies and the application of GIS and spatial analysis techniques. Differential global positioning systems were used to collect data from an area of mixed moorland, bog and agricultural ground in the west of Ireland where police intelligence suggested human remains may have been hidden by a murderer. These data allowed the creation of a digital terrain model (DTM) at a resolution not achieved by conventional terrain mapping. The resultant topographic maps and 3D visualisations allowed a sector, or topographic domain, approach to be used at a scale finer than usual in geomorphology. This in turn allowed small water catchments to be defined. These data informed the sampling of shallow groundwater for carbon content and isotope analysis. Two anomalies were indicated, in places consistent with known criminal behaviour. The locations were surveyed by a ground penetrating radar system, and by a cadaver dog. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) failed to indicate any subsurface disturbance or grave, yet the cadaver dog indicated a point of interest close to the location of one anomaly identified from groundwater sampling. Further searching near this location failed to discover human remains, yet the isotope, topography and dog indications showed that some anomaly existed. This finding may be a false-positive, the result of previous excavation activity or that the remains had ‘returned to earth’, in the light of the missing person never having been found. Regardless, the spatial search methodology described is an innovative combination of new technology, traditional landscape interpretation and hydrological chemical analysis. Adaptation, testing and use of this protocol for similar searches are recommended. The approach also has broader application to environmental, humanitarian and military investigations.

Alastair Ruffell

Papers

Contemporaneous spatial sampling at scenes of crime: Advantages and disadvantages

Maximising trace soil evidence: an improved recovery method developed during investigation of a $26 million bank robbery.

Rapid glacial retreat on the Kamchatka Peninsula during the early 21stcentury

A RAG System for the Management Forensic and Archaeological Searches of Burial Grounds

Spatial Thinking in Search Methodology: A Case Study of the ‘No Body Murder Enquiry’, West of Ireland