MEET THE FACULTY
Dr. Yumin Wen
Assistant Professor of GIS
Water & Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific
University of Guam
Mangilao, GU 96923
Phone: 671-735-2687 (fax 734-8890) (GMT+10 hrs)
[email protected]

Ph.D. Environmental Sciences (GIS&RS),University of Rhode Island
M.Eng. Surveying (GIS), Southwest Jiaotong University
B.Eng. Surveying, Shandong University of Science and Technology

Certified GIS Professional (GISP), GIS Certification Institute
ESRI Authorized Training Program (ATP) Instructor

RESEARCH Research Interests | Projects |
COURSES:

Fundamentals of GIS | Applications of GIS |ESRI Courses
PUBLICATIONS:  

Five Most Recent Publications | Publication List |

LINKS:  

Hot Links

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Wen’s main research interests include GIS, spatial analysis and modeling, geostatistical analysis, remote sensing, digital image processing and analysis, simulation of land-use and land-cover change, GPS, applications of geospatial technologies in solving water, environmental and coastal issues, and integration of geospatial technologies such as GIS, remote sensing and GPS. He leads the GIS Program at WERI, University of Guam. Dr. Wen has conducted GIS and related projects including development of a GIS software system for China funded by China’s Ninth-Five-Year Plan, establishment of an integrated GIS-remote sensing geo-spatial and temporal database funded by China’s Natural Science Foundation, Spatial Diffusion Modeling for Simulation of Urban Land Cover Change, part of a NASA funded project Multiple Innovative Models in Regional Land Cover Change Study, developing a digital watershed atlas for Guam funded by USGS through Water Institute Program and NOAA through Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans, an FSM Atoll groundwater Resource Inventory project funded by USGS through Water Institute Program, and watershed land cover change detection in Guam, and Land Cover Accuracy Assessment for Southern Guam funded by USGS. He is the PI for the Environmental Science MS Scholarship funded by the United State Department of Interior (DOI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The scholarship will be used to support a graduate student in environmental science program to conduct research on impacts of anthropogenic activities on water quality.

Dr. Wen is a member of Graduate Faculty at UOG, and members of the American Society for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (ASPRS), American Association of Geographers (AAG), and International Society for Environmental Information Sciences (ISEIS). Dr. Wen is teaching GIS courses at graduate and upper-division undergraduate levels, and an ESRI authorized instructor.

PROJECTS

Ongoing Projects

  • Land Cover Accuracy Assessment for Southern Guam

The project is focused on applying higher resolution satellite imagery such as recent IKONOS and QuickBird imagery and/or aerial orthophotos as reference data to assess Landsat imagery extracted land cover accuracy. GPS and GPS compatible digital camera will be applied to collect field data for ground truthing and land cover classification accuracy assessment. Land cover accuracy assessment in each watershed and the whole Southern Guam may be conducted. Expected completion date: July 2008.  (Funding source: Guam Hydrologic Survey)

Recently Completed Projects

  •  Watershed Land Cover Change Detection in Guam

Completed in February 2007, this project was mainly centered on integration of GIS and remote sensing for watershed land cover change detection in space and time from 1974 to 2001 by using Landsat satellite images and historical digital line graphics. The main objectives of this project are listed as follows: Search and obtain Landsat imagery for different dates; Preprocess the images such as georeference, projection and georectification; Conduct classification to extract land cover information from the satellite images; Compare the spatial and temporal land cover information to detect changes; Provide change detection maps. (Funding source: Guam Hydrologic Survey)

COURSES TAUGHT

Fundamentals of GIS (EV 555, fall semester, 3 credit hours)

This course mainly focuses on the history and concepts of GIS, geospatial data sources, and geodatabase development. Special emphasis will be placed on geospatial data processing and GIS applications in environmental sciences. Basic computer skills will be taught before I discuss GIS stuff since they are necessary skills to complete the course’s laboratory exercises. Students need to complete a paper and give their presentations at the end of this semester as part of this course. Undergraduate students may enroll in the course with the permission of instructor.

Applications of GIS (EV 556, spring semester, even-numbered years, 3 credit hours)

This is a technical GIS course offering concentrating on geospatial and attribute data collection, processing, and analyses. Upon completion of the course, students are expected to gain hands-on experience on data collection, mapping, geospatial and attribute data manipulations, and spatial analysis and modeling.  Special emphasis will be placed on geospatial data processing and GIS applications in environmental sciences. Knowledge of GIS concepts, basic GIS and computer skills are recommended since they are necessary skills to complete the course’s laboratory exercises and projects. Students need to complete a paper and give their presentations at the end of this semester as part of this course. Undergraduate students may enroll in the course with the permission of instructor.

ESRI Authorized Training Course: Introduction to ArcGIS I (Taught through Professional Development & Lifelong Learning Center (PDLLC), year round, 1.6 Continuing Education Units)

This course covers fundamental GIS concepts as well as how to query a GIS database, manipulate tabular data, edit spatial and attribute data, and present data clearly and efficiently using maps and charts. Participants learn how to use ArcMap™, ArcCatalog™, and ArcToolbox™ and explore how these applications work together to provide a complete GIS software solution. 

ESRI Authorized Training Course: Working with ArcGIS Spatial Analyst (Taught through PDLLC, year round, 2.4 Continuing Education Units)

This course teaches basic raster concepts and shows how to use ArcGIS Spatial Analyst tools to create, run, and edit spatial models. It focuses on problems that are best solved in a raster environment such as surface analysis and distance measurement. Participants are shown how to use the raster tools in ArcGIS Spatial Analyst and learn how to build grid-based datasets.

FIVE MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS

  • Khosrowpanah, S., Heitz, L., Wen, Y. and Park M. Developing a GIS-based Soil Erosion Potential Model for the Ugum Watershed, Technical Report 117, Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific, University of Guam (in press).
  • Khosrowpanah, S., Wen, Y. and Heitz, L. Developing a Digital Watershed Atlas for Guam, Technical Report 116, Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific, University of Guam (in press).
  • Denton, G.R.W., Olsen, M.C. and Wen, Y. (2007). Solid Waste Disposal in Guam: The Impact of an Unsanitary Landfill on the Metal Status of Adjacent Aquatic Community Representatives. In: Progress in Environmental Science and Technology (Vol I), (Eds. Wang, Y., Li, S., Huang, P., Yang, Y., An, Y. and Sun, X.).  Proceedings of the 2007 International Symposium on Environment Science and Technology, Beijing, China, November 13-16, 2007.  p. 1169-1176.
  • Golabi, M., Denton, G., Wood, H., Y. Wen and Iyekar, C. (2006). Impact of Ordot Dump on Water Quality of Lonfit River Basin in Central Guam I, Micronesia: 39(1):41 - 54. 
  • Wen, Y. (2005). Spatial Diffusion Model for Simulation of Urban Land Cover Change, UMI

PUBLICATION LIST

  • Wen, Y. et al. Watershed Land Cover Change Detection in Guam, Remote Sensing of Environment (in preparation).
  • Denton, G.R.W., Olsen, M.C. and Wen, Y.  The Impact of Metal Enriched Leachate from a Landfill in Central Guam on the Heavy Metal Status of Sediments and Aquatic Organisms within the Watershed.  Micronesica, (in review)
  • Denton, G. R. W., Golabi, M., Wood, H., Iyekar, C., Concepcion, L. P. and Wen, Y. Impact of Ordot Dump on Water Quality of Lonfit River Basin in Central Guam II: Aqueous Chemical and Biological Contaminants, Micronesia (in press).
  • Khosrowpanah, S., Heitz, L., Wen, Y. and Park M. Developing a GIS-based Soil Erosion Potential Model for the Ugum Watershed, Technical Report 117, Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific, University of Guam (in press).
  • Khosrowpanah, S., Wen, Y. and Heitz, L. Developing a Digital Watershed Atlas for Guam, Technical Report 116, Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific, University of Guam (in press).
  • Denton, G.R.W., Olsen, M.C. and Wen, Y.  (2007). Solid Waste Disposal in Guam: The Impact of an Unsanitary Landfill on the Metal Status of Adjacent Aquatic Community Representatives. In: Progress in Environmental Science and Technology (Vol I), (Eds. Wang, Y., Li, S., Huang, P., Yang, Y., An, Y. and Sun, X.).  Proceedings of the 2007 International Symposium on Environment Science and Technology, Beijing, China, November 13-16, 2007.  p. 1169-1176.
  • Wen, Y., Khosrowpanah, S., and Heitz, L. (2007). Watershed Land Cover Change Detection in Guam, AAG Annual Meeting 2007, April 17 – 21, San Francisco, CA.
  • Golabi, M., Denton, G., Wood, H., Wen, Y. and Iyekar, C. (2006). Soil Properties and Its Impact on the Mobility of Contaminants Leached Down Gradient of Ordot Landfill in Central Guam, Paper number 062151,  ASAE Annual Meeting, July 9 – 12, 2006.
  • Golabi, M., Denton, G., Wood, H., Wen, Y. and Iyekar, C. (2006). Impact of Ordot Dump on Water Quality of Lonfit River Basin in Central Guam I, Micronesia: 39(1):41 - 54.
  • Denton, D., Kelly, W., Wood, H., and Wen, Y. (2006). Impact of Metal Enriched Leachate from Ordot Dump on the Heavy Metal Status of Biotic and Abiotic Components in Pago Bay, Technical Report No. 113, Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific, University of Guam. 
  • Denton, G. R.W., Golabi, M. H., Iyekar, C., Wood, H. R., and Wen, Y. (2005). Mobilization of Aqueous Contaminants Leached from Ordot Landfill in Surface and Subsurface Flows, Technical Report No. 108, Water and Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific, University of Guam.
  • Wen, Y. (2005). Spatial Diffusion Model for Simulation of Urban Land Cover Change, UMI 
  • Wen, Y. and Wang, Y. (2004). Validation of Spatial Diffusion Model for Simulation of Suburban Sprawl, ASPRS  Annual Conference Proceedings(abstract), Denver, CO, May 23 –28, 2004
  • Wen, Y. and Wang, Y. (2004). Cell-based Dynamic Modeling of Urban Land Cover Change, presented at the 100th Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 14-19, 2004 
  • Wen, Y. and Wang, Y. (2003). Spatial Diffusion Modeling for Simulation of Suburban Sprawl, ASPRS 2003 Annual Conference Proceedings, Anchorage, Alaska, May 5-9, 2003
  • Wen, Y. and Wang, Y. (2002). Spatial Diffusion Modeling: A New Approach in Simulation of Urban Sprawl, ACSM- ASPRS 2002 Annual Conference Proceedings, Washington DC, April 19-22, 2002
  • Huang, S., Jin, J., Duan, J. and Wen, Y. (1999). A New Method for Estimating Variogram Parameters in Geostatistics, Geology and Exploration, 35(1): 41-43  
  • Wen, Y. (1998). Geosystem Science and Its Applications in Global Environmental Changes, Journal of   Southwest Jiaotong University, 33(5).
  • Wen, Y. (1998). Population Problem is very Important to the Sustainable Development in China, Regional Sustainable Development, a Supplement of China Population Resources and Environment, pp 25-27, July 1998.
  • Wen, Y. (1997). Dialectic View Point of Sustainable Development, Surveying and Mapping of Sichuan, 20(4): 182-184.
  • Wen, Y. (1997). Applications of Fractals to Topographical Data Processing, Proceedings of Geoinformatics Conference of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences &  the Fourth International Workshop on Geographical Information System (IEAS & WGIS), Beijing, August 18-22, 1997.

HOT LINKS