Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Thursday, July 23, 2009

3-D Line of Sight options for Memorial Stadium

Sample Line of Sight (LOS) imposed on the DEM layer at Memorial Stadium shows the topography and obstructed areas (red) for viewing the stadium for security. I had to change the transparency from 60% to 80% to get a clearer image of the LOS lines. The V shaped LOS is from a tower that would provide a security observation point overlooking the tennis courts and associated parking lot.

I had trouble with this as I copied the LOS lines into the DEM layer. Some LOS were not intersecting the perimeter of the stadium. I could select some LOS for copy, but the did not paste into the image. When I turned off the orthoimage layer, they were not even under it to "move to the top".

Memorial Stadium Line of Sight Analysis graphs

This map shows examples of Line of Sight options for the California Memorial Stadium as part of a hazard threat analysis within the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Area (BAUA). The red areas in the line of sight indicate obstructions (as supported by the graphs). The LOS locations would be selected to provide maximium viewing of the stadium for security teams with minimum obstruction. Line of Sight pathways as wells as areas of obstruction should be monitored since this provides cover for undesirable individuals who may also want to have a clear line of sight in order to create a terrorist incident at the stadium.

It took a while to get the technique of selecting points, dragging the line and creating the LOS. It never worked in some areas, but the pink overlay did help me identify the areas that would likely have obstructed views (red) in the LOS. There were some LOS I could not get to create the related graph. This analysis shows some of the ones that did actually work. What an interesting tools for security!

Security Check Points for Alta Bates Medical Center

An intersection analysis identified ingress and egress points for Alta Bates Medical Center at the 500 foot security perimeter. These would be locations for increased security in planning for or reacting to a disaster in the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Area (BAUA) at or near Memorial Stadium. This location was selected because it had the ability to respond to high trauma incidents and would be considered essential service to adequately address an incident at the stadium.

Hospitals in the San Francisco BAUA

An analysis of the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Area (BAUA) identified an extensive list of infrastructure that could be vulnerable during a terrorist incident. This map shows the nine (9) hospitals located within 3 miles of the Memorial Stadium, which could be a target for a bomb during a high profile event.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Minimum Essential Data Sets (MEDS) for BAUA

This shows 8 essential data layers that should be developed for planning for emergencies. These data layers were prepared for the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Area (BAUA). I followed the instructions on page 159 to change the orthoimage layer to Memorial Stadium but did not see any instructions to change it back. The layer in my file that is Memorial Stadium is the orthoimage data layer.
This was not a difficult lab to follow, kind of a cook book, but lots of useful information in the instructions. Thanks to Michael for compiling the data in files on the VM to save time and help us understand the concepts. I sure hope all communities are doing this type of detailed preparation, and keeping it up to date!

3.5 Landmark Map for BAUA

This map identifies landmark features and infrastructure in the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Area (BAUA) for rapid identification in the event of a Homeland Security issue.

3.2 Map of Bay Area Urban Area (BAUA)

This is a basemap to identify the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Area (BAUA) with surrounding counties and municipalities and a 10 mile buffer region. This map is designed to serve as a starting point for planning for Homeland Security Planning, Preparation and Recovery in the event of an incident. It is critical to gather as much data as possible in advance to make it easier to analyze a situation in an emergency.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Auto theft crimes per portion of the day

Note how much lower the crime density is in the afternoon than in the evening, the time that most crimes occur.

Graph of crime per hour of the day


Density maps for assault, burglary and drug crimes


Crime locations in proximity to police stations.

Map 2 illustrates buffer distances of 2, 4 and 6 miles from police stations. Red stars indicate stations closest to the most reported crimes. The graph shows the number of crimes per closest station. Based on the proximity map, it is recommended that 4 additional police stations be established in the zone that is 6 or more miles from high crime stations. Additional stations are located to provide access to more remote high crime areas. To avoid costs of buildling new stations, vacant storefronts should be sought as suitable locations.

Crime Analysis Houston Map 1 with graph

Map 1 is a base map with location of roads, poplice stations and crimes. The graph depicts types of crimes in Houston during August, 2006.

Friday, July 3, 2009

First weighted overlay
Suitable Land Use 34%
Distance to Kissimmee 33%
Distance to St. Cloud 33%

Second weighted overlay
Suitable Land Use 45%
Distance to Kissimmee 45%
Distance to St. Cloud 10%


Based on some other influences not evident on these maps, I would suggest locations in area 1 as highest priority based on easy access to other neighboring counties via the Beachline, the Florida Turnpike and Highway 417 toll roads. This allows easy access to others traveling from throughout Central Florida. Area 2 would also be a good choice but transportation access would be primarily from the Florida Turnpike. This area is already approved for growth so locating land might be more difficult, but lower cost than some of the other areas.
The two weighted overlays are very similar indicating that the distance to St. Cloud does not have much merit and is very similar to the distance to Kissimmee overlay. The most obvious difference is the improvement in ranking and score for areas in the west Highway 192 corridor near Celebration, Walt Disney World and numerous hotels. This could have benefit if competitive events and tourism promotion become a priority.

Archery Range Parameters related to location analysis


Looking at distance to St. Cloud, Distance to Kissimmee and suitable land use options.
Ranked land uses:
Mixed Use- 9
Tourism Commercial- 8
Industrial- 7
Agriculture and Rural- 6
Commercial- 5

Locaiton base map for archery range in Osceola County, FL

Well, I messed this one up. Posted to the remote sensing blog by mistake!!! This is the base map developed for the do it yourself location lab.

Find possible locations for a competitive archery range complex in Osceola County:
Priorities include:
· Close to Kissimmee, FL
· Close to St. Cloud, FL
· Located in suitable land use area
Constraints are the distance to suitable property as well as suitable land use . Additional constraints not evaluated include zoning, transportation access , nearby lodging and price.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

2 Options based on ranking and weighing


4 criteria for selecting neighborhoods to move to

I was able to use the first layer as a template and copy info for the other l3 ayers. I had to set environments and projection to be sure all matched but it was easier than importing. A few times I had to relocate the file, even though I had it set to find the relative location. Guess that was one of the quirks of moving data within layers. I laid out the map and then inserted the layer data as I created the other 3 layers.

Locator Map of Study Area in Maricopa County, AZ

The selection area is located in Maricopa County Arizona. A family is looking at options for relocation there. They will work at Phoenix College and Chandler Regional Hospital. Odd that the north arroww and text on the locator insert re-alligned. Strange things happen. I was able to use this map as a base map for creating other maps almost like a template.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

3-D image of Uni Campus

Utilizing 3D analyst to develop graphics of building elevation and topography over a dem layer.

University student residency in Pewter County


Thematic map of student residency in Pewter City.

Urban Planning Map

An analysis of traffic impacts both local and on a connector road at the entrance to the University at Pewter City

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Flood impact zone in the Maplewood subdivision


This is a practical application to see how various lots in a neighborhood are impacted by 100 year and 500 year flood zones.

Manhattan, KS 1993 flood damage




Sunday, May 31, 2009

coast4 map and graph of acreage impacted


The graph shows acres of various landcover types impacted by 15 flood zone after Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005.

coast3 map of infrastructure impacts


The light blue portion of this map indicates 15 foot flood zone. Note that many cities, hospitals, churches and roads are in the impact zone. Katrina caused much damage to I-10, therefore delaying rescue and recovery efforts.

coast2 map and landcover type percent of flooded area


This maps shows the impact of a 15 foot flood on 3 coastal counties in southern Mississippi. Note the colored areas are all within the 15 foot flood zone. More than 26 percent of these 3 counties would be within the flooded zone. The graph depicts the percent of the flooded area in various landcover types as indicated with the different color symbols.

Hurricane Katrina Impacts to Coastal Mississippi


This map shows how much coastal lowland and coastal wetlands are on the southern coast of 3 Mississippi counties.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Who am I?

I work for University of Florida Cooperative Extension in Osceola County as a natural resources educator. I love walks in the woods, learning new things (good thing with all this GIS, Adobe Illustrator opportunities, eh?), getting out on the water, cooking and EATING. I am a chocoholic but not yet in a 12 step program.

Applications in GIS Blog

This is my blog page for Applications in GIS at UWF.