Lab 8 Assignment

Lab 7 Assignment

The Station Fire was a devastating fire in 2009 that ripped through the Los Angeles National Forest, lasting from August 26 to October 16. The fire burned through approximately 161,000 acres of land destroying parts of the the Forest Service and causing many people to evacuate from their homes. Wildlife was also greatly impacted as many species of plants and animals died as a result of the fire damage.

In regards to the theme of my map, I chose to focus on how the Station Fire affected majors roads within the area. According to the Forest Service, fires destroyed the guard railings of major roads, as well as many traffic signs causing roads to become very unsafe for driving. It was reported that Highway 2, Big Tujunga Canyon Road, and Upper Tujunga Canyon Road was closed off to the public during the Station Fire.

Another hazard the Station Fire caused for the surroundings roads is that it weakened the hillsides and land of the area, making it very vulnerable to debris and mudslides. The heat of the fire also caused the soil to seal itself, making mudslide flows even faster and more powerful. Homes and property at the foot of the hills are in extremely danger of mudslide damage, especially during storms.

The dangers of storm damage are predicted to last 3 to 5 years after the events of the Station Fire until burned areas fully recover. There are several efforts that are planned in order to prevent storm and mudslide damage. The Forest Service Reports that they install rails and put down sandbags in order to redirect the water/debris flow away from roads and property. Installing gates and barriers are also planned to prevent future damage.

On August 4, 2010, a bill was proposed for a reported $700,000 secured by the state to fix the damages caused by the Station Fire. An estimated 300 miles of roads and 225 miles of trails were harmed during the fire and the bill would provide needed funding to repair these damages. Road repairs would include installing retaining walls, reconstructing water crossings, repairing drainage, and restoring damage road signs.

References:

Beltzer, Yvonne. Station Fire Takes a Big Toll: Wildlife Habitat Lost. NBC Los Angeles. September 4, 2009. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Station-Fire-Takes-a-Big-Toll-Wildlife-Habitat-Lost-57081182.html

Lloyd, Jonathan. AM Headlines: Station Fire Recovery Bill. NBC Los Angeles. August 4, 2010. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/AM-Headlines-Wednesday-Aug-4-99938209.html

Peterson, Molly. After the Station Fire, forest specialists survey the damage. KPCC Southern California Public Radio. September 28, 2009. http://www.scpr.org/news/2009/09/28/scientists-study-station-fire-impact/

Rocha, Veronica. Bill includes $700K for Station fire damage Glendale News-Press. August 4, 2010. http://www.glendalenewspress.com/news/tn-gnp-station-20100804,0,1324268.story

U.S. Forest Service. Angeles National Forest - Station Fire. Burned Area Emergency Response. November 11, 2004. http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_020019.pdf

Lab 6 Assignment

Area Description:

This is area is from the southeastern region of Washington State. I chose this area because the topography of the region looks really interesting from the USGS website.The area looked like it had contrasting slopes and elevations, which I thought would make for some nice projections. The closest city that is near this selected area is Pomeroy, WA. A large portion of this area that is selected is from the Umatilla National Forest. The lower-right part of this map includes U.S. Route 129, as well as a stream.

Coordinates:

Top edge: 46.4022222221274 Degrees

Bottom edge: 46.0102777776566 Degrees

Left edge: -117.673055555134 Degrees

Right edge: -117.226388888437 Degrees

Lab 5 Assignment

Map Projections:

Equal Area

Hammer-Aitoff

Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul: 8,347 miles

Boone

Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul: 6,710 miles

Equidistant

Equidistant Conic

Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul: 6,938 miles

Plate Carree

Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul: 10,074 miles

Conformal

Mercador

Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul: 10,144 miles

Gall Stereographic

Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul: 7,159 miles


Map projections serve as a way for to portray the third dimensional surface of the earth into a two-dimensional representation in a map. Because the surface of the earth cannot be perfected projected onto a map, distortions result. These distortions can include inaccuracies in distance, conformity, and area. There are different types of map projections that preserve these aspects. Equal area maps have the same proportional relationship to the areas of Earth they represent. Equidistant maps portray distances from the center of the projection to other points on the map. Lastly, conformal maps are used when the scale of a map is the same in any direction.

It is important to consider the differences in these map projections. This is evident because measurements and other information, depending on the type of projection used, can vary in value. For example, this is shown throughout the distance between Washington D.C. and Kabul we were asked to find in this lab. The difference in map projections are not only very visually apparent, but their distance values are different too. For example, the equidistant projection of the Equidistant Conic map was measured at a distance of 6,938 miles between D.C. and Kabul. Another projection, the conformal Mercator map measured its distance at 10,144 miles.

A definite pitfall with different map projections is that values can certainly become misinterpreted if one was not careful about matching up the correct data set with the correct map projection. As seen before, distance vary greatly between different map projections, sometimes by several thousand miles, as in the example in our lab.

However, different map projections do hold potential. The availability of different types of projections allow for a wide range of flexibility when creating maps. Information and data sets are better depicted according to the map maker's personal preferences and needs. Map projections allow accurate ways to a depict different forms of data.

Lab 4 Assignment

I have mixed feelings about my first experience using ArcGIS. Following the tutorial was relatively simple in the beginning. However, for some reason toward the end of the tutorial, I starting running into some issues that did not follow the guide as strictly as I would have liked. Most notably, many of the data files were not as easy to locate. I found myself scrambling through many folders trying to locate the correct data. This was very frustrating at first. Having completed the tutorial, the second run-through was a bit easier. This time around I began to notice the usefulness that ArcGIS has in real-world applications. Nonetheless, I still need a lot more practice with the program to become familiar with it.

With ArcGIS, the potential usefulness of this program is great. I feel it is very versatile in terms of applying it to different situations and scenarios. As evidenced by the example from the tutorial, ArcGIS can serve business that are interested in local/regional planning. It is important to consider factors of the environment, such as the the local schools within the noise contour in the example. Also, other attributes such as distribution and zoning is depicted using GIS. This is important for the field that I am particularly interested in, which is wildlife conservation. By using GIS, conservationists are able to identify which species reside where and where their distributions lie. From this information, conservationists are able to have evidence for environmental protection areas.

ArcGIS also has some pitfalls. One of the problems I see with the program that it is somewhat complicated to use. The learning curve of using the program is quite high and needs repeated usage to become familiar with it. Granted, it is a sophisticated program that requires many components to master. I just feel that this limits the "user-friendly" aspect of using ArcGIS. This also ties into another problem I find with GIS. ArcGIS is not readily available to the public. It's a expensive program that many people, who are not involved with its industry, normally would not have access to.

This is related to the concept of neogeography that we covered not too long ago. We discussed that neogeography is open-source, where as GIS is closed. Because of this, the availability of some geographical information is restricted to the public. But the upside to this is that, generally, information developed through GIS is reliable and accurate.