Callie's GIS Blog

Suitability and Least-Cost Analysis: Scenario 4  Analysis H: Corridor Analysis on Your Own In this analysis we are looking at the movement of black bears in the Coronado National Forest in two specific locations creating a corridor in-between. During this analysis we will follow a criteria suitable for black bear habitat and will be rated on a scale of 1- 10. With 1 being the least suitable and 10 being the most suitable.  After working on this Scenario I couldn't get the result I need to be looking for. I struggled with the tools and the knowledge of the inputs. For the first part of the Analysis I could not get the Weighted Overlay tool to get me 10 values, only 8. Next, I was not sure what was meant by 'Create a cost surface by ‘inverting’ the suitability model' so I tried my best but with no luck I couldn't create a corridor raster. So my final result is the screengrab below.

Suitability and Least-Cost Analysis: Scenario 2 Analysis C: Rating Locations in Raster In this scenario we are looking at what sections of land are suitable for development based on varied factors such as landcover, soils, slope, distance to streams, and distance to roads. With the results of the analysis, we can see what areas are suitable for development based on all these factors. Before running the result, each category (landcover, soils, slope, distance to streams, and distance to roads) had an individual raster created for individual results. Once all five individual results/rasters were created, I combined all five individual rasters together as one result/raster with the Weighted Overlay Tool for our final results.  There were two analyses run with the Weighted Overlay Tool. One analysis was run with equal weights (20% each) between the five categories, and the second analysis was run with alternative weights between the five categories - landcover 20%, soils 20%, slope 4...

  This week in Module 5 we are introduced to damage assessment for Hurricane Sandy from 2012. During this task we first created a map of the storm to track its path and intensity. Next, we created a survey for the public use to report any storm damage.  To jumpstart this assessment we used ariel imagery of pre-storm and post-storm photos of the selected study area. After uploading pre and post-imagery I used the swipe tool for easy assessment of structural damages.  I was looking for major changes in buildings, erosion (sand) and inundation. I could see where was sand pushed into homes on post-imagery, so I kept that in mind while making the judgement for identifying structural damage. The most difficult decisions I had were how to categorize the wind damage with the structural damage. I decided to base my judgement on properties being closest to the coast and how storm surge + wind would affect those properties differently than inland properties. If there was more inform...

For this week in Module 4 we take a look at coastal flooding and erosion for Mantoloking, New Jersey and Collier, Florida.  For Mantoloking, New Jersey we take a look at elevation changes post Hurricane Sandy. Using DEM and LiDAR we compare pre and post storm data to evaluate where and how much erosion has occurred along this New Jersey shoreline.  After moving on from the section above, this assignment was by far the toughest GIS assignment yet in the GIS journey. There were many tools and trick I have not yet worked with or had experience with making this a challenging assignment. I tried my best to accomplish this assignment but with my new GIS background I unfortunately cannot fully explain what our end goal should have been. What I can explain is we should have seen flooding areas and destroyed building through DEMs and LiDAR data.