Week 10 - Analyze data for homeland security

Week 8: Project 1 - Analyze Washington D.C.'s Crime

This map shows the crime in Washington D.C during August of 2009 along with the locations of Police Stations. The data was provided by the DC Metropolitan Police Department for crime analysis in order to distribute patrol resources effectivly. One of the many ways the data was used, was to figure out crime patterns near police stations to help determine how effective they are and if building new substations would be helpful. The map below shows the recommended police substations.

Week 7 - Location Decisions: Duval County, Florida

Please veiw the link below for presentation.
http://students.uwf.edu/ylm2/MovingFamily.pptx

Location Decisions: Homing in on Alachua County, Florida

In this exercise were to create maps to help a couple make a decision as to where to live. since they both landed jobs in Alachua County, FL. I didn't have any issues with this assignment as it had great direction. Now we'll see how well I do on my own for next weeks assignment.

This is a basemap of Alachua County, Florida showing places, roads, and public lands to give a better understanding of the distribution of features in the area.


The next map is showing the different deciding factors the couple used to help them figure out where they should live.

The next map shows two weighted overlays combining the various factors used to determine the best place to live.

Week 5 - Urban Planning and Impact Assessment Activity 2

The only issue I ran into was Step 6 during exercise 3, when asked to add a field to the table. I received an error saying the table was in use. I closed ArcMap and then opened ArcCatalog and tried adding the field to the IndustryDesc table and it worked. I was then able to continue working.

ArcGIS Animation: Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

http://students.uwf.edu/ylm2/DeepwaterHorizonOilExtent.avi

The above animation shows the deep water horizon oil extent between April 24, 2010 through May 26Th 2010. I was having trouble with the projections on this assignment. I tried to use the Projections & Transformations/Feature/Project tool in ArcCatalog and could not get it to work. I finally checked out the discussion board and found Dily's post to be very helpful. With using the Define Projection tool on each layer to set the property to Unknown and then using the Define Projection tool again to redefine each layer to GCS NAD 1983. I was able to go back and Project each feature to UTM NAD 16N. It worked like a charm.

Week 2 - 4 Natural Hazards: Participation Activity

Emergency management programs depend on data from various sources which are collected, and analyzed. Most emergency data requirements are of spatial nature therefore Geographic Information System (GIS) is a much needed tool. It gives the ability compile information regarding area population, infrastructure, and geographical characteristics from many sources. GIS plays a vital role in the management of disasters with its flexibility and applications. Information involving the damage done during a disaster can be uploaded and applied to preexisting files to analyze and determine a number of factors. These factors include but are not limited to cost, type and degree of damage, kinds of help needed, and reconstruction efforts.

GIS is playing a major role in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill event occuring in the Gulf of Mexico. Maps have been created to show the area of the spill and predictions of what areas are likely to be impacted next. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is able to determine where to use booms, barriers and skimmers in order to contain and store the spilled oil until it can be disposed of properly. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is working on a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) which is used to help establish the type and amount of rehabilitation needed to compensate the public due to the of the oil spill. These are just a few of many ways GIS is being used in this man made catastrophe.