Author: jwkoob

 

chapter 7

I enjoyed completing chapter 7, especially the first few tutorials, where I got to just move around and adjust the outlines of buildings and correct them. It was fun to do but it also made a lot of sense. I liked that there were only 4 in this one, I was able to take in each tutorial really fast and go back through to make sure I fully understood. I actually really enjoyed doing these ones because I have gotten much more accustomed to all the contols like adding features, symbols, bookmarks, and the repetitive tabs.

chapter 8

It was really easy to do these ones, considering it was only 2 tutorials, but I still feel like I gained a lot from them and got valuable knowledge on Geocoding and analyzing locations, plus learning about things with zipcodes. Most of the infomation was stuff I had begun to feel confident with, doing things with the creating locator, for example, went smoothly. When rematching attendees by zipcode on 8-2 I got a bit lost at a certain part where I had to click the match button for the zipcodes, for some reason it wouldn’t load for me. Also, the create locator section kept resetting on me and deleting my data.

chapter 9

This one had the most tutorials technically but it still wasnt a long time to get through. Buffers were something I had been confused on before too, so i liked being reintroduced to this chapter. I know you use them to find whats near the features being buffered, but seeing them in action helped a lot. 9-1 and 9-2 on the swimming pools in Pittsburgh and estimating the number of youths was really quick and easy. I also thought it was cool how it highlighted the ones within half a mile. I also thought the dissolve option was really neat, helping with overlapping buffer rings helps make it much better to look at.

9-3 it estimates gravity models of geography, you can see the amount of attraction between two features. I had trouble figuring this part out, it was probably the hardest for me out of all the units. It wasnt that bad but I kept getting stuck at the parts where it would ask me to click the service area layer, it would genuinely not give me what I needed, it took me a second to try and figure out how to get through these tutorials at the end but it was still cool. I think analyzing the optimal soltuions and doing your turn was difficult, but it was also a pretty informative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4:

This was a difficult chapter for me to navigate, and it took me a while to fully understand what parts of the tutorial would ask of me. I was constantly going back and having to retrace my steps in the 4-2 tutorial, but it was cool to learn how to use the tables more, and this chapter definitely made me feel much more confident in understanding specifics like attribute tables and SQL queries. The repetition is very helpful. I had a few issues with the “tracts” area, calculating them and sorting parts. I googled a few parts of it and seemed to get back on track, though.

Chapter 5:

This chapter went much faster for me; a lot of it was simple configurations of maps. It was really repetitive, and the tutorials went by really fast, but it was still cool to do. 5.1 and 5.2 were quick, doing simple map projections, and the your turn sections made sense. 5.4 and 5.5 took me a bit longer; there were simply some parts where it would ask me to click something that wasnt there because I had skipped over a part by accident, or the files would get a bit confusing to look at, and I’d have to back track. In 5.5, I took some time trying to add data to my map, for some reason, it wouldn’t load for me, and I had to try and figure out why it wouldn’t show up. My add join tool was also acting up, but I was able to work around it. There was lots of inputting data in this section, so I feel a lot more comfortable with doing the inputs and outputs now. My map didn’t come out exactly like how the tutorial looks, but I think I still did most of it correctly. In 5.6, I had trouble because I accidentally pressed USA NLCD annual Land Cover instead of legacy, and it messed up my whole map, so it’s definitely important to pay close attention to each title you press, even if they’re similar. I got a good grasp on census data, too.

Chapter 6:

I liked this chapter and its tutorials; it was very easy to follow and use the search bar to complete things and follow along with every part it asked for. The geoprocessing sections helped me a lot since I was confused on that a bit in the last chapter. I liked that these tutorials were quicker to follow, but I wish there were longer “your turn” sections to help me apply what I learned. I only got a bit lost with the whole Tabulate Intersection part at the end of 6, but it was really helpful to learn through these chapters and apply new data to things.

Chapter 1

This tutorial was a nice introduction into how to use all the features of ArcGIS, it was actually much simpler than I originally thought it would be. This chapter focused a lot on turning features on and off, toggling the contents, and basic stuff. I liked being able to walk through all the specific features, and it was very easy to absorb the material. The longest part about it was just going step by step and making sure I understood what features the chapter was describing. There were a few times where I had to go back and retrace my steps to make sure I did something correctly, but it got pretty fun after the first few pages.

I couldnt figure out how to make any of my screenshots not blurry, though, so I’ll have to go back and figure that out at some point.

 

Chapter 2:

This chapter was also pretty easy to follow. I liked getting to add color, and the sections of the map were cool to explore. The different parts of the zoning were really neat. Again, the step-by-step and the “your turn” sections helped me retain a lot of the info. I did get stuck a few times with labeling, but I just had to go back and read really carefully. I also liked how I could watch the progress of all the steps show up on the map. The tutorial 2 part also confused me because my files started to act really weird and not save anything, but I eventually figured it out. This part explained labeling features and configuring pop-ups, which I was confused by at first, but eventually I got the hang of it.

Chapter 3:

This chapter was probably the longest for me to follow along with, out of all the other tutorials. I am beginning to feel confident in figuring out GIS, even when I still do get pretty confused on certain parts of the tutorial. I mainly struggled to understand the wording, but after looking up where i got stuck, it was much easier.

 

I learned parts like how to create a story map, how to insert charts, and how to make a dashboard. When I had to get rid of the name, I also got kind of stuck. I did really like seeing all of the features in this tutorial, though. I definitely learned a lot through these tutorials, and I am glad they’re so precise!

This was all in all really cool and fun to learn about. I’m honestly just impressed with myself that I was able to get through this whole thing in one night while being sick. So from now on I will definitely be doing these at the start of the week so that if I ever catch a cold on thursday I don’t have to be sick and suffering through hours of GIS Friday night lol

 

Chapter 4 

This chapter explains map density and how it can help with seeing concentrated patterns on given areas. Methods such as using a uniform areal unit can allow the distribution to be seen clearly. When it comes to deciding on what to map, it is very useful to think about the features being mapped and the information needed in order to create the map. There is also a difference between mapping the density of features and mapping feature values, such as the difference between mapping the locations of a business versus the density of its employees. Very different data sets.

There are two ways to map density: either based on features summarized by a defined area or by creating a density surface. Mapping by a defined area is recommended if you already have data summarized by area or lines that indicate this. It usually includes the use of dot density maps, helpful for representing the density of individual things such as people, trees, crimes, etc. It also explains further about the different layers for density values and different approaches when it comes to how detailed you may want your map. Its also noted as relatively easier than mapping by density surface. For mapping a density surface, it’s usually made in GIS as a raster layer. Meaning each cell gets a specific density value instead of being grouped into one. This approach is very helpful to use if you have many individual locations or sample points. This precision does require more effort as a result. 

I also learned that some GIS software, such as ArcGIS, lets you calculate density on the fly, or do things like summarize features or feature values for each polygon to make it easier. When reading about how to create a density surface, I did get a little lost, honestly. Especially on cells and their size, plus converting density into their units. However, their different sizes and their important roles in mapping is really interesting. Theres a good balance between big and small to get the smoothest results. 

 

Chapter 5 

This chapter is mainly about whats inside the map and monitoring it. By doing this, it can be known when action needs to be taken in certain areas or not. For example, how close a crime was committed to a school, and therefore requiring harsher consequences. It is important to define one’s analysis as well, and there are several methods to fit into different types of data sets. Consider how many areas there are, and what type of features are inside the areas. This will help determine finding whats inside a single or several areas. It defines what is found inside a single area, and it allows you to monitor activity or summarize info about the area. For example, the number of calls to 911 within a 1.5-mile radius of a fire station. As for multiple areas, you can compare the data. Such as zipcodes being contiguous (borders touching).

Another aspect mentioned is if the features inside are discrete or continuous. Discrete features would be defined as unique and identifiable. They can beput in a list or summarized numerically, such as crimes, pipelines, streams, etc. Continuous features are a seamless category, and don’t have an easily defined amount; they are more of a summarization. Things such as vegetation or elevation range. They have continuous numeric values that vary across a surface. There are even more different methods for features, such as: Drawing areas and features, quick and easy, but visual only. Selecting features in the area is good for a list or summary, but only for info on single areas. Overlaying the areas and features is very good for displaying what’s within several areas and summarizing by area, just takes more processing. 

Chapter 6 

For the last chapter, on finding what’s nearby, it explains how you can use mapping to see what’s within a set distance of a feature. It emphasises that it allows you to monitor activity in an area. Such as finding the traveling range of a feature, which can be done by distance, time, or cost. When finding things nearby, you have to decide how you want to measure the closeness of a location or feature, and what info you need to find a method. Methods could be straight-line distance, measure distance or cost over a network, or measure cost over a surface. Straight-line distance should be  if you’re defining an area of influence or want a quick estimate of travel range. It is simple, a rough approximation. Cost or distance over a network should be if you’re measuring travel over a fixed infrastructure to or from a source. It is more precise; it just needs more accurate network layering.  Cost over a surface should be if you’re measuring overland travel. It gives an area within travel range, allows several combined layers, and just requires some data preparation.

Key terminology, such as network layersare also introduced. Network layers are a geometric network composed of edges,  junctions, and turns. Junctions are the points where edges meet, and turns are used to specify the cost to travel through a junction. The GIS can tell where edges are connected. When creating things like this, you can also use buffers. Buffers are used to define a boundary and find what’s inside it. To make a buffer, you have to specify the source feature and the buffer distance. The GIS draws a line around the feature at the specified distance. The line can be kept as either a permanent boundary or temporarily. More important details like knowing if it is a flat plane or follows the curvature of the Earth, whether its necessary to have a list, count, or summary, etc. There are many repetitive concepts near the end of the chapter, which do help with remembering their functions, but it is difficult to separate the new;y obtained info from the old.

Theres so much information in these chapters I have no idea how to keep it down to 300 words tbh

Mitchell ERIS GIS book reading- Chapters 1,2, & 3

Since the publication of Mitchell’s book, the knowledge and application of GIS have increased dramatically. Written for both new and experienced GIS users, it gives a clear format to follow. Chapter 1 first introduces the question of what GIS analysis is, and how geographic features and attributes are related to the programming. “GIS is a process for looking at geographic patterns in your data and at relationships between features.” 

It discusses how data scientists realized the multitude of areas in which GIS and spatial analysis can be used to help aid many of our world’s problems. This ties into the usage of ArcGIS and many platforms alike. It’s a community to join, not just a way to map things. Through GIS, you can find out why things are where they are and how things are related. Framing questions and being specific help make the program run more smoothly. It’s good to have an understanding of how it will be used and who is the one using it. It also emphasises choosing a good method to approach; there’s a difference between precise and broad results.

Results can be displayed as a map, values in a table, or a chart. It shows examples and visuals of geographic features that are discrete, continuous phenomena, or summarized by area. With discrete features, the location can be pinpointed. Continuous phenomena are like a blanket, it can be found or measured anywhere and have no gaps (precipitation or temperature). Summarized by area represents the counts or density of individual features within area boundaries.

 

In the second chapter, it explains mapping. The helpful features that can be examined by maps, and how it allows people to understand where things are. The chapter gives several real-world examples of how GIS helps multiple professions get a clear idea of different obstacles and specific areas that need attention. By looking at the locations of features, you can begin to explore causes for the patterns you see.

Deciding what to map, what info you’re looking to obtain by the analysis, how you’re going to use the map, and knowing your audience are all key things to remember. Preparing your data is another key step, as there are many layers to categories in mapping. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the chapter encourages trying multiple views to find the best presentation.

 

Mapping the “most and least” is explained in the third chapter. But honestly, the explanations in this chapter felt repetitive of the first two. Many smaller, but essential features, of GIS and its mapping. Choosing places that meet the criteria and then applying them to maps. Mapping the patterns of features and knowing the best way to present them. The map’s audience plays a role too, understanding whether the data is being explored or presented by a map. Using ratios to accurately represent distributions, ranking, and creating classes. These help paint a larger picture. The chapter explores more about modeling suitability, exploring how to model suitability for various applications, including site selection and movement analysis.

I feel like I just absorbed so much about mapping and still have no clue what im doing

Cool to learn about though!

Hi, Im Jenny Koob! I am a freshman at OWU, and I am planning on majoring in Environmental Science and Botany, with a potential minor in Geography! I’m fascinated by how our ecosystems work and learning more about climate change, as well as the impact humans have on our ecosystems. Aside from my major, I really enjoy being outdoors, traveling, listening to music, playing guitar, and spending a lot of time with my friends.

Schuurman ch. 1 reflection

Before reading this chapter, I didn’t have much idea about the details of GIS. I knew I would figure it out soon enough within this course, but to have it laid out in a chapter actually really helped me grasp it. All of the examples of the usefulness of GIS were already quite intriguing, but to learn that even Starbucks (my literal job) also uses it shocked me! There are so many careers that find GIS so helpful to their work, its actually pretty encouraging. The more I learn about it, the more it makes sense on how it is integrated into so many parts of our world.

It also discusses the statistical side of it, and what questions people have to ask from all angles to work with the computers correctly while getting the data they want out of it. Spatial analysis is considered a completely separate thing from mapping, which is interesting. The development of ESRI was also neat to read about, especially as an envs major. This part: “Although some human geographers claim that CIS is a direct descendant of the quantitative revolution, CIS researchers are loath to accept this simplistic genealogy.” was, again, so shocking to me. I had no idea about all the discourse and opposition geographers faced with the newfound tech. Even if GIS is revered by many, I didn’t expect it to be seen as something to not accept.

As the reading goes on, it talks about how we as people interpret and perceive information, and notes that a majority of scientists argue that people “reason” through imagery. Which is very true in our society; you can see this everywhere: from grocery stores putting imagery of foods and items for buyers to easily interpret, to our road signs, to the way we even learn the alphabet. As a society, we use visuals to absorb and learn information, and I think this is a really intriguing part to note. Plus, I like the topic of “fuzzy lines” because it shows how unrealistic it is to put everything in boundaries and lines (as much as it helps GIS). As the reading wraps up, the distinction between GISystems and GIScience is very confusing, honestly, and I hope I learn more about it.

GIS applications– Coral reefs and the Redwoods

The first application I found with GIS was with the mapping of coral reefs. GIS helps scientists map, monitor, and analyze coral reef ecosystems by combining spatial data from satellites, drones, and field surveys to track changes over time. As climate change, warming ocean temperatures and ocean acidification continues, so does coral bleaching and habitat loss. GIS visualization shows spatial patterns of reef distribution and associated threats like thermal stress or human impacts.

The second application I was able to find was with California’s Redwoods.

GIS is used to map, monitor, and conserve redwood forests, especially along the California coast where the coast redwoods grow. By combining satellite imagery, elevation data, climate layers, and land-use information, GIS helps scientists understand where redwoods exist today, where they existed historically, and where they may survive in the future under climate change. I was actually lucky enough to have seen the Sequoia National Park last year, and hike through the forest of Redwoods. It was truly such an amazing experience, and I am very passionate about what I can do to help protect these trees.

I also completed Quiz 1! 🙂