Date of Award:

5-2024

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Applied Economics

Committee Chair(s)

Man Li

Committee

Man Li

Committee

Arthur Caplan

Committee

Man-Keun Kim

Abstract

In view of Utah’s drought situation and the need for conservation of water use, this thesis tries to calculate the compensation required for farmers to switch from cultivating alfalfa-which requires a lot of water, to less water-consuming crops like wheat, hay and even pasture. It proposes a new technique for this calculation using big data, including satellite images from National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), agricultural statistics from National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), climate data from Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) climate group and land use data from the state of Utah. These data are integrated into a geographical database (geodatabase). The database is then used to create mathematical models that calculate the compensations. This is only one application of the database, which can be used for analysis to develop policies among other things. The process proposed here can give versatile support to policymakers and is much less time-consuming than commissioning and executing surveys or other manual modes of data collection.

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