Skip to Main Content Skip to Main Navigation Skip to Footer
UNG Logo
  • Info For...
    • Accepted Students
    • Current Students
    • Parents & Family
    • Faculty & Staff
    • Alumni
    • Business & Community
    • International Students
  • Quicklinks
    • Directories
    • myUNG
    • Academic Catalogs
    • Athletics
    • Banner
    • Bookstore
    • Calendars
    • Campuses & Maps
    • Continuing Education
    • D2L
    • Employment / HR
    • IT Service Desk
    • Libraries
    • UNG Foundation
  • Admissions
  • Corps of Cadets
  • Academics
  • Cost & Aid
  • Student Life
  • News & Events
  • Athletics
  • About Us

Find the most up-to-date information on the Presidential Search site.

Institute for Environmental & Spatial Analysis
  • Academics
    Undergraduate
    Environmental Spatial Analysis (B.S.) Environmental, Earth & World Studies, and Spatial Science & Engineering (A.S.)
    Minors
    Earth Science Minor Environmental Studies Minor Geography Minor Geospatial Science & Technology Minor Space Studies Minor
    Certificate
    Earth Science Certificate Environmental Science Certificate Environmental Studies Certificate Geographic Information Science Certificate Geomatics Graduate Certificate Geospatial Intelligence Certificate Geospatial Science Technology Graduate Certificate Land Surveying Certificate Space Studies Certificate
  • For Students
    Advising at IESA Clubs & Organizations
    Internships Academic Advising
    Career Services Tutoring Services
    Supplemental Instruction Earth Day 2023
  • Research Grants
    Applying Geospatial & Engineering Technology
    Developing Georgia's Women Leaders in GIS
    Environmental Education
    GEOPAths Grant
  • Outreach
    K-12
    GeoEd Workshop GIS Competition Geospatial Education National Intelligence Summer Academy (NISA)
    Community
    Environmental Education Workshops Tree Identification Survey Earth Day 2023
  • About
    Industry Partnerships Awards & Recognition Alumni Spotlights
    Highlighted Student Projects Give to IESA
  • Contact
    1. UNG
    2. Academics
    3. IESA
    4. about
    5. Student Projects

    Sound Pollution & Impacts On Vegetation: Geographic Weighted & Ordinary Least Squared Regression

    Background

    Organisms on earth have a variety of defense mechanisms that allow effective survival. Types of environmental stimuli trigger these defense mechanisms, which can be effective in protecting the organism, but detrimental if the defense mechanism causes unnecessary amounts of stress.

    Flora has a sensitivity to noise that differs from fauna sensitivity. Flora utilizes the vibrations created from sound waves as a method to detect possible predators within the environment. These vibrations allow the Flora to activate defense mechanisms to guard against these predators. Excessive noise, however, may cause unnecessary stress and stimuli deprivation (deafness).

    For this project, a regression analysis was conducted to illustrate a correlation between noise pollution and vegetation health and to show how excessive noise pollution causes detrimental effects on vegetation health. The focus area of vegetation health impact is Forsyth County, along Highway 400.

    Authored by

    Brooke Bartlett & Yu Sun

     

    Materials

    • Bureau of National Transportation Noise Pollution GIS Vector Data.
    • USDA Land Use and Cover GIS Raster Data 2011.
    • ESRI ArcMap 10.5 Software.
    student-project-brooke-bartlett-og.jpg

    Discussion and Results

    The results of this analysis shows a high correlation between the areas containing vegetation and proximity to the amount of noise pollution within the area. A Spatial Autocorrelation (see Figures 5 and 6) was done on the results of the Geographically Weighted Regression. The z-score of the correlation is 9.51, indicating a high correlation and clustering of the variables. The results of the autocorrelation states that there is less than a 1% likelihood that the resulting clustering was due to random chance.  The results of the Ordinary Least Squared showed obvious skewed results, indicating a third variable at play (likely urbanization being the factor). While the results of this project illustrates a correlation, it does not directly illustrate the health impact of the vegetation along highway 400. For improvement of this project, it is recommended that remote sensing techniques, such as NDVI, be utilized to analysis the hotspot areas of the GWR results and finalize a conclusion on how noise pollution is affecting flora around, near urban and human features.

    Conclusion

    The results of the analysis conclude that there is a correlation that can be illustrated using Geospatial Technologies to verify the effects of noise pollution on vegetation. As mentioned in the discussion of this analysis, other factors within the analysis should be addressed to account for any third variables that are likely affecting the correlation. Thus, while a correlation is there, other variables must be accounted for before this analysis can be used for identification of noise pollution impact on flora.

    References

    Gill, Victoria. (2012, March 21). Man-made noise disrupts growth of plants and trees. Retrieved from BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17457323

    Science News Release. (2012, March 21). Noise pollution hurst plant life too. Retrieved from Bits of Science : http://www.bitsofscience.org/noise-pollution-plant-life-5372/

    Bureau of Transportation Statistics. (2017). National Transportation Noise Map. Retrieved from Bureau of Transportation Statistics Noise Map: https://maps.bts.dot.gov/arcgis/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a303ff5924c9474790464cc0e9d5c9fb

    UNG Logo
    • Contact Us
    • Request Information
    • Quick Facts
    • Campus Maps & Directions
    • Student Consumer Information
    • Campus Safety
    • Emergency Information
    • Employment/HR
    • UNG Policies & Procedures
    • UNG Alumni Association
    • UNG Foundation
    • Ethics & Compliance Hotline
    • Human Trafficking Notice
    • Equal Empl. Opportunity

    © 2023 The University System of Georgia and the University of North Georgia.

    UNG follows the section 508 Standards and WCAG 2.0 for web accessibility. If you require this content in another format, please send an email to the ADA Coordinator.

    Use of military-themed imagery does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Department of Defense.

    • Accreditation
    • Accessibility
    • Privacy Policy
    Establishing Connection...
    AskNigel