Lab 8, Week 9

The Los Angeles County Station Fire was a series of fires that began in the Angeles National Forest that raged on for a little under two months.  The huge fire left devastating destructing, burning more than 160,000 acres of land and threatened 12,000 structures in the national forest and nearby counties.  It also claimed the lives of two brave firefighters.  Surrounding areas nearby were also in danger, and many roads were closed off.  

My first two maps located at the top of my post depict the fire's threat on nearby communities and cities.  I wanted to depict the amount of danger that the fire imposed on the safety of Los Angeles citizens. The first map is a reference area, to roughly show the fire's exposure to cities, major highways, and counties.  This was to give a rough idea of the fire's influence on public safety.

The second map gives a close overview of the fire's effect on cities.  Based upon the map, it is clear that many Los Angeles cities were in danger: San Fernando, La Crescenta, La Canada, Atedena, Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena.  It is clear that the effects of the fire would be devastating not only to the cities themselves, but to the wildlife located in these areas.

The third and fourth map represents the fire's effect on urbanized places and highly populated areas.  This map represents an overlay between the highly populated and urban areas, representing how on a grander scale the fire's impact on urban areas. Many home owner's needed assistance due to the aftermath of the fire.  The home owner's of Los Angeles had to receive assistance with their properties and had to meet with flood-control engineers. 

The focus of my thematic map was public safety.  All of my maps represent the reach of the fire and how devastating arson can be to populated areas.  This lab allowed me to focus on the ways that natural disaster's effect an area.  By utilizing the analysis of cities, urban areas, and major roadways; I was able to visually understand how far the fire reached. This lab truly relayed the importance of GIS to me, as I felt I was finally able to use the functions to actually analyze landscape.  On a much greater scale, geographers and public safety officials use processes like the ones I used in this lab to best prevent the demise of public safety when land disasters occur. 

Works Cited

Gregory, John. "Evacuations issued in La Canada-Flintridge." http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=6985650. ABC News, 27 August 2009. Web. 8 June 2012.

Lopez, Robert. "Fire Force evacuations in La Cañada, Palo Verdes Peninsula." http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/28/local/me-fire-heat-28. Los Angeles Times, 28 August 2009. Web. 8 June 2012.

"Evacuation info, Road and School Closures." http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-station-fire-evacuations,0,2674869,full.story. KTLA News, 10 September 2009. Web. 8 June 2012.

"Station Fire forces more evacuation." http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=6989236. ABC News, 29 August 2009. Web. 8 June 2012.

"National Highway Planning Network." http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/processes/tools/nhpn/. U.S. Department of Transportation, 2012. Web. 8 June 2012.

Week 8, Lab 7

This map represents the percent of Asian population by county.  It is clear that the Asian populations are greatest within California and parts of Washington.  There does not seem to exist a large representation of Asian people by percentage within the middle of America.  It appears that Asian populations are great in parts of the East Coast as well.  The amount of Asian populations in California is representative of the Gold Rush Era in California, and possibly immigrants that resulted from war. 

The black population by percentage is greatest within the South.  I am surprised that there is not a larger Black population within California or New York.  I would think that Los Angeles alone would represent a greater density of the black population.  It could be that the amount of diversity present in both New York and California make it so that the black population is not the greatest percentage.  Instead, it may be that there is a certain amount of equality of all races.  The abundance of Blacks in the South is also attributed to United States History, in which Black populations where enslaved and brought to the south in the 1800s.   

This map represents some other race in percentage by county.  I am curious as to what exactly some other race truly represents.  I am assuming it is mostly representing a mixed race of people.  It could also represent the hispanic population.  By percentage, it is clear that this is greatest within the South East.

All maps are based upon data gathered by the US Census in 2000.  They represent percentage of Black, Asian, and Some Other Race populations broken down by county.  I believe that the map series would have been more complete with an analysis and further break down of the data that is captured as "some other race".  I also believe that it would have helped to see the white population as well.  

I thought that this lab was interesting and useful.  I am becoming proud of my increased comfort and skill with the ArcGIS software.  Through this lab, I used data in excel sheets that were joined with other data and attribute tables to produce colorful maps to display population by percentage. 

Lab 6, Week 7

I used arcGIS and arcMaps to create a 3D model of an area, and to map the slope, hillshade, and aspect. The area that was captured on my map was from the Los Angeles area, close to the 405.  The area was surrounded by Beverly Glen, Topanga, and Bel Air.  The area is of Beverly Hills and encompasses Stone Canyon.  The coordinate position of the cursor is 34" 07' 2.414"N, 118" 30' 28.701" W.  The geographic coordinate system used was the North American Datum 1983.

Map Projections Week 6

This map is a type of Conformal map, it is a Mercator Projection.  The distance between Washington, D.C. and Kabul, Afghanistan:
Planar: 10,112.118 mi
Geodesic: 6,934.478 mi
Loxodrome: 8,112.060 mi

This map is also a type of Conformal map, the distance between Washington, D.C. and Kabul, Afghanistan:
Planar: 9,889.297 mi
Geodesic: 6,934.478 mi
Loxodrome: 8,112.061 mi

This map is a type of Equidistant map, it is the Sphere Azimuthal Equidistant Map Projection.  The distance from Washington, D.C. and Kabul, Afghanistan:
Planar: 8,326.155 mi
Geodesic:  6,926.719 mi
Loxodrome: 10,096.752 mi

This type of map is a Equidistant Conic Map, a type of Equidistant Projection.  The distance between Washington, D.C. and Kabul, Afghanistan is:
Planar: 6,932.370 mi
Geodesic: 6,926.719 mi
Loxodrome: 8,093.349 mi

This is an Equal Area Projection map, the distance between Washington, D.C. and Kabul, Afghanistan  is
Planar: 40, 387 mi
Geodesic: 6,936.719 mi
Loxodrome: 10,096. 752 mi

The North Pole Lambert is a type of Equal Area Projection, the distance between Washington, D.C. and  Kabul, Afghanistan is
Planar: 6,932.370 mi
Geodesic: 6,926 . 719 mi
Loxodrome: 8,093.349 mi

Map projections are extremely important.  They not only depict the way that people perceive maps, but they also change the distance between places.  Different types of map projections distort the world differently, however they all create some type of distortion.  This creates the differences in distances, shapes, and size of places that are often seen on maps.  This is because the world is not flat, nor is it perfectly round.  This means places are "projected" onto a map to best display the information the geographer wanted to convey.  The map projections are categorized into three main categories: cylindrical, planar, and conic.  It is based on the ways that you want to display your map.

Map projections are extremely important.  They determine the way that data will be interpreted from the map and they also determine what aspects you are preserving in the map.  For example, equal area maps help to preserve area such as the size of places.  Equidistant maps allow for preservation of distance from a standard point or line.  Conformal maps help to preserve angles.  Understanding the role of map projections allows geographers to focus on the elements of the map that they care to maintain.

The issue with map projections is that  many are unaware between the differences.  This can prove to be confusing to those who are unaware of map projections or do not understand the difference between projections.  For example, the Mercator map is a well used map that is highly used.  It is a map that is taught to elementary school children as the standard for understanding what the world looks like.  Although the map is good for navigation because it upholds angles, it does distort area.  However, many are unaware of this and do not realize that the projections have a lot to do with the distance and size of places on a map.

Map projections clearly have a large affect on distance.  As can be noticed, the distance between Kabul, Afghanistan and Washington, D.C. ranges from roughly 8,000 miles to 10,000 miles when looking at the loxodrome measurement.  I included the distances for the planar, geodesic, and loxodrome measurements. Distance does not only depend on the projection, but the type of measurement you use. The planar measurement is made using a horizontal line between two points, disregarding elevation and earth curvature.  The Geodesic measurement is based on assuming the earth is not a perfect sphere, but an ellipsoid and is a more accurate calculation for large distances.  The Loxodrome measurement is the a line that has a constant bearing.

My experience with ArcGis was difficult. I am a Geography/ Environmental Studies major, so Geography 7 is not the first geography class that I have taken.  However, I felt very apprehensive about taking this class for two years now.  This is because I am not the best at reading maps and I am also not very tech savvy.  I has always been difficult for me to navigate through software and perform basic computer functions. Since this is the first lab we have done in which we apply the software, I was extremely skeptical about my performance on this lab.  After several attempts and readings of the tutorial, I was able to produce the map.

It took me the full two weeks and several hours in the lab to produce the final product.  I have realized that if I am to survive in this class, I am going to have to dedicate much of my time attending office hours and practicing the ArcGis software. 

On the surface the ArcGIS software is not necessarily too difficult.  The issue with the software is that not everything is as efficiently labeled or blatantly obvious as programs most students like myself are used to using. Furthermore, the tutorial was not the most efficient way to learn the material.  It was very difficult to follow word directions without an abundant amount of visual material that corresponded with the directions. 

Another large problem that I faced was that the tutorial was based on an older version of the ArcGIS/ArcMap software.  This oftentimes created a large disconnect from what the tutorial asked the user to do and what the user actually had to do.  More than being confusing, this was discouraging.  I spent a good amount of time simply trying to locate where different functions were.

Overall, I had a hard time dealing with the program and plan to attempt the program a few more times before completing other labs in the class.  This program has a lot of potential and gives geographers the tools to complete any geography task.  I believe with a cleaner and more user-friendly layout, an updated tutorial, and wider use of the program- there is tremendous potential for the ArcGIS software.

Lab 3
View Favorite Eats and Drinks in Long Beach in a larger map

     The map is above represents my favorite places to eat food and grab drinks in Long Beach, California. The blue points on the map represent sushi places in the area. The burger icons represent areas eateries that are either small sandwich shops or burger companies. Pink pinpoints on the map represents places that are International foods, including french food cafe Le Creperie, Mediterranean food from Open Sesame, and Mexican food from Super Mex. The coffee icons represent cool coffee places in the fourth street area of Long Beach that have a good atmosphere and good coffee and pastries. There was a video included in Veinto Y Agua of a band performing at the coffee shop. Snack places are indicated with a yellow pin point. And the martini glass symbol represents bars in the Long Beach Area.
       My map selectively focuses on the fourth street, second street, and and Studebaker areas of Long Beach. The issues of my map is that parts of the eateries are not visible. This means that it is likely for parts of the eateries and bars that I want to showcase will be missed by my audience. Furthermore, I entitled my map "Best Eats and Drinks in Long Beach". However, this is very subjective. This represents one large pitfall of Neogeography: inherent bias and the potential of misinterpreted and false data. Neogeography most basically means "new geography", in which people use shared information and data to create maps. The use of the Internet and "cloud data", which is the ability to share and back up data through multiple devices, are the main drivers of neogeography. Though there are many issues, such as incorrect data, bias ,and the inability to reach a particular audience; neogeography represents a lot of potential. The growth of the internet allows users to reach a wider group of people more easily, and neogeography has embodies the potential for information to be distributed more easily and more thoroughly.

Lab 2: USGS Topographic Map

1.  The name of the quadrangle is the Beverly Hills Quadrangle. 

2.  The name of the adjoining quadrangles are Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice, and Inglewood.

3.  1966

4.  North American Datum of 1927 and North American Datum of 1983

5. 1: 24000
6.
  a. 1200 meters
  b. 1.894 miles
  c. 2.64 in
  d.  0.72cm

7.   20 ft
8 a. 118 degrees W 26' 30" x 34 degrees N 4.5' 30"- 118.438 degrees W, 34. 074 degrees north
   b.  118 degrees W 30' 00" x 34 degrees N 00' 28"- 118.458 degrees W, 34.008 degrees N
   c.  118 degrees 24' 45" W x 34 degrees N 4' 46"- 118.24' 45" W by 34 degrees 4' 46" N- 118.413 degrees W, 34.0794 degrees N


9a.  560 ft/ 170.7 meters
  b. 140 ft/ 42.7 meters
  c.  680 ft/ 207.3 meters
10.  UTM Zone 11
11.  362,000 meters E and 37,630,000 meters N
12.  1000000 meters squared
13.

14.  14 degrees
15.  Southward

16.