ESPP Student Learns to Map the Earth

Contact: Jessica A. Knoblauch, News Writer for Environmental Science and Policy Program: (517) 432-3823 or knoblau7@msu.edu

February 5, 2007

Pariwate "Perry" Varnakovida, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography and the Environmental Science and Policy Program, recently attended an MIT class in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His class, which was funded by the Environmental Science and Policy Program, taught him the skills to map the urbanization of the Earth through the study of complex systems, network architectures and evolutionary processes.

"I decided to take the class to help better understand the complex system of humans and the environment," says Varnakovida. Understanding complex systems is key to Varnakovida's research, which is concentrated around urban growth modeling and landscape prediction in Thailand.

"My research focuses on the factors that go into urban expansion," says Varnakovida. "You have to look at physical parameters as well as social parameters when looking at urban expansion." This includes taking into account factors such as local economics, migration and household formation, elevation, and the proximity of the area to the road.

During the past two summers, Varnakovida has collected data in Thailand as part of the Nang Rong Project. A relatively poor farming district, Nang Rong has experienced rapid growth and development over the past 20 years, making it an ideal location for understanding changes in social networks, migration, agricultural practices, land use and land cover, and population-environment interactions.

The goal of the Nang Rong research is to contribute to a better understanding of complex issues of a society in transition, an objective that complements Varnakovida's research well. He explains that a better understanding of the pattern and process of urban expansion leads to more efficient planning and will guide more systematic and effective resource management and preservation plans. "Being able to advise communities on something such as where to build new houses so as to avoid a flood plain helps areas save money for their community," says Varnakovida.

While in Thailand, Varnakovida collected data about the area from municipal offices and surveyed houses and buildings to document certain attributes such as the size of the structures and the number of floors in each house or building. Cadastral maps, maps that detail property's area, owners, and value were collected. The data was then combined with base data include geographic and social coverages derived from social surveys, Thai government maps, aerial photography and satellite imagery. Using the time series of classified Landsat images (MSS, TM), aerial images, and a database of the village settlements, a temporal GIS was created to map the landscape and enhanced through classification of the satellite imagery.

Varnakovida says that the class showed him the tools such as Cellular Automata, Agent-based models, and Networks modeling that are used to analyze complex systems. "The class was very helpful," says Varnakovida. He adds that because there were people from all over, from Belgium to England to Korea, that he was able to learn a lot more than he normally would in a less diverse class. "It was a good group to be connected to," he says.

After completing his doctoral degree, Varnakovida plans to do post-doctoral work in United State. In the future, Varnakovida hopes to teach environmental management, GIS, remote Sensing and urban geography in Thailand or in the United States.