Mod 1: Visual Interpretation

Start of a new GIS Course: GIS 4035 Photo Interpretation and Remote Sensing. This first lab we created 2 maps, the top one showing examples of textures, tones, and the bottom map shows examples of features that can be interpreted by shape or size, shawdow, pattern an association in aerial photos given to us. Seeing how features look on photos can help interpret them to what they are showing. This can be seen in the homes, buildings, swimming pools, piers and even parking lots I chose. They all have distinct characteristics as we have learned this lab that define their identity. Great first introduction assignment executed well!

Final Project

Final Project Time!! Can you believe it?! I barely can. This intro class has flown by and what a whirlwind it was. I cannot say that there were times I did not panic. There was some panic, however this final project really wrapped up everything I have learned this class so far. This final project is about a transmission power line being constructed in Manatee and Sarasota Counties, as part of the southwestern portion of Florida. What does that entail you might ask...for this we focused on some objectives that the project faced: conservation lands imposed, wetlands, homes, schools, and the length of the line itself by using a few of the tools ArcGIS has to offer we have learned about so far. The following links are to a transcript and PowerPoint presentation on these objectives and how I analyzed them with my Padawan GIS map making skills. So, select by attributes, intersect those tools and let's get this final party started! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EVZdV5iTOwnP6RinUAx07ztFEIBUKMye/view?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1--VBJb-exNc-s11kKzfvIXBQKBFGfS-f/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117785791016538423035&rtpof=true&sd=true

This week's lab was about Georeferencing, which is basically adding points to known objects like buildings and street corners in a raster layer to merge them to your map. Do it well enough and the RMS error can be minimal as I learned. The map above I created is of UWF campus, located in Florida with 3 rasters and a eagles nest location off to the right. Online learning is difficult I would say, because there are so many ways to layout a map and I am struggling with confidence in my layouts. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it though, so I am not giving up and hoping feedback will keep my head above water.

This week I was introduced to Geocoding, where I was tasked to download data from the Dept of Education and the US Census Bureau Geography Program websites, set up an address locator and geocode the addresses. The result was a map with Manatee County, FL outlined and all the schools shown as points. What sounds as a simple task quickly decended into Excel spreadsheets, inserting tables into ArcGIS Pro and making sure all the schools had actual X, and Y location points. Although time consuming, it was pretty straight forward. It can be viewed following the link to ArcGIS Online web map: https://arcg.is/1XyDTn Looking forward to what is next!

In this week's lab assignment about Vectors we were using De Soto National Forest in Mississippi as an example to find possible camp sites that were not near conservation areas because those areas should not be disturbed by campers. By incorporating overlay analysis using buffers to show where water and roads were located, we were able to narrow our search for the perfect camp site areas in hectares. Dark blue indicated the largest areas and yellow for the smallest areas. The look like numbered blobs on the map, but you can camp there and avoid roads, rivers and conservation areas. My experience with this lab is that vector analysis can be incredibly useful, however easily overwhelming if you do not understand the questions you are asking when looking at the attribute tables and using the union overlay tools. Overall, any lab that forces me into unknown territory in ArcGIS Pro is stressful, but an accomplishment in the end.

This lab assignment was much more difficult to accomplish, mostly due to my own hesitation with following the lab steps. The steps are becoming more vague as we progress and I am struggling with understanding something I have only seen once before or not at all. The online learning curve I suppose. Without further adue this map shows three different projections of Florida and how much they differ is shown in the graph below. Took way longer to create than it looks like it did!

This week's lab 2 was about creating a map highlighting where the campus for University of West Florida is located. By showing a Florida inset map, along with the county, major highways, a few cities and the campus as the star it seems to have been a sucessful adventure. A few hiccups were experienced, but with patience and reading the help forum this map was created. A thrilling accomplishment if I do say so myself.