Week 6: Alachua Co.

The only real problems I had with this lab occured at the begining while creating the distance raster. It seems while setting the environmental settings, one should ALWAYS choose the drop down rather than click on the folder button and choosing the path! A painful lesson on my part.

Three maps from the ESRI Virtual campus this week. Exercises were fairly straightforward, just had to pay close attention to the instructions about joining what to what and adding fields where!!

Week 4: Participation/Extra Credit

http://students.uwf.edu/lrc13/applications_GIS/week_4/part_lrc13.avi

The above link displays the shape of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill from April 29th to May 26th. The layers were obtained from www.finder.geocommons.com, and the .avi file was created using ArcMap's Animation Toolbar. I had no problems with this exercise, just had to be sure to project everything in the same manner in ArcCatalog before adding the layers into ArcMap.

Now for the question as to the role of GIS in disaster responce as it relates to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Initially, GIS would be used to simply map where the disaster event occurred in space. More and more maps would be created as the days passed, thus displaying how the event progressed through time (see above link). More complex studies would be preformed using GIS to determine which areas were in more need of aid/protection, due to their physical make-up (swamps vs. sandy beach). GIS could also be used in a forecast manner to determine where best to spend time and resources (based on where the oil slick is, where to place booms). GIS would also be used to coordinate between the different agencies (state vs. Federal) by determining who is in charge of what. This could help to minimization bureaucratic red tape and obtain positive results in a more timely fashion.

So overall, GIS is a very powerful tool used in managing and create working maps/models from the many different data sources (using different scales/mapping methods/data formats) in a relatively simple way that almost anyone can utilize to make decisions to minimize the impact of the disaster.

Week 4: Oil Spill

The above two maps are from this weeks subject of the effects on areas in FL from BP's Deep Water Horizon Oil spill. I choose the Gulf Breeze quad to work with. The first map displays NOAA's ESI land types and booming operations in the area. The second map displays fauna and economic impacts the oil spill can have on the region, as well as what agency is in charge of what. I was unable to figure out how to get the ESI symbols to denote the fauna (time constraint), but I hope the map was clear nonetheless.

Week 3: Hurricanes

Hurricane Wilma made landfall over Key West, FL on October 19, 2005 as a Cat. 3 storm. The main damage to Key West from Wilma was not as a result of the storm itself (high winds, rain), but from the storm surge cause by the storm. Waves up to 8 feet in height inundated the islands the morning after the storm. Almost 60% of the homes on the islands were under water. The above map displays the elevation and bathymetry of Key West with Key West places and roads displayed. Notice how much of the is island is below the 8 feet elevation of the storm surge.

The map above displays just how much of the island was flooded. The flooded land has been broken down into land types, and a graph has been created to show exactly how much of each kinds of lands were inundated (see graph below for larger image included in above map). Note that more than 68% of the flooded land was developed land (i.e. homes and businesses).

Infrastructure and health facilities have been added to the following map. Notice how both hospitals have been flooded and all schools and churches except for one of each were under water. It also appears that the airport is located on one of the lowest portions of the island (see first map). With this being the case, emphasis should be focused on roads in and out of the island, since roads can be made somewhat "flood proof" by elevating them. Emphasis should also be placed on schools/churches on the highest portion of the island, since they would be the least likely to flood, or at very least, be the first to "dry out" in the case of flooding. These building could be used as staging points and/or shelters for those who chose not to evacuate.

The following is a simple graph displaying land types measured in acres and square miles affected by the storm surge.

In closing, is appears the long-term sustainability of the island is not positive. With the highest elevation on the island being only just above 12 feet, anyone living or working on the island should be willing to rebuild/repair anytime a moderate to major storm comes across the Keys. Emphasis should be placed on public structures on the higher portions of Key West to serve as launching points for aid or as shelters.