Weeks 14-16 - IntroGIS - Final Project

These last few weeks we worked (hard) to showcase what we have learned over the last few months. We "assessed" a proposed transmission line corridor for Manatee and Sarasota Counties. I had a lot of fun putting this together, it was really nice to see everything that I have learned. It also reiterated how complex a GIS can be, and how I will never be fully happy with my deliverables.

I definitely had to refer back to my notes several times, but I made it through. Some of my stuff is not quite as organized as I would have liked, eDesktop was quite slow, so I had to work off my own computer, and then move everything back over. This of course required quite a bit of time copying such large files. My presentation can be found at the links below; there is a PowerPoint presentation and a written summary:

Presentation

Summary

Week 13 - IntroGIS - Georeferencing, Editing and ArcScene

Map showing the current (as of 2010) extent of the University of West Florida. The inset map shows the location of an eagle nest located on the property, which the University was looking to develop. 

This week we went over some seemingly small, yet important aspects of GIS: georeferencing, editing, and working in ArcScene. We used georeferencing to orient aerial photos of the University of West Florida (UWF) campus. We combined the images with layers of buildings and roads with spatial reference. I feel that I had a bit of an advantage over some students because I know the campus quite well. We also learned about Root Mean Square error and transformations of the results. This definitely came in handy. Despite our best efforts, we always run the risk of misrepresenting the information, especially when you have things such as shadows and poor image quality.

Additionally, we learned how to perform an editing session, so that we can change attribute table information, digitize objects, or add features. I struggled time-wise with the digitizing of the UWF Gym because I can be a bit of a perfectionist, and I kept starting over. We also worked with the Multiple Ring Buffer toolbar in order to set up a buffer around the eagle nest, at 330 and 600 feet. As part of this, we placed a link within the eagle nest location that takes the viewer to an image of the nest. This is especially cool to me as I am working on a shark identification project that this will be perfect for. As a side note, I was happy that we finally learned how to use the transparency option on the data symbols.

Maps showing a three dimensional image of the UWF campus, with buildings and roads highlighted. 

Finally, we worked in ArcScene to create a three dimensional image of the campus, with our newly added features (the Gym and Campus Lane). We learned how to set up the layers by floating them on top of a digital elevation model (DEM), how to unite the layers when extra space is present (Layer Offset), and how to exaggerate the buildings so that they stand out more from the landscape (Vertical Exaggeration). I also had to investigate to figure out how to get my roads to stand out, as the ones in the northern section wanted to fade into the topography due to the Layer Offset. It is a bit of struggle working with the .jpg files in ArcMap, as they do not seem to set up the same way as a shapefile or feature class. I had to draw several polygons and shade them the same as the background in order to get the results above. I really enjoyed this week, and am really pleased, as well as amazed, at all that we have learned and accomplished this semester; I hope to showcase this in the final project.

Week 12 - IntroGIS - Geocoding/Network Analyst/Model Builder

Map of the emergency medical services (EMS) for Lake County, FL. Has additional inset of Paisley Fire Station, with optimal route for 3 emergency locations

This week we worked on three important aspects of ArcGIS: geocoding, Network Analyst, and Model Builder. We set out to map a route for emergency services through geocoding and Network Analyst. I really enjoyed this part, I thought it was neat to see first hand how it is done. We never really worry about how our GPS works, we're just glad that it does. Unless you are like me and yours is terrible and never works correctly on your phone.

Resulting model for ModelBuilder exercise.

We also worked with Model Builder through ESRI's educational training. I like how this is set up, and can fill in some of the blanks on its own. I think you could come up with some pretty intense models, and this format is really nice. We didn't build our own (yet), we just worked with one that was already set up. I think it will be interesting once we get to that point.