Final Project

 

GIS5050 Manatee-Sarasota County Transmission Line

Transcript: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bApTXteguFQdfzr802_hPY8hLXz7482H/view?usp=sharing

Presentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z7W1Px6STCTQBhHH0lLFCOjIWpz4EJ52/view?usp=drive_link

    Above are links to my transcript and presentation recording for my final project about the Manatee-Sarasota county transmission line. The objectives for this project were to determine schools and homes within a 400 foot buffer of the transmission line, environmentally sensitive lands near the transmission line, and the length and cost of the transmission line. Below are my maps created for each objective. 

    Zero schools were found within the 400 foot buffer. 69 homes and 257 parcels were impacted by the preferred corridor and its buffer. 73 acres of state conservation lands and 91 acres of local conservation lands were impacted, and 5651 and 914 acres of uplands and wetlands, respectively, were impacted. The preferred corridor is 24.24 miles long, and it cost 39,996,000 dollars to build. Overall, the location of the transmission line was a good choice as it had relatively low effects on homes, schools, and environmentally sensitive areas. 

    During this project, I used tools such as buffer, intersect, measure, and calculate geometry. This project involved analyzing the data in addition to just performing steps. I enjoyed this final project as it challenged me and improved my GIS skills by forcing me to determine what I actually knew. It was very time consuming but very beneficial. 

Map depicting the acres of wetlands, uplands, and conservation areas impacted by the preferred corridor.

Map depicting the transmission line's length.

Map depicting the number of schools impacted by the preferred corridor.

Map of the homes impacted by the preferred corridor buffer. 

Module 6: Georeferencing

 In this module, I learned how to georeference data. I found that adding the control points was easy and a little bit relaxing. I used points such as building corners for most of my points as these are static points and good for high accuracy, and I removed points that had a high residual number. The goal was to have a low RSME number and an accurate image. The most difficult section of this part of the module was working between the various layers (Heritage Hall, uwf_n.jpg, and uwf_s1.jpg). Next, I used the create feature to draw a new building and a new road on the map. I also learned to add hyperlinks to attribute tables. The buffer tool was used in a previous module, but I used it again to create a buffer of 330 feet and of 660 feet around the eagle's nest on campus.  

I also created a 3D scene. This was the first time that we used a Local Scene for a module. In this part of the module, we added various elevation layers to the map to see which looked best for our map. 

Module 5: Geocoding

Below is the link to my online map for the geocoding assignment. In this assignment, coordinates were entered into an Excel Spreadsheet, and then the file was added into GIS to extract the XY datapoints to the map. In the geocoding section of the assignment, census data from the Department of Education about schools in Manatee County was extracted and added to a different Excel file; the data was rearranged in the file (used the count function to organize the addresses separately from the phone numbers and format painter to make the format more pleasing). That data was then input into ArcGIS and projected to the appropriate coordinate system, NAD1983 (2011) Harn State Plane Florida West FIPS 0902 Feet. An address locator was used to plot the addresses from the data file onto the map, and the geocode table function was used to geocode the data. Some addresses were left unmatched; I manually plotted these points on the map where they belonged. The map was then uploaded as an online web page; I struggled with this part as I could not remember how to do this and had to look at the help file. I had several error messages as my basemap and layers were not in the same coordinate system and had to reconcile this issue. I also had to assign unique IDs so that the map would upload. Another issue I had with this lab was cleaning up data in Excel as it took me much longer than expected; however, after this lab, I have a much better grasp on how to use Excel. Overall, I enjoyed this lab.

https://arcg.is/jD5Tq

Above is a link to my geocoding map, Geocoding of Schools in Manatee County 2, located on ArcGIS Online. I had to upload the map twice because the first time I only shared the map within the organization.

Module 4: Vector Analysis

 

    In this module, we learned how to create buffers using a variety of overlay techniques. I created a fixed distance buffer by using the "buffer" tool and choosing the distance wanted; this was then applied to all features. To create buffers of varying distances, the "select by attribute" tool was used to apply a buffer of 150 to lakes and 500 for rivers, and then the "buffer" feature was used to apply the buffer. To create a multi-ring buffer, the "multi-ring buffer" tool was used, adding varying distances to create the rings. Then, I performed a union so that the roads buffer and water buffer would be displayed together. Another option would be to use the intersect feature- this gives the same results as the union feature. After adding the conservation_areas to the map, I used "erase" to exclude those areas from the buffer. 

    To display the various areas, I chose to use graduated colors instead of unique values since the areas are the same type, just different area sizes, and I used 3 classes to divide up the area size. The Field was set to area, as I wanted to map by area size. Method was set to equal interval to properly divide up the different sites by color. I chose yellow, orange, and red because they are easily displayed on the map, and the largest areas were displayed in red since the red stands out the most; the smallest areas were displayed in yellow since that color stands out the least on the map.

Module 3: Projections

 In lab this week, we collected data on public safety features and their condition (like new, functional but with some wear, or broken) using ArcGIS Field Maps; I chose to collect on street signs. We then compared how ArcGIS online versus a Map Package worked and uploaded both to Google Earth. 

I also created a map of Florida's counties in Albers, UTM 16, and Florida State Plane N projections. Alachua, Escambia, Miam-Dade, and Polk counties are highlighted in the map and have their area in square miles in the different views posted on the map as well. While very similar, the different projections have subtle differences. The UTM 16 projection is tilted in comparison with the other two projections, which are quite similar to each other. When comparing the area in square miles, UTM has the most variation while Albers and State Plane N have very similar results. Escambia and Alachua are only off in the UTM projection by a couple from their counterparts in the Albers and Florida State Plane N, but Miami-Dade and Polk are off by a lot. This makes sense when looking at the maps themselves and seeing the tilt in UTM 16. The rest of the lab, we utilized the skills we learned in the cartography lab to incorporate the essential map elements.

Above the map is shown, with the map of Florida in the Albers, UTM 16, and Florida State Plane N projections.

Module 2: Cartography

In module 2, I created a map of the University of West Florida's Main Campus and an inset map of the state of Florida with Escambia county highlighted. To create the map of UWF within Escambia county, I added in the interstate, major rivers, major cities near campus, and marked where campus is on the map. A legend, scale bar, north arrow, title, source information, creator information, date created, and logo of UWF were added for essential map information. This lab was helpful in familiarizing myself with the functions of ArcGIS Pros, essential map elements, and how to make a basic map. I feel more confident in my abilities to create a map and use ArcGIS Pro. 

Module1: Overview of ArcGIS Lab Assignment

    For the first module of this course, GIS5050, we learned to retrieve data from our files and upload it to ArcGIS Pro. We added our data to a map and created a vector layer and then learned to use the symbology pane to change how our map looks by changing the Fields value and color ramp. We selected a base map of our choice, and then learned how to create a new map layout and then save and export it to our own files.