Digital Portfolio

T J 24 Schuurman 1

W F 1 Mitchell 2, 3

W F 8 Getting to Know 1, 2 - Was supposed to present with Keegan Varner, but he was sick and I was in Walker’s class. So that never really happened.

T F 19 Getting to Know 3

T F 28 Getting to Know 4 – 10

T F 7 Project Ideas

F F 10 Preliminary Project Proposal

W F 29 Delaware County Data Review

Link to EnergyOWU blog site

I did not do blog postings on Smith or any of the Mitchell Readings besides the post listed above.

The map for our group, as well as the shape files for this map, are located on Silas’ computer, just to the left of mine.

All of my work is in C://Courses->Geog_355->Rux on the far right computer in the middle row of the left side of the GIS lab, room 207, Schimmel Conrades Science Center, Delaware, OH 43015, United States of America, Earth, the Universe.

Delaware County Data Review

Archeological – shows any and all archeological data

Annexation – shows difference between sections of the city of Delaware

Address Points – shows different addresses in Delaware County. Additional information includes land use, parcel number, year built, etc.

Building Outlines – shows all buildings in Delaware County

Benchmarks – shows USGS benchmarks in the county

Polls – shows all voter polls and precincts in the county.

Cemeteries – shows all cemeteries in the county, including its address

Churches – gives a name and an address to all churches in the county

Daycares – gives a name and an address to all daycares in the county

EMS – shows all 18 Emergency Medical Services response points in the county

Fire Stations – shows all fire stations in the county

Golf Courses – did you know there are 22 golf courses in Delaware county? I sure didn’t…

Medical Centers – gives a location and an alias (I didn’t realize the location at the top of the list was Grady until I scrolled all the way to the right)

Mobile Home Parks – shows all 9 mobile home parks in Delaware county

Police – shows the location of all police dispatch offices in the county (as well as the Delaware County jail, just north of here on 42!)

Post Offices – shows all of the post offices in the county

Public Buildings – this one required a little more delving, as the title did not necessarily give away its contents. When I scrolled over to the alias tab, I found the names of all public buildings in the county, ranging from adult court services to a commissioner’s office, as well as city halls and regional planning offices.

Schools – shows all schools, public and private, primary, secondary, and post-secondary

Master – this bear of a file has over 26,000 pieces of data, including residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.

Address Points – much like the last one, but purely address points (and a lot of them).

Building Base 1 – this one looks like all community buildings, but i’m not sure.

Building Base 2 – not really sure what the common theme of this group is, but it contains files from mobile home parks, weigh stations, city halls, etc.

Cemetery Base – just contains a bunch of chronological numbers. Really not that fascinating.

Historic – contains all historical sites within the county, including churches, academic buildings, and sports stadiums.

Delware Clip – I really don’t understand the contents of this file.

Right of Way – believe it or not, this shows the direction of right of way, for pedestrians

Railroads – shows all railroads in Delaware County

Delaware Run – shows the Delaware Run. listed as a polyline (31,000 units long)…

Wetlands – shows all wetlands in the county, including its classification, size, and the types of trees located within.

Original township – shows all original cities in the county…kinda cool, actually.

Tax Districts – shows all 60 tax districts in the county, and their names (no info on the money they pull in…)

Soils – soil information for all different parcels of land in the county, including type, saturation, and, if applicable, company type.

Fire Districts – shows the distribution of fire districts (this explains why the fire trucks seem to constantly be leaving at 2 in the morning…

Law Enforcement – shows the distribution of law enforcement within the county.

Parcels – this shows all different land parcels (plots, w/e) in the county, including their usage, size, taxable land, utilities, etc.

Municipalities – simply the municipalities in the county

Hydro – shows all hydrologic points of interest in the county (read: lakes, rivers, ponds, etc.)

Hydro 2009 – shows all hydrologic points of interest in the county…in 2009, because it changes a whole lot each time.

Floodway – shows areas prone to flooding, as well as areas that are not susceptible. Who builds on floodplains, anyway…

Farmlots – shows farmlots, including owners, usage, size, etc.

ABT_all – I really can’t tell what this is.

CDP_all – Seems to show businesses within the county

 

 

 

 

 

ArcGIS Chapters 4-10

After plenty of technical difficulties (and two Saturdays with busted servers), I’ve finally started the tutorial, albeit quite a bit behind.

Chapter 4

- learned how to connect ArcCatalog and ArcMap. The primary difference between these two is their content: Catalog has an enormous amount of data which can be transferred over to Map, where you can tinker around and find necessary data.

- learned how to create thumbnails. (thrilling stuff, I know)

- searched for specific data within a chapter’s dataset.

Chapter 5

- added data to ArcMap to make a fascinating group of maps showing Africa.

- further learned the difference between symbols and rasters

- learned how to effectively use symbols, dots, graduated colors and symbols, etc.

- realized the incredible selection of colors in ArcGIS10 (Sahara Sand, Ginger Pink, and Mars Red, just to name a few).

- learned how to symbolize rasters – a little tougher than symbols, since the data is located in a matrix.

Chapter 6

- again, further learned how to effectively use symbols, dots, graduated colors, etc.

- started to look at classification schemes and how they can make (or ruin) your maps

- learned why, sometimes, it’s just better to do it yourself (manual selection of classification boundaries)

- learned how to effectively use colors to show things like elevation, where the audience might have a predisposition towards colors (learn to take advantage of this)

- learned why dot density maps are, in fact, the best classification scheme out there (graduated symbols suck)

- learned why, when you absolutely have to use graduated symbols, some symbols are more effective than others.

- created a pie chart showing energy consumption distribution in African Countries

Chapter 7

Dynamic Labels

- further realized the helpfulness of bookmarks – they bring you to a highlighted layer, showing important data.

- learned how to make aesthetically-pleasing maps to ease the strain on the audience’s eyes.

- created dynamic labels! (seriously though, some labels can become 10x more effective when you change the font, color, and size).

Chapter 8

Querying Data

- sought out specific data within a layer.

- created reports to show potential homeowners the differences between homes in a neighborhood.

- used the ‘selected features’ feature quite a bit.

- learned how to ignore the unimportant data.

- discovered a beautiful thing: pictures, in ArcGIS! woooooo

- used the selected features feature to determine homes that shared three common characteristics.

- created a final report to show to potential homeowners.

Chapter 9

Joining and Relating Tables

- this chapter dealt with joining and relating tables to determine data that may not have been initially available.

- combined Louisiana river information with oil extraction sites to determine those which had polluted rivers and needed follow-up treatment.

- further used symbols to show the differences between data sets.

- learned how to relate tables

Chapter 10

- learned how to effectively search using location attributes

- discovered the difference between ‘select by location’ and ‘select by attribute’.

- attempted to place a new store in an affluent neighborhood with wealthy Californians

 

 

Ch. 3 Recap

Chapter 3 was mostly a recap of my previous GIS knowledge.

 - Special focus was given to the tool bar at the top of the browser, where you could control viewing settings and zoom in or out.

 - Additionally, some focus was given to selecting certain features, as well as turning layers on or off.

 - Finally, attribute tables showed how each layer can have plenty of data stored within.

Preliminary Project Proposal

Our proposal is to:

• Monitor energy consumption on Academic side of campus

1. Visual map showing energy consumption per building
2. Have data for 12 months
3. Separate map for real-time data, if applicable

 

• Depending on building’s energy consumption, we will determine amount of energy per person (that uses the building)

1. Consult the registrar – look for class data within individual buildings

i.      E.g., hypothetically – 40 classes in the science center @ 20 students per, 800 students per day

• Construct a map comparing per person energy usage, showing how some buildings are more efficient than others.
• End result? We could show which buildings need upgrades, or changes to current heating/electrical systems.

Getting to Know ArcGIS Ch. 1 & 2

The first chapter of this book discusses the broad uses of ArcGIS.

Key points covered include:

• Traditional maps, while valuable, do have their shortfalls. For example, you cannot peel away layers of a map to only show the information you desire. ArcGIS solves this by allowing you to add or remove layers at your discretion
• Difference between vector and raster data – vector data are geographic features
• Vector data are commonly grouped as polygons, lines, and points – cities, rivers, and lakes are good examples
• Raster data have quantifiable properties, but may not be a physical feature. Rainfall, elevation, and slope are good examples
• You can put tons of data into an attribute table. These data could include a country’s population, currency, life expectancy, etc. This data can be accessed at any time by opening the attribute table for a certain feature (like a country).
• If you are looking for a certain combination of features to determine a proper location, you can enter all of your parameters into GIS and then take the overlapping data and map it as a separate layer.

The second chapter discusses the different levels of ArcGIS products, specifically ArcGIS Desktop.

Key points covered include:

• Different levels of ArcGIS software: ArcReader, ArcView, ArcEditor, and ArcInfo.
• Different programs within ArcGIS which allow for more specialized use, e.g., Spatial Analyst, which maps and analyzes raster data
• Mobile GIS options

Project Ideas

I would like to expand on work done by previous students on the “Green Trail” in Delaware. In collaboration with Silas, I want to implement some data-monitoring sites to act as educational tools. For example, I could use my existing proposal and integrate the possibility of wind turbines into the Green Trail.

Additionally, I would explore the viability of solar panels on this trail, and then find a way to monitor the data and then publish it as a means of pedagogy. This, as well as a potential water-monitoring station, could be used to educate students about the importance of sustainability.

Time permitting, I would also like to explore Sean Kinghorn’s ideas regarding data collection on campus to help justify sustainable projects. For example, if water monitoring stations were to implemented into LEED-certified buildings – or even buildings with sustainable measures, like low-flow shower heads – it could help justify and minimize unnecessary complaining.