GIS 1 Final Project
Introduction: The basis of this project was to create our own spatial data research question and figure out the right geoprocessing tools to finally make a presentable map that answers our question. The spatial question I asked was to find a reasonable place to put a cabin in Iron County, WI. This question peaks of interest specifically to those who are looking for a cabin in Wisconsin with a few specific characteristics. The necessary requirements I wanted to find for a potential cabin spot included: on or within 1/2 mile of a lake or pond, within the county forest area, and 3 miles away from a major road. Many people want a cabin so they can relax in a secluded spot, while also being able to do things such as hiking or boating, which is why I thought these three requirements would be appropriate for my project.
Data Sources: The data used in this project was from a geodatabase of metadata taken by the Wisconsin DNR. The data I used was waterbodies, county forests, major roads, and county boundaries. The data concerns involved in this project would be boundary completeness of lakes and forests, and the reliability of the coordinate systems with each feature. This metadata can be downloaded here: http://dnr.wi.gov/maps/gis/metadata.html
Methods: There were a few tools and methods used in this project to get to the potential cabins. To begin, I had to clip each feature to Iron County and make the county a layer of itself. Then, to start off with the process, I did a query to find just lakes/ponds of the waterbody feature on the DNR data and created a feature out of just the lakes and ponds. I then buffered the new feature to 1/2 mile, so a cabin could be within a 1/2 mile or on a lake or pond. Next, I intersected the lakes/ponds buffer layer to the county forests layer, to eliminate any lakes and ponds that weren't in the county forest. I wanted these potential areas to be at least 3 miles away from any major roads, so that it was a more secluded, quiet area. To do this, I buffered the major roads feature into a 3 mile buffer. I then took the lakes/ponds in county forest feature and erased it with the major roads feature, so all that was left were lakes/features in the county forest, and 3 miles away from any major road. These areas became the potential areas to put a cabin in Iron county. The methods I used can be shown on the data flow model below.
Results: The results found were then put together with a few different main features and made into the map below.
Data Sources: The data used in this project was from a geodatabase of metadata taken by the Wisconsin DNR. The data I used was waterbodies, county forests, major roads, and county boundaries. The data concerns involved in this project would be boundary completeness of lakes and forests, and the reliability of the coordinate systems with each feature. This metadata can be downloaded here: http://dnr.wi.gov/maps/gis/metadata.html
Methods: There were a few tools and methods used in this project to get to the potential cabins. To begin, I had to clip each feature to Iron County and make the county a layer of itself. Then, to start off with the process, I did a query to find just lakes/ponds of the waterbody feature on the DNR data and created a feature out of just the lakes and ponds. I then buffered the new feature to 1/2 mile, so a cabin could be within a 1/2 mile or on a lake or pond. Next, I intersected the lakes/ponds buffer layer to the county forests layer, to eliminate any lakes and ponds that weren't in the county forest. I wanted these potential areas to be at least 3 miles away from any major roads, so that it was a more secluded, quiet area. To do this, I buffered the major roads feature into a 3 mile buffer. I then took the lakes/ponds in county forest feature and erased it with the major roads feature, so all that was left were lakes/features in the county forest, and 3 miles away from any major road. These areas became the potential areas to put a cabin in Iron county. The methods I used can be shown on the data flow model below.
Results: The results found were then put together with a few different main features and made into the map below.
Evaluation: Overall, I thought this project was extremely beneficial. It wasn't as complicated as the lab before this, but was a good way to summarize the spatial geoprocessing tools learned in the class. It also gave us a chance to be more creative while still having a good guideline of what needed to be done for the project. There were a few challenges to be faced with finding the correct data to use, but once the features were found it was a fairly smooth project.
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