GIS I Lab 5

The main goal of lab five is to enable myself to appropriately choose and apply various vector geoprocessing tools encountered in lectures and Price tutorials to determine suitable habitats for bears in the study area of Marquette County, Michigan. In addition to my lab I was introduced to the ArcGIS python window and explored its functionalities in running geoprocessing operations by writing scripts.

            In part one of the lab I examined an attribute table that is based on GPS locations of black bears in Michigan and with that data I need to determine the forest types where blacks bears are found in central Marquette County. To determine the results I applied the intersecting geoprocessing tool, which ultimately combined the black bear location data and land cover data. As a result from the exercise I was able to determine that the number one forest type with black bears present is mix forest land. Next I determined black bears occurrence within a ten-mile proximity of streams in Marquette County. First I used the geoprocessing tool called buffer, which allows us to identify areas or features that fall within a certain distance of applied feature(s). After applying the buffer tool I dissolved the streams buffer, which combines the entire streams buffer into one by eliminating lines within the buffer making it more neat and organized. Once the buffer and dissolve process is complete, the black bear location shapefile is intersected with the stream buffer, dissolve shapefile. I found from the results of this data that 73% of the bears are located with a ten-mile buffer from a stream. My last task of part one was to include the DNR management areas in the study area of Marquette County. When first adding the DNR management areas I noticed that I needed to use the dissolve tool to eliminate lines within the boundaries of their designated areas. My next step was to then intersect the DNR management areas and study area, so I could remove DNR areas that didn’t apply to the study area. After implementing basic geoprocessing operations and creating a cartographically pleasing map in part one it was then time to move on to part two.

            Part two involved python scripting, which is first introduced to me to help prepare myself for advanced GIS courses. Objective one involved finding suitable areas for the development of tourist resorts in Wisconsin. The shapefiles used in part two are Wisconsin cities, interstates, lakes, and counties. To perform the first objective I opened the python window and began scripting for the first time. The first scripted line is import arcpy. My next line requires a buffer analysis on Wisconsin cities and dissolving the ten-mile buffer. My next task is to perform is the geoprocessing operation called clipping, so in my python window I do a clip analysis on lakes that are greater than five square miles within the ten-mile buffer of the cities. After completing the python scripting I have my results and can now determine where to develop a tourist resort. The second objective is to model air pollution impact zones along interstates in Wisconsin. Performing this analysis requires the use of the python window where I apply a multiple ring buffer to the interstates on mile one, two, three, four, five, and six. The closest buffer to the interstate is the most hazardous meaning very high air pollution and at the six-mile buffer there is a low amount of air pollution. Once both objectives in part two were complete I designed two pleasing, organized maps that can be analyzed easily by a viewers.

            The completion of lab five helped me appropriately apply numerous vector geoprocessing operations in python scripting to real life scenarios and benefited me by making fast as well as easy analysis on the projected data.