Jason's GeoJourney

Today I completed my last weekly lab for GIS 5050 where I learned about georeferencing, editing, and creating 3D models.  This was probably the most time intensive lab of the six though I did not necessarily find it that difficult in terms of getting stuck on a specific task.  The lab just took a while to complete.  For the first exercise, I created a map that shows the University of West Florida campus in relation to an eagle nest immediately to the east in a forested area.  For this task, I created a multi-ring buffer with color-coded 330 and 660 foot conservation easement buffers.  In addition, I digitized two campus features from the raster:  Building 72 and Campus Lane.  I also georeferenced the survey plat for Heritage Hall by using control points, monitoring RMS values, and doing a polynomial transformation. For the second task, I used some of the same elements and tasks from the previous one but created a 3D model of the UWF campus. I converted LIDAR to create a DEM in order to

This week in GIS 5050 I completed a spatial analysis lab that involved two main tasks:  adding XY data and geocoding.  For the first part, I learned how to use an Excel spreadsheet to add XY values (latitude and longitude), and specifically how to convert DMS values (degrees, minutes, seconds) into decimal degrees.  Below is the deliverable for the lab that is a screen capture from the map frame that shows the locations of three eagles nests in western Santa Rosa County near the shore of Escambia Bay.  For the second half of the lab, I learned how to geocode addresses by copying data from an internet page, copying into, and then modifying in Excel, and then importing into ArcGIS.  For this example, I geocoded the location of schools in Manatee County, Florida.  I also learned how to geocode unmatched addresses by doing my own sleuthing (i.e. Google and map searches).  The map shows the location of 82 schools (point file) including one university and community college each, with the res

This week in GIS 5050 we had our vector analysis lab, where I learned about how vector data is stored, and to do buffer analyses, joins and unions, code attributes, and do some more advanced analysis over the previous labs.  For this week, I created the map below at an area in Mississippi that shows recommended camp sites by size (hectare) in areas that are not too close or too far from water, and away from roadways that do not overlap with conservation areas.  Overall I felt that I achieved success with the project and found it helpful in strengthening my GIS analytical skills.  

This week in GIS 5050, I completed two different labs:  ArcGIS field maps and projections.  For the later,  I created a layout showing area comparisons for four different Florida counties on three map frames each with three different projections-Albers, UTM 16, and Florida State Plane North.  This lab was helpful in reinforcing basic GIS/ArcGIS skills (retrieving data, using map and layout frames, symbolizing, exporting, etc.)  This lab was also helpful in enhancing and expanding my understanding of the way projection coordinate systems work, and how they are different from geographic coordinate systems.  While the lab took some time, and a few steps took some effort to figure out and work through, overall, I had much success and am happy of my progress and results.  I'm ready for what next week's lab will bring! :)