GIS 1 Lab 5: Mini-Final Project

For my final project I decided to find an ideal place for a new hospital in Eau Claire County Wisconsin. There are currently three hospitals in the county but they are in the northwestern part of the county in and around the city of Eau Claire. The people in that part of the county are within range of immediate medical help if they need it but what about the people in the rest of the county? I came up with four criteria that would help me place the new hospital in a place that makes sense and offers better medical help to a larger area of the county. My four criteria were: The new hospital is not within 25 miles of an existing one, it has to be within 2 miles of a major road, not in the county forest land, and within one mile of three schools. This project is not just for me. I think that this is a possible concern that could be considered by the county. This isn't a hard proposal to understand I think that most audiences would be able to see why this is a possible concern that maybe should be considered. Obviously there are many more criteria that would have to be discussed and met other than the four that I came up with, but my criteria could be a start to a real project like this that a county or city might have to consider.

I got this data from ESRI and the UW-Eau Claire GIS database. In order to do this project I needed quite a few different kinds of data. The data sets I used were: USA counties, USA hospitals, USA schools, USA major roads, and USA county forest. I didn't have too many concerns when it came to the data for this project however there were a few things I considered. Things have changed since this data was published and because things are always changing some of the data may be missing or not exist anymore. Consider the school data for example, new schools are added and some are closed so the exact and accurate number of schools may be different now than when the data was published. The coordinate system of the data is always a concern as well, making sure it’s in a suitable system for the project is important that is why I used a state based coordinate system.

Once I had my question, criteria and data sets it was time to start answering my question. I did this through the use of 4 major tools. The tools were buffer, erase, dissolve and intersect. I started out with my four data sets and began to use these tools on each one to get my desired location. The first set was my hospital data, this shows the existing hospitals in Eau Claire county. I wanted mine to be at least 25 miles from an existing one so I applied a 25 mile buffer to that data set and then erased the area inside that 25 mile buffer so that it is not available for the new location. The next part was to take my major roads and perform a buffer on this data as well. I did a 2 mile buffer from the roads and that gave me the suitable locations for the new hospital within 2 miles of a major road. Then I had to make sure the new location isn't in county forest so I did an erase on that data which makes sure that the only suitable area is not in county forest land. I wanted the hospital to be within a mile of three schools, because a lot of injuries happen at schools so easy access to aid is a must. There usually are more populated areas around schools as well. Finding an area that is within a mile of 3 schools really narrowed down my possible new locations which was helpful in determining the final place. I ran a one mile buffer on the schools data and then I found one area where the buffers from 3 schools overlapped which makes that a suitable spot for the hospital. Once I had run these tools on the data to start narrowing down my options for places I ran an intersect tool. The intersect tool allowed me to bring all the new layers I created together into one map. I made sure I intersected them in the right order so that I had the areas outside 25 miles, within 2 miles of a road, outside the county forest and within one mile of three schools. Once I had them all together I ran a dissolve. The dissolve cleans up the areas in the buffers where the roads intersect and things like that were. I was only interested in the Eau Claire County area of all this data so I ran a clip which then will only display the data that falls inside Eau Claire County. Below is my data flow model showing all the steps I just described above.

Data Flow Model

In my project the four criteria worked out very well and gave me only one possible place for my new hospital location. If I had not had the forth criteria of, within one mile of three schools, the possible areas would have been much larger and there would have been many more of them. The ideal location for a new hospital according to my model is in the southeastern section of the county. This is the part of the county I thought the hospital should be in when I first thought about this project, so it worked out well.

New Hospital Location Map Four Criteria

1. Not within 25 miles of existing hospital.

2. Within 2 miles of a major road

3. Not in county forest

4. Within one mile of three schools.

Overall I thought this project went very well. If I were asked to do the project again I think I would, but I would try to make it more realistic. My criteria were a good start, but there are many other factors that I didn't look at like population density and other census data that would be very important in a real project like this. I think the biggest challenge I had was coming up with criteria for the project. I knew where I thought the best place would be before I started the project and getting criteria that made sense to place the new location in that general area was somewhat challenging. I liked coming up with my own problem to solve even if it isn’t really an actual situation. It is very cool to see the power that these programs have and how much they can help when considering a question like the one I posed.

Sources:
ESRI data from the UW-Eau Claire GIS server
ArcMap 10.2

GIS 1 Lab 4: Vector Analysis with ArcGIS

The goal of this lab was to be able to take what a company is asking for, in this case the DNR, and through multiple steps narrow down the area that they are looking for from many features and data sets. This lab was all about the DNR looking for a suitable area for bears to live in. The study area is part of Marquette County in Michigan.  The following steps were taken to find this very specific area.

1. I took a MS Excel file with GPS points of bears in this area and I had to turn it into a feature that I could then display on a map.

2. I then used that data about the bears and placed it over a map of all the land cover types in the study area. I took note of the land cover types where the bears were which gives you the ideal land cover for the bears to live in.

3. Another thing I looked at is where the bears are in terms of the streams in my study area. Bears need the streams for food and water so streams are important to have in the final suitable habitat for the bears.

4. I used the two above criteria to narrow down the suitable area even further. I selected all the ideal land cover types I found above and preformed a buffer on the streams or found all land within 500 meters a stream. Then I did an intersect or found the places that were within 500m of a stream and in one of the ideal land cover types.

5. The DNR wants to make sure that the habitat they pick is also Part of the land that they manage. So I added the areas managed by the DNR and intersected or joined those areas with the area I found in step 4. This gave me the areas within 500m of streams, in ideal land cover, and in the DNR managed land.

6. The DNR does not want the bears too close to cities and communities so they requested that the habitat is not within 5 kilometers of an urban area. I inserted the urban land to the map and then set a buffer of 5 kilometers around those areas. Then I did an erase or deleted the areas within that 5 kilometers. Once I did that I had within 500m of streams, in ideal land cover, in DNR managed land, and now not within 5 kilometers of an urban area. This area is the suitable bear habitat that the DNR has asked you to find.

 

The middle map below is showing the study area and the suitable habitat for the bears. The last map is the types of land cover in the study area. As you can see there are many so finding the ideal land cover for the bears is important. The top map is just showing where Marquette County is and where the study area is that I was working with.

I found this very interesting. It was cool to be able to start with a request that sounds pretty overwhelming and challenging and be able to find what it is looking for and then display it in a way that is very easy to understand.

Map showing suitable bear habitat and land cover.

Sources:   http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/mgdl/nlcd/metadata/nlcdshp.html

http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/spatialdatalibrary/metadata/wildlife_mgmt_units.htm

http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/mgdl/framework/metadata/Marquette.html

ArcMap

 

GIS 1 Lab 3: Introduction to GPS

The purpose of this lab was to become familiar with the basics of using a GPS unit and importing collected data into ArcGIS so it can be displayed in the form of a map. There were multiple objectives to this lab including, creating a geodatabase, placing that geodatabase onto a Trimble Juno GPS unit, learning the basics of the GPS unit, collect point, line and polygon features with the GPS, and finally put that data into ArcGIS to be mapped.

The goal is that at the end of this lab I would be able to use a GPS unit proficiently for collecting data. I would also be able to take that data that I collect and be able to display it in an easily understandable way. This is a very important skill in my opinion and one which I am sure I will use quite a bit in my field of work.

            The first step of the lab was creating the geodatabase. I did this so that when I went out to collect my data the data was placed right into the correct feature class and not just stored as a bunch of random points. The database included point, line and polygon feature classes. I also included an aerial photo of lower campus as my base map. The database is pretty much the base map of campus and the feature classes which are where the point, line, and polygon data will be stored when I use the GPS to collect data.

The next step after I built the database is to put it on the Trimble Juno unit. This is fairly easy to do. I have a folder that includes all of my geodatabase information that I created in step one and I just have to copy that and place it into the memory card of the GPS unit. I did this by connecting the GPS to a computer with USB and then using the Arcpad data manager I copied out my geodatabase files into a folder. Once I have those files all in a folder I just copy and paste that folder onto the GPS unit memory card and then my database is ready to use on the GPS.

The next step was to collect my data. For this lab I was required to collect 3 points of trees and light poles, 1 line feature, and 4 polygons. In the GPS unit I selected which kind of feature I want to collect point, line or polygon and then turn on the satellite so the GPS can read my position. For points I would select my point feature and then go stand where the tree or light pole was and have the GPS record my coordinates and place a vertex. For the polygon I selected the polygon feature and then I started at one corner of the triangle and placed a vertex. I would then walk to the next corner and do the same. I did this 3 times and while I walked it recorded my path between the vertexes. You can do this with any shape area you want. You just have the GPS collect vertexes at corners or ever so often if you are doing a circle and then it will trace where you walk between those points. For the line feature you do the same thing as the polygon feature, you place a vertex where you want the line to start and one where you want to stop and it records the path in between giving you a line.

The final step was to take this data that I collected and make a map of it. This is quite simple to do. All I did is copy the folder from the GPS memory that I had earlier pasted there and paste it back into my folder on the computer. I then used the Arcpad data manager again and check my data back in. I then selected the point, line and polygon files as the files to check back in and when I do this they appear in ArcGIS as points, lines and polygons. They are in the exact same spot on my campus base map as they are in the real world. What you see below in my map, is the data I collected, displayed on a basemap of campus.

Knowing how to do this is very important and a very useful tool. This can be used to display where just about anything is. It can be used for recreational purposes like hunting and fishing or more important things like planning road networks or keeping track of the health of plants. 

Sources: GPS data collected by Michael Bomber 4/16/14

 

Lab 3 map GPS Data of UW-Eau Claire

GIS 1 Lab 2 Downloading GIS Data

The purpose of this lab was to learn how to download data off the internet in this case it is from the US Census Bureau. After the data is downloaded I had to change it into a form that I can work with and map.

The goal is that at the end of the lab I will know how to download all kinds of data that I may need in the future on a project. Some of the programs I work with provide a lot of data that I need for projects but what if they don't have the data I need? That is what this lab is for, and the data I am looking for is population data about the counties of Wisconsin. Once I have that data I do the same thing I have done many times before and make a map of the data.

The first step of the lab is to visit the US Census website and search for the data I need. Once I find what I am looking for I download the data as a zipped folder and save it so I can go back into it when I need to. Once I had it saved I went in and unzipped the folder which then displays all the data files I downloaded. There are two kinds of data that are in the folder I worked with the .csv files. This file is not a form that ArcGIS can understand so I opened the file and saved it as a Excel Workbook file. This data is just the numbers, but I also need a backdrop to display this info on so I also need to download a shape file of Wisconsin. I find the data I need download it unzip it and open the shape file in ArcGIS which gives me a map of the state of Wisconsin and all its counties, this map however does not have any of the number data that I am trying to display in it. In order to display it I need to join the Excel data with this shape file data. When you join data like this you have to find a field in both data sets that are the same, in this case that was the GEO_ID field. Once the data is joined I mapped the data. 

The map in green is a map showing the total population by county in Wisconsin. I went into the properties of the layer changed the color so it would display in green, I also made the legend easier to understand by labeling the data and normalizing it as well. For the background I went and added a base map of the area in black white. 

The other map is showing the urban population of the counties in Wisconsin. Like the other map I changed some of the properties to make the map look good as well as normalizing and labeling the data in the legend also used a base map in this map. I downloaded the data from the same place and followed the above described steps for both maps. 

The data in both these maps is based on population but you can get all kinds of data from the internet that you can map and display for a report or whatever you may need it for. Knowing how to find data and obtain it is a very important part of  GIS.

Sources: US Census 2010

http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/searchresults.xhtml?refresh=t

Lab 2 Map Populations of Wisconsin by County

GIS 1 Lab 1 Base Data

The purpose of this lab was to analyze and map the different kinds of data that will affect the decisions made regarding the Confluence Project here in Eau Claire. Specifically this lab was focused on the two lots of land that are being considered for the location of the new fine arts building and student housing. The overall goal in the lab was to explore and become familiar with different data sets that are involved in the project and created maps illustrating those data sets.

I started out by exploring different types of data sets and answering questions about them. I explored the zoning feature, political features, transportation features and many others all relevant to the Confluence Project. The next thing I did was digitize the site for the Confluence Project. I started with a base map of Eau Claire and added the parcel feature class or the different chunks of land that Eau Claire is split into. I then used the editing tool snapping which allowed me to trace the two parcels of interest and then add a fill color to them so they stand out from the rest of the map. Next I learned about the Public Land Survey system. In other words it is a way of categorizing each individual parcel of land into categories like township, county or city. Step 4 was to make a legal description of the of the two parcels of land being considered for the project. This included information like the parcel number, street number, street name, owner's name and what the land is used for, industrial, commercial, residential, etc. All these steps were analyzing data now it’s time to display that data in maps.

 Map 1 or Civil Divisions is displaying the areas of cities, towns, and villages in Eau Claire County. I did this by adding the county boundary and then adding the civil divisions data. Then I change the civil division properties so that cities, towns and villages would be different colors so they are easy to tell apart on the map. I also included the digitized or traced parcels of the proposed site. 

Map 2 or Census Boundaries. This is simply showing the boundaries of census areas and I have changed the properties so that the boundaries are different shade of red based on the population density in them.

Map 3 or City of EC Parcel Data is displaying all the individual lad parcel contained in the city of Eau Claire. I did this by adding the parcel, centerline or street data, and water data. Then I highlighted just the outside of the parcels so the map is still visible under them. The centerline data highlights the roads in Eau Claire and the water data shows the river.

Map 4 or Zoning shows the different zones the parcels of Eau Claire are split into. I changed the properties so that each kind of zone has its own color. The zones include commercial, industrial, transportation, public etc.

Map 5 or Voting districts shows the different voting districts by their ward number. I added the voting districts data and went into the properties and highlighted the line of each ward as well as labeled each ward with its number. 

Map 6 or PLSS data just shows the quarters and sections that Eau Claire is split into from the survey service. I put in the Quarter data and I also included the proposed cite so you can see what quarter it lies in. 

I learned a lot about the data that goes into all he properties and land in the city and county of Eau Claire. The maps I created do a good job of illustrating the data and I hope you enjoy them.

Sources: City of Eau Claire and Eau Claire County 2013

 

Lab 1 Map Confluence Project Data