DHS Bay Area Urban Area Critical Infrastructure Protection

This lab provided an opportunity to use many tools we have been introduced to in a practical way. I did not have any glitches except for trying to get the line of sight graph to load in my map. Once I created a new data frame, the graph loaded in it with no problem. I especially enjoyed the overlay of the stadium image on the elevation image in ArcScene. It gives a really clear view of the area.

Deliverable one is the base map for the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Area. It shows the actual bay area, the buffer and the insert shows its location within the state of California.

Homeland Security

This is my deliverable 2 map. After trying several different screens and map options I decided to showcase the Bay Area Urban Area landmark point file. Because of the extremely large amount of data included in all of the group layers, a map of all would be impossible to read. The advantage of the group layers is you can turn them on or off as needed.

Crime locations in Houston are shown in relation to the police stations. The multi ring buffer lets the reader see the relationship of the number of crimes within a 2,4 and 6 mile radius from each station. I think the rings make the map a little busy but the information provided is valuable.

The only trouble I had completing this project was getting the multi ring buffer tool to work - it would not work on the new VM. I tried the old VM and I did not get the error when I opened the tool window. I was able to save the buffer and return to the new VM which is my preference.

This density map show the concentration of three types of crime in the Houston area, aggravated assault, drug related crime and burglary.

Elementary School Site Selection

This is my basemap for my elementary school site search. This entire project gave me fits from the start and I had such excitement when I started. I hope I can figure out the answers to my problems soon so I don't have to spend the entire holiday weekend on my computer!

This is the map that analyzes the different layers of criteria. After much trial and error I was able to get the functions to work!

Basemap of Maricopa County. By far the easiest!!!

This map shows addresses each of the four criteria important to the client. I kept looking at this to determine how to get a final result without the additional extension!

I had trouble with this map. I kept getting error messages when I tried to do some of the spatial analyst functions but finally I worked around it. I selected an area meeting the criteria of the client that was somewhat centrally located to both places of employment. I could use this type of analysis at work but do not have the spatial analyst extension which left me wondering how I could accomplish this with ArcView! Needless to say, I didn't have time to explore that this week!

Impact Assessment

These are the exercise maps from the ESRI Impact Assessment course. I was lucky to only have operator error while completing this assignment! I was unable to get the pictures in the last segment to load into my map with the hyperlink. I had the path correct and tried copying the photo folder to a more direct location but still got the same message saying they couldn't be located.

I would love to know how many, if any, of the local municipalities use GIS to determine the impact of development on their cities. I have not seen any indication that they do.

Building Value Loss, Manhattan County

This map displays the building loss as a result of the 1993 flood in Manhattan County, Kansas. The varying colors show the levels of loss. I thought it strange the least amount of building loss was along the shore. There may be guidelines to prohibit building in flood prone areas.

Maplewood Subdivision

After trying unsuccessfully to complete the HAZUS project, I had to opt for the flood module in the ESRI class. This map shows the parcels in the Maplewood subdivision that are within the 100-year and 500-year flood plains.

Flooded Lands by Land Cover

This map shows the flooding that took place after Hurricane Katrina in the coastal counties of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Mississippi. I was surprised how affected the wetlands were by the flooding. The extensive flooding in the wetland areas most likely greatly impacted the wildlife that lives in this environment.

I didn't have trouble with this portion of the deliverable. I was able to follow the directions but wonder if I will be able to use this logic on my own. I am not always sure I know which tool or process to use.

Basemap of Coastal Mississippi

This is my basemap for the counties along the coast of Mississippi. I found the elevation information interesting and was surprised how great the range from low to high was. It is easy to see why flooding was a problem.
The only only trouble I had with this map was after it was completed and saved, when I reopened it none of the data would display in layout view. I even tried to remove a layer and add it back in to no avail. When I opened the program today to try to resolve the problem, everything was fine. Strange.