Mt Saint Helens 3D View
Mt Saint Helens Shade View
Monday, July 26, 2010
July 26 2010 OH CANADA and Lab 5
Lab 5 answers
1) 99 counties in Iowa
2) Fulton County 832094 persons
3) 39 cities within Washington State with population of 15,000
4) 3990.666895Miles of interstate
5) 871656 Acres
6) 522 zip codes
7) See Map
8) 5 Indian Reservations
Kitigan Zibi Indian
Doncaster Indian Reserve 17
Kahnawake Indian Reserve 14
Kahnawake Indian Reserve 16
Akwesasne Indian Reserve 15
Monday, July 19, 2010
July 19 Blog Using Data
Numbers what do they mean? why are they useful? Why does it matter? People ask these whenever they look at “the Numbers”
The GIS software can translate the numbers into a visual representation - a map, that people can understand and can interpret what the “numbers” are telling us. The three maps below are a representation of 3 population groups tables (Black, Asian, and Other Race) downloaded from the United States Census website. Each map I will describe and interpret what has been produced. I will also include some of the positives and negatives that arose upon producing each map.
The United States Black population map clearly shows that majority of the Black populations are in the southern states. These include the Virginia, Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The Southeastern part of the state of Texas and the Southern California also has significant black population.
The Second map focusing on the United States Asian population shows a different result. Asian populations on the map are focused more in major cities rather than focused in one region of the nation. Cities such as San Francisco and New York clearly have a large Asian population. The State of Hawaii is the only state that has a large Asian Population within its counties. Additional there are “pockets” of counties that have Asian populations of between 3% to 7% with the proximity of Portland and San Antonio.
What is titled the United States “Others Races” population map should be retiled to United States Mixed with Hispanic Population. The biggest clue is the focus of the Hispanic populations in the States of California New Mexico Arizona and Texas. Information from the media and internet have shown the increase in population of this ethnic group within these states. What can be concluded is a possibly that the population in this third map of “Other Races” could be the mixing of other races with the Hispanic population which therefore produces a population that is “Mixed with Hispanic blood”.
More analysis would be needed however to verify the data.
Creating these three population maps created some new challenges in working with the GIS software. First retrieving of the Data and modifying it so that the GIS could merge and translate it into a map. The population data from the Census website contained data that was not needed. It became necessary to delete the unwanted data and modifying the headers. What I discovered was the importance of keeping spelling correct or face error results from the GIS when joining the data to the shape file. This did take some trial and error but eventually the results were produced. In addition there are “gaps” in the maps. This may be due to counties that may have no data on the specific race or could be an unincorporated county. The GIS software must be told exactly what to do and must match it to data this is time consuming but must be done for the GIS to work properly. The second challenge in making the map is the integration of the states of Alaska and Hawaii. Problems of setting the data frame with the map, having correct coordinate system, and carefully setting the scales for the additional two maps. The result is a balanced map that shows all the information on different race populations of the fifty states of the United States, which other people can understand and gain knowledge from.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
July 7 13 Blog
Lab 3 Write Up
Working with the preserved map projections of Conformal, Equidistant and Equal Area, has showed me the importance of knowing and setting the proper map projection when given a GIS project. I will discuss the following 3 topics, first how the map projection differed from each other, second the results (distance from Washington DC to Kabul) concluded from each of the map projections. Lastly the preferred map projection I would use for my GIS usage.
The map projections of Conformal, Equidistant and Equal Area have their own way of projecting the earth. The first map made of the conformal projects of WGS 1984 Web Mercator and World Mercator. Both projections keep the distances at the Equator relatively correct, but “stretch” the polar areas. This is also the same property that my Gall Orthographic Projection (Equal Area Map) and Plate Carree Projection (Equidistant Map Projection) have as well. The Equidistant (Conic) Projection on my equidistant projections map shows a view from the North Pole but has better represents the size and shapes of the Greenland and Russia, which the other projections I made did not. The problem with this projection is the any land mass south of the equator is exaggerated, such as Australia, Africa and Madagascar. The Sinusoidal Projection is the only map projection that does not “stretch” or exaggerate like the other projections. It keeps the land masses proportional and a better representation of the earth’s land mass. The only problem is the poles areas where the projection creates a point and is not rounded.
With the varying differences in each projection came different results of the distant between Washington DC to Kabul. Both the conformal projections had the distant of the two cities at about 10,000 miles. The equal area map projections had the distant of the two cities between 7,200 miles and 8,100 miles, my assumption is that the equal area map projections keeps the distances at these latitudes consistent, unlike the conformal projections. The equal distant map projections had different results the Plate Carree projection distance between DC and Kabul is 10,200miles the most of any projection. Compared to the equidistant (conic) projection of 7,800 miles the lowest of the projections. I equidistant (conic) projection is the most correct due to the projection following true shape of the earth from its northern projection.
With so many different results from the measurement of distances of Washington DC and Kabul. I have to come to the conclusion that each map projection serves a different purpose. The proper projection should be used when needed, for example finding places and distances in the North Pole areas as such with equidistant (conic) projection. The projections each do have some error but it is necessary for them to be used as they are serve as a template for what the earth shape is like. I feel however that projections may become obsolete as GPS has allowed the proper measurement of our earth will eventually be the norm and projection become a thing of the past.
Monday, June 28, 2010
July Blog Lab 2A & 2B
Lab 2a & 2b
Take a look at my map of my Winter Olympic Trip
View Sherwin Aquino Olympic Travel Map in a larger map
Lab 2a Write Up
The creating of personal maps which I can share with others through the use of Google my maps is a great communication medium. I am able to share information of a place that others may want learn more about or to visit. Neogeography has great potential however, has pitfalls which can make the information that is shared, not useful or irrelevant. Both the positives and negatives will be discussed below.
The potential for my maps in Google Maps is already in full swing. Many personal maps are shared by many people everyday. From finding the location of the nearest store, to the best scenic bike routes,to virtual tours of places. The variety of maps that can be viewed on Google Maps is enormous. The my map I have made is of my Winter Olympics trip to Vancouver. I have included the places I stayed, the day to day routes that were traveled as well as the integration of pictures that where taken on the trip. In this way I am sharing with others the unique experience of the Olympics. Yet my map is not perfect and has pitfalls that comes with creating a personal map.
The pitfalls of Neogeography is first, errors which includes location errors and naming errors. The second pitfall of neogeography is personal opinion and bias.
The first pitfall of errors of location and names is critical. As a visitor to any new place you do not have the knowledge of the area as local who lives in the area. Therefore as a visitor you make assumptions and pick certain places as “home base” to find your way around. With this however will come a degree of error of where places (such as restaurants and points of interest) really are. The location of a place that has been plotted on a personal map may not be its actually location in reality. For my maps I decided on relative location, by this I have locations of certain places I visited plotted as close proximity to the its actual location. (example Whistler Village Skiing) This was due to the limitation of Google maps saving my map and the difficulty to put the place mark on the exact location. Additionally, my map uses mostly the English names of places within Vancouver and Whistler. The Native Tribes names of various places was not researched and not labeled on my maps.
The Second pitfall, of personal opinion and bias. My maps only show the places I feel where great sites to visit on the trip. The information on sites I have visited may to someone else be considered uninteresting. For example a person may not interested in the location of Aunties house, because they are planning to stay in a hotel. Or a person may not care for the location of the Whistler Ski resort because they a bad experience skiing. Furthermore sites as the Capilano Bridge, may be considered boring to those who are the more adventurous type and may have wanted information on hiking or other activity . The usage of my map by others planning to visit about Vancouver shows information that I know and will may be useful to everyone.
Creating of personal map should come with a well though out process and relaying information to others in a simple yet informative way. The Google Maps my maps is a great tool but in working with this web based application I had some difficulties. The plotting of route lines and how they are plotted can be a difficult task. The “extending” the line feature for example would either make a longer line or would shorten the line into the wrong route on the map. The snap to roads option I found not useful for me because it predetermined (LOCKED to roads) the roads, which were not the roads that was taken on the trip. Saving is an issue as well due to Google saving it on their computers and not on the local computer., which caused a couple errors such as shifting the map and the lines being moved around the map. Beyond these difficulties I believe that anyone can make a personal map to share with anyone, but will always be subject to those who look and interpret the map for there use.
Lab 2B
Here is my Proposed Airport Expansion Map
2B Write Up
Enlightening the one word that describes my experience with Arc Map GIS. Working with the Arc MAP on a daily basis at my current job has made me an end user of the GIS map Production. Being able to open a pre made map point and click to items I wish and produce a sewer work order map for my job has made my view of GIS as convenient. Taking this GIS course has given me a new take on ArcMapGIS, showing how powerful the program really is in creating a multitude of maps. I have been enlightened by its ability to integrate more than one map, do calculations and variate presentation. I hope that throughout this course to learn more powerful tools that can be used with Arc Map. I will focus on two items in this blog, the first being what new tools I have learned using the GIS and second the negatives of the program.
Having used the GIS program before, the first part of the lab with basic controls and options was familiar to me. I had no trouble using the interface and understanding the “work flow “ of Arc GIS, in exercise 2 and 3 working with Geographic Features and tables. I have finally learned how the layers, lines, and polygons are made. The instructions given in the tutorial were straight forward and easy to follow. The calculating of population density revealed a tool I did not use previous in the GIS software. Creating the final map required more time but it allowed me to present the airport map that can be used by others.
However the GIS program does have some downfalls, one of the most key is the requirement of the GIS Program to put in all inputs and instruct it what to map. There is no easy wizard that can used to assist the user in creating a map they want to create. Another downfall is the different terminology that must be known ahead of time, such as data frame and extent rectangle. Having heard of the terms allowed me to quickly move in the tutorial but would have made a first time user confused.
Overall my experience with the GIS software has been positive, having worked with it previous at my work. The potential for me to use this software to produce maps in any future work related or academic research will be a skill that will be useful. Yet with the program constantly evolving and updating the need to keep up to date with new features of the program will prevent me from mastering the program to level a feel competent in.
Take a look at my map of my Winter Olympic Trip
View Sherwin Aquino Olympic Travel Map in a larger map
Lab 2a Write Up
The creating of personal maps which I can share with others through the use of Google my maps is a great communication medium. I am able to share information of a place that others may want learn more about or to visit. Neogeography has great potential however, has pitfalls which can make the information that is shared, not useful or irrelevant. Both the positives and negatives will be discussed below.
The potential for my maps in Google Maps is already in full swing. Many personal maps are shared by many people everyday. From finding the location of the nearest store, to the best scenic bike routes,to virtual tours of places. The variety of maps that can be viewed on Google Maps is enormous. The my map I have made is of my Winter Olympics trip to Vancouver. I have included the places I stayed, the day to day routes that were traveled as well as the integration of pictures that where taken on the trip. In this way I am sharing with others the unique experience of the Olympics. Yet my map is not perfect and has pitfalls that comes with creating a personal map.
The pitfalls of Neogeography is first, errors which includes location errors and naming errors. The second pitfall of neogeography is personal opinion and bias.
The first pitfall of errors of location and names is critical. As a visitor to any new place you do not have the knowledge of the area as local who lives in the area. Therefore as a visitor you make assumptions and pick certain places as “home base” to find your way around. With this however will come a degree of error of where places (such as restaurants and points of interest) really are. The location of a place that has been plotted on a personal map may not be its actually location in reality. For my maps I decided on relative location, by this I have locations of certain places I visited plotted as close proximity to the its actual location. (example Whistler Village Skiing) This was due to the limitation of Google maps saving my map and the difficulty to put the place mark on the exact location. Additionally, my map uses mostly the English names of places within Vancouver and Whistler. The Native Tribes names of various places was not researched and not labeled on my maps.
The Second pitfall, of personal opinion and bias. My maps only show the places I feel where great sites to visit on the trip. The information on sites I have visited may to someone else be considered uninteresting. For example a person may not interested in the location of Aunties house, because they are planning to stay in a hotel. Or a person may not care for the location of the Whistler Ski resort because they a bad experience skiing. Furthermore sites as the Capilano Bridge, may be considered boring to those who are the more adventurous type and may have wanted information on hiking or other activity . The usage of my map by others planning to visit about Vancouver shows information that I know and will may be useful to everyone.
Creating of personal map should come with a well though out process and relaying information to others in a simple yet informative way. The Google Maps my maps is a great tool but in working with this web based application I had some difficulties. The plotting of route lines and how they are plotted can be a difficult task. The “extending” the line feature for example would either make a longer line or would shorten the line into the wrong route on the map. The snap to roads option I found not useful for me because it predetermined (LOCKED to roads) the roads, which were not the roads that was taken on the trip. Saving is an issue as well due to Google saving it on their computers and not on the local computer., which caused a couple errors such as shifting the map and the lines being moved around the map. Beyond these difficulties I believe that anyone can make a personal map to share with anyone, but will always be subject to those who look and interpret the map for there use.
Lab 2B
Here is my Proposed Airport Expansion Map
2B Write Up
Enlightening the one word that describes my experience with Arc Map GIS. Working with the Arc MAP on a daily basis at my current job has made me an end user of the GIS map Production. Being able to open a pre made map point and click to items I wish and produce a sewer work order map for my job has made my view of GIS as convenient. Taking this GIS course has given me a new take on ArcMapGIS, showing how powerful the program really is in creating a multitude of maps. I have been enlightened by its ability to integrate more than one map, do calculations and variate presentation. I hope that throughout this course to learn more powerful tools that can be used with Arc Map. I will focus on two items in this blog, the first being what new tools I have learned using the GIS and second the negatives of the program.
Having used the GIS program before, the first part of the lab with basic controls and options was familiar to me. I had no trouble using the interface and understanding the “work flow “ of Arc GIS, in exercise 2 and 3 working with Geographic Features and tables. I have finally learned how the layers, lines, and polygons are made. The instructions given in the tutorial were straight forward and easy to follow. The calculating of population density revealed a tool I did not use previous in the GIS software. Creating the final map required more time but it allowed me to present the airport map that can be used by others.
However the GIS program does have some downfalls, one of the most key is the requirement of the GIS Program to put in all inputs and instruct it what to map. There is no easy wizard that can used to assist the user in creating a map they want to create. Another downfall is the different terminology that must be known ahead of time, such as data frame and extent rectangle. Having heard of the terms allowed me to quickly move in the tutorial but would have made a first time user confused.
Overall my experience with the GIS software has been positive, having worked with it previous at my work. The potential for me to use this software to produce maps in any future work related or academic research will be a skill that will be useful. Yet with the program constantly evolving and updating the need to keep up to date with new features of the program will prevent me from mastering the program to level a feel competent in.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
June 23 2010 1st Blog - 3 Interesting Hawaii Maps 1 UCLA Map
Welcome to Sherwin Hawaii Maps Spot !!!!!
This blog will serve as both an open space for any one to blog about Hawaii maps and serve as my blog space for my Geography 7 course.
So please feel free to blog away.
This 1st Blog has three interesting Hawaii maps for discussion as well as a map and elevation chart of UCLA where I am currently taking classes. I also have included the answers to Lab 1b
This is the City & County of Honolulu Department of Planning Interactive GIS maps.
These interactive maps allow anyone in the world to get various information on Oahu; such as parcel size and ownership, infrastructure (sewer lines) and places of interest. This map can be used by potential home buyers, vacation planners as well architects and engineers. I have used the interactive map daily at my work place with the City & County of Honolulu and is a valuable tool in helping the public find the information they need about Oahu. Working in the wastewater branch much of the public is unaware of the various sewer lines that run though the streets and sometimes though their property. The information they get from the GIS maps helps owners to find solutions for their sewer problems and helps inform them. Though this interactive map is robust. There are still errors on it that has caused confusion, for example sewer lines that are digitized incorrectly within a given property. Home owners have called our department complaining that they did not know a sewer line ran though there property. We must inform them that the GIS information is not perfect and there are errors.
2nd map
Hawaii Coastal Erosion
URL www.soest.hawaii.edu/asp/coasts/oahu/index.asp
Been to Waikiki Beach on Oahu lately? Does the beach look a little smaller to you? One place you can find out if the beach is really getting smaller is on the Hawaii Coastal Erosion site hosted by the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science Technology. To the left is a map of the Waikiki Beach area and erosion patterns since 1927. It shows how the beach shoreline has changed over the years and pinpoints areas that have dramatic shoreline change. What I like about this map is the historical engineering events that have been undertaken to slow down the erosion. It helps me realize how precious the beach is and how mother nature continues her work. However I find the map to be very "busy" it shows the property lines of various properties in Waikiki which I feel should be removed, additionally increasing the font size of the facts box, would be beneficial due to most people viewing this map on a home computer.
3rd Map
State of Hawaii Dept of Business Economic Development & Tourism Maps
http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/gis/maps
To the right is a map produced by the Dept of Business Economic Development & Tourism, which shows various land owners on the island of Oahu. What should have been added to this map is a pie chart showing the percentage of ownership. There are a number of private land owners that have more ownership of land than public land owners. This I feel would add perspective to the ownership of land on the island of Oahu. The map legend does feel a bit cluttered with the listing of every land owner. These minor map changes will I believe make the map more practical.
This blog will serve as both an open space for any one to blog about Hawaii maps and serve as my blog space for my Geography 7 course.
So please feel free to blog away.
This 1st Blog has three interesting Hawaii maps for discussion as well as a map and elevation chart of UCLA where I am currently taking classes. I also have included the answers to Lab 1b
This is the City & County of Honolulu Department of Planning Interactive GIS maps.These interactive maps allow anyone in the world to get various information on Oahu; such as parcel size and ownership, infrastructure (sewer lines) and places of interest. This map can be used by potential home buyers, vacation planners as well architects and engineers. I have used the interactive map daily at my work place with the City & County of Honolulu and is a valuable tool in helping the public find the information they need about Oahu. Working in the wastewater branch much of the public is unaware of the various sewer lines that run though the streets and sometimes though their property. The information they get from the GIS maps helps owners to find solutions for their sewer problems and helps inform them. Though this interactive map is robust. There are still errors on it that has caused confusion, for example sewer lines that are digitized incorrectly within a given property. Home owners have called our department complaining that they did not know a sewer line ran though there property. We must inform them that the GIS information is not perfect and there are errors.
2nd map
Hawaii Coastal Erosion
URL www.soest.hawaii.edu/asp/coasts/oahu/index.asp
Been to Waikiki Beach on Oahu lately? Does the beach look a little smaller to you? One place you can find out if the beach is really getting smaller is on the Hawaii Coastal Erosion site hosted by the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science Technology. To the left is a map of the Waikiki Beach area and erosion patterns since 1927. It shows how the beach shoreline has changed over the years and pinpoints areas that have dramatic shoreline change. What I like about this map is the historical engineering events that have been undertaken to slow down the erosion. It helps me realize how precious the beach is and how mother nature continues her work. However I find the map to be very "busy" it shows the property lines of various properties in Waikiki which I feel should be removed, additionally increasing the font size of the facts box, would be beneficial due to most people viewing this map on a home computer.3rd Map
State of Hawaii Dept of Business Economic Development & Tourism Maps
http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/gis/maps
To the right is a map produced by the Dept of Business Economic Development & Tourism, which shows various land owners on the island of Oahu. What should have been added to this map is a pie chart showing the percentage of ownership. There are a number of private land owners that have more ownership of land than public land owners. This I feel would add perspective to the ownership of land on the island of Oahu. The map legend does feel a bit cluttered with the listing of every land owner. These minor map changes will I believe make the map more practical. Answers to Lab 1B
1) Beverly Hills Quadrangle
2) Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice, Inglewood
3) 1966
4) North American datum (NAD) 1927
5) 1:24,000
6) a) 1200meters b) 1.896 miles c) 2.64 in d) 12.5cm
7) 20ft
8) a) 34 Degrees 4 minutes 1 second N, 188 Degrees 26 Minutes 15 Seconds W (34.0669, 188.4375)
b) 34 Degrees 0 Minutes 31 seconds N , 188 Degrees 29 Minutes 55 Seconds W (34.1172, -118.4986)
c) 34 Degrees 7 minutes 2 seconds N 188 Degrees 27Min 1 Second
9) a) 550 Feet (167 meters)
b) 140 feet (42.67meters)
c) 620 feet ( 182 meters )
10) Zone 11
11) 37 & 63
12) 1,000,000 sq
13) See Below
14) 14Degress 249 MILS
15) South
16) See Below
Below is a map of UCLA and a chart showing the elevation changes of the campus
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